1. Director Update
2. Leader and Cabinet Members’ Young Person Grant Scheme 2024
3. Visit your Local Nature Reserves and Parks this winter
4. Explore Telford Town Park at the next Glow Ride
5. Kids for £1 is back during the Christmas Holidays
6. ‘Big Classroom’ Potential Scam
7. Emergency Contact List
8. Let’s make sure everyone enjoys this festive season!
9. School and setting closure line
10. Mental Health for Early Years Children - Help for Early Years Providers
11. Routes into Early Years Roadshow
12. Details of CPD courses to February half term 2024
13. Shropshire and Telford Education Partnership (STEP), your local provider for the suite of National Professional Qualifications for Middle, Senior Leaders, Headteachers and Executive Headteachers
14. Updated EHE policy 2023-2024 for all schools

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Director Update

Dear colleagues

Welcome to this week’s Education Noticeboard. Again, it’s great to share with you even more opportunities for the children and young people in our borough, as part of our 10 by 10 initiative. There is also information on the ever-popular Kids 4 £1, which will of course be taking place over the Christmas break.

This week there are also some important updates around preparation for the Christmas period, including making sure Emergency Contact lists are up to date, and ensuring that we are recognising the impact this time of year could potentially have on our young people with additional needs. Please be sure to take some time to read through these updates.  

Lastly, as always, there is information on CPD and qualifications available to staff which may be of interest to you.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the week,

Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education & Skills

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Leader and Cabinet Members’ Young Person Grant Scheme 2024

Telford & Wrekin Council has launched ‘The Leader and Cabinet Members’ Young Person Grant 2024’, supporting young borough residents to take the next steps in their career.

In its eighth cycle, the grant of up to £500 is available for young people who are seeking support to help get them into education, employment or training. Additionally, the grant is also available to young people looking for help to pursue extracurricular activities to support their learning and development.

To be eligible for the grant, the young person must live in Telford and Wrekin - or be a child in care or care leaver living outside of the borough. They must also be aged between 15 (and in Year 11) through to 25 at the close of applications.

They must showcase how the funding could successfully help them overcome barriers, including those that are currently preventing them from accessing education, employment or training. It is also available to those seeking to start up their own business and need an initial investment.

This year, the grant is sponsored by Veolia, Balfour Beatty and Arriva who are supporting the grant with monetary donations totalling £3,500 and 16 bus passes respectively. As local businesses, their support is a wonderful commitment to the young people of our borough and supporting them in their future endeavours to reach places of education or work.

Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council Councillor Shaun Davies (Lab) said, “I’m delighted that we are once again offering this grant to young people across the borough. It’s a great chance to give back to our local community by supporting some of our younger residents in their education, employment and training.

“Over the last seven years, the grant scheme has supported 510 young people with a total of £109,742, making a huge difference to their lives. Every year we meet so many incredible and talented young people who showcase their passions. It’s a real privilege to be part of their journey and help them to achieve their dreams.”

Councillor Eileen Callear, Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Visitor Economy (Lab) said, “All of our young people deserve the chance to explore the dream career they want without anything holding them back. The Young Person Grant can make that possible for our younger residents.

“We invite all eligible candidates to apply and we look forward to hearing about the creative approaches they are taking to their future education and careers. So, to avoid missing the deadline, we encourage entrants to submit their applications early. We look forward to reading them!”

Applications are now open and will close at 5pm on Friday 19 January 2024.

For more information or to submit an application visit www.telford.gov.uk/ypg

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Visit your Local Nature Reserves and Parks this winter

Did you know Telford and Wrekin boasts 23 nature reserves and over 300 green guarantee sites, all free and available to anyone.

Our green spaces look different from season to season so there is always something new to explore. 

Head out into the fresh air this winter and choose a walk the whole family will enjoy. Why not keep an eye out for winter wildlife and see what you can spot?

Find a local nature reserve near you

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Explore Telford Town Park at the next Glow Ride

Another way to explore the outdoors during the winter is by joining Telford Bike Hub on their next Glow Ride on Tuesday 19 December at 5.30pm. 

With the darker nights now upon us this event is all about showing how important it is to be seen when it’s darker.

Why not add Christmas lights and tinsel to yourself and your bike and help us light up the pathways through Southwater and Telford Town Park?

The Glow Ride is £2 per person which includes a cup of hot chocolate and a mince pie after the ride as well as a goodie bag to takeaway.

You must book a space for all participants.

Take part in the next Glow Ride

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Kids for £1 is back during the Christmas Holidays

The Christmas holidays are fast approaching and there are lots of fun activities for you and the family to enjoy over the festive period including toboganning, badminton and soft play for children.

The weekday and weekend activities run from Wednesday 27 December 2023 to Sunday 7 January 2024. 

It's a great opportunity for your young ones to try something competitive and sporty that they might not have done before.

Kids for £1 Brochure

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‘Big Classroom’ Potential Scam

It has been brought to our attention that once again schools in the midlands are being targeted by the ‘Big Classroom.’ The company offers a ‘free trial’ but the offer is misleading and schools end up being signed up to a paid service, following which demands for payment are issued. Please be very cautious about signing up to anything of this nature.

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Emergency Contact List

All T&W Schools must have a designated named Editor for their keyholder page within the SharePoint Emergency Contact List. This is usually the School Business Manager/Administrator or whichever staff member holds responsibility for updating their individual school keyholder details. If your school does not have a designated Editor who can access their school’s keyholder page in the ECL, a nominated staff member should email Esther McDermott in the biT Team directly, providing their name, personal work email address, school name and school role and request editing permission, and she will set up the necessary permissions to enable access and editing of the individual school’s keyholder page only.

School Editors should access their school’s keyholder page to check that all details are correct and up to date. If they are not up to date, they should be updated/amended as soon as possible before the end of term. Editors should do this regularly, particularly prior to school holidays and when there have been staff changes, especially Caretaker/Site Manager and Headteacher. Should designated School Editors who are already set up, have difficulties accessing/editing their school’s page, they should contact Esther.

School Editors should also check that their school’s Headteacher’s name, school role and out of hours telephone contact details, mobile and landline numbers, are listed on their keyholder page and is up to date. Traditionally, Headteachers’ contact details have been listed last in order of priority to prevent them being contacted out of hours for minor situations at the school. It is up to each school to agree the order of priority for emergency contacts.

Headteachers do not need to have access to the ECL unless they wish to. It is, however, very important that their out of hours contact details are listed in their school’s keyholder page. If Headteachers do wish to have access to their school’s Keyholder page of the ECL, they should email Esther directly, with their name, school name, personal work email address and school role and request either access/read only or access/editing permissions for their school’s keyholder page only.

For all email requests, please contact Esther directly at Esther.McDermott@telford.gov.uk and do not use the request access options within the SharePoint site. This will ensure that your request does not get missed.

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Let’s make sure everyone enjoys this festive season!

The EP and LSAT teams are proud of our ongoing association with the Autism Education Trust.

As excitement builds in the run-up to the festive season, changes to the familiar school environment, timetable and sensory stimulation can be overwhelming for many autistic / neurodivergent children and young people.

Spontaneous and festive activities that might be exciting for non-autistic pupils can create anxiety and stress for your autistic learners, which can result in overwhelm leading to autistic meltdown or shutdown.

The AET’s easy read 10-point checklist can help guide you to make those all-important environmental adjustments.

Share these festive tips with your colleagues and let's create inclusive environments that all neurodivergent learners can enjoy.

AET Inclusive Christmas Guide

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School and setting closure line

As we move into the Winter, just a gentle reminder to use the School and Setting Closure Line to report whether your school or setting is closed for any reason (e.g. adverse weather conditions, maintenance issues etc.).

Each school/setting will be responsible for keeping the information up to date about their respective school/setting.

Your School or Setting will need to be registered to be able to access and use the system. You will need to ensure that you have nominated /designated persons who will be given administration rights and be responsible for keeping the closure line for your school or setting up to date (this can be either a general admin person/email address,  head teachers, PA’s or a mix of).

Please complete the form if there has been any changes to the designated persons for your schools and settings.

All the information reported on the school closures line automatically updates the Telford & Wrekin Council website. This is used to keep staff, pupils, parents and the residents in Telford and Wrekin aware of the latest school /settings closures.

If you have any issues with accessing the closure line or require any further information please send an email to schoolclosures@telford.gov.uk.

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Mental Health for Early Years Children - Help for Early Years Providers

We all have mental health, just as we have physical health. In the same way that we can be more or less physically healthy from time to time, we can also be more or less mentally healthy from time to time too.

Help for Early Years Providers has added new information and guidance on supporting babies and young children with their mental health.

The guidance:

• explains how practitioners can support positive mental health in early years children
• includes emotional and behavioural support strategies to use in early years settings
• links to further reading and resources

For more guidance on supporting children in the early years, visit the Help for Early Years Providers website.

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Routes into Early Years Roadshow

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Shropshire and Telford Education Partnership (STEP), your local provider for the suite of National Professional Qualifications for Middle, Senior Leaders, Headteachers and Executive Headteachers

STEP National Professional Qualifications – Programmes starting February 2024 - Registrations close on the 17 January 2024.

Now is the time for your school to take advantage of the fully funded suite of NPQs.

The DfE are not currently guaranteeing any funded NPQs beyond February 2024.  

If you are from a small school you may also be eligible to the additional small school funding which is payable directly to your school for each participant.

For more information on programmes being delivered in Shropshire and Telford, please go to https://www.stepwm2.co.uk/our-offer/npq or view the following SWAY

The reformed suite of NPQs is available for teachers and leaders in Shropshire and Telford who want to develop their knowledge and skills in specialist areas of teaching practice. There are:

• 4 leadership NPQs in senior leadership, headship, executive leadership and early years leadership
• 4 NPQs for teachers and leaders who want to develop their expertise in specialist areas of teaching practice

If you are interested in receiving high quality training to develop your middle and senior leaders then please consider registering on one of the following programmes:

SPECIALIST NPQs

NPQ in Leading Teacher Development (NPQLTD) 

The NPQLTD is available for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading the development of other teachers in their school. This may be responsibility for the development of all teachers across a school or specifically trainees or ECTs.  

The aim of the NPQLTD is to provide teachers with essential knowledge, skills and concepts that underpin successful leadership of teacher development. 

NPQ in Leading Behaviour and Culture (NPQLBC)

The NPQLBC is available for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading behaviour and/or supporting pupil wellbeing in their school. 

The aim of the NPQLBC is to provide evidence which underpins successful leadership of behaviour and culture and provides participants with an understanding of how to put new approaches into practice.  

NPQ in Leading Teaching (NPQLT)

The NPQLT is available for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase. 

The aim of the NPQLT is to provide the participant with expertise and approaches that, through working with their colleagues, enable their school to keep improving, and contribute to a culture in which staff and pupils are all able to thrive.  

NPQ in Leading Literacy (NPQLL)

Leading Literacy for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading literacy across a school, year group, key stage or phase in their school.

The aim of the NPQLL is to provide teachers with essential knowledge, skills and concepts that underpin successful leadership of Literacy.

LEADERSHIP NPQS

NPQ in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL)

The NPQEYL is available for leaders qualified to at least Level 3 with a full and relevant qualification who are, or are aspiring to be, managers of Private, Voluntary and Independent nurseries, headteachers of school-based and maintained nurseries, or childminders with leadership responsibilities.

The aim of the NPQEYL is to provide teachers with essential knowledge, skills and concepts that underpin successful leadership of Early Years Leadership.

NPQ in Senior Leadership (NPQSL)

The NPQSL is available for teachers who are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities. 

The aim of the NPQSL is to enable participants to develop the relevant expertise and provide approaches to enable continuous improvement across the school.  

NPQ in Headship 

The NPQH is available for those who are, or are aspiring to be, a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school; or for those who are a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school and are in the first 24 months of headship. 

The aim of the NPQH is to enable participants to gain an understanding of the expertise and approaches required to set an ambitious vision for their school, as well as learning how to establish a culture where staff and pupils can thrive. 

NPQ in Executive Leadership 

The NPQEL is available for those who are, or are aspiring to be, and executive headteacher or have a school trust CEO role with responsibility for leading several schools.  

The aim of the NPQEL is to develop flexible expertise than participants can use to respond to challenges in a range of contexts, as well as being able to identify and address persistent and common school leadership challenges.

LENGTH AND CONTENT

All Programmes last between 12-18 months with a face-to-face session, online content and formative and end of programme summative assessment. 

How will I be assessed?

Formative assessment takes place throughout the programme, helping you to understand the progress you are making, and facilitators to adapt your learning experiences.

There are two success criteria for the successful completion of your course:

• Participation in at least 90% of the course

• Successfully pass the summative case study assessment

The summative assessment requires you to answer three questions in response to a case study.  The assessment will give you the opportunity to demonstrate how you would deploy the knowledge, skills and understanding gained through the NPQ to lead and implement a specific aspect of change. The assessment windows are set at the start of your course and there is an 8-day period to complete the assessment.

To book your place for 2023-2024 or find out more, please visit https://www.stepwm2.co.uk/our-offer/npq or contact Gemma.Hargreaves@leadinglearning.co.uk or Cavelle.PriestleyBird@leadinglearning.co.uk

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Updated EHE policy 2023-2024 for all schools

Section 5 of the EHE policy has been updated to reinforce the LA procedures in relation to when the Off Roll Notification should be completed following a parental deregistration for elective home education. 

Once a parent has notified a school in writing of their wish to elective home educate, the child should be removed from the school roll at that point in line with the current DfE Guidance. In accordance with our local policy, all parents should be offered a multi-agency meeting (MAM). If parents decline to attend the MAM meeting, the meeting must still go ahead with the LA before the Internal LA Off Roll Notification form is returned.  Please refer to the updated policy for more information.

As a reminder, the appendices within the policy includes work flow diagrams to support schools and leaders with the EHE process and should be referred to in the event of any EHE enquiries.

Please ensure that all staff who have responsibility for pastoral, attendance and safeguarding within schools are aware of the updated policy.

Please note that copies of the old policy should be deleted and only the new policy should be used.

EHE Policy 2023 - 2024

All EHE Enquiries should be sent to the team email address: EHE@Telford.gov.uk