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

As part of White Ribbon Day, which takes place tomorrow, we at Telford & Wrekin Council are encouraging all men in the borough to take a stand against crimes of violence towards women and girls. Read more about how we plan to do this, and why, below.

The 10 by 10 initiative has proved popular, as evidenced by the number of children on a waiting list for the free swimming lessons offered under the scheme. This week we are offering our thanks to schools who have been tirelessly enthusiastic in their promotion of the ethos of 10 by 10. We couldn’t do this without you all!

I’m sure many of you watching the national Children in Need coverage will have spotted some pupils from Hadley Learning Community. Members of their choir joined those from four other schools to form a special choir, who performed at the event. You can read more about them below, and there is a link to the video, for those who you missed it, below. A huge well done to them.

As well as the news stories I have mentioned, this week’s articles include a reminder of the deadline to apply for reception school places, the last dates for Attendance Support Team referrals and a message to the education sector from the Secretary of State, Gillian Keegan.

Have a good rest of the week.

Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education & Skills

Men encouraged to take a stand against domestic violence

Telford & Wrekin Council is calling on men across the borough to take a stand against crimes of violence against women and girls for White Ribbon Day 2022.

Taking place on 25 November, White Ribbon Day encourages men and boys never to use, excuse or remain silent about violence against women. To mark this event the council and other local partners will undertake 16 days (until 10 December 2022)of action to support the global movement against male violence.

The White Ribbon Facebook page will raise awareness, Southwater will be lit up white, and white ribbon stickers will be applied to local taxis, as well as West Midlands Police, Shropshire Fire and Rescue Services and council fleet vehicles. An event to support and engage business in Telford and Wrekin’s night time economy on drink spiking and other safety issues affecting women is also taking place on 9 December 2022.

Councillor Kelly Middleton (Labour), Cabinet Member for Leisure, Public Health and Well-Being, Equalities and Partnerships, said: "Women are disproportionally affected by domestic violence, as well as stalking and harassment. 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. Two women are killed by a current or former partner in the UK every week.

"Since becoming a White Ribbon town in 2011, we have long since championed support and preventative measures in Telford and Wrekin all year round. The council has continued to develop the CCTV network to act as a deterrent in hot spot areas and is undertaking a pilot to install cameras in taxis. Our Safer & Stronger Communities project has helped more than 120 women complete free self-defence classes with more sessions due in the New Year. We are supporting a theatre production to tour our schools, which will educate young people and challenge unacceptable behaviours. And we are running an annual survey to ensure our efforts continue to focus on the right issues affecting women in Telford.

"Protecting and caring for victims of domestic abuse is a top priority for us, and I want people to know that help is out there; you are not alone."

Domestic abuse is a common crime, not only affecting women but also 1 in 6 men as victims. Support in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin is available through the Shropshire Domestic Abuse Service: call 0300 303 1191 or email sdas@shropsdas.org.uk.

West Mercia Women's Aid runs a 24-hour domestic abuse helpline and a live chat service for those who need to talk 'silently.' Call: 0800 783 1359 or visit the West Mercia Woman's Aid website.

Further support and advice can be found on the Telford & Wrekin Council.

Nearly 1,000 children have registered with 10 by 10

We are delighted with how schools, parents and children have taken part in 10 by 10 since the new website launched in September 2022.

Just under 1,000 children have been registered on the 10 by 10 website by a parent, and hundreds are on a waiting list for free swimming lessons.

We want to say a very special thank you to all our primary schools in the borough. Your support has been exceptional and invaluable in making such a good start. It's been great to see 10 by 10 banners up everywhere.

We are now spending time improving the website to make it easier for parents to search and find things to do. After the success and interest around the new swimming offer, we are working to provide a new free offer for parents. At the end of the school year, we will also want to acknowledge year six children who have made an effort to at least try every 10 by 10 activity.

We will continue to keep you updated on 10 by 10. Once again, thank you for your continued support.

HLC students star in BBC Children in Need song

Hadley Learning Community was one of five school choirs chosen to take part in the national Children in Need choir.

For their segment, the choir was filmed singing a version of Somewhere Only We Know, a song made famous by Keane, at Blists Hill Museum.

The performance was shown as part of the national BBC coverage for Children in Need, on 18 November 2022. They also appeared on Midland News.

The video is available on the Children in Need website.

Outstanding success at the HLC Careers Fair 2022

Around 60 providers representing sixth forms, colleges, universities, apprenticeships, traineeships and employers came to meet Hadley Learning Community students on Thursday 17 November 2022.

With over 600 people attending the event, including HLC students from years 9-11, and for the first time some year 6 students came to find out what sort of choices they could make when thinking about GCSE options. Some of them were also planning on potential Universities they would like to attend in the future.

The event was a great success.

HLC would like to thank all the businesses and sixth forms who attended the event.

Reminder of deadline to apply for reception places

Please remind parents/carers of the application deadline for Reception places.

We kindly ask you to include the following reminder in your communication updates to parents and carers in your school:

“If you have a child born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019, they are due to start primary school in September 2023.

You can apply for a reception class place until 15 January 2023.

You will need to apply to the Local Authority in which you live, but you can apply to schools outside of your Local Authority area should you wish.

For more information and to apply, please visit Telford & Wrekin Council’s School Admissions website - https://www.telford.gov.uk/info/20026/school_admissions/3247/applying_for_a_school_place

If you have questions, please email the Council’s Admissions Team on Admissions@telford.gov.uk. “

Last dates for AST referrals before Christmas

It is usual for the Attendance Support Team (AST) to cease any AST warning notices before the end of the Autumn term. Friday 9 December 2022 will be the last day that any notice referrals will be accepted. Referrals after that date will need to wait until the beginning of the new year.

Penalty Notices will continue to be issued up until the last day of term. Parents will have a little longer to pay any PN due to the bank holidays over Christmas.

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

Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership – November newsletter

The November 2022 issue of the Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership newsletter is now available to download.

Virtual Christmas Singalong

As part of The Music Partnership, Telford schools are invited to The Virtual Christmas Singalong, which will be supported and led by Cathy Lamb and her Musicshare Band, with special guest performers to help create a festive last day of term for many of you. Over 60 schools throughout Stoke, Staffordshire and Telford have already signed up to be involved.

Schools will be invited to have free access to the vocal songs (via teaching resources and videos). There will also be special guests performing live on the stream – 2 of Staffordshire’s Young Musician Winners from 2022, plus Staffordshire Music Service Staff Ensemble performing some festive favourites.

The Virtual Christmas Sing-Along will be held on Friday 16 December 2022, starting at 1.30pm and lasting for approximately 45 minutes.

Elements of the singalong:

Participation in the 45-minute live Christmas Sing-Along via Microsoft Teams.
Access to a free resource pack of 6 Christmas songs for your school (email telford.music@telford.gov.uk).

The programme of songs for your school is as follows:

1. Must be Santa – Moore and Fredricks
2. Away in a Manger – Murray, Kirkpatrick arr. Knechtges
3. Sprouts – Cannon and Beale
4. Jingle bell rock – Joe Beal and Jim Boothe arr. Charles Beale
5. Star Carol – John Rutter
6. We wish you a merry Christmas - Trad. English arr. Charles Beale

To confirm your participation in the event, please complete the Microsoft Form.

Once you have registered your school, I’ll send you a link for the backing tracks and sheet music for the festive songs, which will be via OneDrive. Teaching videos will be sent separately once completed and approved.

If you would like to ask any questions or have any queries, please don’t hesitate to email paul.hughes@entrust-ed.co.uk.

Christmas Jumper Day

In 2012, Save the Children charity launch Christmas Jumper Day and millions of people up and down the country came together either at their workplace, school or with friends and put on a festive outfit and made a £2 donation to help give children the magical future they deserve.

Christmas Jumper Day is now an annual event for Save the Children's which raises money for children across the world.

Every December, millions of people across the world donate £2 to the charity. This year’s event will be on Thursday 8 December 2022, and for every £2 you donate to Save the Children charity, the UK government has promised to also give £2 to the charity.

This year Save the Children would like to be greener and are actively encouraging you to make your own Christmas jumper, by up-cycling an old jumper by using stickers, tinsel, glitter, baubles, ribbon etc.

Below are a couple of links showing ideas on how to upcycle your jumpers:

Save the Children: Sustainability and Inclusivity

Twinkl: Ways you can upcycle a jumper

Self Made: Make your own Christmas jumper

Share your pictures and stories on Christmas Jumper Day activities, and any let us know about any other Christmas activities taking place within your school over the next month. Please send to education.noticeboard@telford.gov.uk or tag us in you twitter postings at @TelfordWrekin.

An opportunity to place your CPD course bookings

CPD courses to the end of the Autumn Term 2022. Further details of these and other courses are available in the CPD booklet on the Telford Education Services website.

The 2022-23 CPD Booklet is 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).

Induction Training for New Governors (GO 502)	Tuesday 29 November 2022	9.30am to 3.30pm -
Early Years Coordinators – Termly Update (EY 007)	Wednesday 30 November 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Working Together to improve school attendance expectations for schools (AST 001)	Wednesday 30 November 2022	10am to 11.30am
Understanding Intent, Implementation and Impact within the EYFS in a school (EY 319)	Thursday 1 December 2022	1.15pm to 4pm
Child Protection Supervision (SG 203)	Thursday 1 December 2022	9.30am to 12.30pm
AET Making Sense of Autism – an introduction to Autism for Governors (LSAT 514)	Tuesday 6 December 2022	6pm to 7.30pm
Effective Support and Supervisions in the EYFS (EY 306)	Tuesday 6 December 2022	4pm to 5.30pm
Positive Behaviour Management in the Classroom (PSS 008)	Wednesday 7 December 2022	1.15pm to 4pm
Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training part 2 (SG 103)	Thursday 8 December 2022	5.30pm to 7.30pm
Observing Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EY 011)	Thursday 8 December 2022	1pm to 3pm
Supporting Children in Care in Early Years Settings (free of charge Teams briefing for governors) To book please send an email to joseph.leppington@telford.gov.uk	Friday 9 December 2022	10am to 11am

Free online training for governors

Free training for governors, to enhance their understanding of how to support Children in Care in Early Years. The training will take place online on Friday 9 December 2022, 10am – 11am.

The training will incorporate:

How we support children in care to meet the early learning goals.
The role of the Pupil Education Plan.
How Trauma Informed Practices can support schools to help children thrive in Early Years settings.

To book your place on this free online briefing, please send a message to Joe Leppington, Education Advisor for the Virtual School Team, via email to joseph.leppington@telford.gov.uk stating your name, email address and school name.

Message from the Secretary of State for Education

This is an update from the Department for Education

Message to the education and care sector from the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan.

I wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you and everyone working in education and care.

Some of you may already know me from my previous stint at the Department for Education as Apprenticeships and Skills Minister but it is now a very great honour to be back as Education Secretary. An honour and a huge responsibility.

The Chancellor’s recent autumn statement underlined the government’s commitment to education as he seeks to restore stability to the economy, to protect our public services and build long-term prosperity for the country.

It was great to hear him acknowledge the massive contribution our heads, teachers and classroom assistants make to our national life and his statement reinforces our mission to drive up standards and give every child or learner an excellent education.

The autumn statement announced that schools will receive £2bn in extra funding, which is over and above what has been previously committed both next year and the year after and is the biggest injection of funding ever. This has been backed up by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, which said that it would allow schools to return to at least 2010 levels in real terms – the highest spending year in history – and is what the sector said it needed.

The autumn statement also announced the appointment of Sir Michael Barber as an adviser on skills. I am confident Sir Michael will help us to continue making the improvements that are going to transform skills provision in this country.

Everyone has different reasons for being passionate about education and care.

For me it was a teacher, Mr Ashcroft. He stayed after school to enable me to study engineering and technical drawing. His belief in me and the extra O levels I passed, changed my life. Thanks to him, I was able to get onto an apprenticeship which opened all manner of doors. This is the alchemy of education in action. It not only builds confidence and opportunities but helps level up communities and leads to greater social justice and prosperity.

I know without a doubt that talent is equally spread across the country but sadly, opportunity is not. I passionately believe no matter where you are from or what stage of life you’re at, you should always be able to get a high-quality education.

Success starts well before children enter school and the dedication and skill of our early years sector is critical in supporting children for life. I am committed to working across government to improve the cost and availability of childcare for parents, while continuing to provide safe and high-quality provision for our youngest children.

In our schools we need a full and knowledge-rich curriculum, with high standards in reading, writing and maths. Allied to that, we also need to make sure that pupils do not miss out because their lessons are disrupted by poor behaviour. No child should fall behind because their needs have not been spotted or supported.

All our young people are continuing to catch up after the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic and some need extra help, which is why we are continuing to expand our tutoring programme. Tutoring is no longer the preserve of the well off and is available to any child who needs it. Two million sessions have already been delivered.

Excellence does not happen by chance, so we need to make sure that every child has a brilliantly trained teacher. We are making half a million teacher training opportunities available during this Parliament so that every teacher in the country will have access to free, high-quality, ongoing training.

I also intend to publish a full response to the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper to make sure that every child gets the support they deserve.

Keeping children safe and cared for is paramount. That means improving children’s social care. We are rolling out family hubs and putting more money into the Supporting Families Programme. We are also committed to an implementation strategy for the independent review of children’s social care, the National Panel review into the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson and the Competition and Markets Authority report on the placements market. I am determined that this system should work more effectively for children and families, so that our most vulnerable children get every opportunity to achieve their potential.

When it comes to further education and skills, our fast-moving economy needs a workforce with world-class skills.

We are already investing an additional £3.8bn in skills in England over this Parliament, including high-quality technical education for 16-19 year olds and boosting opportunities for adults to upskill.

As a nation we have 1,255,000 vacancies, so we need to upskill, train and retrain to ensure business needs are met and more people realise their potential.

When I was last in the department I oversaw some of our reforms to technical education, with a growth in apprenticeship standards and the creation of T-levels, Higher Technical Qualifications and Skills Bootcamps. These are all designed to give people of all ages and stages the ability and opportunities for a great career.

As I return to the DfE, I am absolutely delighted to see that 92% of the first cohort of students passed their T levels. Uniquely designed with leading employers and including a work placement, T levels are part of the revolution taking place in this country to make sure young people have excellent options after their GCSEs and throughout their lives.

I am proud of our world-class higher education institutions. Our universities are among the best in the world and the education they provide has been respected and treasured by generations of students, not just in this country but globally.

The courses they offer, including degree apprenticeships, are of the highest quality and they work with businesses and communities to provide the skills our economy needs now and in the future.

But more needs to be done to enable people to train, upskill or retrain as both their circumstances and the economy change.

That is why we will introduce the Lifelong Loan Entitlement from 2025. It will mark a profound shift in the way students of all ages can obtain funding for further and higher education.

Right now we face some difficult global political and economic headwinds, so I am delighted to have the support of a very experienced ministerial team.

Nick Gibb needs no introduction. He has been spearheading a knowledge-rich curriculum for more than a decade. Our schools will be in safe hands. In Robert Halfon I have a fellow apprenticeship champion. He has been a vocal and dedicated spokesman for the importance of skills as chair of the Education Select Committee for more than five years. I am so pleased that Baroness Barran is continuing to represent the Department in the House of Lords and I welcome her experience and passion for excellence for all. Claire Coutinho is a comparative newcomer to our department but she brings huge experience from a variety of previous roles to inform our focus on those with learning disabilities, special needs and social care.

I would like to echo the Chancellor’s comments and thank all of you, across the education sectors, for your tremendous efforts. His comments underline our belief that education is an engine of growth and social change.

My team and I very much look forward to meeting many of you over the coming weeks and months ahead. We all share your dedication and passion and, with your help, I know we are going to make our education, skills and care systems ones the rest of the world looks up to.

The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
Secretary of State for Education

Lawley carol service and Christmas Lights switch on – 1 December 2022

The local community are invited to join in with a carol service and the switch on of the Lawley Christmas lights, at Lawley Square, outside Morrison’s.

The event will feature Lawley Village Academy Children’s Choir, the Telford Concert Band and the Concordia Choir. Santa and the Lawley Mascot will also attend. Free hot drinks and mince pies will be available.

For more information send an email to lawleystewardship@bvt.org.uk.

This entry was posted by Claire on Wednesday, 23 November 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