Notice: 6 May 2021

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

Included in this update

The sun seems to have given up, given the amount of rain which has fallen this week! Not enough to dampen the spirits of the large number of our pupils, who took part in the Big Pedal, which ended last Friday. I am delighted to report that schools across Telford did exceptionally well. It is always great to share some positive news and we have shared a short film of Old Park School who achieved second place, nationally, in their category!

It will have been hard to ignore the ongoing fire, at the old Greenway Polymers site in Ketley. A number of residents, and schools, are affected by the smoke which is still very present. The council are working hard in the background with relevant partners, and it is hoped that the fire will be extinguished soon! I will share information as needed. All schools and settings have been open since last Friday.

There are a number of key pieces of information shared this week, including updates around COVID testing, arrangements for free school meals over half term and summer assessments. There is also a number of SEND updates, information on a poetry project for looked after (and previously looked after) children and an update from the Safeguarding Partnership.

Application details for some of pots of money are also included: Subsidised tutoring, funding for holiday clubs and grants from the Laurel Trust, so look out for those if you think they apply.

You will notice that we have included the return from lockdown survey’s again this week. We really do need as many responses as possible, so that we can put this invaluable input to good use. Please promote it as much as you are able. Following on from this, there is another survey over safety in public spaces, particularly aimed at females. There do seem to be a number of consultations around at the moment, which are asking for participation. But that participation is needed, and is appreciated!

Best wishes

Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education and Skills

Pupil views on the return from lockdown: Still seeking input!

We are still seeking the viewpoints of local children and young people, with our return from lockdown survey. This is due to close very soon, is very much about local context and wellbeing, Please urge participation, due to the importance of hearing, and responding to, the voices of our children and young people.

In the Autumn Term of 2020, Educational Psychologist Dr Jane Park and Live Scribe artist Hannah Williams of Scribble Inc. devised and delivered a collaborative project to enable the views, thoughts, feelings and experiences about the coronavirus pandemic of small groups of children and young people across Telford & Wrekin to be heard. Telford & Wrekin Educational Psychology Service (TAW EPS) would now like to seek pupil views more widely, and we need your help.

TAW EPS has co-created a brief survey along with Southend EPS and Nottingham City EPS asking all pupils across the Authority what Covid-19 has been like for them and what is helping pupils successfully return to school in March/April 2021.

We would appreciate the support of schools and families to enable all our children and young people to share their thoughts and experiences with us to help us understand what lockdown has been like for them. Nationally, there has been a lot of interest in the views that pupils have been sharing, and on Monday 1st February, EP colleagues from across the country were invited to a meeting at the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) to feed back on their own surveys. Hearing about pupil experiences is now helping NICE plan new guidelines to support children and young people’s social and emotional wellbeing. We would like all children and young people to know that sharing their thoughts and experiences will benefit many children and young people in Telford & Wrekin and beyond, and it will be an honour to be able to collate, analyse and share this information to inform positive developments for our children and so many others.

Responses will be anonymous and we encourage all respondents to ask a teacher or parent/carer to help them complete the form. We look forward to hearing from as many children and young people in Telford & Wrekin as possible!

Take part in the survey for 4 - 11 Year olds

Take part in the survey for 11- 18 Year Olds

The Big Pedal

Every day, between 19 April and 30 April, our schools competed with others across the country, to see who could record the greatest number of pupils, staff and parents cycling, walking, scooting or using a wheelchair to school. The following schools all took part:

Church Aston Infant School
Dawely C of E Primary Academy
Donnington Wood Infant School and Nursery Centre
Hollinswood Primary School and Nursery
Lawley Primary School
Lilleshall Primary School
Meadows Primary School and Nursery
Millbrook Primary School
Newport Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School
Newport Infant School
Old Park School and Nursery
Priorslee Academy
Redhill Primary Academy
St George's Church of England Primary School
St Peter’s Church of England Controlled Primary School
Tibberton Primary School
Wrockwardine Wood Infant School and Nursery.

For a while it looked like Old Park primary would come first place, nationally, but in the end they came a very respectable second. To have over 98% of pupils travelling to school actively is a phenomenal achievement. Check out the leader board on The Big Pedal website.

There is a short film about the amazing efforts of Old Park Primary, which we would encourage you to watch.

Telford and Wrekin schools collectively performed exceptionally well in the regional leader board, with four of our schools taking the top four spots! Hopefully this will encourage them, and others, to continue to promote active journeys leading into National Walk to School Week which starts on the 17 May.

Coronavirus update to all early years, children’s, social care, schools and further education providers

Delivery schedules of COVID-19 test kits, for the current week, are now available on the document sharing platforms. This schedule also includes which deliveries are planned for next week, with further updates on timing provided by Monday 10 May.

Private, voluntary and independent nurseries:

The process for ordering test kits for private, voluntary and independent (PVI) nurseries has now changed, and an online system introduced. Your unique organisation number (UON) is needed to place orders, which can be found by visiting the GOV.UK website and using the unique organisation number lookup form. PVI nurseries will automatically receive a delivery of test kits on Thursday 6 May, Friday 7 May or Monday 10 May 2021. This will be the final automatic delivery, after this the new ordering system will need to be used. You can order your test kit supplies using the order coronavirus (COVID-19) tests for your organisation online form. For further information on how to place an order, please refer to the ordering guidance available on the primary schools and nurseries document sharing platform.

Primary schools and maintained nurseries:

The delivery schedule for primary schools and maintained nurseries is available on the primary schools and nurseries document sharing platform.

Secondary Schools, further education colleges, independent community learning providers and adult community learning providers:

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

Please check the published delivery schedule prior to contacting the Department for Education (DfE) COVID-19 helpline in relation to expected timescales for receipt of deliveries, and wait for 48 hours after a scheduled delivery date before calling.

Submitting teacher assessed grades for this year’s GCSEs, AS Levels and A Levels

Schools and colleges (centres) will be able to submit their students’ grades from Wednesday 26 May until Friday 18 June 2021. Once the grades are received, every centre will be asked to provide samples of student work, as described in Ofqual’s recent blog, quality assurance for GCSE, AS and A level: information for schools and colleges.

Centres should retain the work and records of marking or grading judgements as exam boards will request samples after 18 June. This will also be needed if a student wishes to appeal their result.

Please see the submission of teacher assessed grades guidance for more infromation.

National Tutoring Programme (NTP) subsidised tutoring available

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) aims to ensure that high quality tutoring is available in all parts of the country to disadvantaged pupils who need the most support to catch up.

Schools can search for approved NTP Tuition Partners and enquire directly with providers to access tutoring, subsidised by 75%, through the NTP to support pupils (aged 5-16) who need extra help. This includes specialist provision for supporting students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 26 of the 33 providers are able to support students with SEND, including 17 providers who are able to support students in special school settings.

The NTP recently held a series of information webinars for all state-maintained schools. If you were unable to attend, the recording of the most recent session, and accompanying information slides, are now available online.

NTP Seminar Recording

NTP Seminar Information Slides

We need your help to inform decision making: Safety of public spaces

The UK Government recently announced a large fund, aiming to improve the safety of public spaces of concern to women and girls. The money can be used to fund a range of interventions, such as CCTV cameras, improved street lighting, educational products, neighbourhood watch schemes, and close working with night time economy establishments.

Telford & Wrekin Council and West Mercia Police are considering making a bid for the fund and want to hear the views of women and girls living and working in Telford. We want to know about any local places that make you feel unsafe, as well as any suggestions you might have on how to make women and girls feel safer and reduce the risk of them becoming victims of crime.

A survey is now open and will close on the 15 May 2021. Please take 5-10 minutes of your time to complete and feel free to share as widely as you can with friends, colleagues and young people (if considered appropriate).

Take part in the Safety of Public Spaces Survey

Any queries can be sent, via email, to Lyn.stepanian@telford.gov.uk.

Trust and school improvement offer

The DfE are providing some school improvement support to schools and trusts in the 2021 to 2022 academic year.

Eligibility

Your school is eligible, for the DfE trust and school improvement offer, if either of the following criteria is met:

A school receives an Ofsted ‘requires improvement’ judgement during the 2021 to 2022 academic year
A school entered the 2021 to 2022 academic year with a current ‘requires improvement’ judgement for overall effectiveness where the previous judgement was also ‘requires improvement’, or worse.

Support available to eligible schools and trusts

Standalone schools and academies including local authority-maintained schools, single academy trusts and multi-academy trusts (MATs) with only one school will be offered:

Up to 3 days’ support and advice from a national leader of education (NLE) or equivalent to help your leadership team identify and implement improvements within the school and support the building of relationships with a MAT, where appropriate
Credit up to the value of £10,000 towards the costs of a trust partnership where a suitable partner MAT is identified, and subject to the availability of funds.

MATs with eligible ‘requires improvement’ schools

MATs with eligible schools will get improvement support at trust, rather than school, level. Your trust will be offered:

Up to 5 days’ support and advice from an NLE or equivalent to help your leadership team identify and implement improvements within the trust and ensure school-level actions align with the trust’s improvement approach
Access to governance support from a national leader of governance (NLG) where beneficial and funding allows
Funding to reimburse the fees levied by an accredited provider for a trust leader to complete the National Professional Qualification in Executive Leadership (NPQEL), where beneficial and subject to the availability of funds

When support is available

If you are eligible or become eligible because of your Ofsted rating, you will be contacted by DfE during the 2021 to 2022 academic year. DfE will first contact your trust, diocese or local authority to inform them of the offer available before contacting your school directly.

Full information is available by reading the trust and school improvement offer.

If you have any queries, or If you wish to self-identify your school or trust as needing support, contact us by email at school.improvement@education.gov.uk at any point.

Free school meal vouchers for May half term through the COVID Local Support Grant

We are sending out Free School Meal vouchers to all eligible families for the May half term. These will be sent by email to all of the parents we have an email address for week commencing 17 May. Our communication to parents includes addresses that they can contact if they experience any problems with the voucher.

In the unlikely event that a parent contacts school with queries regarding the vouchers, or if they have not received one and should have, please ask them to email winterfunding.grant@telford.gov.uk.

If the query relates to problems downloading the voucher, or where it can be spent, please refer them to our website which contains and frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. They can also contact the voucher provider by telephone on 0344 693 9901 or visit the Select Your Reward website to complete the online contact form.

There are approx. 200 children where we do not hold parent email addresses. Previously these vouchers have been hand delivered. On this occasion, for this small number of children, we are requesting that these vouchers are distributed to parents by schools, where appropriate. Schools will receive these vouchers for children without email addresses during the week commencing 17 May 2021.

Many thanks again for your support with this distribution which will help children and families over May half term.

For more information, or if you have any enquiries, please send an email to winterfunding.grant@telford.gov.uk.

Laurel Trust funding available for innovative school-based projects

The Laurel Trust is offering grants, designed to support groups of schools to work together to re-imagine education in our current world and to place emphasis on a culture rooted in emotional and academic resilience. Applications can be submitted immediately, and the proposed research must focus on an area of deprivation and disadvantage and improve outcomes for children and their families.

Please refer to this copy of the advertisement, which will appear in the TES on Friday of this week, for submission dates, and the application guidance document to help you with your submission.

Full details and an application form are on the Laurel Trust website.

Grants available to provide holiday clubs in Telford

An £841,555 fund, provided by the Department for Education, is helping the council to build upon its existing provision, making it borough wide. The community run holiday clubs will be part of Telford and Wrekin Council’s Happy, Healthy and Active Holidays scheme. This scheme aims to help low-income families to cope with the financial pressures of the school holidays by providing free places for children and young people who are in receipt of benefit related school meals.

For more information please read the full news story.

Organisations interested in applying for a grant to run holiday clubs in Telford and Wrekin should visit our website.

Ceasing of virtual right to work checks

During the pandemic, organisations have been able to check an individual’s right to work in the UK virtually, asking them to submit a scanned copy or photo of the original via email, and then using video platforms where the worker holds up the original document to check against the digital copy that has been sent.

However, the Home Office has updated it’s guidance to indicate this would no longer be the case from 17 May 2021. For full information please visit the Coronavirus (COVID-19): right to work checks page, on their website.

You will not need to carry out retrospective checks on anyone who had a Covid-19 adjusted check between 30 March 2020 – when the allowances started – and 16 May 2021.

Please send any enquiries via email to hrhelpdesk@telford.gov.uk

Save the Date- Secondary and post 16 SENCo Network Meeting: Transition

Please save the date in your diary, we are arranging a SENCo Network Meeting for secondary schools and post 16 providers, with a theme of ‘Transition’. During the session we will be providing updates and will be using an interactive format including break out rooms to discuss good practice for transition.

Thursday 20 May 2021
4pm - 5.30pm
Microsoft Teams.

A full agenda for the meeting and an invitation to the event will be sent out in the next week.

For more information please contact us by email at SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.or check out the SEND Local Offer.

SEND Transition in Education Partnership (STEP)

New on the SEND Local Offer is the SEND Transition in Education Partnership, this is the outcome of the ‘Transitions’ project led by the Learning Support Advisory Teachers. In April 2019 schools were invited to take part in a transition project with the aim to produce best practice guidance in Transition for SEND pupils in their move from year 6 to year 7.

The SEND Transition in Education Partnership (STEP) details processes, an audit tool ‘Must, Should, Could’ and case studies from schools involved. Included in the page and documents are useful references and links to additional resources. The information is available on the SEND Transition in Education Partnership (STEP) webpage, which contains the full document and the ‘Must, Should, Could’ audit tool available to download.

Next steps…

We would like to receive feedback as schools use this tool as a working document for transition this summer.
A ‘Next Steps’ meeting with volunteer schools for feedback and to consider priorities moving forward, including looking at curriculum areas, specific difficulties and transition stages is being arranged.
To being the process of looking at an EAL transition tool, a working group will be set up to meet in the autumn term 2021.

If you would like to take part in any of the next steps or provide feedback, please talk to your LSAT or email us at: SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.

Parents Opening Doors- An audience with Dean Beadle

Parents Opening Doors (PODs) are excited to welcome Dean for two virtual events where he will talk about his experiences and knowledge of Autism, with an emphasis on support for changes post COVID including transitions back into school and college, support for emotional health and wellbeing and sensory needs of autistic people.

Tuesday 11 May 2021.
10.30am – 12.30pm or 7pm - 9pm.

Book on Eventbrite

Please share the downloadable flyer with your families even if families are not members of PODs places are open for them (they will be requested to sign up for PODs membership), places are also open for professionals.

Visit the PODs website for more information.

For more information about the event please email: jayne@podstelford.org.

The children’s speech and language therapy survey for parents and education setting staff

In the summer last year a group of parents and a group of education staff, from across Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire, kindly joined us to talk about their experiences of the children’s speech and language therapy service; what they like and value and what could be better.

From the feedback they shared about valuing information and knowledge and wanting more opportunities to develop skills and confidence we have begun to redesign parts of the service. For example, we have developed and launched a Facebook page and we have invited more parents and education staff than ever before to join our redesigned training workshops. We have had some great feedback about some of the changes we have made.

The parents and education staff who joined us last summer and the speech and language therapy team would like the service to be co-designed by those who use it to support the children and young people who you know with speech, language and communication and eating drinking and swallowing needs. If you have a few minutes we would love to have your feedback.

Children’s SLT survey for parents and educators

We plan to close the survey on 24 May 2021. Following this, we will share the findings from the survey in the following places:

Through the Local Authorities (LAs)
Parent and Carer Council (PACC) special education needs and disability (SEND) Newsletter
Parents Opening Doors (PODS) special education needs and disability (SEND) Newsletter
Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom) Children’s and Families Newsletter.

Thank you for your help

Safeguarding Partnership update

The information in the latest Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership update includes:

a response from the Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership (TWSP) Executive to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report, in relation to the imposition of conditions on their registration as a service provider under Section 31 of the Health and Social Care Act
information related to the review of the TWSP arrangements.
an opportunity to respond to the Learning Disability Consultation
links to videos to encourage people with severe mental illness to get their vaccine
training dates for the Exploitation and vulnerability training
information related to webinars designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) might find of interest
please note that the training dates for Raising Awareness of Child Protection are NOT for schools. There is specific school focused training available through educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Download the latest newsletter for the full update.

Artslink’s Poetry Project – information for Designated Teachers of Looked After and Previously Looked After Children

This Spring, Artslink are running an exciting project for young people linked to West Midlands Virtual Schools, giving them the chance to contribute to a poem that will be performed by Birmingham Poet Laureate Matt Windle. Please see the downloadable flyer for more information.

Please email any enquires to Michelle.salter@telford.gov.uk.

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

Details of all continuing personal development (CPD) courses to half term May 2021

With the exception of ‘essential training’ (MAPA and Safeguarding) all courses continue to be delivered online 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. Online courses continue to be charged at a lower rate to reflect savings made by not using external venues.

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.

This table shows the CPD courses.
CPD	Date	Time
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 1 (SG 102) Face to Face training	Wednesday 12 May 2021	9.15am to 3.30pm
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) (SG 102) Part 2 Face to Face training	Thursday 13 May 2021	9.15am to 3.30pm
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
Developing the role of teaching assistants in supporting SEND (LSAT 507)	Wednesday 19 May 2021	9.15am to 12noon
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 (BSAT 201) Part 1 Face to Face training	Thursday 20 May 2021	8.30am to 12.30pm
MAPA (BSAT 201) Part 2 Face to Face training	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 – Day 2	Thursday 27 May 2021	9.30am to 3.30pm
ELSA Conference (EPS 106)	Postponed from 18 May to 7 July 2021	9am to 3pm

Please contact Sue Dyson - Traded Service Specialist, School Performance and Development with any enquires at sue.dyson@telford.gov.uk.

For bookings please email us at cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk.

This entry was posted by Claire on Wednesday, 05 May 2021.

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