Education Noticeboard

Education Noticeboard

Notice: 22 April 2021

A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.

Included in this update

Director Update

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the first Noticeboard of the summer term. Before the holidays a project to collect thoughts shared by children and young people in Telford & Wrekin about their experience of education during and after lockdown took place. I am pleased to share with you an overview of the project below and I would encourage you to download the full report to find out what lessons we can learn to support our children and young people.

Once again on the Noticeboard this week are updates from the DfE, these cover test delivery schedules, missed school immunisation programmes, face-to-face summer schools for secondary schools and a reminder for the claims window for additional costs for free school meals.

The Health Protection Hub have provided an update on overseas travel information with links to the current government guidance. As before I would encourage you to contact the hub to give appropriate support to families as and when needed.

The HR team would like to draw your attention to a whistle-stop tour of the Health Assured Employee Assistance Programme and the Counselling provision that is available for maintained schools and those who buy into the program. This offers information and resources to support health and wellbeing, please take a look and share with your team.

Once again, I would like to thank you and your teams for your continuing hard work and commitment to supporting children and young people in Telford & Wrekin.

Simon Wellman
Director: Education and Skills

Pupil Voice - What is school like for you?

Thoughts shared by children & young people in Telford & Wrekin about their experiences of education during and after lockdown.

A project by Live Scribe Artist Hannah Williams & Educational Psychologist Dr Jane Park

Overview

This collaborative project was devised by Hannah Williams and Dr Jane Park to enable the views, thoughts, feelings and experiences about the coronavirus pandemic of children and young people across Telford & Wrekin to be heard. Through November and December 2020, Hannah and Jane facilitated workshops with small groups of children and young people in Telford schools across the age range from Year 2 all the way to tertiary education and specialist settings. Drawing on a questionnaire co-created by Southend EPS and Nottingham City EPS, small groups of pupils shared their views and experiences, which were live scribed by Hannah in real time. We then prepared a report to enable us to share these ideas with schools and colleagues to support them in making plans to welcome children and young people back following the current lockdown. It has also been produced as a reflection of the children’s thoughts, and to acknowledge that they have been heard.

Questionnaires and Workshops

Hannah and Jane wanted to know more about what life has been like for Telford children, and to deepen our understanding of protective factors for emotional health and wellbeing (EHWB), as well as all the challenges which our children and young people have faced. Working with groups of children across all Key Stages including tertiary, and across mainstream and specialist settings, our workshops drew out experiences, thoughts and feelings including the following key areas:

  • How was going back to school/college following lockdown?
  • How does being back in school make you feel?
  • If you have a problem in school/college who can you talk to?
  • Do you feel your school/college is a safe place to be?
  • Do you feel supported in your learning?
  • Thoughts about the things our children & young people are learning at the moment, and exams/assessments
  • ‘Magic wand’ question – what would you do to change or improve school/college? What would you do differently and what would you keep the same?

Key themes

Hannah’s art work captured four key themes which emerged from the data: Relationships, Opportunities, Certainty and Safety.

Hannah’s reflections on the workshops and working with an Educational Psychologist (EP)

Live Scribing is the act of drawing information in real time, often at a large scale for participants to watch the illustrations come to life. As these are a creation of the information and ideas discussed, themes can be more easily identified visually, and a sense of storytelling can increase engagement, therefore stimulating a more impactful session.

Drawing the genuine emotions and responses from the young people was incredibly moving, and the positive feedback from across the age ranges served as a powerful reminder of how important it is to actively listen to their experiences. Live scribing can be an incredibly powerful and effective means of capturing voices and views, as it turns floating thoughts into tangible concepts.

A small hope for me is that when young people see art and creativity being used to support nationwide projects, they see the importance of their own creative learning journey, and enjoy finding effective learning styles that serve them.

Jane’s reflections on working with a live scribe artist

Working with Hannah was such a joy – we developed a clear shared understanding of the hopes and aims of the project, so the process of working together felt natural and organic. It felt like such a privilege to facilitate the views of so many children, who expressed the view that they appreciated having their voices and perspectives heard. In our workshops, I drew out the young people’s experiences and views, while Hannah live-scribed them in front of the children’s eyes – they loved this process, and it was so exciting to see their thoughts come alive through Hannah’s art. It was both powerful and humbling to hear of the joys and difficulties of the children’s experiences through lockdown, and a pleasure and privilege to share those thoughts and present their ideas.

Download the full report: What you told us – Pupil Views in Telford & Wrekin

For more information please contact us by email at: SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.

Telford & Wrekin Educational Psychology Service

Reminder: Don't forget to complete the Educational Settings Attendance Form 

Please don't forget to complete the Department for Education (DfE) educational settings attendance form by 2pm each day.

Educational Setting Status Form

We are asking educational settings for information about pupil or student attendance and setting closures or partial closures during coronavirus (COVID-19).

Use this service to report:

  • whether your setting is open
  • numbers of vulnerable children and children of critical workers attending
  • remote education arrangements
  • free school meals arrangements
  • staff absences

This data is being collected to help manage the impact of and response to coronavirus (COVID-19) on the education sector. The information you supply helps the department and other government bodies make decisions. We thank you for your time and patience.

Guidance on those classed as vulnerable children and children of critical workers can be found on GOV.UK.

We would appreciate it if you continue to update your educational setting status information every day by 2:00pm.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) test kit delivery schedule for all provider types

Information from the Department for Education (DfE)

An updated test kit delivery schedule has been published on the schools and colleges document sharing platforms. The delivery schedule covers deliveries planned between Monday 19 April 2021 and Friday 23 April 2021 and will provide you with a delivery date and expected quantity of coronavirus (COVID-19) test kits. An updated delivery schedule will be published on the schools and colleges document sharing platform each week.

If you are receiving a delivery of home test kits, please be aware that, dependent on local supply levels, you may receive boxes containing 7 test kits instead of 3 test kits. If you receive boxes of 7 test kits, then 1 pack of 7 should be given to each staff member or student. If you receive boxes of 3 test kits, then 2 packs of 3 should be given to each staff member or student.

The delivery schedule for private, voluntary and independent (PVI) nurseries, maintained nurseries and primary schools is available on the primary schools document sharing platform.

The delivery schedule for secondary schools, further education colleges, independent training providers and adult community learning providers is available on the secondary schools document sharing platform.

Face-to-face summer schools for secondary schools

Information from the Department for Education (DfE)

As part of the wider recovery package to support children with their mental health and wellbeing and to catch up on missed face-to-face learning, the Department for Education is providing £200m to enable as many secondary schools as possible to deliver face-to-face summer schools this year.

You will be able to identify the pupils who would most benefit from summer school. We recommend a focus on incoming year 7 pupils, giving those pupils an opportunity to build a community with their new classmates and teachers and familiarise themselves with their new school environment.

Funding is calculated based on 50% of your year 7 cohort being offered a place on a two-week programme, or 100% of the cohort being offered a week-long programme, and equates to £597 per two-week place (£1,791 for pupils in special schools or units and alternative provision). Each school’s individual funding allocation has now been published.

Shortly, we will ask you to complete a simple sign-up form to indicate if your school intends to take part. We will then ask you to confirm your plans in June.

Further information is available in our guidance on summer schools and any questions should be directed to learning.recovery@education.gov.uk.

Catching up on missed school immunisation programmes

Information from the Department for Education (DfE)

We recognise all the effort schools have been making to protect children and teachers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Alongside this, it is also crucial to catch up on school-aged childhood immunisation programmes, such as MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), Meningitis, the School Leavers Booster and HPV (human papillomavirus), which were paused initially during the period where schools were closed for on-site teaching to most pupils. Keeping up to date with routine vaccinations is essential in preventing severe disease outbreaks, ongoing health complications and even death in some instances for children, young people, their families, teachers and the wider population’s health.

Providers will be running catch up programmes to ensure that pupils who missed out on their vaccines receive these as soon as possible. We encourage you to continue engaging with, and supporting, your local immunisation providers to deliver routine school-aged immunisation programmes on-site, ensuring these are delivered in line with your school’s control measures. Age groups which became eligible for the programmes in 2020/21 must be offered their vaccinations between now and the end of the summer term in school to maximise uptake.

Further information on which vaccinations are offered in schools is available in the NHS guide to vaccinations and when to have them.

Reminder – Claims window open for free school meals additional costs

Information from the Department for Education (DfE)

The claims window to claim for additional costs incurred from providing free school meals is currently open. It will close at 23:59 on Tuesday 4 May 2021. Schools can claim directly, or local authorities and academy trusts can claim on their schools’ behalf.

You can claim for additional costs incurred from providing locally sourced vouchers to pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals between Monday 4 January and Friday 5 March 2021, when schools were closed to most pupils. You can also claim for lunch parcels provided during this period and up until the start of the Easter holidays.

Claims can only be made for support that was provided to eligible pupils over the specified period and to the values stated in the guidance. Claims should not be made in relation to support provided through the Edenred national voucher scheme, as those costs have already been met centrally by the Department for Education. All claims made will be cross-referenced with orders made using the national voucher scheme.

Further information on claiming for additional costs can be found in the coronavirus (COVID-19) free school meals additional costs guidance.

Subsidised tutoring available from the National Tutoring Programme for schools

All state-maintained schools can access tutoring subsidised by 75% through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), to support pupils aged 5-16 who need extra help. The NTP aims to ensure that high quality tutoring is available in all parts of the country to disadvantaged pupils who need the most support.

Schools can search for approved NTP tuition partners and enquire directly with providers. This includes specialist provision for supporting students with SEND: 26 out of the 33 providers can support students with SEND, and 17 providers are able to support students in special school settings.

To see NTP in action, please see our latest school story.

The NTP is running information webinars for all state-maintained schools, where you can hear directly from Tuition Partner organisations and learn about the subsidy:

Monday 26 April at 4pm – alternative provision sector webinar

Ofsted inspections to resume for registered early years providers

Ofsted will resume on-site inspections of registered early years providers under the education inspections framework from Tuesday 4 May 2021. To support this return, they have updated the early years inspection handbook for Ofsted registered provision.

Overseas Travel Information

Here is some information about overseas travel. Currently it is permitted only in certain circumstances and holidays abroad are not permitted - however this may change as we work through the road map.

From 15 February onwards, everyone allowed to enter England from outside the Common Travel Area (Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man) must:

  • quarantine for 10 days
  • take a coronavirus (COVID-19) test on day 2 and day 8 of quarantining unless your job permits exemption
  • follow the national lockdown rules

Red List Countries are countries where travel to the UK is banned and separate guidance is issued. To check if a country is on the red list.

Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): red list travel ban countries

NB This list is changed frequently so it is worth checking when you have absence requests.

Travellers returning from a red list country have to quarantine at a managed quarantine hotel. Travellers from other countries travellers have to name the address where they will be quarantining

Prior to travel everyone must:

  • take a Covid-19 test and get a  negative  result 3 days before they travel
  • book and pay for a travel test package which will include the Covid-19 test to be taken on or before day 2 and on or after day 8 of quarantine
  • Complete a passenger locator form with detail of where they will home quarantine when they arrive and the travel test package booking reference number.

The household of returning travellers do not need to quarantine unless:

  • They also travelled abroad
  • Anyone in the household develops symptoms or coronavirus.

There are circumstances whereby the 10 quarantine can be shortened as there is a test to release

  • Traveller pays for a private Covid-19 test – if the result is negative they can stop quarantining
  • They have to have been in England a full 5 days before testing
  • This scheme is voluntary
  • It can’t be used if the traveller has returned from one of the red list countries
  • They still have to test on day 2 and day 8

Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): jobs that qualify for travel exemptions

The Health Protection Hub would like to know about any returning families that you are aware of so that appropriate support can be given both to you and the families please email healthprotectionhub@telford.gov.uk with details or to ask for advice.

Guidance: How to quarantine when you arrive in England

Guidance: Travel advice: coronavirus (COVID-19)

Whistle-stop tour of the Health Assured Employee Assistance Programme & Counselling Provision for all school staff

You will be aware that as a Local Authority we provide access to Telford & Wrekin’s Employee Assistance programme (EAP), run through Health Assured, to all of our maintained schools automatically as well as academies that choose to buy this service.

The EAP offers a wealth of health and wellbeing information, resources and tools including webinars, factsheets, 4 week programmes and more, so make sure you’re getting the most out of it by booking onto one of our 30 minute whistle-stop tours of the EAP programme. Find out what’s available and how to access it.

Don’t forget, you can also download the My Healthy Advantage mobile app to ensure you have tailored advice and information at your fingertips.

Staff can find out more by booking a place on either of the sessions below by noon on 29 April 2021.

  • 4 May 2021
  • 4.30pm-5.00pm

Book on Eventbrite

  • 6 May 2021
  • 4.30pm-5pm

Book on Eventbrite

A separate MS Teams invite will then be sent to enable you to join the session.

Please can we request that this information is shared with all staff.

If you have any further enquiries please contact us by email: hrhelpdesk@telford.gov.uk
Or, by phone: 01952 383601

Procedures for managing safeguarding concerns, or allegations against staff (including supply staff and volunteers)

Available to download is a template which schools must follow. You will note that it is highlighted in parts for you to personalise it to your school.

Download: Procedures for managing safeguarding concerns, or allegations against staff (including supply staff and volunteers)

It has been drafted in conjunction with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and Human Resources (HR) advice.

We would advise that you personalise it to your school and adopt the policy.
Best practice would be that it is available on your website.

For more information please contact us by email at: educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Whistle Blowing policy for maintained Schools

All schools should have a whistleblowing policy. This is an updated policy for those staff employed in Maintained Schools.

Schools should ensure that the policy is amended to reflect your school details and ratified by Governors.

Please be aware that you will need to consider whether you have a nominated ‘Freedom to Speak Up Guardian’ and amend your policy accordingly.

The contents should be shared with all staff and made known to them.

It is best practice to have the policy on your website. 

Download the template: Whistle blowing policy and procedure for maintained schools

For more information please contact us by email at: educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Safeguarding Partnership Learning from Local Reviews 2021

In 2019 Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership (TWSP) introduced their new arrangements for considering all serious incidents through the Rapid Review process.

The Rapid Review process identifies immediate learning and considers whether the incident requires further consideration through a National Child Safeguarding Practice Review carried out by the National panel or a Local Learning Review undertaken locally by the TWSP.

The briefing note outlines the key learning from recent reviews.

The themes covered are:

  • Support for families with young children during COVID -19 pandemic.
  • Parental mental health issues and Child Protection Meetings
  • Voice and experience of the child
  • Families moving to Telford and Wrekin
  • Recording of detailed information on information systems
  • Lack of family engagement with Early Help and Support and closure of cases
  • Child Criminal Exploitation
  • Diagnosis of a non-accidental injury to s child.
  • Lack of engagement by a young person in their mental health assessment
  • Safeguarding concerns when a family is away from home in a different local authority
  • Recognition of neglect
  • Availability of the Emergency Duty Team to respond to urgent safeguarding inquiries
  • Use of advocates
  • Professional Curiosity

Download: Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership Thematic Learning Briefing 3

For any further enquiries please contact us by email at: Educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Criminal Exploitation

There are a number of ways in which schools can access support and guidance around cases where there are concerns related to criminal exploitation.  Schools are encouraged to utilise these different processes and sessions.

Consultation Sessions

The Children Abused Through Exploitation (CATE) team are now holding consultation sessions every Thursday morning between 9.30 and 11.30.

These sessions offer a 20 minute opportunity to discuss a young person you may have concerns about.  If you wish to access one of these sessions you will been to book a place in advance by emailing CATE.BSO@telford.gov.uk.

The session can be booked by any professional working with the young person however, if there are other workers involved it would be beneficial to ask that they attend with you.

If school staff wish to raise a concern at a consultation the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) should link directly to the Primary Worker (Social Worker, Strengthening Families Worker and Family Solutions Practitioner) for them to formally request the consultation.

If the young person does not have a primary worker already attached then the DSL can request the consultation direct.

You will be asked to complete the Criminal Exploitation (CE) Consultation Form and send this in with your consultation request.

You do not need to complete a CATE referral form at this point.

Exploitation Risk Threshold Tool

When you are considering a consultation please use the Exploitation Risk Threshold Tool to assist you and support directing your concerns. The risk tool should be used when completing the consultation form.

It sets out exploitation risk categories in a range of areas and provides a threshold for Vulnerable, Complex and Acute.  The tool is key in assisting all professionals in considering the threshold for the case, therefore we would advise that schools utilise the language ion the tool in their consultation requests.

Criminal Exploitation Multiagency risk panel

Our Multiagency Criminal Exploitation (CE) Risk Panels are now being held on Thursday afternoons, 1pm until 5pm. They will take place weekly and alternate between Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) risks and Criminal Exploitation (CE) risks.  

Criminal Exploitation: update and awareness drop in sessions

CATE are providing Bi-monthly update and awareness sessions and that professionals from all agencies are be able to attend these.

We asked that requests on any particular Topics/areas that people would like up to cover are shared via the CATE email address: CATE@telford.gov.uk

These sessions will be available to book onto via Ollie.   If you have an area you wold like to discuss the CATE staff will then use the requests made to tailor on going sessions. The sessions will be completed via Microsoft Teams.

Future dates for the year are:

  • Tuesday 25 May 2021
  • Tuesday 20 July 2021
  • Tuesday 28 September 2021
  • Tuesday 23 November 2021.

Please be are that our pathway clearly states that:

“If Parents/Cares  are implicated or knowingly fail to prevent Exploitation, or if a child is 13 years or under, Child Protection Procedures Followed”
This does not mean that the CATE team cannot work with the Young Person Alongside the Child Protection Procedures, a request can still be made for a consultation and a referral.

If you have any further queries please contact the CATE team

CATE@telford.gov.uk
CATE.BSO@telford.gov.uk

All about... The Early Years Team in the Local Authority

In order to fulfil the duties laid out in the Childcare Act 2006 all Local Authorities have an Early Years and Childcare team. In Telford and Wrekin this team consists of 1 FTE Team leader who is our Early Years and Childcare Quality Specialist, 4 FTE Early Years and Childcare consultants, 2 FTE Early years and Childcare Advisory teacher/ SENCOs and 1 FTE Childcare Business consultant. All of the team hold adult teaching qualifications and assessor awards and are skilled at developing individual support to enhance the quality of provision for children and their families within early year’s environments.

The team supports around 200 settings which offer Early Years and Childcare and schools can also access this expertise and support for both Early Years and Childcare provision and wrap around care. There is a range of provision in the borough supported by the team including 54 PVI settings offering full day care, 109 childminders, 29 nursery schools and nursery classes and 8 out of school clubs.

The main functions of the team are to maintain childcare sufficiency, manage and promote funded places, support vulnerable children including those with SEND, support settings to provide good quality provision which complies with OFSTED registration requirements, ensure Early Years children are safeguarded, and improve links between Early Years (EY) providers and schools to support transition for pupils into school and good outcomes for all children by the end of Reception.

The cost of the EY team is £190K that is funded via the Early Years Block of the Dedicated School Grant. (More information about funding is provided below).

View more infromation about the team and work on our talking advice and support page.

How do the Early Years team support childcare sufficiency in the borough?

The Local Authority has a statutory duty to secure sufficient high quality childcare for working parents or parents preparing for work. Local authorities must take a strategic lead in their local childcare market to plan, support and commission childcare from schools and the local private, voluntary and independent sector providers. Local authorities must secure the free minimum amount of early year’s provision for all funded children whose parents want it. This duty is set out in the Childcare Act 2006 Section 6. To fulfil this duty the Early Years team produce an annual Childcare Sufficiency report to identify areas of need in the borough.View the latest Childcare Sufficiency Assessment. To assist the market the team also provides business planning support to schools and providers, advises on the ratio and qualifications of staff, and prepares local sufficiency audits where requested, to support schools and settings to plan provision.

The team also supports schools to extend their provision to include 2, 3 and 4 year funded places and to develop wrap around and holiday care. They advise and guide new providers to set up within the local authority and provide a comprehensive support programme for prospective childminders.

The Childcare Funding Consultant ensures that providers are paid their nursery education funding in a timely manner and that the Funding Portal operates efficiently for both parents and providers. 

View information / guidance for childcare providers on talking early years and childcare.

How does the Early Years team ensure all parents can access the Early Years childcare that they need?

The Childcare Act 2006 Section 12 sets out that local authorities have a duty to provide information, advice and assistance to parents and to prospective parents. The service must be proactive in reaching those parents who might otherwise have difficulty accessing this information. This includes supporting parents to access to funded provision for disadvantaged 2 year olds and the 30 hour childcare offer, as well as childcare more generally and wrap around provision. The Early Years team maintains a register of providers, supports parents to access providers, manages the transfer of funding to providers and very importantly supports parents to apply for Early Years Pupil Premium Grant and Disability Access Funding (where this is applicable) to support their children’s needs. Throughout the pandemic the team have been able to help any parents whose childcare provision was closed temporarily for any reason to access suitable provision to allow them to work. Parents can access a list of childcare providers through our website.

View information about finding childcare within Telford and Wrekin.

What support does the Early Years team give to ensure Early Years provision across the borough is of high quality?

The Childcare Act Section 12 states that Local authorities must provide information advice and training to persons who provide or intend to provide childcare in their area. In addition to support with sufficiency assessments, this includes support with OFSTED registration and with ensuring that the provision meets the learning and development requirements and the welfare requirements set out in the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage: Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five'. Further information about this support can be found on the Early Years and childcare website.

View more information about talking advice and support for working in childcare.

The Childcare Act 2006 also sets out a duty for the local authority to secure information, advice and training for providers in their area who are judged less than good by Ofsted Settings who are judged to be ‘Requires improvement’ on inspection are given intensive support by the team to ensure they are graded ‘good’ at their next inspection. The quality assurance of provision is important because this will have direct impact on the progress children make and their level of ‘school readiness’ when they transfer to school. The quality of provision is also important because the Local Authority has the discretion to remove funded places from any setting graded by OFSTED as less than ‘good’ on inspection, which would also impact on our sufficiency duty. Of the 201 providers in the borough 98% are currently judged to be ‘good’ or better by OFSTED and the work of the Early Years team in improving the quality of provision has been recognised by OFSTED during inspection.

For example in 2019 the team worked with a setting to improve its provision from RI to good on inspection and the Ofsted report noted, ‘ The managers and staff have made very good progress since the last inspection. They have worked closely with local authority advisers, and have embraced their advice and implemented their ideas and suggestions. Consequently, the care and learning that children receive has greatly improved.’ 

Outcomes for EY children in Telford and Wrekin

The ages and stages questionnaire at the 2 to 2 and a half year review 2018/19 indicated almost 1 in 3 children were not at or above the expected level in all five areas of development, and that on average children were well below their peers nationally overall and in communication skills.

This table shows the ages and stages questionnaire outcomes for children in Telford and Wrekin.
Indicator Telford and Wrekin England
% receiving a 2-2 ½ year review 97.6% 90.8%
% at or above the expected level in communication skills 77.4% 89.7%
% at or above the expected level in gross motor skills 87.6% 93.3%
% at or above the expected level in fine motor skills 87% 93.8%
% at or above the expected level in problem solving skills 87.8% 94%
% at or above the expected level in personal-social skills 86.1% 92.7%
%at or above the expected level in all five areas of development 67.1% 83.9%

At the end of reception in 2019 71.4% pupils achieved a ‘good level of development’, which was similar to the national average, demonstrating that children in the borough made good progress in developing their skills between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. This good progress can be accredited to the provision attended by children both at school in the Reception year and with their Early Years providers prior to this from the age of 2.

How does the Early Years team support the learning, development and well-being of early Years children?

Section 1 of the Childcare Act 2006 sets out the local authority’s duty to promote the well-being of young children. This is also contributes to children’s school readiness, and includes supporting children with SEND. The team proactively encourages providers to work with Health colleagues to complete the 2 year old progress check. As well as identifying key strengths in the child’s development the report will also focus on any areas where there is a concern that a child may have a developmental delay (which may indicate a special educational need or disability). The Early Years team includes three Early Years QTS/SENDCo teachers and three Early Years Consultants who hold the NASENCO award and will offer advice to settings to put plans in place to support children with identified needs, including on their transition to school. In the year 2019 to 2020 148 new referrals for involvement from PVI and school settings came into the team where support was provided. The team works closely with a range of health care professionals, colleagues from the SEND team and external agencies to meet the needs of these children. Working in partnership with parents/carers is also key to this role.

What role does the Early Years team play in safeguarding children?

The local authority has a critical responsibility for safeguarding all the children in the borough and there are over 4500 children in our Early Years and Childcare settings at any one time 3375 in PVI settings and 1125 in school nurseries. The majority of our PVI providers are open 52 weeks a year. The Early Years team has a critical role to play in safeguarding children in PVI and childminder settings. In line with the Statutory Safeguarding and Welfare requirements of the EYFS and Keeping Children Safe in Education they support settings to ensure staff have appropriate qualifications, training, skills and knowledge and a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. The team delivers a range of Child Protection courses:

  • Child Protection Awareness Raising
  • Designated Safeguard Lead Training
  • Designated 2 yearly update
  • Designated Lead Network meetings
  • EYFS statutory safeguarding and welfare requirements.

The team completes an annual safeguarding audit with providers to ensure their policies, procedures and training are up to date and in line with the latest guidance, and supports with action planning to address any areas identified for development. The team provides the Local Safeguarding Partnership with an annual report with regards to these audits. Throughout the COVID pandemic, to support the most vulnerable children, the team have monitored how settings have ‘kept in touch’ with vulnerable children not attending the setting, through a process similar to that followed by our schools.

How does the Early Year support capacity building and encourage networking across the different types of EY providers?

In Telford and Wrekin eight Early Years and Childcare hubs have been developed across the borough which provide a forum for all local providers of Early Years education and childcare to work together to provide a cohesive and high quality offer for parents. The hubs have 4 key functions: the first is to bring partners together from across the wider Early Years workforce to form collaborative relationships and to break down any professional barriers, the second is to develop the quality of provision across all providers through the sharing of good practice and reach a local agreement about what ‘school readiness’ means and how all can contribute, the third is to ensure that there is a sufficiency of childcare provision in the local area so that parents can access the childcare they need. This could be through a blended offer if available where a parent could use more than one provider to secure the hours they need. The fourth is for the group to work together on key priority for their area, for example through sharing CPD and expertise. The Agenda for the group is decided locally by practitioners so that the work of the hub responds to local need. Each hub is attended by a member of the Early Years team who will support where needed and provide information about borough wide priorities. Anyone can attend and if you would like to find out where your local hub is please click the link below:

View information about talking training for early years childcare professionals.

Does the Early Years team offer an income generating service?

In addition to the functions above the Early Years team does provide an incoming generating offer. Download the Continuing Professional Development for Schools course booklet 2020/2021. Courses are also regularly advertised on the Education Noticeboard. Courses for Private Voluntary and Independent sector are offered via a termly schedule:

The team offers in house bespoke training for individual settings and can complete Environmental audits (ECERS -3, ITERS-3 and SACERS)

Each year packages of support can be purchased by schools, settings and childminders, these are flexible to meet your needs and can include

  • learning walks
  • review of learning environments indoors and out
  • pre- Ofsted inspection guidance
  • forest school guidance
  • support team meetings
  • extending provision
  • voluntary management/trustee support.

Additional SEND support/support with report writing can be purchased for children within the reception year where needed.

How does our Early Years team influence national policy and priorities?

The Early Years team leader is part of the Ofsted Early Education Curriculum Forum which reflects on new pedagogical approaches and implementation into practice. The team attends DFE, National Early Years organisations and OFSTED briefings and training for local authorities, and has termly conversations with our Early Years HMI and the DFE Early Years adviser, in a similar way that the local authority has these links for schools.

The team is also closely affiliated to PACEY, the team leader is currently a member of the steering group for the PACEY DfE funded project ‘Together For Twos’ which focuses on the funded 2 year old take up. These links ensure we are kept up to date with national developments and initiatives and also that we can feed back any local priorities or concerns.

Everything you need to know about Early Years funding

How is the amount available for early years in Telford and Wrekin determined?

Telford and Wrekin get money for Early Years provision from the Department of Education (DfE). The grant we receive is called the Dedicated School Grant and it is made up of four blocks, The school block (for school age provision), the high need block (for SEND provision), the Central School Services Block (for statutory services provided by the local authority for schools) and the Early Years Block (for Early Years Provision). The Early Years block in 2021/22 for Telford and Wrekin is £12.7m.

The allocation is calculated by the DfE using the number of children in funded places in January. Each hour of 3 and 4 year old provision in Telford and Wrekin is funded at £4.50 per hour and each hour of 2 year old provision at £5.36 per hour. Different rates apply to different local authorities depending upon geographical location (e.g. some London authorities receive over £8 per hour for 3 and 4 year olds), levels of deprivation and historical funding levels.

How is this funding used?

It is all allocated to support children in early years.

This table shows the budget is deployed as follows:
  Budget Location of where the allocated budget goes to
3 and 4 year old funding formula £10.30m Goes to all EY settings
2 year old funding formula £1.83m Goes to EY settings with 2 year old provision
Funding for early years high needs £0.20m Goes to EY settings either via the EY Inclusion Panel or through allocation to specialist early years provision
Central early years support £0.19m Held by Local Authority to fund the Early Years team, the cost of maintaining the early years portal, carrying out the annual sufficiency survey etc
Early years pupil premium £0.12m Goes to EY settings, where pupils are eligible
Disability access fund £0.06m  Goes to EY settings, where appropriate
Total £12.7m  

How does this pattern of use compare to DfE rules?

The DfE requires local authorities to pass through a minimum of 95% of the funding to providers. Telford and Wrekin is budgeting to pass through over 98% of the funding to providers so we give a higher amount of funding to providers than the minimum.

How does this pattern of use compare to other local authorities?

The most recent benchmarking data that is available relates to 2019/20, as local authorities weren’t required to submit 2020/21 data in the context of COVID-19 impacts (although Telford and Wrekin did so). The DfE reports early years expenditure compared to the population aged 0 - 17. This showed that Telford and Wrekin’s expenditure on the Local Authority Early Years team and other central costs in 2019/20 was £6 per head. This is significantly lower than the England average of £14 per head.

How is the amount retained for central early years support decided?

Each year the Schools Forum votes to agree the amount retained for central early years support. Representatives from Early Years Providers (i.e. proprietors and Schools (Headteachers) in Telford and Wrekin sit on the school forum. The Local Authority convenes the meeting but it is chaired by a member of the forum. Forum members will ask questions about how money has been spent and what it will be spent on to determine how much is allocated to settings and how much is held back by the Local Authority to fund its teams. View information about the school forum.

School forum also vote for central services via the school block to fund for Local Authority (LA) statutory services. Aren’t they double funding the Early Years team by also allocating funding for central Early Years Support via the Early Years Block?

No, when school forum vote and agree for the Local Authority to have funding for central service for the school block this is to pay for school based provision from reception onwards. 

What would happen if school forum decided not to allocate funding to the Early Years team from the Early Years Block?

All local authority’s are required to deliver on its duties, under the Childcare Act 2006. If the forum decided not to allocate funding for these duties the local authority could appeal to the Secretary of State for Education.

How can I find further information about the work of the Early Years team?

View information about all of our work on our talking early years and childcare page.

Or alternatively you can contact:

 

DfE Schools Governance Update April 2021

The latest Department for Education (DfE) update for governors includes:

  • Governing and trust boards meetings and visits into schools
  • National Tutoring Programme:  Subsidised tutoring available
  • Early Careers Framework (ECF) statutory induction guidance change
  • Honours nominations for those who work or volunteer in school or trust governance
  • Governor and trustee recruitment: Inspiring Governance and Academy Ambassadors
  • How to complete or update your governance contacts on Get Information about Schools (GIAS) – for academy trusts only

School governance update: April 2021

ELSA Newsletter – April 2021

Please find available to download the ELSA Good News - April 2021.

Included in this newsletter is:

  • Update on the ELSA Conference.
  • Revisiting the ELSA role
  • What do ELSAS need?
  • Top tips for line managers to support your ELSA
  • Training in September/October 2021

For more information about ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistants) please visit the ELSA Network.

For further enquires please contact us by email at: SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.

SEND Local Offer - ELSA

Telford & Wrekin Educational Psychology Service – Real Covid Catch Up

Telford & Wrekin Educational Psychology Service loves this ‘real Covid catch up’ image that is available to download it has been created by Dr Tina Rae, who continues to work closely with Future In Mind.

Download: Real Covid Catch Up by Dr. Tina Rae.

We support her view that we need to challenge the current ‘catch up’ narrative and focus on relationships and connections with our children and young people as they return to our schools and settings.

For more information please contact us by email at: SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.

Telford & Wrekin Educational Psychology Service

Kickstart Opportunities with Telford and Wrekin Council

Telford & Wrekin Council is to provide 100 work placements for young people in 2021 as part of the Government’s nationwide £2 billion Kickstart scheme.

The Kickstart scheme aims to create job opportunities for young people who are:

  • aged 16 to 24 years
  • at risk of long-term unemployment
  • in receipt of universal credit
  • under the supervision of a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) job coach.

The Kickstart offer:

  • participants will be paid age related minimum wage
  • job roles must be new and not replace existing roles
  • minimum of 25 hours a week paid employment which will be fully funded by Government.

Kickstart Scheme - new roles now available

Are you a young person aged 16-24 currently in receipt of universal credit?

It has been an incredibly difficult year to find work however the Kickstart Scheme could offer you that next step on your future career journey. These are paid placements which will give you valuable, real and meaningful work experience.

What roles are available?

Since the 16 January 2021 people have already started their new roles and a further 25 placements are now being advertised by the council and its partners. 

  • Highways Administration Assistant – Balfour Beatty
  • Commercial Assistant – Balfour Beatty
  • Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Support Assistant
  • Project officer - Adult Social Care
  • Enablement Assistant – My Options
  • ICT Support Assistant
  • Administration Support Assistant - Service delivery team
  • ICT technical assistant - Wrekin View School
  • Project Management Assistant – Balfour Beatty
  • Highways Operative Assistant – Balfour Beatty
  • Assistant Supervisor – Balfour Beatty
  • Project Officer - Adult Learning Disabilities team
  • Assistant Housekeeper
  • Site Management Assistant – various sites
  • Project Officer - Mental Health team
  • Climate Change Communications Support Assistant.

What's next?

If you’d like to apply for a placement you will need to speak to your job coach.

We also offer weekly online support sessions to help you with any applications and interviews every Wednesday.

Book your place on the next session by emailing: nationalcareers@telford.gov.uk

Find out more about the Kickstart scheme

Life Ready Work Ready Newsletter – April 2021

Welcome to our latest Life Ready Work Ready Newsletter with updates and information to support Careers and Work Experience activities. It also contains an invite to our June Work Experience virtual conference.

Download: Life Ready Work Ready Newsletter – April 2021

For more information please contact us by email at: lifereadyworkready@telford.gov.uk.

The Marches Careers Hub launch – 28 April 2021

We would like to invite you to the launch of The Marches Careers Hub.

Join us on Wednesday 28 April 2021 at 3.30pm, for a packed live stream event featuring special guest Sky, BBC and ITV presenter, Radzi Chinyanganya!

The event will cover:

  • interviews with the enterprise advisers helping to introduce our young people to the world of work
  • a live ‘scribe’ session with Hannah Williams of Scribble Inc (whose career choice was to set up her own business straight after leaving education!)
  • a panel discussion in the studio bringing together representatives from employers, careers leads and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership
  • A chance to put your questions to the panel and a live poll of our audience as we look at what good careers advice looks like and why it’s so important  

 Radzi, a former presenter on BBC’s Blue Peter, attended school in the Marches region and will join the live-stream to face some questions about his own career from some of the students taking part.

The Marches LEP and the Careers and Enterprise Company are working with employers and local authority partners in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin to launch The Marches Careers Hub.

The Hub is a network of all the schools and colleges in the region that deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks, a framework of eight principles of good career guidance, created to support schools and colleges in providing students with the best possible careers education, information and advice.

On behalf of the Marches LEP, Herefordshire Council, Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council, we’d like to invite you to join us for our launch event.

Register to attend

Eden Ihle-Vance, Marches LEP Careers Hub Lead
Email: eden.ihle-vance@marcheslep.org.uk

Applying for Apprenticeships

Telford College has over 25 Apprenticeship vacancies now available to apply for.

A list of current vacancies are available to download:

Included below are the College two application forms for school and sixth form/college leavers. These will need completing along with a CV, and then a video interview will be arranged.

Please circulate this to your students so the College can start working with them now to increase chances of securing an apprenticeship.

Lora Rogers
Recruitment Officer
Mobile: 07887661822
Phone: 01952 642276

Two Day RE Conference – 29 April 2021 and 27 May 2021

RE: ‘it does what it says on the tin!’

World views and interfaith perspectives, modern British values, diversity, respect and tolerance.

This two day virtual conference is aimed at RE (Religious Education) subject leads, headteachers, senior leaders and governors in Telford & Wrekin primary, secondary and special schools.

Day 1: Thursday 29 April 2021 - 4pm to 6.30pm

Day 2: Thursday 27 May 2021 - 9.30am to 3.15pm

The conference will feature a number of key note speakers and workshops across the two days and will explore and develop the main issues covered in the new Telford & Wrekin RE Agreed Syllabus.  Delegates will have the opportunity to consider in greater depth a range of faiths, as well as reviewing new exemplar units of work from Key Stages 1 to 3 that support the Agreed Syllabus.

Key note speakers include:

Dr Richard Kueh HMI and Ofsted Subject Lead for RE

Naila Missous, BAMEed Network

Dr James Holt, Assistant Professor for RE, University of Chester

Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar, MBE, Associate Professor of Sikh Studies and Director of the Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies

Cllr Rajash Mehta, Chair of the Telford & Wrekin Interfaith Council

Cost: £40 per school for up to three delegates

The conference will:

  • provide an opportunity for teachers and leaders to understand the aims of the new Telford & Wrekin RE Agreed Syllabus
  • re-inforce the importance of ‘protected characteristics’ as defined in the Equality Act 2010, and referred to in the current Ofsted inspection framework (Sept 2019), and their importance in the teaching of RE
  • raise awareness of the importance of pupils being well-informed, respectful members of society who value diversity and strive to understand others
  • support teachers to develop pupils’ knowledge of the beliefs and practices of religions and worldviews and enable pupils to consider their own responses to questions about the meaning and purpose of life
  • ensure that colleagues have access to an up to date directory for visits and current resources to support the teaching of RE

Following attendance across the two days of the conference, schools will receive:

  • the new Telford & Wrekin RE Agreed Syllabus
  • sample units of work
  • a link to the directory and the resources

To book your place/s, please complete and return a CPD booking form to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk quoting ‘RE Conference’.

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

The majority of our courses currently continue to be delivered virtually using Microsoft Teams.  We hope to move towards a more blended approach as the restrictions around Covid 19 begin to be eased, and when it is safe to do so.

Details of all our courses can be found in the CPD Booklet, which is available on the Telford Education Services website.  Unless stated otherwise, the majority of course bookings are made by sending a completed CPD booking form via email to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk.

CPD Course up until 31 May 2021
Safer Recruitment Training Part 1
Book via co-operative.admin@telford.gov.uk		 Monday 26 April 2021 9am to 12.30pm
Teaching children with SEND - meeting the need
(LSAT 508)		 Tuesday 27 April 2021 4pm to 5.30pm
Promoting Cultural Diversity and Equality of Opportunity in EYFS
(CPD 606)		 Wednesday 28 April 2021 1.15pm to 4pm
SACRE Conference
Telford & Wrekin Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) 		 Thursday 29 April 2021 4pm to 6.30pm
MAPA - Part 1
(BSAT 201)		 Thursday 29 April 2021 8.30am to 4pm
Child Protection Supervision
(SG 203)		 Thursday 29 April 2021 9.30am to 12.30pm
Safer Recruitment Training Part 2  
Book via co-operative.admin@telford.gov.uk		 Friday 30 April 2021 9am to 12.30pm
Creating an Engaging Curriculum  which excites, inspires and develops the learning of EAL pupils
(CPD 716)		 Tuesday 4 May 2021 3.30pm to 6pm
Newly Qualified Teacher Development Group: Supporting and Accelerating your Progression  
(CPD 522)		 Tuesday 4 May 2021 4pm to 5.30pm
Forest School and Outdoor Learning for Practitioners Working within EYFS
(EY 201)		 Wednesday 5 May 2021 4pm to 5.30pm
Raising Awareness of Child Protection
(SG 108)		 Wednesday 5 May 2021 3.30pm to 5pm
Meeting the OFSTED requirements for Equality and Diversity for Governors
(CPD 717)		 Wednesday 5 May 2021 9am to 12noon
Teaching and delivering outstanding EAL provision for 'new to English'
pupils and advanced bilingual learners in primary schools (CPD 712)		 Thursday 6 May 2021 3.30pm to 6pm
MAPA - part 2
(BSAT 201)		 Thursday 6 May 2021 8.30am to 12.30pm
I’m a Brilliant Learner - are you ready for me?
(EY 204)		 Thursday 6 May 2021 9.15am to 3.30pm
Recently Qualified Teacher Development Programme (Primary)
(CPD 507)		 Thursday 6 May 2021 4pm to 5.30pm
Understanding Mental Health – Using psychological research to understand anxiety and depression
(EPS 202)		 Tuesday 11 May 2021 1.15pm to 4pm
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 1
(SG 102)		 Wednesday 12 May 2021 9.15am to 3.30pm
(face to face delivery)
Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training
(SG 103)		 Wednesday 12 May 2021 5pm to 7.30pm
Supporting the emotional well-being of children and young people with learning difficulties: A whole school approach
(EPS 208)

Part 1: Monday 10 May 2021
Part 2: Wednesday 12 May 2021

Part 1: 9.15am-12.30pm
Part 2: 9.15am to 12.30pm
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 2
(SG 102)		 Thursday 13 May 2021 9.15 to 3.30pm
(face to face delivery)
Developing Early Years & Childcare Provision - supporting school sustainability and child outcomes
(EY 113)		 Thursday 13 May 2021 9.15am to 12noon
MAPA Refresher
(BSAT 212)		 Thursday 13 May 2021 9am to 12.30pm
Assessing and monitoring progress in EAL
(CPD 701)		 Monday 17 May 2021 3.30pm to 6pm
AET: Leading Good Autism Practice
(EPS 107)		 Monday 17 May 2021 1pm to 4pm
ELSA Conference
(EPS 106)		 Tuesday 18 May 2021 9am to 3pm
(TBC)
Effective Support and Supervisions in the EYFS
(EY 306)		 Thursday 20 May 2021 4pm to 5.30pm
Designated Safeguarding Leads Refresher (SG 107) Thursday 20 May 2021 2pm to 3.30pm
MAPA - part 1 (BSAT 201) Thursday 20 May 2021 8.30am to 4pm
MAPA - part 2 (BSAT 201) Friday 21 May 2021 8.30am to 12.30pm
Teaching children with SEND - meeting the need (LSAT 508) Monday 24 May 2021 4pm to 5.30pm
The role of the key person in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EY 106) Tuesday 25 May 2021 1.15pm to 3.45pm
SACRE Conference – Part 2
Telford & Wrekin Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) 		 Thursday 27 May 2021 9.30am to 3.30pm

This entry was posted by Marianne on Tuesday, 20 April 2021.

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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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