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

I hope that you all managed to get some much needed rest over the Easter break. It is hard to believe that we are already in the Summer Term, all we need now is some sunshine and the weather to improve.

As always, a number of articles in the Education Noticeboard this week. Please look out for the Summer Briefings. We hope as many schools as possible are able to attend. Look out too for the NHS survey about Children’s mental health which I would encourage you to complete. There is information for secondary schools about provision available for young people at risk of NEET in years 10 and 11, a number of important safeguarding updates, our latest SEND newsletter and as ever a host of CPD opportunities for schools and settings. There is also an important update from DfE about new statutory duties to share attendance information from September 2024

I hope you have a good week.

Best Wishes
Simon

Simon Wellman
Director Education & Skills

Childcare Funding

From 1 April 2024 working parents have access to more childcare support

Eligible working parents in England with children aged 2 can access 15 hours childcare

From 1 April 2024 working parents have access to more childcare support.

Don’t miss out – check out what support fits your family 👇

www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Sharing pupil level attendance data to become mandatory in September 2024

New Regulations for Schools and the Next Stage of Attendance Drive in readiness for September 2024.

The DfE have reviewed and re-published the ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance which will become statutory in September 2024.

AST will divide information for schools into sections: This article relates to ‘Sharing attendance data’

The sharing of daily school registers will form a new world-leading attendance data set that will help schools spot and support children displaying worrying trends of persistent absence or those in danger of becoming missing in education.

Schools, trusts and councils will be able to access this data via an interactive secure data dashboard maintained by the department for education. This will allow them easy use of the data to not only spot pupils in need of support but also to understand how their attendance position compares locally and nationally so they can look at where they might need to drive improvements.

These reforms are the next phase in the government’s plan to improve attendance following the pandemic which has seen a worldwide rise in absence and persistent absence driven by broken habits of attendance, and new and exacerbated barriers like mental ill health.

Read the full article:

Term Dates and Holidays for Academic Year 2025-26

Term dates and holidays for academic year 2025-2026. The LA have suggested two PD days, schools to set the remaining three days.

Enquiries usually begin during the Spring Term from staff who work in educational settings about future term dates and holidays. I am pleased to be able to share these with you for the academic year 2025-26.

There are two LA suggested PD day:

Monday 1 September 2025
Monday 20 July 2026.
Schools should add three further PD days or of course select all five of their own.

Schools are cordially requested to send a copy of all agreed PD days to attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk.

The timetable is attached

Raising Awareness of Child Employment

During the month of April Local Authorities up and down the country will be joining together to raise the profile of children of compulsory school age who work part-time

The Law governing child employment exists to ensure that children are protected and not exploited if they have a part-time job while still of compulsory school age.

The council will be focusing on raising awareness during Child Employment Month, which runs in April and the Child Employment Officer will be visiting Newport, Ironbridge, Shifnal, Wellington and Shrewsbury to raise awareness with local businesses.

By law no child under the age of 13 is allowed to be employed. Young people aged between 13 and 16 require a work permit to work on a part–time basis and/or during the school holidays. Additionally, the legislation contains limits on working hours and provides restrictions on the types of employment children can undertake. Children are considered to be employed if they assist in a business which operates for profit, if they are paid or unpaid. This also applies to an employer’s own children.

The permits are free of charge from the local authority and will legally allow children between 13 and 16 to undertake part-time work.

Employing a young person without a permit is a criminal offence and employers may be subject to legal action. In addition, the young person will not be covered by the employer’s liability insurance.

Schools and other professionals have a duty to refer any reports or concerns that a child or young person may be working illegally or without a permit.

Anyone wishing to refer concerns about a child working unlawfully or a child performing without a licence, or just requiring advice and guidance, can contact the council’s child employment officer by emailing Child.Employment@telford.gov.uk or calling 01952 385223.

Further information can be found at Introduction - Child employment - Telford & Wrekin Council

NHS survey on child mental health

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are seeking views on child mental health to support targeted campaigns to support them as they grow up

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin would like to hear the views of local parents and carers of children aged 7 to 13 on a range of issues relating to the mental health of children and young people.

The feedback received will help inform service delivery and the strategic approach to mental health awareness campaigns.

The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and is available here - https://online1.snapsurveys.com/516d21

The survey will close on 8 April 2024.

Crucial Crew 2024 – REMINDER BOOK YOUR PLACE

Crucial Crew 2024 is being held between 24 June 2024 and 12 July 2024, excluding transition days.

Crucial Crew is back for the 29th year and booking is now OPEN.

Crucial Crew is a multi-agency partnership event aimed at Year 6 students designed to provide them with life skills and knowledge that will help to keep themselves and others safe, both now and in the future.

Crucial Crew aim to raise students awareness of important safety issues, encouraging them to think about their own and others safety and guiding them on what to do in a number of potentially unsafe situations.

This year the event is taking place between 24 June 2024 and 12 July 2024, excluding transition days.

Booking is now open until 10 May 2024, so complete the form by clicking Crucial Crew 2024 Booking form https://forms.office.com/e/XEDWmmraUp

Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings

Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people and additional guidance on

Responding to incidents and safeguarding children and young people.

The UK Council for Internet Safety has produced helpful guidance for staff in education settings to guide you in responding to incidents involving the sharing of nude and semi-nude images

This advice is for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), their deputies, headteachers and senior leadership teams in schools and educational establishments1 in England.

Other members of staff should see a one-page summary on how to manage incidents available on the UK Council for Internet Safety’s (UKCIS’) website.

This document may also act as good practice advice for out-of-school settings providing education for children and young people in England e.g. extracurricular clubs, youth organisations and providers.

To access the relevant guidance follow this link:

Sharing nudes and semi-nudes: advice for education settings working with children and young people - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Steer Clear Free resources and support for young people aged 18 and under

Steer Clear work with young people aged 18 and under across West Mercia who are at risk of being exposed to or involved in knife crime and help them to find alternative solutions

Steer Clear offer group sessions for young people and their carers, as well as targeted one-to-one support for young people. Steer Clear aim to help improve young people’s understanding of knife crime and work with schools, police, family services and activity providers to build communities where every child can be hopeful for the future.

The service is free of charge and anyone can make a referral. If you are concerned about a young person, get in touch and you could help keep them safe from harm-today and tomorrow.

Free poster advertising the Steer Clear Service:

mcb331_steer-clear-a5-leaflet_v2.pdf (westmercia.police.uk)

For more information or to make a referral contact:

Steer.clear@childrenssociety.org.uk

April 2024 Short Breaks Newsletter

April 2024’s edition of the Short Breaks Newsletter, featuring a Disability Swim Public Swim and role play centres in Telford you may wish to check out. Download the Newsletter

Telford & Wrekin UKSPF offers FREE support for Years 10, 11 & 12 at risk of becoming NEET

Details on what UKSPF is and how to access the FREE support available to support young people at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment & training)

Telford & Wrekin Council is utilising part of its UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation to support young people who are identified as being at risk of NEET in Years 10, 11 & 12, and is free to Telford schools/education providers (subject to risk of NEET eligibility).

As we know, many of our young people face significant barriers to learning & work. The UKSPF provision is here to help with this and includes a range of re-engagement activities and vocational pathways to help support motivation and onward progression.

We have 3 providers who are contracted to deliver this – ANTA Education, School of Coding & Shropshire Youth Support Trust (SYST). Each offer something unique to help you support our most at risk young people. Examples include:

Understanding personal skills
Teamwork & collaboration
Vocational qualifications
1 to 1 coaching
Self-assessment & goal-setting
If you want to find out more about how UKSPF can support in your school/setting, please contact as below:

ANTA Education - Claire on 07415413709 / 01952 201507 or email claireb@antaeducation.co.uk.

School of Coding – 01902 509209

Shropshire Youth Support Trust – 01952 299214 or hello@systbusiness.co.uk.

For more general enquiries about UKSPF in schools/education settings, please contact tara.foran@telford.gov.uk

Delivered by Telford & Wrekin Council as part of their £5.8million UK Shared Prosperity Fund* allocation that will aim to help local people to secure jobs and/or move them closer to employment; and in supporting young people to increase engagement and participation levels in education, employment or training.

Editors Notes:

*The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities, supporting local businesses and people and creating new skills.

For more information, visit the UKSPF prospectus here.

Red Book training for Accessing Legal Interventions

The AST are pleased to confirm the 24th April for face to face training also known as ‘AST - Red Book training’.

AST are pleased to be able to confirm the next date for their full day ‘Red Book’ training is Wednesday 24th April. This training is in line with the DfE Guidance ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’. All delegates will receive a ‘Red folder’. Delegates should bring any old ‘Red Book’ folders to the training as they are recycled.

This training is a full day and is charged at £150 pp (per person) but with 10% discount for any staff from the same school – all resources, refreshments and lunch are provided.

Please can we confirm that school staff with attendance responsibilities will be given priority for a place on this course.

Full joining instructions will be circulated shortly.

If you have a new member of staff in school or have staff who have recently been delegated school attendance responsibility, please contact the CPD Team to request a place.

All places are booked through the CPD team. Here is a link to the CPD booklet:

Telford Education Services Website

Download the booking form for training.

Training courses from Axis

Axis are a specialist service supporting survivors of sexual abuse, they are offering access to three, FREE, training courses

Axis are offering the following training courses:

ISVA Awareness Session:

This session gives an awareness of sexual violence/abuse and how the ISVA service works to support those who experience sexual violence/abuse:

We will explain what an ISVA is and how we support clients (adult and child) through the Criminal Justice Process.

ISVA and their specialisms.

Training that can be developed to support your organisation. These courses are free for schools and colleges but there is a cost to other organisations.

Introduction to Sexual Violence- fully funded so free if more than 8 book from your organisation.

Access for this course can be through Shropshire joint training, where there will be a small charge. Alternatively, if you can guarantee 8 or more people, we can come to your organisation for ‘Free’.

We will give a clear definition of “Sexual abuse”.

How to identify the signs & symptoms of sexual abuse.

Explain the definition of consent to sexual activity.

We will dispel some of the myths around sexual abuse.

Explain the role of an ISVA is in relation to victims/survivors of sexual abuse.

Identify the impact of sexual abuse on the victim and their family.

Look at how your communication is important when responding to concerns of sexual violence/abuse.

Safer Streets 5 – fully funded, so free

This is a ‘Free, fully funded’ level 3 train the trainer programme, with two sides to it, which are:

Deliver a train the trainer ambassador programme within schools.

Deliver a train the trainer to people within the community, who volunteer or work within the area.

Training covers the following:

Responding to a disclosure of Sexual Violence

Emotional and Societal Responses to Sexual Violence

Introduction to the Ambassador programme

Please email the training email for dates and to get booked on: Training@axiscounselling.org.uk.

For more information about any of the courses please contact

For more information about courses please contact: Dawn.S@axiscounselling.org.uk.

CPD courses to the end of April 2024

Further details of these and all other courses are available in the 2023-24 CPD booklet on the Telford Education Services website and on the Ollie website

The CPD Booklet for the remainder of the 2023-24 academic year can be viewed via Telford Education Services.

As always, courses can be booked by completing and returning a CPD booking form to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk (unless denoted differently)

This table shows the CPD courses.
AET Leaders (please send an email to SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk to request your place)	Thursday, April 18, 2024	3.30pm to 5pm
Supporting SEND in the Classroom for Early Career Teachers - part 3 (LSAT 502)	Thursday, April 18, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Employee Investigations Training (HR course)	Monday, April 22, 2024	2.30pm to 5pm
EAL Network Meeting (CPD 526)	Tuesday, April 23, 2024	3.30pm to 5pm
Quality First Teaching for SEND Pt 3 (LSAT 516)	Wednesday, April 24, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Red Book Training for Accessing Legal Interventions – in line with ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance see above article	Wednesday, April 24, 2024	8.45am to 3.45pm
Understanding School Finance (GO 508)	Thursday, April 25, 2024	9.15am to 12noon
Taking the Chair (GO 504)	Thursday, April 25, 2024	4.30pm to 6.30pm
Safety Intervention Refresher Training (formerly MAPA Refresher Training) - CPI accredited (BSAT 212)	Thursday, April 25, 2024	2pm to 4.30pm
St Giles' Trust SOS+ Training contact cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk	Monday, April 29, 2024	10am to 11.30am
Promoting Cultural Diversity and Equality of Opportunity in EYFS (CPD 606)	Tuesday, April 30, 2024	1pm to 3pm

This entry was posted by Zoe on Tuesday, 09 April 2024.

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

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