Notice: 24 June 2021

Welcome to the Education Noticeboard. A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.

It was national ‘thank a teacher day’ yesterday and I just want to personally say a huge thank you to all staff that work with our children and young people, from the early years through to FE and beyond. Everyone in education plays a vital role and whatever your job never underestimate the huge difference you make to children and young people’s lives. The last two years more than ever!

As the COVID-19 vaccination drive marches forwards, we have provided information on walk-in clinics, as well as a reminder from the Department for Education to continue with asymptomatic testing. We have come so far, it is important to keep the drive going and with our numbers unfortunately climbing, please implement those control measures with rigour, as you have been, as we pass through the last few weeks of term.

This week the elected members have launched the Young Person Grant whereby £500 is available. There is a particular focus on helping young people access further education or work. Please look the information and bear it in mind for any young people that you think will benefit.

There is some important organisational and administration information for you. This includes closing dates for referrals to the attendance support team, updated information on the ceasing of virtual right to work checks, additional funding for those who are completing the newly qualified teacher induction this academic year and the results of the Ofsted sexual abuse in schools and colleges review.

As always there is a summary of CPD courses, until the end of the summer term. Additionally, Beam are offering some training, specifically around emotional topics, there is race equality training on offer to all schools and there is information about the autism education trust resources.

Finally, next year the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee. You may know that an extra Bank Holiday is planned for this which falls within an existing school holiday. Alternative arrangements have been made so that school staff also benefit, so details of this are also included.

Best wishes
Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education and Skills

Thank you teachers!

This week marked National Thank a Teacher Day, celebrating the amazing work teachers, lecturers and school staff do and the massive influence they have on our children’s and young people’s lives.

The Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson has said: “Thank you to teachers and support staff across the country for everything you do for our young people. This #ThankATeacherDay it’s important that we recognise all of your hard work and dedication in the face of the difficult challenges we have faced in education.”

We would like to use this opportunity to praise the vital work all of you are doing, for going above and beyond in particular throughout these challenging times. Your hard work makes such a difference!

Continued asymptomatic testing encouraged

This is an update from the Department for Education.

Please continue to encourage your staff, secondary age children and college students to take part in asymptomatic testing. With only a few weeks of the summer term remaining, it is vital that school and college staff and students continue to test twice a week until the end of term.

Testing should continue to be a routine part of the week and the reporting of COVID-19 test results remains essential as we move towards Step 4 and maintain face-to-face education until the end of term.

There are further resources available to support you to encourage your pupils, students and your staff to continue asymptomatic testing and reporting their results, including:

your setting’s COVID-19 testing data through the view your education data portal
encouraging participation hints and tips blog
regular testing posters and videos

Anyone testing positive for COVID-19 should follow the guidance for schools or colleges.

COVID-19 test kit delivery schedules for schools and colleges

This is an update from the Department for Education.

Delivery schedules for the week commencing Monday 21 June 2021 are now available on the document sharing platforms. Please check the published delivery schedule prior to contacting the helpline in relation to expected timescales for receipt of deliveries. Please wait for 48 hours after a scheduled delivery date before contacting the helpline.

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

The delivery schedule for secondary schools and further education colleges is available on the secondary schools and colleges document sharing platform.

Letter to parents from the Secretary of State for Education

This is an update from the Department for Education.

The Secretary of State for Education has written an open letter to parents encouraging continued regular testing, to support all the hard work schools and colleges have been doing to increase participation.

The Public Health England COVID-19 resource centre has been updated with new testing resources to support your outgoing communications to parents and students in secondary schools and colleges. This includes:

social and poster resources – to stress the importance of continued testing and reporting in settings and on school social media channels
a test explainer kit with practical resources to support self-testing at home, including the vital step of reporting

Update to the contingency framework following the announcement on enhanced response areas

This is an update from the Department for Education.

The Department for Education have updated the contingency framework following the government’s announcement on enhanced response packages to tackle the Delta variant in some areas.

The contingency framework describes the principles of managing local outbreaks of COVID-19 in education and childcare settings. It covers all types of measures that settings should be prepared for, which includes those that may be recommended as part of an enhanced response area.

All education and childcare settings should have outbreak management plans outlining how they would operate if any of the measures described within the contingency framework were recommended in their area for any reason.

Secondary schools and colleges should ensure their outbreak management plans cover the possibility that it is advised that face coverings should temporarily be worn more widely in settings in their area and that asymptomatic testing sites (ATS) may be required. Additional guidance has been issued to the Directors of Public Health advising that they work in partnership with schools and colleges before reinstating ATS. The green how to guide details how schools and colleges should set up and run an ATS, as they did in March 2021.

If settings are concerned about COVID-19 issues in their area and think additional measures in their setting may be required, they should discuss with their Local Authority, Department of Public Health or Health Protection Team.

Schools: Last chance to share your views on education recovery

This is an update from the Department for Education.

The School Recovery Strategies (SRS) Survey will close on Monday 28 June 2021.

If your school has been invited to take part, we would like one school leader in your school, who has an overview of the current and planned recovery strategies across year groups, to complete the short online survey. Invites have been sent by email to your head teacher or school office and will have come from SRSstudy@ipsos-mori.com.

The research is being carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department for Education. The findings will help to give the government a fuller picture of schools’ views and experiences across the country and will be used to inform our policy on education recovery.

To check if your school has been selected to take part, or if you would like further information, please contact SRSstudy@ipsos-mori.com.

Education recovery package: Tutoring

This is an update from the Department for Education.

Building on the success of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) 2020/21, we have listened to feedback and further developed the breadth of the programme for 2021/22. We recognise that each school has pupils with varying needs, therefore we have developed a tutoring offer that provides a high degree of flexibility and choice.

There are three subsidised tutoring options for academic year 2021/22:

tuition partners – state-funded schools are able to access subsidised, high-quality tuition from an approved list of tuition partners spanning a wide-range of topics
academic mentors – some schools prefer to use tutors as an ‘in class’ resource to work alongside the pupil’s teacher, to address a range of interventions, focusing on 1-1 and small group sessions with pupils
school-led tutoring – a grant payment to all state-funded schools, based on the number of pupil premium students. This payment is ring-fenced to fund tutoring provision that can be locally sourced by schools

For further information, please see the NTP tutoring options for academic year 2021/22 document. To complement school-led tutoring, we are continuing to offer tuition partners and academic mentors as part of the NTP to ensure schools can also access high-quality tutors.

Update on the educational setting status form

This is an update from the Department for Education.

The educational setting status form will be paused from Friday 16 July 2021 until the start of the autumn term. Please continue to complete the form daily up until and including Friday 16 July. If your school or college term ends before this date, you do not need to submit the form once your setting has closed for the summer.

Thank you for your work in completing the form since March last year. The information you have provided has been vital in helping us to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector.

Schools: Confirm your summer school plans to secure your funding

This is an update from the Department for Education.

Thank you to those schools who have informed us of their intention to run a summer school this year.

To secure your funding allocation, you now need to complete the online confirmation form by Wednesday 30 June 2021. If we don’t receive confirmation, funding will be reallocated to schools that have requested additional places for their pupils.

You may also apply for funding to cover additional places, subject to overall take-up. Schools will be notified quickly of any additional funding but should plan to deliver their summer school within their published maximum allocation in the meantime.

If you did not complete the initial sign-up form, you can still join the programme by completing the confirmation form.

Further information is available in the guidance on summer schools and the summer school programme webinar recording.

If you have any questions, please contact us at learning.recovery@education.gov.uk.

Pre-exclusion hotline: 07816372459

The hotline continues to be used by a number of schools. The team are able to provide immediate telephone support and offer instant in school support to discuss the potential exclusion.

The hotline has been used really well, supporting schools before an exclusion occurs, in order to prevent it from taking place. Restorative conversations and direct work with a young person and/or colleagues have prevented a number of fixed term exclusions over the past few weeks. For those schools that have gone ahead with issuing an exclusion, the offer of support, with the reintegration meeting, has proved useful in preventing further exclusions.

The Hotline is manned by the current Behaviour Support Advisory (BSAT) Team and will bring their expertise to supporting schools. There will be two duty members per day and this will allow contact in addition to support for schools and individuals.

Please remember to use the Exclusions Hotline and share this information with colleagues, as the team are ready to support you.

For more information with regards to the team, please contact BSAT Team Leader (Darren Lennon) by email at Darren.Lennon@telford.gov.uk.

Grants of £500 available for young people

The Leader and Cabinet Members' Young Person Grant Scheme is a monetary award to support children and young people living in the Borough of Telford and Wrekin between the ages of 15 and 25 years old in one of the following categories:

education, training and / or employment
equipment
travel
enterprise funding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of young people across the country and the council hopes that the grants will offer some hope of a brighter future to residents aged 15-25 in assisting them to take the next steps in their career. A grant of up to £500 is available for young people who live in Telford and Wrekin, who are seeking support to help get them into education, employment or training.

The money is available to each applicant who can demonstrate how the funding could successfully help them overcome barriers that are currently preventing them from accessing education, employment or training. It is also available to those seeking to start up their own business but need that initial investment.

Applications are open now and will close on 26 July 2021. For more information or to submit an application please visit the website. Further terms and conditions can also be found online.

Walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinics

There are a number of COVID-19 vaccination clinics available through June and July, including new walk-in COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics for 18-39 year olds opening in the borough (first doses only).

COVID-19 walk-in vaccination Clinics: 18-39 year olds

This week:
Saturday 26 June 2021, 2.00-7.00pm at Turreff Hall, Telford (first dose only)
Next dates:
Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 June 2021, 8.00am to 8.00pm at Telford International Centre (first dose only)
Friday 9- Sunday 11 July 2021, 8.00am-8.00pm to Telford International Centre (first dose only)

COVID-19 walk-in Astra Zeneca vaccination clinics: 40+ year olds

This week until Sunday 27 June 2021, 8.30am to 1.30pm at Telford International Centre (first and second doses).
Please note: The second dose can only be given eight weeks after the first dose

To find out more information please visit the coronavirus page on the Council’s website

Ofsted review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges

On 10 June 2021 Ofsted published its review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. The review took place within the months of April and May 2021, and highlighted a number of recommendations.

Recommendations for school and college leaders
School and college leaders should create a culture where sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are not tolerated, and where they identify issues and intervene early to better protect children and young people.

In order to do this, they should assume that sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are happening in their setting, even when there are no specific reports, and put in place a whole-school approach to address them. This should include:

a carefully sequenced RSHE curriculum, based on the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) statutory guidance, that specifically includes sexual harassment and sexual violence, including online. This should include time for open discussion of topics that children and young people tell us they find particularly difficult, such as consent and the sending of ‘nudes’
high-quality training for teachers delivering RSHE
routine record-keeping and analysis of sexual harassment and sexual violence, including online, to identify patterns and intervene early to prevent abuse
a behavioural approach, including sanctions when appropriate, to reinforce a culture where sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are not tolerated
working closely with LSPs in the area where the school or college is located so they are aware of the range of support available to children and young people who are victims or who perpetrate harmful sexual behaviour
support for designated safeguarding leads (DSLs), such as protected time in timetables to engage with LSPs
training to ensure that all staff (and governors, where relevant) are able to:
- better understand the definitions of sexual harassment and sexual violence, including online sexual abuse
- identify early signs of peer-on-peer sexual abuse
- consistently uphold standards in their responses to sexual harassment and online sexual abuse

The Full Report can be found on the government website.

Race equality training for all schools and annual return information

Telford and Wrekin Council are committed to providing equality and diversity support to schools, through continuing professional development training which is of a high quality and free.

This training is central to the need for schools to meet their responsibilities under the Equality Act to ensure that racist incidents in school are deal with effectively, reported as required by law and that an appropriate level of support is given to all pupils and stakeholders. We want to make to ensure that all schools have the strategies and support they need to prevent and deal with racism in schools and our wider community.

You will have made decisions in relation to which training you and your staff should attend. If no-one from your school has attended any of this training this term, you are encouraged to take up the offer of a free place on one of the remaining dates (detailed below). In particular, if your setting has not attended the training on racist incident reporting please consider sending a delegate to a session.

The upcoming dates for training are:

Racist Incident Reporting System (IRIS) training (for head teachers and senior leaders)
Tuesday, 6 July 2021
3.30pm-5.00pm

Identifying Racist Incidents Training (for all EYFS staff)
Thursday 1 July 2021
6.00pm-7.30pm

Our commitment to inclusive schools (as linked to the belonging strategy) is embedded within this training as is the importance of the racist incident annual return. The racist incident annual return will be sent out shortly to schools, and we urge you to return it as soon as possible. The outcomes provide us with a true indication of the work schools will be doing, as well as the strategic work that we are undertaking enables us to ensure that, as educators, we help our students understand what respect and tolerance truly are.

If you would like to more information on these courses please contact the multi-cultural development team or refer to the website. Kirsty Holden and Qamar Maqsood can answer any queries that are sent by email to multicultural.Development@telford.gov.uk

You can also download the Tackling Racism: Summer 2021 programme.

To book a place on one of the training courses or EAL co-ordinator network meetings please complete a CPD booking form and mention your preference.

STEP: Feedback needed to develop support for EAL children

Following the launch at the SENCo Network Meeting of the SEND Partnership (STEP) document on the SEND local offer document in April STEP are now looking to receive feedback and begin to gather input to develop support for our English as an additional language (EAL) children and young people.

Schools that have expressed an interest alongside others who would be willing to contribute, should contact Bethany Seymour, by email to bethany.seymour@telford.gov.uk, for an invite to the twilight Teams meeting on 14 July, 4.00 to 5.00pm with Jessica Bussey and Belinda Sherlock (LSATs).

Email payment scam

Colleagues from Birmingham have reported that a number of their schools have been targeted by an e-mail payment scam.

An email is sent purporting to come from the Head Teacher or a senior member of staff and asks finance staff if they are able to process a payment urgently.

The initial email in most cases looks like it comes from a legitimate school email address and starts with “Are you on your computer?” If a response is received, the sender then proceeds to request that an urgent payment be made, but the email address then often changes to a Gmail one, containing a different individual’s name.

The requests that have been seen tend to be for around £10,000.

One for you to watch out for! If you do come across something like this, please let Andy Hollis know via an email to andrew.hollis@telford.gov.uk.

Additional funding for those who are completing NQT induction in 2020-2021

Schools with Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) due to complete induction this summer will have access to funding for the equivalent of an additional 5% off timetable for next academic year. This will enable these teachers to have additional time to invest in their development.

This time off timetable is not statutory but it has been designed to be used flexibly so that as many new teachers as possible can benefit from this additional support. We trust schools and their leaders to know what works best for them and their staff. Time off timetable can be grouped together in different ways, for example, taken as whole days or half days off.

Schools will be able to access DfE accredited development materials based on the Early Career Framework for this cohort to use during this time off timetable. The Department for Education NQT briefing pack is also available to download.

Schools will receive this funding in summer term of 2022. Funding will be based on School Workforce Census returns.

Additional Bank Holiday to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee: Academic arrangements

The Queens Platinum Jubilee celebrations will include an additional Bank Holiday and be over a four day weekend from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June 2022.

Following the announcement made in the last few weeks confirming that, as an additional bank holiday has been agreed on Friday 3 June 2022 and as Telford and Wrekin schools are already on summer half-term break on this day, that the additional one day holiday will therefore be taken elsewhere.

This is because the Department for Education have agreed that school staff should not miss out, and have instead reduced the school year to allow school staff to benefit. They have confirmed that academic year 2021-22 will be reduced by two sessions.

To keep disruption to a minimum, the regional group of LAs, including Telford and Wrekin, who meet to discuss and confirm term dates and school holiday arrangements, suggest this additional day is taken at the end of the summer term 2022. Therefore, schools should close for the summer break on Thursday 21 July 2022.

Please note that not all LAs in the group have confirmed these arrangements as yet, but this is confirmed with HR for Telford and Wrekin schools/staff. As Academies are free to set their own dates this may or may not be applicable, to those settings.

Closing dates for referrals to AST for academic year 2020-21

Please be aware of the closing dates: Last date for referrals for Interviews Under Caution (IUC) is 1 July 2021, last date for referrals for the Attendance Support Team (AST) Warning Notices is 4 July 2021 and last date for Referrals for Holiday Penalty Notices (HPN) is 21 July 2021.

Interviews Under Caution (IUC)
Please be aware that the closing date for referrals for IUC is 1 July 2021. This is because AST work in partnership with school staff to prepare the evidence needed to invite parents in for an IUC and we usually allow two weeks from when the invitation is issued, as ample time is needed to prepare all the questions and offer a follow up date to parents if necessary. Many of the Team are term-time only, so this needs to be completed before the end of term.

AST Warning Notices
The closing date for the last referrals for any AST warning notice will be 4 July 2021. Warning Notices sent too close to the end of term are not as effective. After 4 July 2021, schools will be asked to defer any cases of poor school attendance until September. It is good practice for schools to write to parents at the end of term if they are concerned about overall levels of absence.

Holiday Penalty Notices (HPN)
Schools can refer to AST if a HPN needs to be considered, for any case where the child has returned to school following a minimum of five school days unauthorised leave in term-time. We can issue these at any time. If a year 6 pupil (or year 2 in Infant schools) takes unauthorised leave and does not return before the end of term, it is up to the Primary School (or Infant School) to refer to us in September

Please do not hesitate to contact the attendance support team if you have any concerns or questions about any of the above. Queries, and all completed referrals should be sent by email to accessandinclusion@telford.gov.uk

Ceasing of virtual right to work checks: Update

There is now a further change to the recently announced date when employers will have to check applicants’ original right to work documents.

Further to the article in the Education Noticeboard on the 13 May, regarding upcoming changes announced by the Home Office to the process of conducting right to work checks, we have now received official confirmation that the date from when these changes will apply has changed due to the delay in the release of all restrictions.

Therefore, employers will be able to continue to check the right to work of a candidate virtually until the 1 September 2021.

More information is available on the government 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 30 August 2021.

Any queries can be send by email to hrhelpdesk@telford.gov.uk or by telephone on 01952 383601.

Landlord and tenant responsibilities: Building works

In order to support schools in understanding their responsibilities when it comes to planned building works and maintenance on school sites, the Local Authority (LA) is providing two guidance documents, detailed below:

Definition of responsibilities in relation to building works between the school and Local Authority
In order to clarify the roles and responsibilities of schools and the Local Authority (LA) in the planned maintenance of school buildings and land we have produced a guidance document. This sets out the defined roles and responsibilities that exist between the LA and schools themselves, and specifies where these day to day maintenance responsibilities lie.

Guidance on statutory compliance and landlord consent for undertaking building works
Although the majority of building works on school sites continues to be undertaken utilising the LA property teams, it is becoming more common for schools and governing boards to consider undertaking building and landscape adaptations themselves. Where this is the case, it is important that duty holders are aware of their responsibilities for statutory compliance and health and safety as it relates to any planned building works. The provided form and guidance notes are intended as a helpful tool for schools and governing boards, to ensure they are adhering to the statutory requirements of any building works, including the requirement to seek landlord approval from the LA before undertaking any works, and how to secure this approval.

Both of these documents can be accessed online.

Hopefully these documents will help head teachers and governors in understanding what the requirements are for undertaking buildings works on your site. The Local Authority continues to be able to assist schools with any planned building works, and where the in-house property team (the biT Team) are appointed to carry out any works by schools, then they will continue to ensure that these statutory requirements are met on behalf of the school.

In the first instance, if you require any further clarification on these matters, please get in touch with the biT Team directly at assetmanagement@telford.gov.uk

Coach services for school visits

When using coach travel for pupils and staff for outside school activities such as day trips, swimming lessons etc. The coach travel must be conducted in line with COVID-19 secure guidelines and the control measures identified should be added to your Health and Safety Risk assessment. This is particularly important with respect to following the social distancing guidelines when mixing with other people during the journey who are not in the class bubble such as the coach driver.

Autism Spectrum Condition Training

We are having a huge drive on increasing the understanding of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) within Telford and Wrekin schools, to increase inclusion. We would like all schools to co-work with us to achieve this whole-borough vision. To support this co-work, and make achieving this vision a reality, we are funding a free place for one member of your senior staff to attend the ASC Lead training, during the forthcoming autumn term.

Why does my schools need an ASC Lead?
A lead autism practitioner is needed in every school in Telford. The ASC Lead can then drive planning the support and provision for children with social communication needs, across the school.

What impact will the ASC Lead have in my school?
Having a Lead for ASC will enable all young people to have an increased sense of belonging to their school and promote inclusion. This is essential because it will increase the holistic development of each young person identified with ASC.

In addition, if requests are made for EHCPs, schools will be able to demonstrate levels of interventions linked to the graduated response. Furthermore, the acquired skills across all school staff will assist with the presentation of young people to the emotional health and wellbeing panel for consideration to be placed on the ASC pathway. The content of the AET links to the Ofsted framework for inspection, and therefore will support each school when engaging with Ofsted Inspectors.

Next Steps
We ask that you work with us and that all schools sign up one member of staff for the ASC Lead training. Please identify the member of staff who is, or will be, the autism lead in your school and ask them to sign up to just one of the dates below. The autism lead will need to be a senior member of your team who is able to oversee the development of policy and practice.

Dates and Contact Details
The dates are as follows:

13 October 2021
3 November 2021
10 November 2021
17 November 2021
24 November 2021
1 December 2021
8 December 2021

To book a place on a course, please send a completed CPD booking form to CPDschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk. The booking form may be accessed online.

Once your member of staff has received the ASC lead (Leading Good Autism Practice, or LGAP for short) training, I would encourage them to then begin to organise the delivery of whole school training. This can be achieved by contacting Michael Lane (Senior Educational Psychologist and ASD Lead) who will co-ordinate the allocation of training staff to schools.

CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

Unless noted as ‘face to face’, 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 are 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 of our courses can be viewed in the CPD Booklet - available on the Telford Education Services website.

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 can be booked by sending your email address name and school name to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk

Cover Supervisors: preparing for the role (PSS 010)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Meeting the OFSTED requirements for equalities and diversity in the secondary school (CPD 719)	Tuesday 29 -June 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
EYFS: Areas of learning and development Session 2: Communication and language development (EY 308)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
EYFS: Areas of learning and development Session 2: Communication and language development (EY 309)	Tuesday 29 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Early Career Framework – Joint TSH & LA drop in for last minute queries (no need to book) Click here to join the ECT induction drop in: Joint LA and TSH	Tuesday 29 June 2021	3.45pm to 4.45pm
Designated safeguarding leads' and safeguarding governors' termly update (SG 106)	Wednesday 30 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Recently qualified teacher development programme: Primary (CPD 507)	Wednesday 30 June 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Identifying Racist Incidents Training (book via email)	Thursday 1 July 2021	3.30pm to 5pm
Raising awareness of prevent (SG 101)	Thursday 1 July 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
Forest school and outdoor learning for practitioners working within EYFS (EY 201) Face to Face	Thursday 1 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Identifying Racist Incidents Training (book via email)	Thursday 1 July 2021	6pm to 7.30pm
Virtual School Conference - Attachment Awareness and Trauma Informed Schools (CPD 620)	Friday 2 July 2021	9am to 12.15pm
Effective circle times in the EYFS (EY 302)	Monday 5 July 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Teaching children with SEND: Meeting the need (LSAT 508)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
EYFS: Areas of learning and development session 3: Physical development (EY 308)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
EYFS: Areas of learning and development session 3: Physical development (EY 309)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Solution focussed therapy (PSS 102)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	9.15am to 12noon
Racist Incident Reporting System: (IRIS) training (book via email)	Tuesday 6 July 2021	3.30pm to 5pm
NQT Induction tutor/ mentor - Initial training (CPD 520)	Wednesday 7 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
RADY Launch for Secondary Heads / Senior Leaders	Wednesday 7 July 2021	9.30am to 11.30am
ELSA conference (EPS 106) Face to Face (FULL)	Wednesday 7 July 2021	9am to 3pm
MAPA refresher (BSAT 212)	Thursday 8 July 2021	9am to 12.30pm
Youth mental health first aid (PSS 001)	Monday 12 July 2021 & Tuesday 13 July 2021	9.15am to 4pm
Teaching children with SEND: Meeting the need (LSAT 508)	Monday 12 July 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Designated safeguarding leads refresher (SG 107)	Thursday 15 July 2021	2pm to 3.30pm

Beam: Training in July and August for parents, carers and professionals

The following emotional health and wellbeing training sessions are being offered in July and August 2021, by Beam. All sessions take place on MS Teams, and are open to parents, carers and professionals who are interested in attending. Please feel free to share and/or signpost to others who may be interested.

There is no need to book – just click into the link at the session time.

Mental Health & Emotional well-being in children & young people
Wednesday 7 July 2021, 12.00noon – 1.30pm
This session will cover effective communication, empathy versus sympathy and an overview of common emotional well-being topics such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation and anger.
Join on your computer or mobile app: Click here to join the meeting

Sleepy Heads: 2 session workshop around sleep & common issues
It is advisable to attend both sessions.
Session 1:
Wednesday 21 July 2021, 12pm-1.30pm
This session will cover sleep stages, sleep hygiene and bedtime routines.
Join on your computer or mobile app: Click here to join the meeting
Session 2:
Wednesday 4 August 2021, 12.00 noon-1.30pm
This session will cover tackling common issues around sleep including prolonged night-time awakenings, teen sleep, bedtime refusal and resistance.
Join on your computer or mobile app: Click here to join the meeting

Managing anxious behaviours in young people
Wednesday 18 August 2021, 12.00noon – 1.30pm
This session will cover what anxiety is, the science of anxiety and how to support anxiety.
Join on your computer or mobile app: Click here to join the meeting

Beam continues to provide emotional well-being support to young people in Shropshire Telford & Wrekin.

Support should be requested via the website: users should scroll down to ‘register with us’ and complete the form that follows. Please note that the ‘register with us’ link should also be used to request follow-up sessions. Requests for service will be processed by the admin team, and appointments then sent out by email.

Beam provide support by phone, virtual sessions via MS Teams and limited face to face sessions from their Wellington venue. They are strictly appointment-only and cannot accept any walk-ins. Once a request for service is received via the website, they will arrange a telephone appointment for an initial contact, in which their practitioners will discuss the format of future sessions.

They are in the process of updating service promotional items, and these will be sent out in due course.

Should you have any queries, please send an email to shropshirebeam@childrenssociety.org.uk.

The Queen’s Commonwealth essay competition

The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) is the world’s oldest writing competition for schools, and a rare opportunity for young people’s voices to be heard by a global audience. It aims to inspire young people’s awareness of the Commonwealth family and provides an entry point into active citizenship within this international community. In taking part, young people develop their skills in creative writing, critical thinking, empathy, and experimenting freely with different literary genres.

This year’s theme is Community in the Commonwealth. Young people are called upon to use creative writing to reflect on how their local community is responding to the global pandemic. They are encouraged to consider their own power in bringing about change within their community, and how the Commonwealth community can be used as a tool for positive action. The deadline for the competition is 30 June 2021.

In 2020, some 13,000 young people across the Commonwealth entered the QCEC, but only 913 came from the UK. The competition celebrates the Commonwealth’s wonderful diversity, and it is paramount that the young people of the UK are able to contribute their voices to these important topics. To enable this, please promote the competition within your setting. You can download the flyer for further information. More information on the Queen's Commonwealth essay competition, including supporting resources such as a lesson plan and presentation, can be found on the Royal Commonwealth Society website.

Telford and Wrekin climate change partnership consultation

Telford and Wrekin Borough Climate Change Partnership has launched a public consultation on its draft action plan for the borough to help tackle the climate crisis.

In 2019, Telford & Wrekin Council committed to its operations being carbon neutral by 2030, with an aspiration for the borough to meet this same target. To support this commitment, last year the council began working with partners comprising a cross-section of over 30 local organisations including businesses, educational establishments, community groups, town and parish councils and other public sector organisations to set up the Telford and Wrekin Borough Climate Change Partnership.

Together, the partnership identified the climate change challenges that could be addressed locally and created a draft Climate Change Action Plan for the borough. The partnership is now seeking input from local people to comment on the plan and provide suggestions for future actions that could be included.

To see the action plan and submit feedback and ideas, Telford and Wrekin residents are invited to visit the Sustainable Telford and Wrekin Partnership website.

Comments can be submitted until Friday 16 July 2021.

Susanne Bearblock, Partnership Lead, Local Sustainability Consultant, and Eco Committee Lead at Hollinswood Primary School and Nursery, said: “We’re keen to hear from the next generation too, so we’ll be working with schools to get children involved.

“They’ll be encouraged to advance their own learning through an interactive workshop, with groups of children working together to research six main themes including renewable energy; sustainable transport; trees and biodiversity; growing food and farming; learning and sharing; and business and industry. Sharing what they’ve learned with their peers, the children will then vote together to put forward their priorities for sustainable action in the borough.”

The full story is available online.

This entry was posted by Claire on Thursday, 24 June 2021.

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