Education Noticeboard: 14 October 2021
Welcome to the Education Noticeboard. A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.
Included in this update
- Director Update
- Telford & Wrekin launch their October half-term activity brochure
- COVID-19 updated procedures for schools
- Pre-exclusion hotline
- Household Support Grant Vouchers for children eligible for Free School Meals
- Telford & Wrekin NEET Newsletter October 2021
- New school closures line due for launch
- Travel to school survey – extended deadline
- Request from the Children's Commissioner – Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) – Privacy notice
- SEND drop in – Wrekin Locality
- Shout Out for SEND (SOS) Group – Young Persons Forum
- Funded Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) Lead Training
- St. Giles SOS+ County Lines Telford Professionals’ Training
- First Aid for educational visits, forest schools and outdoor learning
- Fully funded national professional qualifications
- Train to teach with the Severn Training and Schools Alliance (STSA)
- CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors
- ‘Ability Counts’ football
Director Update
Dear colleagues
As October half-term approaches, and with it hopefully a chance for at least some down time, Telford & Wrekin have put together a week long programme of activities for children and young people. These provide cost conscious options, including a Halloween disco, so please share this with parents of your pupils.
Also with half-term in mind, some information has been provided about vouchers for children who are eligible for free school meals. This includes how, and when, they will be distributed.
Our first NEET Newsletter, has now been published. This is a fantastic newsletter, which shares the latest data and activities taking place to reduce the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training in the borough.
A couple of reminders have been included: The Pre-exclusion Hotline is still a resource that is available; we ask schools to nominate members of staff to keep the new school closures line up to date for their setting (thanks to those who have made their returns) and the travel to school survey is ongoing which now has an extended deadline.
SEND have a number of updates, including a request from the Children’s Commissioner regarding Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and the date for the next SEND drop-in.
There have been some changes to the guidance for schools, around COVID-19. For pupils, these changes revolve around the increased use of LFD testing for pupils identified as contacts by national Test &Trace, including, significantly, for primary-aged children. As always, please familiarise yourself with the information provided.
Hoping next week is a smooth run up to half-term, for you all.
Best wishes
Simon
Director: Education and Skills
Telford & Wrekin launch their October half-term activity brochure
Telford & Wrekin Leisure have launched their 2021 October half term holiday activities brochure, which is now available to download.
There are a number of fun activities to keep the kids busy this October half-term, right on the doorstep. Activities will be held in COVID-19 safe environments, and will range from Halloween fancy dress discos at Telford Ice Rink through to holiday clubs.
October Half-term activity programme
COVID-19 updated procedures for schools
There have been changes to guidance agreed by UKHSA (formerly PHE) to help control case numbers within schools.
Nothing changes for the approach taken to staff who are close contacts.
For pupils, these changes revolve around the increased use of LFD testing for pupils identified as contacts by national Test &Trace, including, significantly, for primary-aged children. It also introduces a period of LFD testing for secondary school pupils whose cohort has gone into stepped-up measures.
This will change our general advice to schools in the following ways:
For pupils identified as household or close contacts by Test and Trace:
- For both primary and secondary schools: Household or close contacts of a positive cases are asked to take LFD tests daily for a period of 7 days from the start of what would have been their self-isolation period. This is in addition to the PCR they will have been recommended to take. It’s a request, it’s not mandatory and pupils should be allowed to come into school unless they are symptomatic or test positive on either LFD or PCR.
This will need to be communicated to parents as soon as possible so they can act accordingly if their child is identified as a contact by Test & Trace.
After stepped-up measures have been introduced:
- For primary schools: There will be no change to current advice at this stage. Pupils will be asked to take a PCR test but will not be required to await the results before returning to school.
- For secondary schools: Students will be asked to take LFD tests daily for a period of 7 days. This is in addition to the PCR they have been asked to take as per the current stepped-up measures. Again, this is a request, it’s not mandatory and pupils should be allowed to come into school unless they are symptomatic or test positive on either LFD or PCR.
Sourcing of LFD test kits
Secondary Schools
If a school requires additional kits they should use the following options :
1. Business as usual Salesforce Order: 7-14-day turnaround on deliveries. Schools should use the BAU channel to replenish stock to support twice-weekly testing.
2. 48 Hour Emergency Order via 119: Schools can contact 119 and place an emergency order. Order placed by 5pm on day one will be delivered on day three.
3. 24 Hour Emergency Order via 119: As of today, we have worked with Test Operations to invoke a 24-hour solution for schools. Orders placed by midday on day one will be delivered on day two.
Primary Schools
No LFD test kits will be provided for Primary School distribution. Schools should sign post parents to the following:
LFD test kits can be ordered online for delivery or collected via a local pharmacy. These channels should be used to access test kits for any non-school aged household contacts that fall within the scope of any intervention measures. To order regular rapid lateral flow coronavirus (COVID-19) tests visit the NHS website.
Pre-exclusion hotline
During the Summer Term of the last academic year, a new Pre-exclusion Hotline was trialled across Telford & Wrekin. A lot of positive feedback was received about this resource and the support available to aid discussions around each child before an exclusion took place.
A number of schools used the Hotline, however it is now time to refocus the intention of use so that schools are aware of the how to access the support on offer.
We would like to remind you that the Pre-exclusion Hotline is available as a pre-exclusion support mechanism and not for use after an exclusion has already taken place. Once a school is considering an exclusion that would be the ideal time for schools to contact the hotline so that a member of the team can come out to school to meet with the young person, and participate in discussions with a view to assisting colleagues to de-escalate the situation.
The team look forward to continuing to work alongside schools, providing this valuable same day on-site support to prevent an exclusion from taking place. The intention is always for the young person to remain in school, in line with the Telford & Wrekin strategy to reduce exclusions.
For more information with regards to the team, please contact BSAT Team Leader (Darren Lennon) by email to Darren.Lennon@telford.gov.uk.
Household Support Grant Vouchers for children eligible for Free School Meals
Vouchers with a value of £15 per pupil are being sent out to all eligible families, to support them over the October half term break. These vouchers will be sent by email to all of the parents that Telford & Wrekin have email addresses for, from 20 October 2021 onwards. The communication to parents will also include addresses that they can contact if they experience any problems with the voucher.
In the unlikely event that a parent contacts school with queries regarding the vouchers, or if they have not received it, please ask them to send an email to winterfunding.grant@telford.gov.uk.
If the query relates to problems downloading the voucher or where it can be spent please refer them to our website which contains and FAQ section. Alternatively the voucher provider can be contacted by telephone on 0344 693 9901, or by completing the online contact form on the Select Your Reward website.
There are a small number of children where parent email addresses are not held, and for these children, it is requested that the vouchers are distributed to parents by the schools as appropriate. Schools will receive these vouchers for children from the 21 October 2021 onwards.
Many thanks again for your support with this distribution which will help children and families over the October break.
Telford & Wrekin NEET Newsletter October 2021
A copy of the first NEET Newsletter for Telford & Wrekin is available for download, sharing updates on the latest data and activities aimed at reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the Borough.
New school closures line due for launch
Telford & Wrekin are currently in the process of creating a new school closure line which will be public facing, and be displayed on the borough website. The new system will be live by 1 November 2021.
The school closure line will replace the old snowline which had been in place for over 12 years.
It is expected that all schools, nurseries and the colleges within the borough to be part of this new system, so that staff, pupils, parents and the residents in Telford & Wrekin can be kept up to date with the latest school closures.
Each individual school will be responsible for keeping the information up to date about their school.
The new system is easy to use and is user friendly. Step by step instructions will be issued to on how to operate the system for the nominated persons
To ensure the system is effective and efficient it is important that each school completes a form nominating /designated persons who will be given admin rights and be responsible for keeping the closure line up to date for their respective schools (this can be either admin, head teachers, PA’s or a mix of roles).
Thank you for your cooperation with this request.
Please return the forms no later than Monday 18 October 2021
School closures line: Data collection nominations
Travel to school survey – extended deadline
If you have not done so already, please complete the Travel to School Survey for 2021 as soon as possible. The deadline has been extended to Friday 22 October 2021.
This data is vital to support Telford & Wrekin in developing and implementing further active and sustainable travel measures, complying with the monitoring requirements which are part of Government funding already awarded to the Council, and to support the completion of future funding bids to Government.
Telford & Wrekin Council is committed to investing and improving sustainable active travel over the coming years, to ensure that our transport network continues to evolve and be fit for purpose but also to promote the health and well-being benefits associated with active and sustainable travel.
The Council has recently secured Department for Transport Active Travel Funding, and is required to carry out the Annual Travel to School Survey.
We would appreciate it if your school could carry out the attached hands up survey with all pupils (from Reception year to Year 13), which simply asks ‘How do you usually travel to school?’
Available for download are two spreadsheets.
- Annual School Travel Survey CLASS Data Sheet 2021 – Please share this spreadsheet with all class teachers / tutor group leaders.
- Annual School Travel Survey SCHOOL Data Sheet 2021 – Please use this spreadsheet to collate all the data from each class spreadsheet.
Instructions are enclosed within each spreadsheet.
This information along with the travel to school survey data, will support the Council, in developing and implementing further active and sustainable travel measures, as well as support funding bids to Government.
Please return the completed School Data Sheet along with your answers to the questions by Friday 22 October 2021 to roadsafety@telford.gov.uk.
Thank you to those schools that have already completed the survey.
Request from the Children's Commissioner – Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) – Privacy notice
The Children’s Commissioner has requested, under Section 2F of the Children Act 2004, that Telford and Wrekin Council securely sharing all new* Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) that were issued between 1 September 2019 and 31 August 2021 with the Children’s Commissioner for England.
Telford and Wrekin Council are legally obliged to provide this information.
The Children’s Commissioner for England has a statutory responsibility to protect and promote the rights of children, including the most vulnerable. The Commissioner is responsible for ensuring that children’s voices are heard across government and that their interests are considered when the government is planning new policy that will affect them.
The Department for Education (DfE) is conducting a review into the provisions for children with Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND). The findings of this review will shape the policy and service provision for children with SEND across England for at least the next five years. Currently, there is a lack of evidence available on the functioning of the EHCP system.
To ensure that the SEND review makes recommendations based on evidence, the Children’s Commissioner’s Office, as an independent body separate from government, will use the data to conduct analysis to better understand how the system is meeting the needs of children and where there are areas for improvement. The findings from this research will be published anonymously and shared with the DfE to inform the review. Telford and Wrekin has been selected by the Children’s Commissioner Office to take part alongside six other Local Authorities in England.
The Children’s Commissioner will not share your personal information with any other agency, and it will be used for research purposes only. Your personal data will be kept securely and will not be used to identify you, or your child.
Under UK-GDPR, you have the right to submit a subject access request to find out what information the Children’s Commissioner holds about you and to object to your information being processed. The Children’s Commissioner provides details of how to contact them for these reasons.
Find out more: Personal data collected for research purposes
For more information about this research and how the Children’s Commissioner will protect your information please see the Data Protection Impact Assessment page on the GOV.UK website.
*Only those EHC plans that were issued from new assessments will be included. This does not apply to any amended EHC plan issued during this time following an annual review.
SEND drop in – Wrekin Locality
The first SEND Drop In for the Wrekin Locality will be on:
- Thursday 21 October 2021
- 3.30pm – 4.30pm.
The drop in will give you the opportunity to ask questions and catch up with the SEND Officer and Coordinator for your locality. Meetings will be held as a virtual drop in and will have a representative from each of the SEND Services. This will give you the opportunity to ask for advice and support for your students.
Invitations to the SEND Locality Drop In will be sent out a week before the session to each of the SENCo in the Wrekin Locality, if you are new to your role or would like to be added to the invite list, please contact us with your name, position and school by email at: localoffer@telford.gov.uk.
Further information and dates for the other localities are available online:
SEND Local Offer – SEND drop In
Shout Out for SEND (SOS) Group – Young Persons Forum
Shout Out for SEND (SOS) is a group of 11-25 year olds that meet every month to ensure that they have the chance to have their voice heard and to influence the decisions in Telford & Wrekin SEND and the IASS service (Information Advice and Support Service).
The next SOS Meeting is on:
- Tuesday 26 October 2021
- 2-4pm.
To find out more or to book your place please send an email to info@iass.org.uk. Alternatively, join the SOS Facebook page to find out about the group.
Over the autumn term the group will be writing to School Councils to see how they can work together with the forum. The group would like to actively encourage young people to share their views and feedback to influence decisions both for themselves and other young people in Telford.
If you would like to find out more about the SOS Group or discuss how your school council can work with us please send an email to localoffer@telford.gov.uk.
Shout Out for SEND Facebook Page:
Although not all young people are able to join the Facebook group, it is still important that their views and ideas on services are shared. Because of this a closed Facebook site for the SOS group has been created.
Search for Shout Out for SEND on Facebook and request to ‘Join Group’ (young people will need to be over the age of 13 to access this Facebook Group).
Please share this information with any students who may be interested in attending the SOS Group.
Funded Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) Lead Training
Currently underway is a huge drive on increasing the understanding of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) within Telford & Wrekin schools, to increase inclusion. All schools are asked to co-work towards achieving this whole-borough vision. To support this co-work, and make achieving this vision a reality, a funded place is being provided for a one member of senior staff from each setting to attend the ASC Lead training, during the forthcoming Autumn Term.
Why does my schools need an ASC Lead?
A lead autism practitioner is needed in every school in Telford. The ASC Lead can then drive planning the support and provision for children with social communication needs, across the school.
What impact will the ASC Lead have in my school?
Having an ASC Lead will enable all young people to have an increased sense of belonging to their school and promote inclusion. This is essential because it will increase the holistic development of each young person identified with ASC.
In addition, if requests are made for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), schools will be able to demonstrate levels of interventions linked to the graduated response. Furthermore, the acquired skills across all school staff will assist with the presentation of young people to the emotional health and wellbeing panel for consideration to be placed on the ASC pathway. The content of the Autism Education Trust (AET) links to the Ofsted framework for inspection, and therefore will support each school when engaging with Ofsted Inspectors.
Next Steps
Schools are asked to sign up one member of staff for the ASC Lead training. Please identify the member of staff who is, or will be, the autism lead in your school and ask them to sign up to just one of the dates below. The autism lead will need to be a senior member of your team who is able to oversee the development of policy and practice.
The dates are as follows:
- 3 November 2021
- 10 November 2021
- 17 November 2021
- 24 November 2021
- 1 December 2021
- 8 December 2021
To book a place on a course, please send a completed CPD booking form by email to CPDschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk.
The booking form is available online.
Once your member of staff has received the ASC lead (Leading Good Autism Practice, or LGAP for short) training, they are encouraged to then begin to organise the delivery of whole school training. This can be achieved by contacting Michael Lane (Senior Educational Psychologist and ASC Lead) who will co-ordinate the allocation of training staff to schools. He can be contacted by sending an email to Michael.lane@telford.gov.uk
St. Giles SOS+ County Lines Telford Professionals’ Training
St. Giles Trust is a national charity using expertise and real-life past experiences to empower people to progress towards positive futures.
The trust have developed training for professionals and the SOS+ are hosting a webinar particularly for Telford school staff to be held on Wednesday 20 October 2021, 3:30pm – 5pm.
The learning outcomes of the session seek to:
- Explain the methods used to groom, recruit and exploit young people.
- Have an awareness of the push and pull factors that contribute to a young person becoming vulnerable and susceptible to county lines involvement.
- Recognise key signs and indicators that young people are being exploited or at risk of county line involvement.
- Describe the relationship between county lines and other forms of criminal activity and exploitation (i.e. serious violence, human trafficking, debt bondage, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation).
- Understand the perspective of either a survivor or perpetrator after hearing from an expert witness, including a brief overview of how girls are used.
- Develop initial long-term and solution-based approaches to prevent and reduce the risks associated with each stage of the county lines process, including realistic exit strategies.
The session will consist of speakers who have lived experience within the criminal justice system, and who will unpack and explore the realities and consequences of county lines drug smuggling, gang involvement, criminal exploitation and serious youth violence.
There will be perspectives from previous perpetrators and runners / transporters, combined with relevant case studies.
For full details, including a link to join the webinar, please download the leaflet.
SOS+ Telford Professionals' Webinar Leaflet
First Aid for educational visits, forest schools and outdoor learning
Arthog Outreach, in Wellington, offers a triple certificated first aid course suitable for a comprehensive range of settings including outdoors, in work and with young people. It will meet your organisations statutory requirements, minimising costs and time, whilst maximising best value.
The course certification is through Rescue & Emergency Care (REC) and you will receive the following certificates on successful completion of this 2-day course:
- REC – Emergency Outdoor First Aid;
- REC – Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW); and
- REC – 12 hour Paediatric First Aid.
Spring Term Dates:
- 13 & 14 January 2022
- 3 & 4 March 2022
- 17 & 18 March 2022
The cost is £140 to include all certificates and a first aid manual.
For further information or to book, please call 01952 387378 or email outreach@arthog.co.uk.
First Aid for Educational Visits, Forest Schools & Outdoor Learning – an overview
The Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 state: “An employer shall provide or ensure that there are provided, such equipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances for enabling first aid to be rendered to their employees if they are injured or become ill at work”.
This same principle should be applied to the children and young people in the care of an establishment. The provision of first aid during off-site visits and activities should therefore be considered as part of the risk-benefit assessment and planning process. Establishments should have in place an assessment to determine their first aid provision on site. Off-site provision is simply an extension of this. The determination of the appropriate requirements should take into account:
- the nature of the activity;
- the nature of the group;
- the likely injuries associated with the activity;
- the extent to which the group will be isolated from the support of the emergency services (both in terms of distance and response time).
During an epidemic such as coronavirus, you should consider including in first aid kits hand gel, antiseptic wipes, tissues, bags for waste, gloves and face masks and possibly disposable aprons and eye protection.
Qualified first-aiders may not be necessary for all off-site activities and visits, however, a basic level of first aid support should be available at all times. This will require that one or more of the staff leading the activity:
- has a working knowledge of simple first aid and is competent to use the first aid materials carried with the group; and
- knows how to access, and is able to access, qualified first aid support.
For children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), there is a statutory requirement that at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate and sufficient understanding and use of English to summon help in an emergency must accompany children on outings.
Where a group of young people is subject to remote supervision (for example during a Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition), then the supervisor should ensure that the group has:
- the ability to contact qualified first aid support; and
- an appropriate level of competence and first aid materials to look after themselves until help arrives.
Most National Governing Bodies of sport and recreation activities require their qualified leaders to hold a current relevant first aid certificate. The minimum standards vary from activity to activity.
A wide range of first aid training courses and certificates is available. These include:
- Emergency First Aid in the Workplace (typically one day);
- Paediatric First Aid (typically two days);
- First Aid at Work (three days);
- Courses designed for outdoor activities and remote environments (typically two days and usually including the requirements of the Emergency First Aid in the Workplace course);
- More specialised courses, which may include expedition medicine etc.
Basic first aid is not complicated, and many lives could be saved each year if more people knew how to open an airway, place a casualty into a safe airway position and deal with major bleeding/shock. Good practical first aid training is an excellent way to provide young people with a useful life skill while enhancing their self-esteem and self-confidence. It is also an excellent team building/group-work activity. It is, therefore, good practice for establishments to provide some form of first aid training to all students/young people and staff (whether certificated or not).
To decide whether a particular course or certificate is appropriate, you should compare what is covered on the course with what the trainee may be asked to deal with. You should ensure that whoever you choose to provide training is suitable. HSE guidance on how to do this can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Full Outdoor Education Advisor Panel’s National Guidance can also be found online.
Fully funded national professional qualifications
National Professional Qualifications for all schools in Shropshire and Telford are available through STEP and will now be Fully Funded by the Department for Education (DfE).
Are you investing in your staff with quality professional learning? Don’t let your school miss out on this opportunity.
Just announced:
Teachers and leaders employed in state funded schools, and state funded organisations that offer 16-19 places, in England will be able to access a fully funded NPQ from Autumn 2021, to support teachers and pupils following the disruption to learning faced as a result of COVID-19.
Funding:
As part of the government’s long-term education recovery plan, £184 million of new funding for NPQs was announced on 2 June 2021 to be spent over the course of this parliament.
The unique offer:
Shropshire and Telford Education Partnership (STEP) have been listening to school leaders in the locality. With all the pressures still on our schools it is imperative you have the time and space to access the fully funded NPQs without deadlines for registrations this week. We want to ensure you have access to carefully considered delivery, spaced out across the year that reduces workload impact.
- Launch windows between November 2021 and January 2022.
- This more flexible and paced approach to accessing our NPQs reduces demands on you to ensure you are ready for delivery from February 2022.
This will include:
- An introductory session, warm up webinars, preparation tasks, self-assessments and guidance on online learning.
- Exemplary Face to Face sessions hosted in Oswestry and Telford
- Online webinars
- Discussion forums
Next steps for potential applicants:
For more information on STEP and the NPQ programmes please visit the STEP website. Sign up is also done via the website. (Please note you will be redirected to LLSE’s application). Please note that places may become limited due to the fully funded offer.
Dates of delivery will be hosted on the website shortly and will include:
- The welcome/information session in November and an alternative at the start of January.
- The introductory webinar at the end of January. This will advise on using the online platform and a Q&A session with your facilitators.
- The Individual Self-assessment and optional preparation tasks will be available December 2021 – January 2022.
- Face to Face delivery across the modules.
- Online learning across the modules.
In the first instance please contact the Alliance of Leading Learning (ALL) team with any queries, by sending an email to AdminALL@leadinglearning.co.uk or by telephoning 01691 664445.
Train to teach with the Severn Training and Schools Alliance (STSA)
Teacher training applications for September 2022 starters are now open on the new Apply system on the GOV.UK website. Severn Training and Schools Alliance (formerly Severn Teaching School Alliance) are the local provider for Primary (4-7) and Early Years (3-7) teacher training, via the School Direct route. This route takes delegates from graduate to qualified teacher in just one academic year.
The entire course is Telford based, and includes placements in a wide variety of Telford schools, including special settings for those with a specific interest in pursuing a career in that sector.
To find out more please visit the Severn Training and Schools Alliance (STSA) website, www.stsa.uk or contact the team via email on stsa@taw.org.uk to attend an information session.
CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors
The 2021-2022 CPD Booklet is available on the Telford Education Services site and we very much look forward to receiving your bookings.
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 are usually booked by sending your email address name and school name to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk
Please note: With effect from Monday 27 September 2021 all face to face training (other than Newly Appointed DSL, MAPA and ELSA training) has been moved to online training delivery for a period of four weeks initially. This is to support business continuity in schools.
Designated Teacher for Children in Care Network Meeting (Post 16 ) (online) |
Tuesday 19 October 2021 |
4pm to 5pm |
Assessing and Monitoring of progress in EAL (CPD 701) (online) |
Wednesday 20 October 2021 |
3.45pm to 6pm |
Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training (SG 103) (online) |
Wednesday 20 October 2021 |
5pm to 7.30pm |
ELSA Training - Part 6 FULL (face to face) |
Wednesday 20 October 2021 |
9am to 3pm |
Teaching Children with SEND: Meeting the Needs (LSAT 508) |
Thursday 21 October 2021 |
|
MAPA Refresher (BSAT 212) |
Thursday 21 October 2021 |
9am to 11.30am |
Absence Management of Employees (HR course) |
Thursday 21 October 2021 |
3pm to 5.30pm |
Primary Science and Design & Technology Subject Leaders' Termly Update and Development Meeting (CPD 517) (online) |
Thursday 21 October 2021 |
4pm to 5.30pm |
Raising Awareness of Child Protection (SG 108) (online) |
Thursday 21 October 2021 |
3.30pm to 5pm |
‘Ability Counts’ football
There has never been a better time to get involved and play disability football. Opportunities for players with a disability to access football, at various levels, have grown incredibly over the past few years.
Some children are enthusiastic players, who like nothing more than a kick about with their friends and peers, enjoying the social aspect of participation. Others may have ambitions to develop as a player, and to potentially play for teams and clubs. The good news is that the systems are in place for children to access football at the level that meets their needs and aspirations.
Shropshire Football Association (FA) support a number of ‘Ability Counts’ football club sessions. These clubs have shown a commitment to providing opportunities for children to take part in coaching and in some cases competitive football, competing in the FA Counties ‘Ability Counts’ League.
Madeley Sports Football Club are running ‘Ability Counts’ football sessions for children at the TCAT Superdome in Wellington.
The sessions are run by Noel Colley, Robert Coulman and Nicholas Handley. They are experienced FA registered coaches who are fully DBS checked and qualified in safeguarding and first aid.
The sessions are for boys and girls of all abilities and run every Monday, at the following times:
- 6 – 11 year olds, 6pm – 7pm
- 12 – 16 year olds, 7pm – 8pm
The cost is £3 per week (with the first taster week free).
Please note that, due to COVID-19 restrictions, only one parent or carer in allowed in the dome and must wear a face mask and comply with social distancing rules. Other family members may wait in their vehicle on the park.
If you would like any further information about these sessions, please contact Noel Colley by calling 07387 170344 or sending an email to colley.nowl@gmail.com