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 know, because you are telling me, that COVID-19 continues to cause significant challenges for you. As you can see from our data, Telford & Wrekin continue to have high rates, with significant numbers in our school aged population. I hear about the extraordinary lengths that are necessary to keep schools and settings open and we thank you for your continued determination. We understand and support decisions where it is necessary to restrict attendance and keeping us in the loop when that is necessary has been really helpful to support you with incoming queries. In the noticeboard this week there is some updated advice has been provided from the Health Protection Hub in light of changing national guidance and the end of ‘plan b’. To reassure all, the Health Protection Hub and educational teams will continue to support as needed.

It is great to hear about children’s involvement in the green agenda at John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School – the full story has been shared this week! There is also information about how your school can access free workshops around recycling.

Some information is provided about upcoming events including LGBTQ+ History month which spans the whole of February. Further information and resources will be released over coming weeks. There are also a number of safeguarding updates, including training and event opportunities alongside our programme of CPD.

Finally, please take note of the briefing regarding the planned demonstration at the weekend.

Best wishes
Simon

Director: Education & Skills

Planned demonstration at Telford Town Centre – Saturday 29 January 2022

You may be aware that this Saturday 29 January 2022 there is a planned event/protest in Telford Town Centre. The Police are leading the preparatory work in readiness for the event/protest and they are ensuring community leaders and the community are informed so as to offer support and reassurance.

The event/protest will take place on Saturday afternoon in Telford town centre, at the Blue Willow car park next to Malinsgate Police Station with the event/protest participants arriving and departing from Telford Central railway station.

It’s difficult to establish how many people will be part of these activities until the day itself. The police will have a presence on the day within the town centre and surrounding area.

Pupils are switched on at school energy efficiency event

Youngsters at a Telford primary school took part in hands-on energy efficiency activities to learn how they can play their part in protecting the planet.

Telford & Wrekin Council, in partnership with Marches Energy Agency, hosted the session at John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School which helped pupils to understand more about saving energy and reducing their carbon footprints, including how to choose energy efficient appliances.

As well as calculating their carbon footprints, Years 5 and 6 designed the front page of a newspaper which focused on the impact of energy saving on the environment. A series of books and resources about energy efficiency have been donated to the school. The activities were co-ordinated by Mandy Findlay, Affordable Warmth Project Officer at Telford & Wrekin Council with Abi Carr and Jodie Barrett from Marches Energy Agency.

Councillor Richard Overton (Lab), Telford & Wrekin Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Enforcement and Transport, said: “Improving energy efficiency is extremely important for households across the borough and can help to lower utility bills, create jobs and stabilise gas and electricity prices. This was a wonderful opportunity to attend a local school and deliver an event for pupils focusing on what they can do to become more energy efficient which can have a long-lasting positive impact.”

Councillor Carolyn Healy (Lab), Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Green Spaces, Natural and Historic Environment and Cultural Services said: “Increased energy efficiency can lower greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants and improve health. It’s excellent to see local pupils engaging in activities which highlight energy choices and how the decisions we make can have a positive impact on the environment for future generations.”

Telford & Wrekin Council is giving a helping hand to residents who are concerned over a huge hike in fuel bills this winter. The council is working with Marches Energy Agency to deliver practical solutions to reduce fuel poverty and cold homes. Support measures include financial assistance through top-ups to existing energy grants and helping households to save money through a range of energy efficiency measures.

Stacey Cross, Head teacger at the John Fletcher of Madeley Primary, said: “As a school, part of our vision is to encourage the children to take part in ‘courageous advocacy’ and ‘social action’, whereby the children come together to tackle an issue that’s important to them. Our children want to make a difference. This project has been perfect for our children to take part in and is something so important that will have a direct impact on our local community. Children were so inspired that parents have reported that they are already making changes in their homes.”

Parent Mrs Pemberton added: “We immediately noticed the impact of this session. Conversations at home as a consequence of this presentation have suggested we turn the heating down and wear jumpers and asking whether we really need the lights on and switching these off.”

Very high COVID-19 infection rates in Telford & Wrekin

Local COVID-19 cases increased in the last week, with our borough recording the second highest seven-day case rate of all English Councils, as of 21 January 2022.

For the week ending 23 January:

• 2, 814 new Covid-19 cases were reported, 292 more compared to the previous week
• The seven-day infection rate for Telford and Wrekin is 1,552 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000
• For the West Midlands, the seven-day infection rate is 1,091 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000
• For England, the seven-day infection rate is 1,001 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000

Health Protection Hub update

Schools and educational settings will have regard to national COVID-19 guidance as set out by the Department for Education (DfE). Settings will also want to consider a proportionate approach to manage COVID-19, in light of their current case numbers, the knowledge that as of 27 January 2022 our local rates in Telford & Wrekin are well above the national average and business continuity needs. Schools and settings have previously been advised of a range of measures they may wish to consider as part of their contingency planning (see below).

We realise that schools and settings may want to have events such as face-to-face parents evenings or open days. These events should be risk assessed and suitable with proportionate control measures put in place.

Internal health and safety (if the school buy back into the service health and safety service) can also assist you with this task.

The Health Protection Hub ask that schools continue to submit cases using the web form.

Head teachers will be aware that infection rates within the borough remain high. This is particularly the case in the 0-19 age group.

Face coverings:
Early Years Service (EYS) & Primary Schools

To aid business continuity and help to keep settings fully-operational, we suggest you support staff where they want to continue to wear face coverings where possible in communal areas.

Secondary Schools

To aid business continuity and help to keep schools fully-operational, we suggest you support staff where they want to continue to wear face coverings where possible in communal areas.
Generally we recommend that you follow national guidance and do not require students to wear face coverings, except:
for Years 7-9 where 10% of a class has tested positive over the past 10 days and the threshold has been met from the Contingency Framework for stepped-up measures. In this case we would recommend that students wear face coverings for a 14 day period on school transport and in communal areas.
for Years 10 upwards, reflecting the difficulty in tracking case rates in groups with high degrees of mixing, where 10% of a year has tested positive over the past 10 days and the threshold has been met from the Contingency Framework for stepped-up measures. In this case we would recommend that students wear face coverings for a 14 day period on school transport and in communal areas.

To remind you of additional controls that were previously outlined for adoption by settings if necessary, in line with contingency planning:

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.
· Visitors to wear a face covering in all communal areas unless exempt.
· 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 times.
· 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.

Updates to guidance following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the end of Plan B

This is an update from the Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) have updated the following guidance documents to reflect the changes made following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the end of Plan B:

Extension of the trust and school improvement offer

This is an update from the Department for Education

The focus of the Department for Education’s current trust and school improvement offer is being extended to any school or trust that would benefit from it due to disruption caused by COVID-19. Support will be provided by an experienced system leader and will reflect the specific challenges of the school or trust. This might include (but will not be limited to) supporting them to overcome:

difficulties delivering remote education for those pupils who are out of school
low pupil attendance rates
significant staff shortages, including leadership
any other factors which would put schools or trusts at risk of disruption caused by COVID-19.

They have also been working with school leaders to share case studies on developing and adopting flexible learning approaches. They have now added more case studies, which illustrate ways in which some schools have operated when faced with staff shortages.If you feel your school or trust would benefit from the support of a system leader, please contact school.improvement@education.gov.uk.

Extension of the exam support service to March 2022

This is an update from the Department for Education

Department for Education (DfE) is extending the exam support service to allow for costs related to additional invigilators required as a result of staff absences. This is for centres running previous ineligible exams and assessments in January, February and March 2022 that are not being run as part of the autumn series. Those which are part of the autumn series are still eligible for the full range of costs covered by the exam support service.

The exam support service guidance and online claim form have been updated to reflect this change and allow claims for these costs. Centres should use qualification code ‘10000001 – extended ESS’ when making a claim. Full guidance to help you complete the form is also available.

Claims for exams undertaken between Friday 1 October 2021 and Friday 25 February 2022 should be made by Friday 4 March 2022.

Claims for exams undertaken between Monday 28 February 2022 and Thursday 31 March 2022 should be made by Wednesday 6 April 2022.

Update on the allocation of air cleaning units

This is an update from the Department for Education

The window for applications for air cleaning units has closed, and the Department for Education (DfE) have confirmed that they will fulfil all of the eligible applications we have received for classrooms and teaching spaces.

In addition to over 350,000 CO2 monitors already delivered to settings, up to 9,000 air cleaning units will now be provided to state-funded education and childcare settings for poorly ventilated classrooms or teaching spaces where there are no immediate solutions to otherwise improve ventilation.

This reflects the findings of a survey of education settings published today. 3% of settings using a CO2 monitor reported sustained high CO2 readings that could not be otherwise resolved.

Special schools and alternative provision settings have already received the air cleaning units which they applied for in the autumn term. We will be in touch with other settings with eligible applications to arrange delivery from the start of February 2022.

Funding to support phase 2 of the 12 to 15 year old vaccination programme

This is an update from the Department for Education

Over 1.5 million young people aged 12 to 15 have had their first COVID-19 vaccine since rollout began in September 2021, however there are still more than 1 million young people who are yet to receive their first dose. Children should receive their second dose from 12 weeks after their first dose.

At this critical point in the vaccine programme, it is particularly important that schools and immunisation teams work closely together to maximise effectiveness of the vaccination programme.

In support of this, we can now announce that secondary schools will be provided with a one-off payment of £1,000, with an additional uplift for larger schools based on pupil numbers. This funding is to support schools in hosting vaccinations and ensuring that the COVID-19 vaccine is accessible to pupils.

Further information on this funding is available on the secondary schools and colleges document sharing platform.

Information on how to work with and support your school age immunisation service (SAIS) teams can also be found in the “how to” guide for schools.

Payments to secondary schools will be made through the Education and Skills Funding Agency, commencing April 2022.

National professional qualifications (NPQs) – February application window

This is an update from the Department for Education

The new suite of NPQs is now available for teachers and leaders who want to develop their expertise in leadership and specialist areas of teaching practice.

To support teachers and pupils following the disruption to learning as a result of COVID-19, all teachers and leaders employed in state-funded schools, as well as those employed in state-funded organisations that offer 16 to 19 places in England, can now access fully funded training scholarships to undertake NPQs.

The application window to begin an NPQ in February closes shortly (exact closing dates vary by training provider), and we encourage all teachers and leaders, particularly those eligible for training scholarships, to undertake these evidence-led qualifications to invest in their careers and secure improved outcomes for children.

You can learn more about the qualifications, and how to apply, by watching the recording of the NPQ live webinar from Thursday 25 November 2021. Alternatively, you can also visit the NPQ reforms guidance for further information.

Pre-exclusion Hotline 07816 372459

The pre-exclusion hotline is working well. It has been used by schools that are considering an exclusion.

A member of the BSAT team has been able to offer immediate intervention by discussing the exclusion in more detail, and offering 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 previously been on a fixed term exclusion. The school had noticed that the child had complex needs and had previously utilised alternative provision.

The school felt that the information provided to them by a 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 to the child and they were able to discuss this in more detail with the school.

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, the school purchased further support sessions from BSAT.

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

The Pre-exclusion Hotline number is 07816 372459.

LGBTQ+ History Month: February

LGBTQ+ History Month is a month-long annual celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual trans, and non-binary history, including the history of LGBT+ rights and related civil rights movements. In the United Kingdom it is celebrated in February each year, to coincide with the 2003 abolition of Section 28.

This year the newly formed LGBTQ+ Employee network group within Telford & Wrekin Council are celebrating LGBTQ+ History month in style, and to mark the occasion have organised several online events. Please contact Stacey.Hinton@telford.gov.uk or robert.wilson@telford.gov.uk for further details.

Below are some key moments on the way to LGBT equality, from the first Homophobic law to the Statutory LGBT+ inclusive Relationships, Health & Sex Education in 2020:

Date	Key Moments in LGBTQ+ History
1533	The first homophobic law Parliament passed an act during the reign of Henry VII making it illegal for men to have sex with men in Britain and the British Empire. Convictions were punishable by death
1861	Offences Against The Person Act The death penalty was abolished for men having sex with men- instead the punishment became 10 years in prison
1885	Criminal Law Amendment Act This law made any act of male same sex affection illegal. Including those which happened in private. Even a letter expressing terms of affection between two men could be used for prosecution.
1921	Same sex attraction in women Same sex affection between women has never been illegal. Parliament discussed introducing harmful laws in 1921, however this failed when it was voted down. MP’s voted it down fearing it would draw attention and encourage women to explore homosexuality
1946	Trans identities become more visible Following the second world war, transgender identities started to become visible. Michael Dillion became the first transgender man to publish an autobiography. He documented the surgeries he has, and wrote: ‘where the mind cannot be made to fit the body, the body should be made to fit… to the mind’
1952	A rise in arrests There was a significant rise in arrests and prosecutions of gay & bisexual men following world war II. This included Alan Turing, the cryptographer whose work helped to break the enigma code. It was at this time more people began questioning the laws.
1957	The Wolfenden Report The Wolfenden report, was published in 1957. People asked for it to be written after they began to accept that same sex attraction was not a disease. The report encouraged government not to focus on the private lives of people.
1966	The Beaumont Society The society was set up to provide information and education on ‘Transvestism’ The organisation is now the UK’s largest and longest running support group for Transgender people and their families.
1967	Sexual Offences Act The government and the church of England supported a change in the law, which partially legalised same-sex acts in the UK between men over the age of 21 conducted in private.
1969	Stonewall Riots In June 1969, LGBT+ people in New York protested their harsh treatment by the police. These protests became known as the Stonewall riots and its impact was felt in many places, including the UK.
1970	Gay Liberation Front The UK Gay liberation front was founded (GLF) in 1970. The GLF fought for the rights of LGBT+ people, urging them to question the mainstream institutions in the UK society who oppressed them.
1972	First Pride March The GLF protested in solidarity with other oppressed groups and organised the very first Pride March in 1972 which is now an annual event.
1973	Campaign for Homosexual Equality When the GLF disbanded in late 1973 the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) based in Manchester, led the fight for equality by legal reform.
1980	Decriminalisation in Scotland Scotland decriminalises same-sex acts between two men
1981	Decriminalisation in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland decriminalises same-sex acts between two men
1988	Section 28 Section 28 of the local Government Act 1988 was introduced by the Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher. It banned schools and councils from teaching or providing materials on being gay
1989	The NHS ‘GIDS’ is founded GIDS Gender Identity Development Service. For the first time, under-eighteens questioning their gender identity could receive specialised healthcare from the NHS
1995	Mermaids founded The charity Mermaids, who support transgender children and their families, was founded.
2000	LGBT+ in the armed forces A law was changed which allowed openly gay and bisexual people to serve in the armed forces in the UK.
2002	Section 28 removed After fifteen years, the law which made it illegal for schools and councils to educate young people about what it means to be gay, was removed.
2003	Equal adoption laws A law was changed to allow gay people (and also unmarried couples) to adopt children.
2004	Gender Recognition Act This act gives transgender people recognition of their gender, allowing them to acquire a new birth certificate. Options are limited to male & female and many trans people have said that the process is impersonal, intrusive and expensive.
2004	Civil Partnership Act This allowed same-sex couples to legally enter into a binding partnership, similar to marriage.
2007	Discrimination banned Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (but not gender identity) is banned
2009	David Cameron apologises Prime minister David Cameron apologises on behalf of the Conservative party for bringing in Section 28
2013	Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act This act allowed same-sex couples in England and Wales to marry
2014	Scotland legalises same-sex marriage This left Northern Ireland as the only country in the UK which did not have marriage equality in law until 2020
2016	Homophobic hate crime on the rise More hate crime is recorded, although this could have come as a result of better awareness and the incidents being taken more seriously by the police – and not an actual rise in hate crime
2020	Statutory LGBTQ+ inclusive relationships, health & sex education Secondary schools in England must begin teaching the new relationships, Health & sex education curriculum. In secondary schools, this must by law be LGBTQ+ inclusive. Primary schools are ‘encouraged and enabled’ to make Relationships Education LGBT+ inclusive

Websites for Further Learning:

● Asexual Visibility and Education Network
● Bisexual.org
● Everyday Feminism
● Get Real
● It's Pronounced Metrosexual
● Soul Force
● TransWhat?
● Stonewall
● We Are The Youth

Organisations You Can Tap Into:

● GLAAD - Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
● GLSEN - Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network
● Family Acceptance Project
● It Gets Better Project
● National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
● The “Not All Like That” (NALT) Project
● The Religious Institute
● PFLAG - "Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies United with LGBT People"
● Transgender Law Centre
● The Trevor Project
● Just Like Us - Developing awareness in schools

Are you, or is someone you know, in crisis?

Shout: “If you’re thinking about suicide, you deserve immediate help.” Text SHOUT to 85258.
Mermaids: “Helping gender-diverse kids, young people and their families since 1995. Visit the Mermaids website or call 0808 801 0400 (Monday - Friday, 9am-9pm).

Chinese New Year

Recent events have highlighted the ever increasing need for pupils to understand about our shared history. Chinese New Year is celebrated on the 1 February this year, just before the Beijing Winter Olympics which run from the 4 February until the 20 February 2022.

Chinese New Year is a festival that gives pupils the opportunity to learn about Diversity within our own community and the UK as a whole. This cross-curricular topic not only covers many elements in RE but also addresses many fundamental SMSC and PHSE aspects of the curriculum as History. The year of the Tiger allows us to reflect on the virtues of the tiger, especially the sense of justice. This element allows an opportunity to develop and enhance the teaching of fundamental British Values through this world-wide celebration.

The Multi-cultural Development Team (MDT) are working with the Chinese Arts and Cultural Centre to deliver free resources and support, specifically for primary and secondary schools, as they celebrate Chinese New Year.

The resources provide staff with the knowledge and resources to plan, deliver and support pupil’s knowledge and discussion of issues around Chinese culture, heritage and history. There is also the opportunity to explore key questions that may arise from recent events and provide a greater knowledge of the diverse cultures in Telford & Wrekin.

Primary school resource pack

Secondary KS3 resource pack

MDT support for individual schools to plan and develop staff knowledge is available upon request. Any queries can be sent to Kirsty Holden and Qamar Maqsood via email to multicultural.Development@telford.gov.uk.

Equality and diversity audits

Telford & Wrekin Council have a commitment to schools to ensure that the equality and diversity provision in a school not only meets the statutory needs under the Equality act 2010, but also supports schools to actively review their provision and practice to ensure that they meet the needs of it's community.

The Multicultural Development Team (MDT) have produced a school audit as well as pupil and parent questionnaires to enable schools to effectively analyse their provision and the impact it is having on pupils and the wider community.

Equality and Diversity School Self-audit

Pupil Questionnaire

Parental Questionnaire

Schools are asked to complete the audit and analyse their provision to not only feedback to the council, but to use it with a view of ensuring their provision meets the needs of all stakeholders, especially those with protected characteristics. This will enable schools to fully embed British values, and ensure that equality and diversity is reflected in the ethos, curriculum and school environment.

The Multicultural Development Team are happy to support any school which has any related questions.

Autism in Telford & Wrekin Council Schools and Provisions

Gratitude is expressed to everyone who bought into the new drive for the Autism Education Trust training across Telford & Wrekin schools. There was a huge response and there is now an autism lead professional in almost 80% of schools across the borough.

The next step of the programme of professional development is to deliver training to classroom practitioners plus all additional staff. This will consist of two training inputs: The Good Autism Practice (GAP) is for classroom teachers and Making Sense of Autism (MSA) is for all additional school staff.

The Autism Standards document was distributed during the LGAP training last term, and is the document that will help you to evaluate your school. Many attendees completed an action plan at the training, and this should continue to aid you in your role. The benefit of engaging in additional training will be to further equip your staff in understanding autism and how to not only adapt the curriculum, but to also adapt learning environments to further include young people and be able to understand the perspective and experiences of the young person. A positive outcome of this training will be an increase in attendance in schools as well as increased attainment levels, alongside improved experiences of positive mental health and wellbeing.

Jo Jenks (SENDCo, Coalbrookdale and ironbridge CE Primary school) wrote: "In order to develop our knowledge and, more importantly, our understanding of Autism, we recently received the Good Autism Practice and Making Sense of Autism training for all the staff in school. This training has enabled us as a school to reflect upon our approaches and strategies when working with autistic children. It has given all staff the knowledge of the key areas of differences, and how these impact learning. Following the training, we have carefully considered our learning environments and have made simple adaptions so that all the children in our school experience a positive education that supports their wellbeing."

To access GAP and/or MSA training, please make direct contact with Michael Lane via email to michael.Lane@Telford.gov.uk. Either an EP or LSAT staff member will then be allocated to you.

The costs of the training packages are:

GAP £300
MSA £100

GAP is a 3 hour session which can be delivered in one whole or via twilight sessions.
MSA is 1 hour and can be delivered via twilight or otherwise depending upon your schedule.

The aim is to accept and commit to all the training by July 2022 so please do take the time to assess your training needs and make contact. If you have questions, please liaise with your link EP and/or your LSAT link. If you have not undergone the initial leadership training with AET and would like to receive the training, you can also make contact using the email address above.

January NEET newsletter

Available to download is the latest update on NEET information for the Borough of Telford & Wrekin.

NEET newsletter

All About Apprenticeships event

'All About Apprenticeships' is an interactive apprenticeship showcase taking place on Tuesday 8 February 2022 at the Shrewsbury Town Football Stadium (Montgomery Waters Meadow, Otley Road, Shrewsbury) between 2.00pm and 7.00pm.

The event is being staged by the Marches Skills Provider Network and sponsored by the Apprenticeship Ambassador Networkas well as local employers Aico and PaveAways. The aim is to promote the tremendous apprenticeship opportunities available within Shropshire.

Employers, colleges, universities, and training providers will attend to showcase multiple fields including engineering, motor vehicles, construction, administration, accountancy, digital media, hospitality, hair & beauty, health & social care and many more. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about the increasing range of higher and degree apprenticeships which are available.

Careers advisors will be on hand to give advice including how to register on the ‘find an apprenticeship’ system, and what you should do to prepare for an apprenticeship.

Despite the pandemic there are more apprenticeship opportunities available than ever before and employers are seeing apprenticeships as the route to building strong teams for the future. We hope that this event will help even more people start successful careers locally.

Please download the event flier, and distribute to your service users and networks.

All About Apprenticeship Flier

Booking is essential via Eventbrite.

Family Safeguarding Model

The Family Safeguarding Model is a strengths-based approach which looks to support parents to make positive changes to family life when they are referred to children’s services. It aims to keep families together, with bespoke and tailored packages of support around domestic violence, mental health and substance misuse. This is a pioneering approach to providing help for families in need. By bringing together children's social care professionals with specialists in adult mental health, domestic abuse and substance misuse it is possible to provide tailored wrap around support for parents.

The seminar will be held on 17 February 2022, 10am - 11.30am (via Microsoft Teams) and is FREE to attend.

This seminar will be delivered by Darren Knibbs, Strategic Lead, Telford & Wrekin Council. Emma Martin, SDM Family Connect, Telford & Wrekin Council will provide further detail on the model itself and how it has progressed since its launch in June 2021, along with information on the Threshold of Needs.

Please email partnerships@telford.gov.uk to book your place.

Any queries can be sent to Scott Thomas-White, Education Safeguarding Coordinator, via email to educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Reducing Parental Conflict Conference

Telford & Wrekin Council are delighted to announce the Reducing Parental Conflict Conference, which will be taking place on 28 February 2022, 9:00am - 4:30pm at The Place, Oakengates Telford.

This training event is aimed at professionals working with families who may be experiencing parental conflict and will provide a bespoke toolkit resource for practitioners. There will be a variety of workshops aimed at using the Practitioner Toolkit guide.

28th February 2021, 9am - 4:30pm, The Place Oakengates Telford.

Having constructive, supportive relationships has never been more important. These evidence-based resources have been built to help parents strengthen their relationship and manage their conflict better, and to help parents understand how conflict can affect their children.

By the end of this conference, Practitioners should:

• Have an increase awareness, confidence and skills across the local partnership workforce to recognise parental conflict and use appropriate tools in resolution.
• Be more confident to improve outcomes for children by providing the right support for families at the right time.

Guest Speakers:

Emily Ingle from DWP: Introduction to Reducing Parental Conflict (DWP Programme)
Honor Rhodes from Tavistock Relationship: Evidence on Parental Conflict and its impact on children

COVID-19 Information:
This event will be planned to be held as a face-to-face event in a large conference room to allow social distancing. If government guidance and restrictions state that this event is not able to go ahead as planned, the event organiser will inform attendees at the earliest opportunity of the arrangements to attend this event virtually via Microsoft Teams. Hand sanitiser will be provided on site, please wear a face mask when moving around the venue. Further guidance will be given regarding precautions for this event.

Lunch will be provided and a form will be emailed for you to confirm any dietary requirements.

Booking is required, via Eventbrite.

If you have any queries, please send them via email to Narinder.Kaur@telford.gov.uk

Non-accidental Injuries Practitioner Learning event

Telford & Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership are delighted to announce this learning event for professionals and practitioners who work directly with children, young people and their families to enhance and develop their professional knowledge of non-accidental injuries to children.

This event will take place on 1 April 2022, 9am – 1:30pm, at the Mercure Telford Centre Hotel, and will focus on the national and local learning regarding non-accidental injuries to children with guest speakers and workshops with the aim of professionals leaving this event better informed about the issue of non-accidental injuries to children and how we can prevent such issues.

Guest speakers include:

Andrew Mason - Independent Chair for Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership
Jo Britton - Executive Director (Telford and Wrekin Council Children's Services)

This event will also allow the opportunity for professionals to network with other practitioners across the Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership and participate in workshops which will explore the complications and implications of non-accidental injuries to children.

Important Event Information
Due to the anticipated demand for tickets for this event, there will be a 1st release of ticket sales of 90 tickets followed by a 2nd release of a further 40 tickets. This is to ensure essential practitioners and professionals from various services are able to book a place. If you are unable to reserve a place for this event and feel it is essential for you to attend, please contact partnerships@telford.gov.uk to facilitate this.

COVID-19 Information:

This event will be planned to be held as a face-to-face event in a large conference room to allow social distancing. If government guidance and restrictions state that this event is not able to go ahead as planned, the event organiser will inform attendees at the earliest opportunity of the arrangements to attend this event virtually via Microsoft Teams. Hand sanitiser will be provided on site, please wear a face mask when moving around the venue. Further guidance will be given regarding precautions for this event.

Booking is required, via Eventbrite.

Any queries can be sent to Scott Thomas-White, Education Safeguarding Coordinator, via email to educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Harmful Sexual Behaviour Support Service

In June 2021 Ofsted concluded that the prevalence of child-on-child sexual harassment and abuse was so widespread that, for some, incidents are ‘so commonplace that they see no point in reporting them’ and ‘consider them normal’. SWGfL and The Marie Collins Foundation has created a support service for professionals working with children and young people in tackling harmful sexual behaviours, funded by the Home Office and in collaboration with the Department for Education.

Harmful sexual behaviour is 'sexual behaviours expressed by children and young people under the age of 18 years old that are developmentally inappropriate, may be harmful towards self or others, or abusive towards another child, young person or adult' (Hackett, 2014).

The support service is available for anyone in England working with children and young people, particularly, designated safeguarding leads within primary and secondary schools and alternative provision. Support is also available to the early years provision, colleges and wider safeguarding professionals (including police, social workers and health care professionals). If children within your care have been displaying or are affected by specific incidents of Harmful Sexual Behaviour, the support service can provide initial support and signpost to further resources and advice.

The support service is there to better support those professionals at the head of this issue. It can support with changing the culture that Ofsted highlighted in their report around sexual abuse in schools. The service, run by trained professionals, provides the tools to equip and empower adults through:

Advice on individual cases or incidents of harmful sexual behaviour.
Guidance on policy development on tackling harmful sexual behaviour.
Sharing relevant resources, best practice and contacts around harmful sexual behaviour.

The service is available 8am - 8pm, Monday - Friday.

To access, please call practitioners on 0344 2250623 or email hsbsupport@swgfl.org.uk.

Prevent update

Recently, in Dallas, Texas, a British man took four people hostage in a synagogue. This has been described by President Joe Biden as an act of terror. The man, who has been identified as Malik Faisal Akram, was shot at the scene and all hostages are thankfully unharmed.

We know that attacks such as these can lead to fear and uncertainty within communities. The resources below you may find useful:

The Community Security Trust (CST) has a national emergency number which can be used to report Antisemitic attacks: 0800 032 3263. You can also report hate crimes online through the police reporting site True Vision, and through third party reporting centres including Stop Hate UK and Tell MAMA for anti-Muslim incidents. For immediate concerns, always call 999.
CST runs a number of different training courses and its website also provides general guidance on security for individuals and organisations in the Jewish community. It also distributes a £14m government grant to fund commercial security guards at Jewish communal services throughout Britain. To find out more and access the above resources, visit the CST website.
Security Advice For Everyone (SAFE), a CST initiative, is running a series of webinars on safety and security, commencing 19 January 2022. These are aimed at any member of a community (not just the Jewish community) that feels vulnerable to hate crime and violent extremism, in particular leaders and managers of places of worship. You can find out more about the webinars online.
The National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) has published protective security guidance, including for places of worship. NaCTSO has also produced an e-learning package for all organisations on what to do in the event of a major incident. It can be found on the GOV.UK website.
The government’s Places of Worship protective security funding scheme works to reduce the risk and impact of hate crime at places of worship and associated faith community centres. The government recently ran a consultation on the scheme, with applications for funding of up to £56,000 typically opening in the summer. Please note that protection for the Jewish community is distributed separately through the CST initiative mentioned above.
Emotional and practical support for anyone affected by this incident can be found at the Victims of Terrorism campaign site.

Learning Resource to Support Holocaust Memorial Day

As we approach the upcoming Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2022, there may be an increase in antisemitic behaviour and/or narratives in a bid to undermine the event. To undercut these harmful narratives, the Head of Secretariat for the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, within the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), have produced a learning resource which can be shared with partners and local communities to support discussions on this topic – this is available to download

Learning resource to support Holocaust Memorial Day.

The resource covers key facts about the Holocaust, Holocaust Memorial Day and details what Holocaust Denial and Distortion may look or sound like, aiming to raise. It also contains some educational resources on subsequent genocides.

Any queries can be sent to Scott Thomas-White, Education Safeguarding Coordinator, via email to educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Safer internet day

The West Midlands Regional Cyber Crime Unit are pleased to announce that they are sponsoring Safer Internet Day on 8 February 2022. Alongside their partners in the School of Coding, the aim is to deliver age appropriate online safety advice whilst also promoting the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

Schools who are interested in utilising free pre-recorded student focused sessions are asked to sign up using an official email address via our Eventbrite links (please note they will be slightly different sessions delivered to primary and secondary students).

Topics covered:

• Being Respectful Online.
• Cyber Bullying.
• Mental Health – Positive Use of Technology.
• Protecting your personal information.
• How and when to get help?
• Positive Cyber Choices.
• Career and development pathways (Secondary).

Safer Internet Day 2022 - Primary Schools Tickets | Eventbrite

Safer Internet Day 2022 - Secondary Schools Tickets | Eventbrite

Secondary Alternative Provision Directory and Quality Assurance

Following the review by Peter Gray, Telford & Wrekin have identified a priority to facilitate access to an improved alternative curriculum offer across the borough. The aim is to produce a directory of providers as a first step towards this. The plan is that for September 2022 a directory will be available for schools which lists all of the alternative curriculum providers across the borough.

Also under development is a new Quality Assurance (QA) tool for alternative curriculum providers. For a provider to be listed in the directory, they will need to meet a minimum set of standards in particular in respect of safeguarding, health and safety and holding appropriate insurance. The QA document will also include a ‘Part B’ which will be about the quality of education. Any school, or indeed us as a Local Authority, which commissions places with an alternative curriculum provider will be able to use Part B to assess the quality of the education they are commissioning. It is hoped that we will also be able to share reports across schools to help when making decisions about the use of providers. This QA document will be available for schools to use from Easter 2022.

The council have been lucky to appoint Dean Peckham who will lead on the production of the directory and the QA process. Dean is appointed as a Learning Coordinator in the Student Engagement Programme and will be mainly based at AFC Telford. He will have one day a week dedicated to this alternative provision QA process. Dean started his role at the beginning of January 2022; he will be in contact with secondary schools to start to develop a list of alternative curriculum providers in use. He will be sending out a brief survey to all very soon.

Any queries can be sent via email to andy.cooke@telford.gov.uk or dean.peckham1@taw.org.uk.

Become an Admission Appeal / Review Panel member

Telford & Wrekin Council is advertising for more volunteers to join the Independent Appeal Panel to deal with primary and secondary schools - both admission appeals and exclusion reviews. It is a requirement that the Local Authority’s School Admission Authority provides arrangements for appeals against decisions not to allow a child to attend a school or regarding a decision to exclude a child from a school within Telford and Wrekin.

The role:
Admission panels comprise of three members to hear and determine appeals by parents who are not happy with the decision made about their child’s school placement. The panel is independent of the education authority and draws on a pool of members to sit on particular appeals.

This is an essential role that provides impartiality of decisions for parents and children in Telford & Wrekin.

Skills and experience:

Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
Assess information and identify key points of the case.
Ask questions to obtain information.
Analyse information to form conclusions.
To be impartial and sensitive.
Ability to respect the need for appropriate confidentiality.
Form decisions in compliance with law and procedure in relation to school admission and school exclusion reviews.

Membership of the panel comprises of:

people who have experience in education, who are acquainted with educational conditions in the local authority area, or who are parents of registered pupils in school. This can include current or previous head teachers, teachers, governors or parents
lay people, someone without personal experience in the management of any school or provision of education in any school except as a school governor or in another voluntary capacity.

Unfortunately we cannot accept applications from a local authority officer or a person who has at any time been connected with the Local Authority Admission Authority.

There are no qualifications required to become a panel member however appointed panel members will need to attend a one day training course to understand the law and procedure in relation to school admission and school admission appeals in order to be able to sit on the panel.

A panel member cannot sit on an appeal panel for any school that they have been involved with in the past.

How often does the panel sit?
The panel sits in the day during school term time, the panels sit more frequently during the months of May, June and July. As part of a group of panel members you will be contacted in advance to confirm your availability for the forthcoming months.

Appeals take place during working hours. You would normally be asked to sit on the panel for part of the day or a whole day each individual appeal lasts approximately 40 minutes.

Pay:
This is an unpaid role for volunteers however you will receive reimbursement for travel expenses.

Support:
A clerk attends all panel meetings and is present throughout and can provide advice to the panel.

Application process:
We welcome applications anytime throughout the year, please follow the link below and the application form can be found at the bottom of the page.

More information is available online:

Introduction - School admission review panel members - Telford & Wrekin Council

Enquiries:

Please contact Hannah Gorman or Rachel English in Legal Services at Telford & Wrekin Council if you have any enquiries about the role via an email to legal.safeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

The CPD Booklet continues to be available on the Telford Education Services site and we very much look forward to receiving your bookings for the Spring and Summer Terms 2022.

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.

Cover Supervisors - preparing for the role (PSS 010)	Wednesday, February 02, 2022	3.30pm to 5pm
SENCO Network Meeting - Briefing (Cross Phase) (LSAT 227)	Thursday, February 03, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA training) - Part 2 (BSAT 201)	Thursday, February 03, 2022	8.30am to 12.30pm
ECT Induction Tutor and Mentor – Termly Update (CPD 516)	Thursday, February 03, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Preparing for Statutory Assessment at the End of KS2 (CPD 504)	Tuesday, February 08, 2022	9am to 12.30pm
The Importance of the Early Years Foundation Stage in Schools (GO 603)	Tuesday, February 08, 2022	5.30pm to 7pm
Managing Sexual Violence & Sexual Harassment in Schools (SG 201)	Tuesday, February 08, 2022	9am to 12noon
Primary Science and Design & Technology Subject Leaders' Termly Update and Development Meeting (CPD 517)	Tuesday, February 08, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training (SG 103)	Wednesday, February 09, 2022	5pm to 7.30pm
Accredited Safer Recruitment Training – part 1 (HR)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	9am to 12.30pm
Raising Awareness of Prevent (SG 101)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	1pm to 2.30pm
EAL and SEND? (CPD 601)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	1.15pm to 4pm
Meeting the Statutory Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements of the EYFS (EY 009)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Taking the Chair - part 2 (GO 504)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	4.30pm to 6.30pm
Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 213)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	9am to 11.30am
Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 214)	Thursday, February 10, 2022	3pm to 5.30pm
Accredited Safer Recruitment Training – part 2 (HR)	Friday, February 11, 2022	9am to 12.30pm
Understanding and managing your school budget (GO 508)	Tuesday, February 15, 2022	9.15am to 12noon
Online Prevent Training in partnership with the Counter Terrorism Unit (no code) – see Noticeboard article	Tuesday, February 15, 2022	10am to 2pm
Child Development: Emotional (EY 314)	Wednesday, February 16, 2022	9.30am to 12.30pm
Meeting the OFSTED requirements and developing reading strategies for EAL learners at KS2 (CPD 714)	Thursday, February 17, 2022	3.45pm to 6pm
Safety Intervention Refresher Training (formerly MAPA Refresher Training) (BSAT 212)	Thursday, February 17, 2022	9am to 11.30am

Important CPD for EYFS in Schools supporting the Early Years Workforce

"By the time children are five, those from disadvantaged families are already significantly behind their wealthier peers in a variety of development measures. Key to reducing this gap is high quality early years (EY) provision, delivered by a qualified and skilled workforce” Stability of the Early Years Report 2020.

Free training to support Speech, Language and Communication:
Both training sessions are fully funded (one person per setting, additional places can be booked for a small cost) for Telford & Wrekin settings and school nurseries only. It is highly evident both locally and nationally that speech, language and communication levels are poor, Telford & Wrekin are committed to supporting settings to provide language rich, communication friendly environments for all children who attend. It is envisaged that these two training opportunities will help to upskill staff and contribute to this commitment.

Stoke Speaks Out, a tool developed by Speech and Language Therapists as part of a School Readiness plan. A quick and easy tool to assess children’s language skills in the EYFS. The screen can be used with children between the ages of 2 and 5 years 11 months and it identifies delays in understanding and spoken language and aids target setting. Suitable for Teachers, EYFS leads, Setting leads, Room leaders, SENDCo, Childminders.

ICAN Early Talk training will include extend practitioner knowledge of speech, language and communications skills and processes; identifying risk factors that impact on the development of communication skills; understand the practitioner role in supporting speech, language and communication development; how to gather information around difficulties with SLC including when to and where to refer. Suitable for all practitioners working directly with children in EYFS settings/school nurseries.

Training to support EYFS practitioners:
Pete Moorehouse: Introducing Woodwork in Early Years Settings Wednesday 23 March 9:30 until 3:30pm at Meeting Point House. The cost per delegate is £50.00, lunch not supplied.

EYFS: Areas of learning and development a series of courses that focus on each one of the Seven Areas of Learning and development. Suitable for those new to the EYFS or to refresh knowledge and gain new ideas.

Other courses are available including introductory ones for EYFS governors see attached document. Please download the full document for dates:

EYFS CPD opportunities

Queries can be email to lisa.seymour@telford.gov.uk.

Free virtual Prevent training for Designated Safeguarding and Prevent Leads

The Education & Safeguarding Team is working in partnership with the Counter Terrorism Unit to provide a FREE virtual Prevent training for Designated Safeguarding & Prevent Leads.

Date:
Tuesday 15 February 2022, 10am to 2pm, via Microsoft Teams

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 says: “All schools and colleges are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (the CTSA 2015), in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent duty. The Prevent duty should be seen as part of schools’ and colleges’ wider safeguarding obligations.”

Ofsted Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills says: “Inspectors should consider evidence that there is a clear approach to implementing the ‘Prevent’ duty and keeping children and learners safe from the dangers of radicalisation and extremism, including by encouraging open debate about different points of view and beliefs.”

Key Outcomes of this session:
Attendees will:

understand the difference between hate crime and radicalisation
broaden their knowledge of ideologies
recognise when and how to make Prevent referrals
gain knowledge of the local context
understand the role of the Designated Safeguarding/Prevent lead in supporting staff to respond to and to manage concerns about radicalisation and extremism

To book your place please send an email to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk with your name, school name, job title and email address.

Veolia schools programme

There is a wide range of free workshops on offer from Telford & Wrekin's recycling and waste contractor, Veolia. Their Junior Street Champions and the R Team have fantastic resources to educate Primary School aged children about the importance of taking care of our environment and planet.

To find out more visit the Veolia website.

National Storytelling Week

Next week is National Storytelling Week, a chance to promote and encourage storytelling in your classroom.

The event runs from 30 January - 6 February 2022, with the theme of Your Story, My Story.
For more information and resources, visit the National Storytelling Week website.

If you are celebrating this week, please send photos or videos of the activities you are doing by sending an email to education.noticeboard@telford.gov.uk) so we can share wider on the Council’s social media channels (please ensure before that you’ve got consent for the photos/videos of children taking part to be published).

Or if your setting is active on social media and you are posting in relation to this week, please tag in @TelfordWrekin and your post can be shared.

This entry was posted by Claire on Wednesday, 26 January 2022.

About

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

Site Feed

Education Noticeboard