Education Noticeboard

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

The first Education Noticeboard of December is another full one, with a lot of information to share.

This Friday is the ‘Unite the Uniforms’ event, as part of the fundraising effort towards building the first emergency services cenotaph. We would very much like to see photographs of children and young people in the borough dressed up.

As you will be aware, the Jubilee celebration takes place next year. Telford & Wrekin are encouraging residents and organisations to ‘plant a tree for the jubilee’. Information on how to get free trees, and where to log the planting, are provided.

A reminder to respond to the Autism Strategy and Short Breaks surveys, before the deadline, is included.

With the recent announcement of new COVID-19 measures, there are a number of articles about this shared below. These include arrangements for testing over the holiday period and into January 2022, information on pop-up vaccination clinics for 12-15 year olds and an overview of updated guidance in relation to schools in the borough. There is also a fake NHS email that you need to be aware of.

Hoping you all have a good week.

Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education & Skills

Telford & Wrekin Council is pleased to announce the launch of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration Fund

As 2021 draws to a close and we look ahead to 2022, a year that will see an important milestone for the United Kingdom as Her Majesty the Queen becomes the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, seventy years of service, having acceded to the throne in 1952.

An extended bank holiday, from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June 2022, will provide an opportunity for communities and people throughout the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth to come together to celebrate the historic milestone.

The four days of celebrations will include public events both nationally and locally, community activities and national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service.

Telford & Wrekin Council is supporting communities to celebrate by launching The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration Fund. Grants of up to £2,000 are available to help communities celebrate The Queen’s 70 years of service.

Applications are now open until 4 February 2022.

This will be a huge celebration across the Borough and as many community and voluntary groups, faith groups, charities, other not for profit organisations, Town and Parish Councils, schools, businesses, residents associations and individuals who have an idea for their community are encouraged to get involved.

A short online briefing is available on Wednesday 19 January 2022 for those that are interested in applying.

Book a place – 19 January 2022 briefing

Full grant criteria can be found on the Telford & Wrekin website.

Telford & Wrekin encouraged to plant a tree for the Jubilee

Saturday 27 November 2021 saw the beginning of National Tree Week, with Telford & Wrekin Council encouraging borough residents and organisations to take this opportunity to ‘plant a tree for the Jubilee’ and log their planting as part of a national project linked to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

In a separate campaign, the Woodland Trust is inviting schools and community groups to apply for free trees.

Find out more about free trees available to community groups and schools, and how you can log your tree planting for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee project on the Telford & Wrekin Newsroom.

National Tree Week runs from Saturday 27 November to Sunday 5 December 2021.

Log your tree planting on the Queen's Green Canopy interactive map.

Apply for free trees for your school or community from the Woodland Trust.

Unite the Uniforms: 3 December 2021

Pupils across the UK are being invited to wear the colours of the emergency services on Friday 3 December 2021, as part of a major campaign to raise at least £3.2 million to build the UK’s first ‘Emergency Services Cenotaph’.

They will be asked to wear red, blue, green or orange clothing (the colours of the emergency services) and donate £1. This will go towards the 999 Cenotaph fund.

The 999 Cenotaph is supported by HRH The Duke of Cambridge; the Prime Minister; First Ministers of NI, Scotland, and Wales; and all emergency services. The 999 Cenotaph has the support of all parties in the House of Commons and has a Cross Party Committee which is being co-chaired by Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP and Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP.

What is the 999 Cenotaph and why do we need one?

Almost 2 million people work and volunteer across the NHS and emergency services today, including 250,000 first responders – those who respond when you dial 999. The Emergency Services Cenotaph (also known as a ‘999 Cenotaph’) will honour everybody who has ever served in the NHS and emergency services – from call handlers’, admin staff and porters to first responders, nurses and GPs. Those on the frontline could not do their jobs without people working hard behind the scenes.

Every person in this country has been helped by the NHS or emergency services at some point in our lives. Whether it’s from seeing your GP, firefighter’s putting out a fire or police officers coming to your aid. We all take those who serve in the NHS and emergency services for granted. We know that when we really need help, it will arrive. Despite millions of people having served in the 999 family, we do not have a national monument to celebrate our NHS and 999 heroes. We are working to change that.

Just as The Cenotaph was unveiled in 1920 to honour our Armed Forces and those killed in war, the 999 Cenotaph will be Britain’s national symbol of gratitude, sacrifice and remembrance to the millions who have served in our NHS and emergency services. It is our intention for the 999 Cenotaph to stand proudly alongside The Cenotaph on Whitehall for up to 1,000 years.

What will the 999 Cenotaph look like?

The monument will stand at 21 feet tall and includes six 8ft bronze statues (police officer, firefighter, paramedic, NHS nurse, maritime volunteer and search and rescue volunteer) stood back-to-back on a plinth, wearing the uniform they would wear when responding to a 999 call. There is also a statue of a spaniel dog to represent the important role of service animals. Should funds be secured soon, we are hoping for an unveiling at the beginning of 2023.

More information is available online.

Funding for anti-bullying projects for schools and colleges

An update from the Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) recently announced funding for five leading organisations, worth over £1 million in total, to support schools and colleges in championing tolerance and respect as part of their responsibility to tackle all forms of bullying. You can contact these organisations to request support:

The Diana Award’s free Anti-Bullying Ambassador Programme – engages young people, parents, carers and teachers to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to address different situations, both online and offline. Find out more and sign up your school online.
Diversity Role Models – supplies schools with training and resources which ensure staff have the knowledge and skills to tackle and prevent bullying and create inclusive school cultures through celebrating diversity and promoting respect for protected characteristics. Schools can register on the Diversity Role Models website.
The Anti-Bullying Alliance – the ‘United Against Bullying’ programme is a new whole-school anti-bullying programme. It supports schools to reduce bullying and improve the wellbeing of all children, focusing on those most at risk. Visit their website for more information and to register for the programme.
EqualiTeach – is a not-for-profit equality and diversity training and consultancy organisation which works with schools across the UK. EqualiTeach’s Equally Safe programme will see the organisation delivering an in-depth programme of work with 80 schools per year, over three years. More information is available on their website.
The Anne Frank Trust UK – through ‘History for Today’ and ‘Voices for Equality’ programmes, young people will have an opportunity to make a difference within your school community challenging and reflecting upon all forms of prejudice and discrimination. They also offer full class workshops based on contemporary themes. Please email education@annefrank.org.uk for further information.

Updated guidance to reflect new COVID-19 measures

An update from the Department for Education

On Saturday 27 November 2021, the Prime Minister announced new temporary measures following the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the UK.

On Sunday 28 November 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the measures as they apply to education and childcare.

The information on contact tracing and isolation, travel and quarantine, face coverings and vaccination of under 18 year olds have all been updated in the following guidance to reflect the new measures:

Arrangements for COVID-19 testing during the holidays and on return in January for all educational and childcare settings in England

An update from the Department for Education

Plans for COVID-19 testing in educational and childcare settings over Christmas and on return in January has been updated by the Department for Education (DfE).

All secondary schools are asked to prepare to test their pupils once on-site on return in January 2022. It is understood that this is a significant additional ask, but testing continues to play a vital role in keeping COVID-19 out of schools. Testing all pupils in school boosts testing participation and will help reduce transmission after a period of social mixing over the school holidays. Tests, PPE and funding to support your workforce will be provided as before. After this test on return, pupils should continue to test in line with government guidelines.

Please check your test kit stock levels and make an order of test kits so that both staff and students are able to test over the holiday period if required, and for the first week of January, using home test kits. Secondary schools will also need to order ATS kits and sufficient home test kits to ensure secondary pupils can continue to test in line with government guidelines. Please complete this stock-take form and ensure your stock is in date. Please specify when your setting closes for the holidays in the ‘delivery instructions’ when placing your order to ensure you receive your delivery.

Ofsted has confirmed that secondary schools will not be inspected, unless there are urgent concerns, during the first week of schools’ return in January.

Updated guidance is available on the document sharing platform to support you to prepare for asymptomatic testing when you return in January, including (for secondary schools) an asymptomatic testing site.

For those in settings closing over Christmas, all staff and students should test over the holidays in line with national guidance. This means that they should test if they will be in a high-risk situation that day, and before visiting people who are at higher risk of severe illness if they get COVID-19.

For settings remaining open over the Christmas period (such as private nurseries or adult education providers), staff and students should continue to test at home twice per week over the holiday period.

Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) students, and staff in all educational and childcare settings, should take one self-test at home either the evening or morning before they return in January 2022. Then they should continue to test in line with government guidelines.

COVID-19 test kits – ordering and deliveries for January 2022

An update from the Department for Education

The deadline for ordering ATS and self-test kits for use over the holidays and during the first week of January was 5pm on Tuesday 30 November. Any orders placed after this deadline will be scheduled for delivery during the week commencing Monday 3 January 2022.

If you missed the deadline but still require test kits to enable testing over the holidays and on return in January, please call NHS Test and Trace on 119.

Further information on testing over the holidays and in the first week of January can be found on the early years and primary schools document sharing platform and the secondary schools and colleges document sharing platform.

If you placed an order before this deadline, you will receive an email by Friday 3 December 2021 confirming when you can expect to receive your delivery. Please do not contact 119 to change your scheduled delivery unless the delivery has been scheduled for when your setting is closed.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme for 12 to 17 year olds: Update

The COVID-19 vaccine is now being made available to anyone over the age of 12.

Children aged 12 to 15:
All children aged 12 to 15 in England will be offered a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, following advice from the four UK Chief Medical Officers. They now have a choice in how they receive their vaccination.

In school clinics:
They will primarily receive their vaccination in their school with alternative provision for those who are home schooled (electively home educated), in secure services or specialist mental health settings. Parental, guardian or carer consent will be sought by vaccination healthcare staff prior to vaccination at schools.

Out of school clinics (bookable or walk-in):
Parents and guardians are able to book 12-15 year old COVID-19 vaccinations online via the National Booking Service, clinics are being held outside of school hours. In Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (Oswestry) and Turreff Hall (Telford) are offering bookable 12-15 vaccinations.

You can book an appointment at these clinics on the NHS website.
You can walk into the sites without an appointment during certain hours, check the site opening times on the NHS website. Please note that there are a limited number of walk in slots available.

Parents or guardians should attend the appointment to give their consent.

12-15-year-olds are being offered one dose only, which will be of the Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine, this is the only vaccine currently authorised for this age group. The vaccine is safe, quick and effective. It does not give people the COVID-19 virus and does not contain any animal products. Children do not need to be registered with a GP or have an NHS number to be vaccinated.

Please do not contact GP surgeries or other vaccine services directly about booking appointments.

There is more information about the vaccination offer to 12 to 15-year-olds on the GOV.UK website.

Children aged 16 and 17:
All children aged 16 and 17 years old are now eligible for second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, as long as it’s been twelve weeks since their first, or 12 weeks since they have had COVID-19. (This is different to those aged over 18 who only need wait 8 weeks)

To access their 1st or 2nd dose 16 and 17 year olds can:

Book an appointments via the National Booking System or by calling NHS 119.

Walk-in to a vaccination clinics (no appointment required, limited vaccine availability): Please check online for days and times clinics are being held.

Parental consent will not be required to be vaccinated.

If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19:
Please note that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended new guidelines for vaccination of young people under the age of 18 following COVID-19 infection:

Children aged 12 to 17 years will need to wait for 12 weeks following a positive test for COVID-19 before having their vaccination
Adults aged 18 and over will need to wait 28 days following a positive test for COVID-19 before having their vaccination

Further information on COVID-19 vaccination for children and young people is available online.

COVID-19 vaccination pop-up clinic for 12-15 year olds

Boost your immunity for the festive season by heading into our pop-up clinic and getting the vaccinations you need to protect yourself and those around you.

A pop-up vaccination clinic for 12 to 15 year olds has been confirmed Saturday 4 December 2021, in Southwater One.

Details:
Saturday 4 December 2021, 11am – 4pm
Southwater One, 2nd floor
12–15 year-olds: 1st doses

16+: 1st or 2nd jabs. For 2nd doses if you are 16+, there needs to be a minimum of 12 weeks from the first dose. For 18+, a minimum of 8 weeks from the first dose.

Can't make it on Saturday? Visit a different pop-up clinic!

Telford and Wrekin Interfaith Council Building, Wellington
Fridays, 11.30am - 3.30pm
Offering 1st dose for 12-15 year olds, booster jabs, 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses

Check the latest details and times on COVID-19 vaccination walk-in and pop-up clinics online.

All vaccines will be given on a first come, first served, with limited vaccines available.
Parents must accompany children aged 12-15.

Updated COVID-19 guidance for Telford & Wrekin schools

Schools will be aware of the changes to Government guidance that have been issued in response to the Omicron variant, in relation to the wearing of face coverings by staff and pupil in year 7 and above in communal areas.

Schools also need to be aware of the changes to travel arrangements that may impact on pupil attendance. All international arrivals now have to take a Day 2 PCR test and self-isolate until they receive a negative result. For travellers returning from any of the red list countries will need to quarantine in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days.

Additionally the number of Covid cases across the Telford & Wrekin continue to be very high and particularly so in the 0-19 age group. Case rates in the 10-19s is in excess of 1,000 per 100,000 and in the 0-9s is nearly 700 per 100,000. Cases in primary school aged children are increasing rapidly. The health protection hub provided guidance on 2.11.21 on further controls that we recommended that schools introduce to try and minimise transmission within schools.

To remind you those additional controls are:

Primary and Special Schools
Review your COVID risk assessment and consider:

Re-introducing class bubbles
Limiting staff cross overs
How you hold ‘all school’ events e.g. assemblies
The risk and benefit of external visitors
Moving all non-essential events where parents / carers visit schools to virtual
Virtual all staff meetings
Staggering lunch and start and finish times
Wearing of face coverings in communal areas by school staff
Ensure any visits out of school are to COVID-secure premises
Any other COVID-secure controls that were used in the last academic year
Staff to test themselves for COVID-19 twice a week, and more frequently if they are specifically asked to do so
Promote vaccination to staff not yet fully vaccinated and boosters as staff become eligible

Secondary and further education
Review your COVID risk assessment and consider:

Re-introducing year group bubbles
All staff, visitors and all pupils aged over 12 to wear a face covering in all communal areas unless exempt. (including when moving between classrooms and in the Dining Hall - except when eating and drinking)
Staff to teach from the front with a 2m distance
Virtual all staff meetings
Moving all non-essential events where parents / carers visit schools to virtual
The risk and benefit of external visitors
COVID-19 management for PE lessons and changing
Staggering lunch and start and finish time
Ensure any visits out of school are to COVID-secure premises
Staff and Pupils to test themselves for COVID-19 twice a week, and more frequently if they are specifically asked to do so

Additional testing for children who are household contacts
Where pupils are identified as a household contact of a positive case please recommend that they take a PCR test. In addition all children, including primary aged children (reception onwards), should take daily LFT tests for a period of 7 school days. (Children in early years provision should not undertake LFT testing). Secondary aged children will have access to LFT testing kits via their schools. Unfortunately there is no national plan to provide primary schools with testing kits for pupils and therefore parents should be signposted to order them online or collected via a local pharmacy. The pupil can attend school whilst taking their daily LFT tests. This is a request and is not mandatory and pupils must be allowed to come into school if they decide not to conduct LFT tests.

Your support to help implement measures in school is really appreciated.

Fake NHS email for ordering Omicron PCR test kits

Please be aware of a fake NHS email being sent to education and childcare settings which asks you to order ‘Omicron PCR test kits’. The NHS will never ask you for bank details so please be aware of these suspicious emails or similar text messages.

Further information on how to spot and report scam emails, text messages and phone calls is available through the National Cyber Security Centre.

Pre-exclusion hotline 07816 372459

The pre-exclusion hotline has been working well and this has best been used when a school is considering an exclusion, whereby a member of the BSAT team has been able to offer immediate intervention to discuss the exclusion in more detail and offer a preventative solution. This support is available for both the individual child and their school.

One example of this was a school who telephoned the pre-exclusion hotline requesting support.

Contact was requested because a child had got into trouble swearing and telling staff that they were going to kill them. The issue was that this individual had already been on a fixed term exclusion previously. The school had noticed that the child has complex needs and has previously utilised alternative provision.

The school felt that information provided to them by a primary colleague did not evidence the complex needs and support that was previously provided to the child. As Local Authority (LA) officers, the Behaviour Support Development and Advisory Team (BSATs) were able to check the protocol system to see the extensive support that had previously been provided and they were able to discuss this with the school.

Immediately, a visit was planned which allowed the BSAT team to support the child and discuss the reasons for their behaviour using a restorative approach. An offer of a restorative justice session with the child and the teacher involved enabled the exclusion to be prevented. Following this, school wanted to hold a series of support sessions from BSAT. This will be traded through the service.

In this instance, the ongoing support has allowed the BSATteam to check in weekly with the child, who has remained in school and is now doing well. This demonstrates that with the right support at the right time, exclusions can be prevented.

The Pre-exclusion Hotline number is 07816 372459.

Consultation reminders: Autism Strategy and Short Breaks

A reminder that Telford & Wrekin currently have two consultations ongoing to gain feedback to better support people living with disabilities in the area.

There has already been many responses, but the aim is for even more people to take part until 10 December 2021, to share their views and help us shape local services and support available to them.

If you have an interest in these consultations, please do get involved. Or if you know someone who might be interested, please do share.

The Autism Strategy pre-consultation, in partnership with Autism West Midlands, aims to get views on the services and support available to autistic people in Telford & Wrekin, their families and carers – more details and how to take part are available online. You can also watch a short video filmed at one of the engagement sessions.

The Short Breaks consultation gathers feedback on the current activities, care and support options available in our borough for young people under 25 with a disability. This will help shape the borough’s Short Breaks services and update the Short Breaks Offer for children and young people with a disability. More details and how to take part are available online.

Department for Education laptops for disadvantaged children

The Department for Education (DfE) has made further laptops available for disadvantaged young people in the event of full or partial school closures.

The DfE ‘Get Help With Technology’ website has now been configured so that notifications of the release of laptops for maintained schools now go directly to schools, usually the Headteacher. For academies, you need to check with your trust.

Emails will come from department.for.education.get.help.with.technology@notifications.service.gov.uk and there will be a link which will take you to the Get Help With Technology website. This will also let you know how many devices you can order.

There are 48 maintained schools for which laptops have been released by the DfE, of these, 20 are yet to order, so if you haven’t ordered any laptops in the last 4 weeks, there are probably some waiting for you.

Data collection for the phonics screening check to year 2 pupils in the 2021 autumn term

The Department for Education (DfE) has requested that all year 2 pupils who reach the age of 7 by the end of the 2021/22 academic year must have taken the phonics check in the 2021 autumn term.

The Local Authority has a responsibly to collect and share this information with the DfE and therefore we will be requesting all phonics data from school by Friday 10 December 2021.

The Proforma for data collection will be sent out by Daniel Siverns in the Local Authority Insight Team who are responsible for schools data collection.

To assist you, data codes for submission can be found on page 17 on the DfE document.

24 Strategies for festive inclusion

In collaboration with the wider community of Educational Psychologists, trainee Educational Psychologists and assistant Educational Psychologists, Telford & Wrekin Educational Psychologist Service have created an advent calendar of 24 inclusive strategies to support children in schools across the festive season.

These strategies cover a range of areas for potential difficulty, with ideas spanning sensory seeds, pupil wellbeing, social understanding, celebrating difference, staff wellbeing, support with learning, and language and communication difficulties.

Please download the advent calendar image, share with your staff teams and speak to your link Educational Psychologist to share how you get on!

24 Strategies for festive inclusion

Emotional Health and Wellbeing Panel Review

The Emotional Health and Wellbeing Panel has been in place since November 2019. The panel was initiated to support schools and young people by providing advice, signpost to services and to ensure the young people with the appropriate level of need are referred to BeeU for the ASD and ADHD pathway.

Following feedback from parent carers, schools and professionals the panel is being reviewed, to look what is working well and what the areas can be identified for development. Feedback is requested from all partners including Health and Parent Carers regarding the process, including experience and suggestions of areas to improve.

Emotional Health and Wellbeing Panel Survey

We would appreciate your feedback so we can ensure that the panel is meeting the needs of our Children and Young people in Telford & Wrekin.

Please complete the survey by Friday 10 December 2021.

More information about the Panel can be found on the SEND Local Offer.

SENCo Network Meeting – Thursday 9 December 2021

All schools, early years and post 16 settings are invited to join the SENCo Network Meeting on Thursday 9 December 2021, 4pm – 5.30pm via Microsoft Teams.

This meeting will be an interactive workshop to include feedback and information on the following topics:

Engagement Model – Brief Overview
Telford & Wrekin SEND – Woking Together Charter. Review of the finalised Co-production Charter, with an opportunity for feedback from settings.
Emotional Health and Wellbeing Review. Focus Groups to feedback on the Emotional Health and Wellbeing Review.

Invitations will be sent to all SENCo’s including Early Years and Post 16 Settings. If you have not received an invitation, or are new to your role and would like to attend the SENCo Network Meeting please contact us with your name, position and school by sending an email to SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk and the invitation will be sent to you.

SEND Newsletter – November 2021

The SEND Newsletter - November 2021 has been published on the SEND Local Offer. Discover all the current news and information about Special Educational Needs and Disability in Telford & Wrekin.

Please take a look at the SEND News section on the Local Offer to see the full list of articles.

SEND Local Offer – SEND News

To make sure that you don't miss future updates, subscribe to the SEND Newsletter.

SEND Parent Carers and Family Newsletter – November 2021

The November Newsletter for Parent Carers and Families is now available to view on the SEND Local Offer. Please can we request that you share the link and the message below with families explaining how parent carers and families can sign up to receive the Newsletter directly to their inbox.

SEND Parent/Carer News – November 2021.

Discover all the current news and information for Parents Carers and Families about Special Educational Needs and Disability in Telford & Wrekin.

Parents and families can sign up to receive the email bulletin direct to their Inbox using the link below:

Reminder to return year 11 preference forms

Schools are reminded that Year 11 preference forms for EHCP learners need to be returned to the SEND team by the end of term or 1st January 2022 at the latest and that we will contact schools with any gaps before the end of term.

Any queries can be sent by email to SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk

Autism Spectrum Condition 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 remaining dates are as follows:

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

Updated Schools Emergency and Business Continuity Plan Template

Schools will be aware of the changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education and its supplementary guidance, which came into force on 1 September 2021.

Schools are now required, as part of their emergency management arrangements, to have systems in place for targeting and responding to individual or group violence. Although violent incidents themselves do not appear to be an immediate concern, there is a need to build resilience to such problems in schools for the future.

With this in mind, the council Resilience Unit with the support of Donna Irish (Health and Safety) and Scott Thomas-White (Education Safeguarding) have updated the Telford & Wrekin Schools Emergency and Business Continuity Plan Template.

Every educational establishment in the borough will be emailed a copy of the template in early December 2021. Those schools who already use the previous version of the template will be able to cut and paste the local information in the current plan across to the new template to save time and effort.

Queries can be sent to Alan Boyd, by email to Alan.boyd@telford.gov.uk or by telephoning 01952 381932.

Nationally accredited Educational Visit Leader Training

Because of the pandemic, it is likely to have been a long time since schools were able to organise many types of off-site visits and activities.

It is important that to recognise that things may have changed in this time, and that careful preparations will need to be made before resuming to normal provision. Young people have spent a significant amount of time indoors, away from educational settings and their peers. This may affect how they respond during activities and visits.

The Nationally accredited Educational Visit Leader Training course will help refresh both competence and competence. Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences, while having the ease of access that Microsoft Teams brings.

Educational visit Leader Course Content:
This course is designed to support and inform staff who lead or are learning to lead educational visits. No previous experience is necessary.

The course covers the planning, approval and emergency procedures that Visit Leaders must follow in their setting including

Benefits and perceived barriers to Visits
Legal expectations
Visit planning, leadership and evaluation (including risk assessment)
Action points to follow up on after the course
Who to contact for further advice

Handbook and resources included. Certificated through the Outdoor Education Advisors Panel

Course Dates:

Tuesday 8 February 2022
Tuesday 3 May 2022
Or as a bespoke course at a time to suit you.

Course Fees:

£40pp for T&WC SLA Establishments / £75 for Non-SLA
Or £260 for T&WC SLA / £320 for Non-SLA for a group course

To book please email EdVisits@telford.gov.uk.

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

The 2021-2022 CPD Booklet continues to be 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.

This table shows the CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors.
Autism Spectrum Condition Training (EPS 107) virtual delivery (FULL)	Wednesday 8 December 2021	9am to 4.30pm
Accredited Safer Recruitment Training virtual delivery (FULL)	Thursday 9 December 2021	9am to 4.30pm
Positive Behaviour Management in the Classroom (PSS 008) virtual delivery	Thursday 9 December 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
SENCO Network Meeting - Workshop/Interactive (LSAT 227) - please book via SENDandinclusion@telford.gov.uk virtual delivery	Thursday 9 December 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Solution Focussed Therapy (PSS 102) virtual delivery	Tuesday 14 December 2021	9.15am to 12noon

If you were an engineer, what would you do?

Schools across Telford & Wrekin are able to take advantage of a free opportunity to bring design and technology and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) learning to life in the classroom.

Primary Engineer Programmes run a national competition called ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ This free UK-wide competition asks primary and secondary pupils aged 3 to 19 to interview engineering professionals and then design a solution to a problem in response to the question, ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’

The project is curriculum aligned and has all the lesson plans and resources to support it available on an online platform. It aligns with 6 of the Gatsby benchmarks (A stable careers programme, learning from career and labour market information, addressing the needs of each pupil, linking curriculum learning to careers, encounters with employers and employees and providing experiences of workplaces) and fits in to the curriculum at all stages. It also supports schools to bring engineering to life, one of the biggest areas of career opportunity we currently have.

More details can be downloaded, or found on Leaders Award the website.

If you were an engineer, what would you do?

All entries are graded by engineers, with winning and shortlisted pupil designs displayed at public exhibitions up and down the country.

This entry was posted by Claire on Tuesday, 30 November 2021.

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