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

There are a number of events to get our children and young people involved in over the coming couple of weeks – we are approaching Learning Disability Week, Refugee Week, Children’s Art Week, National School Sports Week and World Music Day.

Links to information and resources for all of these are provided for you, to use within your setting. We are also still within LGBTQ+ Month and Roma Gypsy Traveller Month (see previous Education Noticeboard editions for information and resources).

As always we would love to hear about the activities across the borough, and especially like sharing photographs. Please send any news through to us at education.noticeboard@telford.gov.uk.

Updates include items from the Department for Education, SEND, Attendance Support and the Skills Service. The Special Education Notice on inspecting safeguarding, sent out earlier this week, has also been repeated. As always, the full list of CPD opportunities that are available has been included.

Hoping you all have a good rest of the week, and that the sun sticks around for the weekend!

Best wishes

Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education & Skills

Inspecting safeguarding

Since inspections have resumed Ofsted are continuing to have a strong emphasis on safeguarding. School leaders are need to be fully conversant with the inspection handbook and also ‘Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills,’ published in August 2021.

When considering safeguarding within an inspection, remember that there are two elements, firstly the compliance and secondly the culture of safeguarding.

Whilst this aspect of a school’s work is not graded on its own, inspectors will always make a judgement on whether the ‘arrangements for safeguarding’ children and pupils are effective. If safeguarding is found to be ineffective then the school will be graded inadequate overall.

Inspectors will focus initially on ensuring that statutory requirements are met but will go beyond simply reviewing documents, to evaluate the safeguarding culture that has been established in the school.

Have you checked your website has an up-to-date policy?
Is your Single Central Record up to date, and correct?

Inspectors will look for evidence of the extent to which leaders, governors and managers create a positive culture and ethos where safeguarding is an important part of everyday life in the setting, backed up by training at every level.

Are your training records up to date?
Are your DSL’s in date with their training?
What has been the impact of training that you have attended?
How have you disseminated it to all staff?
How have you checked the impact of the training?

Inspectors will consider the content, application and effectiveness of safeguarding policies and procedures.

Is your policy ‘’lived’ in your practice?
How have you checked this?
How have Governors sought validation for this?
Is it reflected within your audit work?
Does your policy refer to other documents, policies and procedures, and are they easily available?

Inspectors will consider the quality of safeguarding practice, including evidence that staff understand and follow the setting’s safeguarding procedures and are aware of signs that children or learners may be at risk of harm either within the setting or in the family or wider community outside the setting.

How have you assured yourself of this?
How have Governors sought validation for this?
Is it reflected within your audit work?

In schools and further education and skills providers, leaders, governors and managers should assume that sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and sexual violence are happening in and around the setting, even when there are no specific reports. They should put in place a whole-establishment approach to address them. This includes an effective behaviour policy with appropriate sanctions, pastoral support and a carefully planned relationships, sex and health education curriculum that covers issues of consent.

Are you certain that you have trained your staff, and that you have a zero-tolerance approach?
What is your pupils experience of sexual violence and sexual harassment in your setting?
What is the quality of your RSHE curriculum?
Does pupil voice reflect your understanding of the prevalence of sexual abuse between children?
Have you implemented an effective risk assessment to help to reduce the prevalence of sexual abuse between children?

Inspectors will look for evidence that settings are alert to factors that increase children’s and learners’ vulnerability or potential vulnerability. These factors include mental ill health, domestic abuse, having additional needs, and being from groups at greater risk of exploitation and/or of feeling unable to report abuse (for example, girls and actual or perceived LGBTQ+ children). Inspectors will also seek to understand how any barriers that could prevent a child or learner from making a disclosure, for example, communication needs, are identified and addressed.

How has this been considered in your setting?
What particular barriers might your pupils have and how are you assured that they are able to make disclosures?
Are the safeguarding vulnerabilities of these groups reflected in your child protection and safeguarding policy with procedures to help to reduce risks to them?
How are Governors assuring themselves that this has been considered?

On inspections, inspectors need to determine whether there have been any safeguarding incidents or allegations since the last inspection, and whether the school has taken appropriate action to safeguard the children affected and/or to deal with allegations.

Do you have data on safeguarding incidents and staff allegations & low-level concerns ready for the start of an inspection?
Is this data reported to governors, what is their analysis?

The inspection guidance says: "Safeguarding is ineffective when there are serious or widespread failures in the school’s/setting’s safeguarding arrangements that give cause for concern because children are not protected and statutory requirements are not being met, or because insufficient action is being taken to remedy weaknesses following a serious failure of safeguarding arrangements."

The guidance sets out what ineffective safeguarding might include:

Safeguarding allegations about staff members are not being handled appropriately.

Consider checking your records, have you followed the correct processes, how have you documented the allegation or low-level concern, your actions and the outcomes?
Do you have a policy on managing allegations and low-level concerns in place that is also set out in the staff code of conduct and safeguarding & child protection policy?

Children, pupils and students or particular groups of children, pupils and students do not feel safe in school/the setting.

How do you gather and check the voice of your pupils?
What are they telling you?
Do they report incidents of racism, bullying and sexual violence or harassment?
How does what they tell you match the level of actual reporting?
How are you analysing your internal reporting data and what are you doing as a result of this analysis?
Remember that you should consider that it is happening in your school and not rely on low reporting levels to validate for you that it is not.
Have you considered the various vulnerable groups in your school?

Children, pupils and students have little confidence that the school/setting will address concerns about their safety, including risk of abuse.

How have you reassured yourself that this is not the case or your school?
Have you considered your different vulnerable groups?
Have you analysed your reporting data and compared it to your pupil profiles?

Pupils are frequently missing from school (including for part of the school day), but this is not addressed appropriately by staff.

It is a requirement that all staff receive training on children missing education procedures at induction. How are you ensuring that this happens and that you continue to check it?
Can all your staff articulate your process?
What data do you have and how have you reviewed it?
What plans are in place to support persistent absent pupils and severely absent pupils to return to school and improve their attendance?
How do your levels of PA and SPA compare to national

Incidents of bullying or prejudiced and discriminatory behaviour are common.

How do you know if they are common?
Have you considered that incidents might not be reported?
What does your pupil voice tell you?
Have you considered particular vulnerable groups and their experiences?
Do these reflect data that you hold.
What are the pertinent issues in your school or setting?

Your pupil voice is crucial. If inspectors cannot corroborate the evidence that they gather about the effectiveness of the arrangements to safeguard pupils, by talking to pupils on inspection, then safeguarding will likely be judged ineffective.

There is a strong focus on sexual harassment, abuse or violence on schools. Inspectors will want to ensure that allegations are reported to the appropriate authority. They will consider how schools handle allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and violence, including whether:

staff have appropriate knowledge of part 5 of ‘Keeping children safe in education’,
staff also have good awareness of the signs that a child is being neglected or abused, as described in ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused,’
all pupils are supported to report concerns about harmful sexual behaviour, and barriers that could prevent a pupil from making a disclosure, for example, communication needs, are identified and addressed,
staff are confident and well trained in handling reports of sexual harassment, abuse or violence in line with the DfE’s guidance, including incidents between children and those off school premises, and
all allegations are taken seriously, comprehensively recorded and dealt with swiftly and appropriately, and pupils are confident that this is the case.

We would strongly advise that you undertake a check on your ‘basics,’ such as your policy, information available in your setting, SCR and training. We would additionally remind schools to review their own Inspection Data Summary Report both in terms of any area that is highlighted as not being in line with national, and also in terms of the local context and consider how this is reflected in the provision and safeguarding procedures within your school.

If you do not have adequate processes in place, it is likely that safeguarding will be considered ineffective.

Ofsted have a webinar available on inspecting safeguarding.

Any queries can be sent via email to Educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

National Professional Qualifications for 2022-2023

For September 2022 to 2023, there are four National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) in specialist areas of teaching and four for leadership. These are fully funded.

From Autumn 2022, state-funded schools and state-funded 16 to 19 educational settings with 1 to 600 pupils will be paid £200 for each teacher or leader they employ who takes an NPQ.

NPQs are available for teachers and leaders who want to develop their knowledge and skills in specialist areas of teaching practice. There are:

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

Teachers and leaders who are employed as above are eligible for training scholarships for the following NPQs:

NPQ for Leading Teaching (NPQLT)
NPQ for Leading Behaviour and Culture (NPQLBC)
NPQ for Leading Teacher Development (NPQLTD)
NPQ for Leading Literacy (NPQLL)
NPQ for Senior Leadership (NPQSL)
NPQ for Headship (NPQH)
NPQ for Executive Leadership (NPQEL)
NPQ for Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL)

For full details please visit the National professional qualifications (NPQs) website.

Preparing for the NTP data collection

This is an update from the Department for Education.

Later in June, the Education and Skills Funding Agency will release the ‘School-Led tutoring: year-end statement’. All schools that received the School-Led tutoring grant will have to complete and return it. An optional School-Led tutoring tracker and calculator tool has been designed to help schools track information during the academic year.

We will provide full guidance on completing the year-end statement later this month. Page 21 of the School-Led tutoring guidance includes the data you will be asked to provide.

Recovery premium funding update

In December 2021, the government announced an additional £1bn for a recovery premium over the next two academic years (2022/23 and 2023/24). Building on this year’s recovery premium, this will help schools to deliver evidence-based approaches to support the most disadvantaged pupils.

We have published further information on pupil eligibility, indicative funding rates, use of funding and conditions of grant for the 2022/23 academic year.

Apply to join the teacher and head teacher reference groups

This is an update from the Department for Education.

We are looking for school leaders and teachers who would like to contribute to national policy through the primary head teacher, secondary headteacher and teacher reference groups.

The reference groups support policy development and implementation by providing feedback to ministers and Department for Education officials. Information on how to apply is in our teacher reference group and headteacher reference group guidance. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 24 June 2022.

New teacher training and development opportunities

This is an update from the Department for Education.

Investing in teacher development is vitally important. We are therefore continuing to offer a range of development opportunities, including:

extending funding for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs), so that they remain free for teachers and leaders for the next two years
introducing two new NPQs in early years leadership and leading literacy, to help every child get the best start in life and improve their reading and writing
the School Led Development Trust, made up of four leading multi-academy trusts, will set up and run the new flagship National Institute of Teaching
delivering high-quality development programmes and cutting-edge insight into best practice, through the new Institute, rolling out teacher training nationwide
improving the online training platform for early career teachers, in order to reduce workloads

Read how NPQs have transformed CPD in one multi-academy trust.

Our professional development for teachers and leaders guidance has more about NPQs and other professional development opportunities, including course information, guidance and information on how to sign up.

A new approach to area SEND inspections

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission are seeking views on proposed changes to the way they jointly inspect area SEND arrangements from 2023.

This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 11 September 2022.

The consultation seeks your views on proposed changes to the way Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) jointly inspect local area partnerships to assess how they work together to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

They are seeking the widest possible range of views from those who have an interest in, or expertise relating to, disability, special educational needs (SEN) and/or alternative provision. Ofsted particularly want to hear from children and young people who have SEND, and their parents and carers. They are also keen to hear from local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, professionals and practitioners involved in the commissioning and delivery of services to children and young people with SEND.

Supporting documents

Alongside the consultation document, the following will also be published:

an easy-read version of the consultation
the draft equalities impact statement
the draft inspection framework and handbook

Children and young people’s consultation

The consultation is keen to hear from children and young people who have SEND and a dedicated young person’s consultation page has been set up. This is where young people can access information that is relevant to them and give their views.

Respond to the consultation

Responses to the consultation can be submitted online:

Complete the consultation

Autism Education Trust update

The programme of Autism Education Trust (AET) professional development is now running across Early Years, Schools and Post 16. Most schools and settings now have an Autism Lead in place, and our schools are engaging with Good Autism Practice (GAP) whole school CPD.

A reminder that Good Autism Practice (GAP) is aimed at education practitioners who work directly with autistic children, is suitable for all staff within the school as part of their training. This is a half a day session at a cost of £300 per school/setting.

Making Sense of Autism (MSA) is brief, and is aimed at office and ancillary staff, caterers, caretakers, transport staff and governors. This 1 hour training session costs £100 per school/setting.

GAP and MSA continue to be delivered by the EP and LSAT teams. To ensure sustainability, for the coming academic year, we are offering GAP on five ‘PD’ days, which has so far proved popular.

Dates to choose from for whole school GAP:

5 September 2022
6 September 2022
31 October 2022
3 January 2023
17 April 2023

There are a maximum of eight training slots available on any given PD day. Please book via CPDSchoolImprovement@telford.gov.uk indicating your 1st choice and 2nd choice of date. Training spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Any questions, please contact our new AET Lead Officer Dr Jane Park jane.park@telford.gov.uk

Working together to improve school attendance

As you will be aware, on the 6 May 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) published new guidance on attendance. Working together to improve school attendance is non-statutory guidance and applies from September 2022. It replaces all previous guidance in relation to attendance for maintained schools, academies, and LAs, except for statutory guidance on Parental Responsibility Measures. The intention of Government is that it will be statutory by September 2023 at the latest.

It embraces this approach:

EXPECT
Aspire to high standard of attendance from all pupils and parents, and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvements across the school.

MONITOR
Rigorously use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance (at individual and cohort level) as soon as possible so all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched.

LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND
When a pattern is spotted, discuss with pupils and parents to listen to understand barrier to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

FACILITATE SUPPORT
Remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents to access the support they need to overcome the barriers outside of school. This might include an early help or whole family plan where absence is a symptom of wider issues.

FORMALISE SUPPORT
When absence persists and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, partners should work together to explain the consequences clearly and ensure support is also in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through a parenting contract or education supervision order.

ENFORCE
Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support it not working or not being engaged with, enforce attendance through statutory intervention or presecution to protect the pupil’s right to education.

It outlines that all schools are expected to:

develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance;
have a clear school attendance policy which all staff, pupils and parents understand;
accurately complete admission and attendance registers and have effective day to day processes in place to follow-up absence;
regularly monitor and analyse attendance and absence data to identify pupils or cohorts that require support with their attendance and put effective strategies in place;
➢ build strong relationships with families, listen to and understand barriers to attendance and work with families to remove them;
share information and work collaboratively with other schools in the area, local authorities, and other partners when absence is at risk of becoming persistent or severe.

It is important that all schools are now be aware of the new DfE guidance detailed above. It covers granting leave of absence, attendance registers and day to day processes.

Some key elements to note include:

that schools recognise that improving attendance is a school leadership issue and that they have a designated member of the Senior Leadership Team who will have overall responsibility for championing and improving attendance in school,
that part time timetables should not be used to manage pupils behaviour
strict timescales for reporting absences of more than 10 days to the LA and no less frequently than once a month,
LA’s will be seeking more frequent and comprehensive sharing of data.

Although there raised expectations for local authorities we are pleased that we already offer much that is outlined in the guidance and we are working with our Attendance Support Team on embedding the recommendations from the guidance at the moment. The discussion and planning of implementing these changes have begun and once agreed will be communicated to schools when they are finalised.

The Service Level Agreements which many schools currently have with the Attendance Support Team for Education Welfare Officer support will continue.

The DfE is running a series of webinairs for schools and local authorities and we would strongly recommend that you consider signing up to them. If you have already missed some of the dates, the webinairs are available on the DfE website.

What the new attendance guidance means for schools.
19 May 2022, 4-4.45pm
Sign up for a webinar hosted by the DFE

Having a clear school attendance policy.
9 June 2022, 4-4.45
Sign up for a webinar hosted by Jayne Lowe, DFE attendance adviser

Attendance coding practice and day-to-day processes.
16 June 2022, 4-5pm
Sign up for a webinar hosted by Star Academies Trust

Working with families, local authorities, and other partners effectively.
23 June 2022, 4-5pm
Sign up for a webinar hosted by Sapientia Education Trust

Analysing absence and attendance data.
30 June 2022, 4-5pm
Sign up for a webinar hosted by Unity Schools Partnership

Effective governance to appropriately challenge leaders on attendance.
TBC.
Sign up details to follow.

For more information visit the working together to improve school attendance website.

Any queries can be sent to Cathy Hobbs, Group Manager, via email to Cathy.hobbs@telford.gov.uk.

Tracking vulnerable learners initiative at transition

I’m sure you will all recall the ‘Tracking Vulnerable Pupils’ initiative that Telford & Wrekin schools participated in over the last two summers. Firstly, a huge thank you to all of you in schools across the borough, who supported the gathering of key information about these vulnerable pupils at such a busy time of year for you all.

With your help the council identified over a hundred pupils who did not arrive at their allocated school in both September 2020 and 2021. It is so refreshing to know that you understand the potential risks, and we that we managed to track every single child.

Given the success of this piece of work, and the new increased focus on attendance with the publication of ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ document schools are asked to participate again this year.

The excel spreadsheets are available to download, and schools are asked to identify vulnerable pupils at transition from Yr 2 to Yr 3 if you are an Infant School, and from Yr 6 to Yr 7 if yours is a Primary School.

Year 2 vulnerable children at transition - spreadsheet

Year 6 vulnerable children at transition - spreadsheet

The work will focus solely on Yr 2 for Infant Schools, and Yr 6 for Primary Schools.

Our aim is to enable any receiving schools to be aware of any pupils likely to cause a specific area of concern as detailed below, and as a result may need additional support during transition or who have a potential to not arrive at their allocated school. We also want information about specific groups who may not settle well into Yr 7, for example, this has been an issue for GRT pupils historically.

It is hoped that the Excel spreadsheet will be self-explanatory, but there will are also guidance notes which may help to clarify exactly what data is needed from you.

There are 4 groups of pupils we want to capture on the attached spreadsheet. Some may fall into all four groups and you can indicate this in the appropriate columns so it is important to complete the spreadsheet in full.

Group 1 – Year 6 Pupils who have not been allocated a place in Yr 7 or who are awaiting an appeal for an alternative school place. This group of Pupils last year caused the most concern, many were out of school for many weeks so we hope to be able to support these at the very earliest opportunity.
Group 2 – Year 6 GRT Pupils Please complete all the columns, some pupils who identify as GRT will also fit the criteria for other vulnerability factors but please add all Year 6 GRT pupils, regardless of their attendance level, we will see their attendance level in the % column. This group of pupils are particularly vulnerable during transition and many are withdrawn from mainstream schooling at this point.
Group 3 – Year 6 New Arrivals to the UK please add any year 6 pupil who arrived in the UK since September 2021. By identifying newly arrived pupils we hope to be able to signpost these to our MDT colleagues who will be able to support any language barriers and who may also need additional support during transition.
Group 4 – Year 6 P/A Pupils The spreadsheet should include all year 6 pupils who have an attendance rate of 90% or below (your Yr 6 P/A pupils) Again, please complete all columns for each child on the list.

This completed spreadsheet must be returned to attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk No later than 12 noon on Friday 24 June 2022 to allow ample time for the LA to intervene where necessary.

Last year schools were asked for information regarding all BAME and EAL pupils but we found the majority of these pupils transitioned successfully into their new schools.

We appreciate that before the summer break you may still continue to identify children who are CME/CNRE/COOS. If you have already established that a child is Missing Education please follow the normal CME referral route. In accordance with the statutory DfE guidance schools should ‘make reasonable enquiries’. Before referring to the LA we suggest schools will have attempted:

Telephone contact
Email contact
A Letter to the home address
A Home visit to the home address

If the child’s whereabouts is still unknown schools should complete the usual CME form.

Telford & Wrekin Council would like to say a huge thank you to all schools for their contribution to this initiative. It really is a valuable piece of work and helps to support these vulnerable pupils during transition.

Any queries can be sent via email to attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk.

Persistent Absence (PA) data validated by the DfE

The Department for Education (DfE) have also published data for the Autumn term 2021/22. This is the first full year validated attendance data since 2018-19 due to the pandemic and this will enable schools to benchmark themselves against it.

Telford & Wrekin attendance data

Once again, schools are thanked as you continue working towards improving your overall attendance and reducing persistent absence. It has been a monumental effort and schools are working hard to improve attendance for all pupils.

You will be aware of the recently published guidance working together to improve school attendance online and will not doubt be pleased that the DfE are now placing such a strong emphasis on it.

Telford & Wrekin Council look forward to partnership working in the future as collectively we all begin to implement the expectations in the document.

You will all recall that the DfE did not publish attendance data for academic year 2019-20. It is not possible or appropriate to compare year on year data currently as we do not have a like for like situation due to the impact the COVID-19 virus had on absence. Therefore, it is strongly advised that schools to use their own data to compare with the national figures. When comparing your data, compare it to the national now and look at your differential to national, and then compare to the national for any previous year and look at your differential. Do not compare year on year data due to the impact of COVID-19.

This National data, validated by the DfE based on 2020/21 for a full year was published by the DfE in March 2022. It identifies that:

T&W Primary attendance was 96.5% compared to 96.4% nationally and ranks the LA 60th nationally.
The Persistent Absence (P/A) for T & W Primary is 8.4% which was lower than national at 8.8%
T & W Secondary attendance was 94.3% marginally below National average for secondary at 94.5% and ranks the LA 93rd Nationally.
The Persistent Absence (P/A) for T & W Secondary is 16.2% which is significantly higher than national at 14.8%
T & W Special School attendance was 82.2% significantly below National average for Special Schools at 84.8%. We do not have a ranking for Special schools but have seen a move from being 2.1% above national to being 2.6% below national.
The Persistent Absence (P/A) for T & W Special Schools is 64.2% which is significantly higher than national at 48.9%
All T & W Schools attendance was 95.2% marginally below National average for all Schools at 95.4% and ranks the LA 94th Nationally.
The Persistent Absence (P/A) for all T & W Schools is 13.1% which is a full point % higher than national at 12.1%

Schools should be using the local and national data to compare to their own school data.

Please also find attached a chart with validated attendance data for the 2020/21, and for Autumn term 2021. Also on the chart is the invalidated data for the Spring term 2022. It is highlighted in yellow so that you remember that it is unvalidated data.

Queries can be sent via email to attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk.

Pupils who have achieved 100% attendance – June 2022

The Attendance Support Team are looking for your assistance in identifying any of your Year 11 pupils who have had 100% attendance throughout their secondary school career (Year 7 to Year 11) and also any Year 6 pupils who have 100% attendance throughout their primary School career (reception to Year 6). This may add to your burdens at this busy time but it is such a rare achievement we feel it should be acknowledged.

There may be some pupils who have achieved 100% throughout their school careers from Reception through to Year 11 – these may be more difficult for you to identify but if you have any ideas regarding this, the team can help with the investigation.

The pandemic has obviously had an impact on attendance and only attendance during the periods when it was compulsory for all pupils to attend will be looked at. Attendance for Year 11 up to May half term this year (27 May 2022) will be considered.

100% attendance is a wonderful achievement which should be acknowledged and celebrated, particularly in this period when Year 11s and Year 6s are again having a different experience to pre-pandemic pupils

Can you please forward details of any of your pupils who have achieved this to the attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk inbox enclosing copies of the pupil’s attendance records, to enable arrangements to be made for certificates and rewards to be prepared.

Home to school travel assistance

Telford & Wrekin looks to support parents and carers to make arrangements for their children and young people, to travel safely to their allocated school or post-16 provider, and schools are asked to assist with promoting the information to enable them to do this.

If parents/carers are unable to transport their child or young person, and if they meet the eligibility criteria listed on the council’s website, then travel assistance can be provided.

For assistance to be in place from September 2022, applications must be received by the council by 30 June 2022. For applications received after this date, a guarantee cannot be made that assistance will be in place for the start of the new term.

If a child is over the age of 16, and parents/carers have already received transport assistance, then please ask them to re-apply by 30 June every academic year.

For more information please ask them to visit the Telford & Wrekin website.

Telford College hosts creative end of year show

The Telford College creative end of year show will be held on Monday 20 June 2022 from 5:30-7pm in the Creative Hub, Telford College, Haybridge Road, Wellington.

All staff are invited to attend and enjoy the work on show. The work will remain up for the week to be viewed and printed guides will be available from the Creative Hub.

The work in this year’s exhibition features pieces from over 200 students across the vocational and A-Level creative courses at the college. The show explores various themes throughout, such as: identity, actuality, superheroes, mental health, landscapes and where we live.

It also features work completed in collaboration with local creative professionals and businesses such as: The National Trust (Dudmaston Hall and Sunnycroft), Camp Bestival Shropshire music festival, BBC Introducing Shropshire, songwriter Josh Wunderlich, Shropshire Council and the Commonwealth Games 2022.

Students have explored these themes and projects through film, animation, photography, fine art, fashion & textiles, graphic design, 3D sculptures and more.

Telford College hope that you enjoy exploring the work in this years’ exhibition. They are very proud of their students and the creative works they have produced.

Suicide intervention workshop

ASIST 2-day Suicide Intervention Workshop (Course code:7932357) A workshop designed to help people to support someone experiencing thoughts of suicide.

The workshop deals with this subject in an appropriate way and will empower people to be confident and comfortable talking about suicide, asking people clearly and directly about suicide, and how to structure an intervention to help keep a person safe.

The course will provide an overview of the intervention needs of a person at risk. The trainers focus on providing participants with the knowledge and skills to:

Recognise risk

Develop safe plans for the person

Reduce the risk of suicide

The course will take place at Leegomery Community Centre, Leegate Avenue, Telford

TF1 6NA on Thursday 7 July – Friday 8 July 2022, 8:30am – 5pm).

For more information, or to register your interest visit: www.learntelford.ac.uk or contact Learn Telford on 07528 979376. A flyer about the event is also available to download.

Please note that registering interest does not guarantee a place on this course. You must attend the enrolment session and complete an enrolment form to secure a place

The workshop is free if you live in Telford and are currently unemployed or earning less than £17,374.50 per year. If you work for a charity or voluntary sector organisation we are able to offer this workshop for subsidised fee of £50 per person. If you are employed and earn over £17,374.50 per year, or are being sponsored by your employer the cost is £120 per person.

Exclusion Reduction Hotline

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.

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

The CPD Booklet continues to be available on the Telford Education Services site.

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 (unless stated otherwise).

SEND: Building capacity in your school (LSAT 403) Face to Face	Tuesday, June 21, 2022	9.15am to 3pm
Understanding Nurture (PSS 101)	Wednesday, June 22, 2022	9.15am to 12noon
Induction Training for New Governors (GO 502) Face to Face	Wednesday, June 22, 2022	9.30am to 3.30pm
Early Years Coordinators – Termly Update (EY 007) Face to Face	Wednesday, June 22, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Talk Boost - KS1 (repeat)	Thursday, June 23, 2022	9am to 4pm
Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA training) - Part 1 (BSAT 201) Face to Face	Thursday, June 23, 2022	8.30am to 4pm
Bright Ideas and Inspiration - for your breakfast, holiday and out of school provision (EY 303)	Thursday, June 23, 2022	9.15am to 12noon
EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development Session 7: Expressive Arts and Design (EY 308)	Tuesday, June 28, 2022	1pm to 2.30pm
EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development Session 7: Expressive Arts and Design (EY 309)	Tuesday, June 28, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Working with Ukrainian Children	Tuesday, June 28, 2022	3.30pm to 5pm
Designated Safeguarding Leads' and Safeguarding Governors' Termly Update (SG 106)	Wednesday, June 29, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Meeting the OFSTED requirements for Equalities and Diversity in the Secondary School (CPD 719)	Wednesday, June 29, 2022	1pm to 4pm
Accredited Safer Recruitment Training	Thursday, June 30, 2022	9am to 4.30pm
Raising Awareness of Prevent (SG 101)	Thursday, June 30, 2022	9.30am to 11am
Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA training) - Part 2 (BSAT 201) Face to Face	Thursday, June 30, 2022	8.30am to 12.30pm
Forest School and Outdoor Learning for Practitioners Working within EYFS (EY 201)	Thursday, June 30, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Early Career Teacher Network (CPD 720)	Thursday, June 30, 2022	4pm to 5pm
Effective Circle Times in the EYFS (EY 302)	Monday, July 04, 2022	1.15pm to 4pm
Solution Focussed Therapy (PSS 102)	Tuesday, July 05, 2022	9.15am to 12noon
Designated Safeguarding Leads Refresher (SG 107) Face to Face	Wednesday, July 06, 2022	9.15am to 3.15pm
Recently Qualified Teacher Development Programme (CPD 507)	Wednesday, July 06, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
School Duties under the Equality Act 2010 – and how to write an effective Accessibility Plan (LSAT 304)	Wednesday, July 06, 2022	9.15am to 12noon
IRIS Training	Wednesday, July 06, 2022	3.30pm to 5pm
Teaching Children with SEND: Meeting the Needs. Session 6: Literacy Difficulties (LSAT 508)	Thursday, July 07, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Safety Intervention Refresher Training (formerly MAPA Refresher Training) BSAT 212	Thursday, July 07, 2022	9am to 11.30am
Virtual School Conference for Designated Teachers and Nominated Governors for Children in Care (CPD 620) *see separate article*	Friday, July 08, 2022	9am to 3.30pm
Supporting Behaviour and Learning - Children with ADHD/ODD & CD (new course –see separate article)	Monday, July 11, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
The Role of the Early Years Practitioner in Supporting and Enhancing Play (EY 008)	Wednesday, July 13, 2022	1.15pm to 4pm
ECT Induction Tutor - initial training (CPD 520)	Wednesday, July 13, 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 1 (SG 102) Face to Face	Wednesday, July 13, 2022	9.15am to 4pm
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 2 (SG 102) Face to Face	Thursday, July 14, 2022	9.15am to 4pm
Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 213)	Thursday, July 14, 2022	9am to 11.30am
Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 214)	Thursday, July 14, 2022	3pm to 5.30pm

Telford & Wrekin Virtual School Conference - Friday 8 July 2022

The Telford & Wrekin Virtual School is running its 3rd Annual Conference, taking place Friday 8 July 2022 from 8.30am to 4.30pm. This year’s theme is “Belonging, identity, adversity & me” - supporting all young people with a social worker and Previously Looked After Children

This conference is designed for Designated Teachers, Designated Safeguarding Leads and Nominated Governors for Children in Care.

The conference will provide delegates with an opportunity to develop links with the Virtual School, health and social care colleagues and with other designated teachers, designated safeguarding leads and nominated governors, as we work together to increase the progress Telford & Wrekin children in care make in school and beyond.

Even if you currently have no children in care at your school, it is important that you remain up to date with processes and expectations, should a child join you. In addition, Ofsted is looking quite closely at the relationship schools have with the Virtual School, and information gained at network meetings has proven very useful to many schools during inspection.

Educational outcomes for children in care and children in need are a key priority for Ofsted in the West Midlands Region and inspectors have indicated that they will be looking closely at how a school prioritises work with children in care when making inspection judgements.

Keynote speakers

Dr Dawn Bradley – Dawn is currently an advisory Educational Psychologist for the Attachment Research Community (ARC), and introduced the nationally accredited Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) training programme in 2018. She is a member of the national ELSA steering committee, a quality assured ELSA trainer and supervisor, practitioner trainer Emotion Coach (UK) and practices as a psychotherapist in EMDR Trauma Therapy.

Tim Hill HMI - Ofsted, West Midlands Region - Tim is an experienced inspector of primary, secondary and special schools, and pupil referral units. He also inspects local authority children’s services and has extensive senior leadership experience as a head teacher and local authority adviser. His areas of expertise include literacy, science, behaviour management, safeguarding, and leadership and management.

Steven Russell - Steven is the founder of Elements SEMH Support. As a child, he lived with nine foster families, was placed into two children’s homes and attended five schools. With this in mind, he decided to turn his “pain to purpose” by creating Elements. As a child, growing up in the care system, Steven has become an effective communicator with children living in care. By combining the elements of his professional and personal experiences to create “Elements SEMH Support” Steven has been able to inspire hundreds of children to become more optimistic about their lives, despite their adverse experiences.

Workshop Choices

All delegates have the opportunity to attend two workshop sessions. Please clearly indicate your 1st, 2nd and ‘reserve’ choice on the booking form.

Workshop A: ‘The Teenage Brain (The Solihull Approach)’, Natalie Woodhouse- Fostering Team

This workshop has a particular focus on adolescents and explores a variety of evidence based practice.

This theory was developed in 1996 by professionals including Psychologists, Psychotherapist and CAMHS. It is evidence based and provides professionals with a framework to think about children’s behaviours, this in turn develops an effective consistent approach. It aims to increase emotional health and wellbeing. The aim of this workshop is to:

explore brain development and the changes that happen in adolescence
explore why teenagers take risks
explore why teenagers sleep patterns change
understand changes in behavior and why teenagers may find it difficult to understand others emotions.

Workshop B: ‘Edge of Care and Fostering’, Jacqui Davis and Dan Chell – Social Care

The workshop will enable participants to understand the impact of going into care verses children to be enabled to stay at home if it is safe to do. The session will also explore Telford & Wrekin invest to save initiative designed to use public money in new innovative ways to break cycles of behaviour and encourage families to successfully promote the welfare of their children.

Workshop C: Gangs and Exploitation, Vicki Ridgwell – Police

This workshop explores the local and national landscape of exploitation and gang criminality. Participants will explore the various types of exploitation, grooming and how to identify the risk factors for young people in our care and vulnerable children.

Workshop D: ‘BeeU, the Toxic Trio and Early Clinical Experiences’, Anna Frater - CAMHS

This workshop explores the role of the Toxic Trio and Early Clinical Experiences for children in care, and the role and work of BeeU in offering support.

Workshop E: ‘Care Leavers’ Covenant and Lived Experience’, Natalie Latham

This workshop explores life as a Care Leaver and working with those who are approaching leaving care, and the challenges it brings. It explores opportunities and entitlements for those who are leaving care, including lived experience.

Workshop F: ‘Supporting Nominated Governors – Interpreting data and key questions’, Lou Aubrey – Virtual School Team

This workshop explores the role of the Nominated Governor for Children in Care and how you can be a high quality ‘critical friend’ – offering both challenge and support to the Designated Teacher and School through interpreting key data and skillful questioning.

Workshop G: ‘Belonging, Inclusion and Identity’, John Newton – Virtual School Team

This workshop focuses on the importance of belonging and personal identity amongst care experienced young people and seeks to highlight strategies and systems for promoting personal reflection and self-expression within a young person’s educational journey. The workshop also seeks to explore the impact of becoming a ‘child in care’ on the development of identity and interpersonal relationships.

Delegate fees

£120 for one delegate.
£180 for two delegates.
£60 for each additional delegate, up to a total of 4 delegates per school

To book, please send a completed booking form to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk.

If you have any queries about the event please contact virtualschool@telford.gov.uk.

Supporting Behaviour and Learning - Children with ADHD / Oppositional Defiance Disorder & Conduct Disorder

PSS 104: Supporting Behaviour and Learning - Children with ADHD / Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) & Conduct Disorder (CD) is a new twilight online CPD course. It is aimed at those staff members in schools, both primary and secondary, who work directly with children and young people - including teachers, learning mentors, teaching assistants, school support staff and other childcare professionals.

The course aims to raise awareness and understanding of ADHD, ODD and CD and, most importantly, help staff to support children to improve their outcomes – with a focus on supporting behaviour and learning.

As well as ADHD, the course will examine Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD). Delegates will understand the challenges facing neuro-diverse children and the strategies they can use to avoid isolation and exclusion.

Course dates and times:

Monday 13 June 2022, 4pm to 5.30pm, repeated
Monday 11 July 2022, 4pm to 5.30pm

Delegate fees

£85 for one delegate.
£76.50 per person for two delegates from the same school on the same date.
Whole school cost: As these courses are taking place on a Monday evening, when many schools hold staff meetings, we can offer access to this online course at a whole school price of £250 per school. (Please note: for ‘whole school’ bookings please select one date).

To book please send a completed CPD booking form to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk – if your request is for ‘whole school’ access, please simply state this on your form, rather than listing all the staff at this stage, and we will get back to you to confirm the details.

Learning disability week

In 2022, Learning Disability Week will take place from the 20-26 June 2022. The event is organised every year by the learning disability charity, Mencap.

This year, they want to show how people with a learning disability are reconnecting with friends and their communities. They also want to talk about the issues many people still face after the end of COVID-19 restrictions, like still having to isolate or dealing with poor mental health and anxiety.

It aims to improve the quality of life for individuals with learning disabilities by raising awareness about important issues, fighting stigma and discrimination, and raising funds for outreach and support programs. As such, Learning Disability Week will be close to the hearts of many teachers, parents, and other educators.

Telford and Wrekin Council “My OptionsTeam” are leading the way, and carrying out wonderful work to celebrate Learning Disability Week.

To find out more visit the Mencap website.

There are a number of events being held across Telford & Wrekin:

SENDIASS Coracle Creative Summer Hub - an exciting mix of arts and craft sessions
Thursday 9 June 2022, 4.30-6pm (secondary) and Tuesday 5 July 2022, 4-5.30pm (primary)
Family Zone, Hazeldine House
Coracle Creative Summer Hub flyer

Telford & Wrekin Children’s Autism Hub - Understanding my autistic child – free workshop
28 June 2022, 9.30am-12noon
Family Zone, Hazeldine House
Understanding my autistic child flyer

Special educational Needs ‘in school’ support workshop
29 June 2022, 9am onwards
John Fletcher Primary School
SEN in school support workshop flyer

Telford & Wrekin Children’s Autism Hub – Dugout visual art workshop
7 July, 4.30-6pm
Family Zone, Hazeldine House
Visual art workshop flyer

Telford & Wrekin Children’s Autism Hub coffee and chat.
Monday’s 11am-12pm, term time
Coffee and chat flyer

Telford & Wrekin Children’s Autism Hub – Family fun session
3rd Tuesday of the month, 4-5pm, term time
Family Zone, Hazeldine House
Family fun session flyer

Refugee week

Refugee Week is a UK wide festival of arts, cultural, sports and educational events that celebrate the contribution from refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities.

With the aim of encouraging a diverse range of events which enables people from different backgrounds to connect and understand why people are displaced, and the challenges they face when seeking safety. Refugee Week is a platform for people who have sought safety in the UK to share their experiences, perspectives and creative work on their own terms.

It also enable then to showcase the talent and expertise that refugees bring with them to the UK and will provide an insight and raises awareness of the reality of refugee experiences

Our ultimate aim is to create better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration, enabling refugees to live in safety and continue making a valuable contribution to the local economy.

Over the last 12 months Telford & Wrekin have welcomed a number of Afghan and Ukraine refugees, and have ensured that all of the children of school age are now receiving education from settings across the borough.

For free teaching resource packs about refugees are available online:

Get involved at your school

Teaching resources

Children’s art week

Children's Art Week is run by Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, over three weeks from 29 June 2022 onwards.

During this time, schools, art galleries, museums and community groups are encouraged to plan and provide art activities and events with the goal of providing opportunities for children, young people and families to take part in practical activities with artists and art educators.

Children's Art Week 2022 will take place across 3 weeks from 29 June to 19 July 2022. Creative activities will take place across the country both online, at home and in schools.

Each week has a different theme:

Week 1 - The Natural World
Week 2 - Connecting across generations
Week 3 - Literacy and creative writing

For further information and resources visit the Twinkle Children’s Art Week 2022 website.

Let us know what you are doing for Children’s Art week by sending your stories and pictures to education.noticeboard@telford.gov.uk or tag us on twitter @TelfordWrekin.

National school sports week

National School Sport Week will take place from 20 to 26 June 2022, and will give schools and sports clubs the opportunity to engage in a series of sporting challenges.

The week-long celebration will champion the return of youth sport and its power to bring people back together. In 2022, the theme for this year’s National School Sports Week will be 'Belonging – a place in sport for every child'.

The Youth Sport Trust are urging schools and settings to get involved by holding sporting events throughout the week that showcase how inclusive sport can be. School sport should be seen as an important part of every child’s education and development.

The aim of this event is to highlight how important school sport is for children’s and young person’s mental and physical health. By organising school events like sports days or tournaments, shows children and young people the benefits of taking part in sport. It is important that every child/young person should feel they have a place to belong.

If you want your school/setting to take part in National School Sport Week you can register online.

World music day

World Music Day celebrates music in all its forms and the impact it’s had on all races across the world. This year the event will take place on Tuesday 21 June 2022.

The best way to celebrate World Music Day is to spend the day listening to all your old favourites, or if you are feeling adventurous start exploring music from different cultures.

Telford & Wrekin Music offer a full range of music tuition on a wide range of musical instruments to children in both primary and secondary schools across the borough and offer tuition in small groups focusing on technique in schools, or larger groups after school, there is plenty on offer. Please contact us if you require any more information.

To find out more about Telford & Wrekin Music follow the link below:

ttps://www.telfordandwrekinmusic.co.uk/parents/ or email telford.music@telford.gov.uk

This entry was posted by Claire on Wednesday, 15 June 2022.

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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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