Notice: 17 June 2021

Welcome to the Education Noticeboard. A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.

Included in this update

Director Update

Dear Colleagues

I hope that you have all managed to get outside and enjoy some of the sunshine which has come our way over the past week.

Congratulations to Donnington Wood Primary School on achieving an award from the Royal Horticulture Society. Please do keep good news coming as we love to share it.

You will notice that the information for the exclusion hotline has been shared again. This has had a name tweak to pre-exclusion hotline to better reflect the fact that it is primarily for use prior to an exclusion taking place. This trial has worked well and we are keen for you to use this resource when needed.

We are, once again, asking for help in tracking vulnerable students, an initiative which launched last year. Your support with this is appreciated and the aim is to track every single child; something which was achieved last year. There is also a comparison on persistent absence data, between autumn term last academic year and this one, which some of you will find useful.

In order for us to complete our statutory School Capacity survey our academy partners are asked to confirm the net capacity of their setting. Please find information about how to do this.

There is some free safeguarding training available. The raising awareness of exploitation and vulnerability offer is key to all settings, and you are encouraged to take a look. There are also a number of webinars available, provided by the West Midlands violence reduction unit.

If you are looking for some alternative green initiative resources, some information is provided on the ‘R Team’ initiative. This has been mentioned before, but this time there is more detail on what can be accessed.

Also in the noticeboard this week is a save the date for the next SENCo meeting, an outline of the new duties for virtual head teachers and a roundup of CPD courses and updates that are available and details on eLearning networking sessions. Information previously sent out as Special Education Notices regarding the significant incident that took place on the 11 June 2021, transition days and end of term activities have also been repeated below.

Best wishes
Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education and Skills

Donnington Wood Infant School achieve RHS Gardening Award

Donnington Wood Infant School have continued to work with the children on their Rainbow Garden and now run two after school gardening clubs for Year 1 and Year 2 children. They are really pleased that they have now achieved Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) School Gardening Award Level 1.

The rainbow garden has come a long way in just over 12 months since beginning their lockdown project and are now working hard to achieve Level 2.

Pre-exclusion hotline: 07816372459

Prior to half term, the hotline was used by a number of schools, making contact for support with their exclusions. The team were able to provide immediate telephone support and offer instant in school support to discuss the potential exclusion.

The hotline has been used really well in order to support schools before an exclusion occurs, in order to prevent it from taking place. Support such as restorative conversations and direct work with a young person and/or colleagues have prevented a number of fixed term exclusions over the past few weeks. For those schools that have gone ahead with issuing an exclusion, the offer of support, with the reintegration meeting, has proved useful in preventing further exclusions.

The Hotline is manned by the current BSAT team and will bring the expertise from members of BSAT in supporting schools. There will be two duty members per day and this will allow contact in addition to support for schools and individuals.

Please remember to use the Exclusions Hotline and share this information with colleagues, as the team are ready to support you.

For more information with regards to the team, please contact BSAT Team Leader (Darren Lennon) by email at Darren.Lennon@telford.gov.uk.

Transition days and end of term activities

Many thanks to those that responded to the transition day survey sent out last week. We had a return rate of 75% which was very helpful.

Clearly the situation has moved on from last week given the Prime Minister’s announcements on Monday. We are also aware that the DfE has sent an email yesterday, directly to settings, with new guidance relating to many end of term activities. The DfE information is supplied in a separate article.

It is clear that ‘traditional’ transition days cannot operate this year. This includes early years children having taster days into reception and year 6 experiencing a taster day at their allocated secondary school into year 7. Whilst taster sessions are not totally banned the guidance is clear in that children within existing bubbles cannot mix with children from other bubbles. We therefore advocate that as far as possible all transition activities are conducted virtually. There may be exceptions to this, for example feedback from you suggested that, where necessary, 1-1 or small group (so long a bubbles are not mixed) sessions take place for those who may find transition very difficult. I will not name specific ‘vulnerable’ groups here as schools and settings know best which children may benefit from this additional work. Separate infant and junior schools should also liaise to determine if whole bubbles could attend a different setting without mixing with any other bubble. A robust risk assessment would be needed for any face to face activity and it may be felt by these settings to be more viable to also use virtual means.

(Transition activity can still take place where children move internally within a school, for example year 5 visit their year 6 classroom/teacher, although this needs to be risk assessed and follow your system of controls.)

You are all very creative but I provide some suggestions below as to how alternative transition activities can be provided this year, which have been taken from the survey.

We ask schools to confirm their arrangements and communicate as needed with parents and/or feeder schools/settings as appropriate.

We know that there is huge value in transition and we were all hoping that traditional transition activities could go ahead, but in light of both the national and local picture this would be very unwise. Whilst our COVID numbers in educational settings continue to be low (thanks to all the work you are doing to keep the system of controls in place) they are rising. With regard to the local survey we completed, over 70% of schools agreed that traditional transition activities should not take place this year (however it is recognised that this figure would likely be higher if we were to conduct the survey again this week). I know you will all be disappointed but let’s hope this is one of the last hurdles we need to overcome. You have all worked so hard this year to manage COVID alongside the actual job of teaching and learning and I again admire your resilience and tenacity at this time.

Some of you have asked queries about other end of term events, for example arrangement for sports days and further information is provided about this from the DfE below. Please make sure that all activities are thoroughly risk assessed.

Thank you all for you ongoing support and understanding. Always stronger together!

Alternative transition activities

Please note these are just suggestions. Schools are best placed to determine what will work for them.

Make a virtual school or classroom tour which can be shared on the schools website
Ask key members of staff to record introductions to themselves to post on schools website
Provide as much information regarding uniforms, PE kit requirements, drop off pick up times, lunch facilities etc on the schools website
Answers to key questions that pupils or parents might usually be told at transition event.
Use the initial day(s) of the Autumn Term as year 7 induction days.
Use of summer school provision where available.
1-1 visits outside of teaching hours.
Through induction packs.
Group meetings between parents/carers and teaching staff over Teams.
News feed and videos made available via school website.
Virtual meetings between children and their new teacher.
Virtual story time with new teachers.
Virtual tour of intended school and new classroom.
Access to online learning platforms, and sharing of work via Seesaw. Provision of iPads and dongles to support this where needed.
Transition booklets so that children are able to talk about their new teachers to their parents/carers during the holidays, in order to familiarise themselves with their new settings.
Use the August period (opportunity to have a guided tour in the summer when it is safer and quieter/ host appropriate meetings).
Allow parents/carers or schools to drive to the school so that the pupils can see the building physically and a member of the leadership team go out to welcome the child.

DfE guidance released 15 June 2021

The government has always been clear that 21 June 2021 was an indicative date for progression to Step 4 of the roadmap, which would be guided by data and not dates. Yesterday the government announced a 4-week pause at Step 3. Step 3 restrictions remain in place, including those set out in the COVID-19 operational guidance for your setting. It is expected that England will move to Step 4 on 19 July 2021, although the data will be reviewed after 2 weeks in case the risks have reduced. The government will continue to monitor the data and the move to Step 4 will be confirmed one week in advance. It is our priority that all education and childcare settings deliver face-to-face, high quality provision to all children and students. At a time when further easing of restrictions has been paused, the current system of controls should continue to be implemented in education and childcare settings. This means settings should encourage staff, and students, where applicable, to continue to test twice weekly and student bubbles, where they exist, should stay in place.

Early years settings should continue to minimise mixing by keeping children in consistent groups. We will update schools, colleges and early years settings on plans for Step 4 as soon as possible. We know you may have questions following the Prime Minister’s announcement about what this means for some of your summer term activities. The general principle is that early years, schools and colleges must continue to risk assess and plan activities in line with the system of controls and should follow government guidance. We have set out some positions on common activities below.

Sports days
Sports days can go ahead. In line with the rest of the system of controls, pupils and students must remain in their bubbles, and early years children should remain in their consistent groups as is usual for your setting. Sports equipment should be regularly cleaned throughout the event.   Spectators must adhere to current social distancing requirements. Where events take place outdoors, spectators can gather in separate groups of up to 30 – the legal gathering limit. Multiple groups of 30 are permitted.  

Leavers events
Currently, you should avoid hosting large group gatherings indoors for more than one bubble (or in early years more than one consistent group), such as assemblies or mass worship. The schools COVID-19 operational guidance states that children should be kept in separate, independent groups (for example, their bubbles). The early years guidance states you should minimise contact between groups within settings (for example, keeping children in consistent groups). The FE guidance also has advice on how to group students. Outdoor events are generally lower risk. Once you have undertaken a risk assessment and planned your event in line with your system of controls, you may consider an outdoor event (for example a leavers’ celebration or prom) that caters for more than one bubble or consistent group, as long as the groups continue to be kept separate. Any parents attending outdoor events must adhere to current social distancing requirements. Where outdoors spectators can gather in groups of up to 30 – the legal gathering limit. Multiple groups of 30 are permitted.

Transitional and open days
You should complete thorough risk assessments before running transitional, taster and open days in your setting, to ensure that they are run in line with your system of controls and align with the advice contained within the guidance for your setting and the roadmap out of lockdown. This means that traditional transitional and open days are unlikely to be feasible this academic year but we are keen not to restrict individual settings from designing events which maintain the integrity of bubbles or consistent groups, and adhere to the system of controls in place.

Singing
If you are planning an indoor or outdoor face-to-face performance in front of a live audience, you should continue to follow the latest performing arts guidance, and the guidance on delivering outdoor events. Registered early years settings, schools and colleges are, however, exempt from the requirement to limit group numbers to 6 for singing indoors.

Tracking vulnerable learners

I’m sure you will all recall the ‘Tracking Vulnerable Pupils’ initiative that AST launched last summer. Can I say once again a huge thank you to all of you in our schools who helped us at the LA gather key information about these vulnerable pupils during such a busy time just before the summer break 2020.

I’m pleased to report that we identified 105 pupils who did not ‘show up’ at their allocated school, some in year 3 and the majority in year 7. It was down to you in schools and the information you shared that we knew of potential risks, and we managed to track every single child.

We are so very grateful to our schools for helping us to capture intelligence about pupils who need additional support at transition.

As this tracking initiative was so successful, we are doing it again this year. We have taken feedback from many of you from what we learnt last year, we have simplified & ‘fine-tuned’ the excel spreadsheet to identify vulnerable pupils at transition from year 2 to year 3 and from year 6 to year 7. (We are also working with colleagues in the Early Years team to also roll out a similar initiative to and vulnerable pupils joining Reception) We hope to once again intervene at the earliest opportunity where necessary.

We hope this year that this process is a less onerous task for staff in our schools concentrating on year 2 for Infant Schools and year 6 for Primary Schools. Our aim is to alert any receiving schools to any pupils likely to cause concern, who may need additional support during transition or identify any pupil who may not have ‘arrived’ at their allocated school, or who has erratic attendance. We also want information about groups who may not settle well into year 7, this has been an issue for GRT pupils historically

Year 2 school spreadsheet

Year 6 school spreadsheet

You can download copies of the spreadsheets, below, however we will also circulate this to the named person in our schools, as we did last year.

Please send any queries to attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk

Attendance and persistent absence validated data for autumn term 2019-20 v autumn term 2020-21

Some schools have contacted AST for the most recent DfE validated attendance figures. The last full year that was validated by the DfE was 2018 -19.

In May 2021 the DfE published attendance and persistent absence (P/A) data based on the Autumn term 2020-21, this has been compared this to the data for Autumn term 2019-20 in the graph below.
This data shows Telford & Wrekin are in line with the National average in overall attendance across Primary and Secondary Schools and well above the National average in Special Schools.

Overall the data relating to P/A is also very positive, again our Primary and Secondary Schools are in line with National and Special Schools P/A level is over 7% better than National, which is a wonderful achievement.

Hopefully you find these attendance tables useful. You can compare this National data with your own school attendance & P/A figures.

All

T & W Schools

T&W Attendance %

National

Att %

T&W

P/A %

National

P/A %

Autumn 2019/20

94.8%

95.1%

14.1%

13.1%

Autumn 2020/21

95.3%

13.0%

All T & W

Primary Schools

T & W

Attendance %

National

Att %

T & W

P/A %

National

P/A %

Autumn 2019/20

95.6%

95.7%

11.46%

11.25%

Autumn 2020/21

96.3%

All T & W

Secondary Schools

T & W

Attendance %

National

Att %

T & W

P/A %

National

P/A %

Autumn 2019/20

94.0%

94.4%

17.0%

14.9%

Autumn 2020/21

94.2%

94.3%

16.5%

16.3%

All T & W

Special Schools

T & W

Attendance %

National

Att %

T & W

P/A %

National

P/A %

Autumn 2019/20

91.9%

89.5%

24.6%

30.0%

Autumn 2020/21

92.3%

89.4%

21.9%

29.2%

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to you all for your sterling efforts, hard work and continuing support. Any queries can be sent by email to attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk

Significant safeguarding Incident: 11 June 2021

You, your staff and many of your pupils will be aware of the significant incident on Friday 11 June 2021 in the early evening involving four teenage boys. This is now a live criminal investigation.

Rapid action locally in terms of calls to the police meant that the boys were swiftly arrested. Naturally this is going to cause anxiety in both the local community and in our schools and we would appreciate your assistance in managing this. Our first focus needs to be related to the specific incident and any other information that may be shared by pupils.The wider community safety issues will be reviewed more strategically and we will keep you up to date with our plans.

A number of you have been in contact with us as you are aware some of your pupils have come into school talking about either the incident or other incidents that they know of, and in some cases sharing names. This is to be anticipated and is not unusual after such an event. Some of the things they may refer to may not be current information, some of it may be. Some of it is likely to be information that is already known to the local authority and some of it might not be.

It is crucial that the correct processes are now followed.

If pupils or adults share any information that is directly related to the incident on Friday, that must be shared immediately with the police (by calling 101) and then Family Connect. Please quote the police reference number you will be given in your call to Family Connect.

Should you have any information from pupils or others that raises a safeguarding concern about any child then a referral to Family Connect is our usual process and this has not changed. Within that conversation they will advise on whether it needs to be referred to the police as well.

Please do not send information directly to individual officers as it’s important you follow the agreed and normal routes.

It is appropriate for you to also remind your staff that they should not be commenting on social media regarding this issue.

Thank you for your ongoing support during this difficult time.

Free inclusion webinars

The West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit are running a series of webinars stemming from their Education Toolkit which launched late last year. The toolkit brings together the expertise of various disciplines across the education sector including Public Health, Educational Psychology, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Early Help.

It has been co-produced by a number of Education professionals across the region to improve understanding of trauma and to provide guidance and support on how to help young individuals overcome difficult situations.

The webinars will unpack some of the themes explored in the toolkit, with key speakers delivering the sessions. Download the programme of events for dates and times of individual events and details on how to register your interest.

For more information visit the website. or email vru@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk

Free raising awareness of exploitation and vulnerability training

Protecting those vulnerable in our communities from exploitation is a top priority of Telford & Wrekin Council, West Mercia Police and the Telford & Wrekin Safeguarding Children & Adults Board.

One of the key ways we do this is to provide training and advice on how to spot the signs of exploitation and give people the confidence to report these concerns give people the confidence to report these concerns.

The PCC, John Campion has funded some Vulnerability & Exploitation Trainers who have developed a new training programme. This allows for safe training in a non-judgemental way. It has been deliberately designed to be open to all people, whatever their background. We would like to encourage as many people as possible to undertake this free training. It has been brilliantly received by all who have attended. A national charity on this topic, the ‘National Working Group’ has acknowledged that no other local partnership has created this type of forward thinking programme to manage harm, risk, vulnerability and exploitation across any area, whether it be through policing, the council or safeguarding

One of the key ways we do this is to provide training and advice on how to spot the signs of exploitation and across any area, whether it be through policing, the council or safeguarding.

The letter from West Mercia Police, regarding this training can be downloaded, as can a flier containing more details about it.

Any queries can be sent through by email to TrainersWDBC@westmercia.pnn.police.uk or by telephoning Karen Perry or Vicki Ridgewell on 101 extension 7704208.

Save the date: SENCo Network Meeting

Please save the date for the next SENCo Network Meeting on Tuesday 13 July 2021, 4pm-5pm, on Microsoft Teams.

This will be the last SENCo Network Meeting for this term and the agenda will cover:

Local Authority Updates
SEND Reviews
Unified Banding Model
Ofsted & CQC Ready
Updates from all the SEND Services

Invitations will be sent to all Primary, Secondary & Special School SENCo’s.

For more information on the SEND Local Offer please visit the wbsite.

If you would like to express an interest in attending this session or if you have not received invitations to previous sessions please contact us by sending an email to

SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk to ensure your invitation.

School capacity survey: SCAP21

Telford & Wrekin are required to complete a School Capacity survey for the Department for Education. The Department ask us to update the capacity for Academies where this has changed since 2019. The net capacity of an Academy denotes the total number of pupil places available dependent on the teaching space within the building. Please can you confirm what was recorded in your funding agreements for your net capacity and advise if there has been any change in your net capacity since we submitted our return in July 2019. Any works that have been undertaken by biT will be recorded on P2net and therefore we will be aware of these changes. All data recorded should be as at 1 May 2021.

If you would like further information about the School Capacity Survey it is available on the following link.

School capacity survey: Guide

The deadline for submission of this information is 31 July 2021.

Please contact Jules Millington (School Organisation Office) with any queries, by email to Jules.Millington@telford.gov.uk or by telephone on 80195, if you have any queries or would like an copy of the net capacity assessment for your academy. Published data from the previous return is also available on the government website.

Virtual school head teacher new extended duties as from September 2021

The DFE has announced that from September 2021, Virtual School Heads will be strategic leaders who promote the educational outcomes of children with a social worker. Meaning there will be a local champion for children with a social worker in every local authority in England. This will ensure that more focus is placed on children with a social worker, targeting support earlier on in these young people’s lives and helping improve how they engage with education.

This will build on the existing role of a Virtual School Head, who help champion and improve the educational outcomes for children in or on the edge of care, enhancing relationships between schools, colleges and local authorities so that pupils receive support from professionals that will help them develop and progress throughout their time in education.

Extending the role of Virtual School Heads delivers on a key recommendation of the Government’s Children in Need review in 2019, which looked at what further support children in need of help and protection may require. The enhanced role will also be central to ensuring that the Government’s education recovery package reaches and benefits children with a social worker, with Virtual School Heads able to advise on the best use of the Recovery Premium to meet their needs and how access to the National Tutoring Programme can improve their outcomes.

VSH’s newly extended role will include additional responsibilities, such as increasing awareness among schools, colleges and social workers, of how education plays a crucial part in the care of these children, improving the visibility of support services for children with a social worker and ensuring Virtual School Heads champion this group in local authority planning.

The guidance on promoting the education of children with a social worker:

defines the cohort of children in scope
explains what the extended role involves
provides direction on how to partner with education settings to improve children’s outcomes

The additional role of the Virtual School Head does not require the Virtual School Heads to provide direct intervention, help and support for individual children with a social worker or their families. This guidance does not change existing duties for looked-after and previously looked-after children, and should be read in conjunction with statutory guidance Promoting the education of looked-after and previously looked-after children.

Further details will follow in due course but any queries can be directed to Michelle Salter (virtual school head teacher) by email to michelle.salter@telford.gov.uk

The R Team: Empower your pupils to look after our planet

The R Team - an inspiring resource to look after our planet
This free KS2 resource can be delivered by a teacher or Veolia education staff; it’s been specifically designed to fit with a digital remote, hybrid or classroom learning environment.

What is The R Team?
The R Team explores the waste hierarchy through the eyes of Jo, an inquisitive 9-year-old, and her family and friends. It encourages pupils to join The R Team and champion good waste management. There is an introductory assembly, followed by a workshop exploring each of the four Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.

Beyond learning about the 4Rs, children will increase their awareness of climate change and our environmental impact. They’ll be inspired to think about how their actions can make a difference to preserve natural resources and save energy. Pupils will be empowered to know that while everyone might be at a different starting point, we can all make small changes to do a bit more and to help the world around us.

The resource is centred on inspiring behaviour change - equipping pupils with the knowledge, understanding and motivation to take the messages home and carry them with them, to make a positive difference to the environment.

Format
The workshops use the format of a slide presentation with story voiceovers and learning activities woven in. There are supplementary teachers notes to support resource delivery and inform class discussions.

Schools can enhance the pupil learning experience with Veolia staff, who are available to share industry knowledge, experience and enthusiasm by leading on or contributing to the delivery of the resource. This is completely free and can be done remotely as necessary.

Assembly
In this 15 minute session, pupils will be inspired to think about waste and will be introduced to the 4 Rs. Most importantly, they’ll learn that they are part of The R Team!

Recycle workshop
We start with the most familiar R - recycle. Within Jo’s school day, pupils will learn how to recycle at home, what happens to recycling and why it’s important to recycle. They’ll also learn about littering, how much waste is created and consider what they can do to make a difference.

Reuse workshop
Pupils go with Jo to the supermarket and on a camping trip to learn how reusing can make a difference and think what they could reuse. Along the way they’ll learn about climate change, do some math and contemplate how they could persuade others to reuse more.

Reduce workshop
Join Jo in town to explore the difference between needs and wants. Pupils can debate whether Jo should buy new trainers, then reflect on their own needs and wants, and understand how less is more for the environment.

Recover workshop
After learning how electricity is made using non-recyclable waste, pupils will become innovators thinking about how the heat generated from the process could be used. They’ll also reflect on the 4 Rs they’ve learned about in the previous workshops, and consider what order they should go in on the waste hierarchy and why. And finally they’ll make their pledge to continue the work of the R Team and recruit others to do the same.

Download the Team R resource overview

Empower your pupils to make a difference to our planet by joining The R Team! The resource overview is available to download, and any queries can be sent to Ruth Jone by email at ruth.jones@veolia.com or by telephone on more information or phone 07824 545 597

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

Unless noted as ‘face to face’, all courses continue to be delivered online using Microsoft Teams. We hope to move towards a more blended approach as the restrictions around Covid 19 are eased, and when it is safe to do so. Online courses continue to be charged at a lower rate to reflect savings made by not using external venues.

Details of all of our courses can be viewed in the CPD Booklet - available on the Telford Education Services website.

Course bookings with a course code are made by sending a completed CPD booking form via email to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk.

Other courses and briefings without a course code can be booked by sending your email address name and school name to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk

Identifying Racist Incidents Training (book via email)	Monday 21 June 2021	6pm to 7.30pm
Newly Qualified Teacher Development Group: Supporting and Accelerating your Progression (CPD 522)	Tuesday 22 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Teaching children with SEND - meeting the need (LSAT 508)	Wednesday 23 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Early Years Coordinators' Update (EY 007)	Wednesday 23 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Governors' Responsibilities for Exclusions (SG 104)	Wednesday 23 June 2021	5pm to 7pm
Managing Employee Capability (Performance Management) (book via Ollie/HR)	Thursday 24 June 2021	3pm to 5.30pm
MAPA (BSAT 201) Face to Face (FULL)	Thursday 24 June 2021 & Thursday 01 July 2021	8.30am to 4pm & 8.30am to 12.30pm
Cover Supervisors - preparing for the role (PSS 010)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Meeting the OFSTED requirements for Equalities and Diversity in the secondary school (CPD 719)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development Session 2: Communication and Language Development (EY 308)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development Session 2: Communication and Language Development (EY 309)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Early Career Framework – Joint TSH & LA drop in for last minute queries (no need to book) Click here to join the ECT induction drop in – Joint LA and TSH	Tuesday 29 June 2021	3.45pm to 4.45pm
Designated Safeguarding Leads' and Safeguarding Governors' Termly Update (SG 106)	Wednesday 30 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Recently Qualified Teacher Development Programme – Primary (CPD 507)	Wednesday 30 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Identifying Racist Incidents Training (book via email)	Thursday 1 July 2021	3.30pm to 5pm
Raising Awareness of Prevent (SG 101)	Thursday 1 July 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
Forest School and Outdoor Learning for Practitioners Working within EYFS (EY 201) Face to Face	Thursday 1 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Identifying Racist Incidents Training (book via email)	Thursday 1 July 2021	6pm to 7.30pm
Virtual School Conference - Attachment Awareness and Trauma Informed Schools (CPD 620)	Friday 2 July 2021	9am to 12.15pm
Effective Circle Times in the EYFS (EY 302)	Monday 5 July 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Teaching children with SEND - meeting the need (LSAT 508)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development Session 3: Physical Development (EY 308)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development Session 3: Physical Development (EY 309)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Solution Focussed Therapy (PSS 102)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	9.15am to 12noon
Racist Incident Reporting System: (IRIS) training (book via email)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	3.30pm to 5pm
Early Years and Childcare Partnership Hub leads meeting (EY 305)	Wednesday 7 July 2021	1.30pm to 3.30pm
NQT Induction Tutor/ Mentor - Initial Training (CPD 520)	Wednesday 7 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
RADY Launch for Secondary Heads / Senior Leaders – details to follow	Wednesday 7 July 2021	9.30am to 11.30am
ELSA Conference (EPS 106) Face to Face (FULL)	Wednesday 7 July 2021	9am to 3pm
MAPA Refresher (BSAT 212)	Thursday 8 July 2021	9am to 12.30pm
Youth Mental Health First Aid (PSS 001)	Monday 12 July 2021 & Tuesday 13 July 2021	9.15am to 4pm
Teaching children with SEND - meeting the need (LSAT 508)	Monday 12 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Designated Safeguarding Leads Refresher (SG 107)	Thursday 15 July 2021	2pm to 3.30pm

Early Career Framework: Joint drop in session 29 June 2021

A joint Teaching School Hub (TSH) and LA drop-in session will take place Tuesday 29 June 2021 from 3.45pm to 4.45pm, which will provide an opportunity for schools to clear up any final questions arising from the recent meetings regarding the new arrangements for early career teachers from September.

The drop-in meeting, which is a Q&A session and not a full briefing event, will be jointly hosted by Alison Pope, Headteacher of The Priory School, and Ant Snowden, Telford and Wrekin Local Authority Induction Manager.

As this is a drop in, there is no need to book - simply click the link to join the ECT induction drop in if you have any last minute questions, queries or concerns.

Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) update

We have updated the inspection data summary report (IDSR) with absence data from autumn term 2020, based on the DfE published data. The absence data used in the IDSR is based on the DfE census collection and has been provided as a new section within the IDSR. This is different to the daily attendance collection which schools have submitted throughout the pandemic, which will not be used in the IDSR.

This data relates to absences during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As such, users should not directly compare 2020 autumn absence to historic absence rates. There may be a number of reasons for changes in absence rates. Inspectors will not use the 2020 autumn absence data by itself to draw conclusions but may use it to prompt questions regarding how well attended a school was during this period. Inspectors may also use previous years’ data to provide context to the latest data, particularly where a school has previously had high or low absence rates in relation to other schools.

It is important to note that:

If a pupil tested positive for COVID-19 then this absence should have been treated as an illness and included within the data.
However other COVID-19 related absence, such as pupils being sent home to isolate, did not count as absences within the data.

Further detail on how absence rates have been calculated can be found in the DfE published methodology.

Please ensure you download the latest version of your IDSR, which will have 7 June 2021 release date.

Should you have any IDSR or Ofsted IDSR service queries, please contact either the schools team (by sending an email to school.Performance.Data@ofsted.gov.uk) or the 16-19 team (by sending an email to FEandSkillsData@ofsted.gov.uk).

University of Wolverhampton networking events: MeLDE

This is your chance to take part in a series of free online training courses developed by education researchers at the University of Wolverhampton aimed at improving digital teaching and learning opportunities for both teachers and students within secondary education, including:

Digital Teaching and Learning Skills
Online Communication and Collaboration
Digital Content Creation
E-Safety

Want to know more?

The University of Wolverhampton is running a short series of networking events to showcase just what the eLearning platform, called 'MeLDE', can do for your teaching and learning, including at Key Stages 3 and 4.

You can book for these free online events now via Eventbrite:

Tuesday 29 June
MeLDE's training on online safety for students, 'netiquette' and online communication and collaboration for teachers.
Book: 29 June

Tuesday 6 July
MeLDE's resources for digital teaching and learning and digital content creation.
Book: 6 July

You can find out more about the website and the eLearning platform online.

This entry was posted by Claire on Thursday, 17 June 2021.

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Every week during term time we publish a new update for the education community. It includes essential briefings and specialist information about education.

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