Education Noticeboard 26 September 2024

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

Included in this Edition of the Noticeboard

Director Update

Dear Colleagues

Welcome to this week’s noticeboard. I hope you have all managed to stay safe and well in the recent rain and thunderstorms.

This week we have also seen the launch of a refreshed and enhanced Educational Psychology service delivery model, which is designed to provide better support and needs of our schools and students across Telford and Wrekin. Please see below a flyer with further information.

A quick reminder of the upcoming Telford & Wrekin Education Strategic Partnership Board Autumn Term Leadership Conference, which is taking place on 23 October 2024, where we have secured some great keynote speakers. If you would like to attend then please book a place.

There is some important information contained within noticeboard about Secondary school open evenings, school attendance and the SAM portal.

Also included there are several surveys which I would encourage you to take part in as your feedback will help us to develop and improve our services for our children and families.

As ever, there are also some great training opportunities which you and your teams may like to take advantage of.

Best wishes,

Simon

Simon Wellman

Director Education and Skills

NEWS

Secondary School Open Evenings

Secondary applications are now open for September 2025 starters. Please see below the dates and time of opening evenings throughout September and October 2024.

School	Open Evening	Time	Open Days (during the school day)
Abraham Darby Academy	3rd October	6pm – 8:30pm
Burton Borough	2nd October	5pm – 8pm	3rd, 4th October 9:15am -11am
Charlton	10th October	5pm - 8pm	10th October 9:20am-11:40am Bookable via reception
Ercall Wood Academy	3rd October	6pm - 8pm	2nd, 3rd and 4th October AM Bookable via reception (school will confirm times)
HLC	26th September	5pm - 8pm	27th September and 1st October 9am - 10:30am
Holy Trinity Academy	1st October	3pm - 5.30pm
Madeley Academy	7th October	4:30pm - 7:30pm
New Road Academy	8th October	4pm - 7pm
Telford Langley	3rd October	5:30pm - 8pm	30th September to 4th October tour between 8:30 and 9:30 each day
Telford Park School	10th October	4pm - 6pm	28th September 10am-12pm

School Heads CYP MH Engagement Survey

The ICB and partners are currently working together to develop the new procurement of the local Children and Adolescence Mental Health Services (BeeU) . We would like to give schools the opportunity to give their feedback to support the development of the new service specification.

https://www.shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk/heads-cyp-mh-engagement-survey/

SAM Portal Online Forms – Quick Tips

Here are some quick tips for schools when using the SAM Portal to submit online forms, which should hopefully help to make the process smoother.

Your username should be your email address, unless you have been told otherwise
You should have been prompted to change your password the first time you signed in, so this should be something that you have created and will no longer be the stock password provided to you
Please do not use the ‘Create Account’ or ‘Forgot Password’ options at these stages. Contact educationsystemsupport@telford.gov.uk if you need any support with logging into your account
When searching for a pupil’s record, it is easier to searching using less information - i.e. Forename and Surname is sufficient. You can also use the % as a wildcard – e.g. A% in the forename box will search for any pupil whose first name starts with ‘A’
If a pupil is not showing up, return to the search screen and leave every box blank and then press search. You can scroll through the whole list of pupils and try to locate them this way. You can also use Ctrl + F at this point
If a pupil does not show up after these steps, please email educationsystemsupport@telford.gov.uk with the pupil’s name, DOB, UPN, school and school start date, and this can be resolved for you

We continue to work through all logged new user request forms, and we will be in touch when these accounts have been created.

The SAM Portal can be found here.

CPD

CPD courses to the end of the first half term 2024

Further details of these and all other courses are available in the 2024-25 CPD booklet on the Telford Education Services website and on the Ollie website.

The CPD Booklet for the remainder of the 2024-15 academic year can be viewed via Telford Education Services.

As always, courses can be booked by completing and returning a CPD booking form to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk (unless denoted differently)

Using Work Reward Task Baskets as Part of a Structured Teaching Approach in EYFS (EY 346)	Tuesday, October 01, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
ELSA Community Network Event	Tuesday, October 01, 2024	12.30pm to 3pm
Restorative Practice (PSS 028)	Tuesday, October 01, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA) - Part 1 - CPI accredited (BSAT 201)	Wednesday, October 02, 2024	9am to 4pm
Improving Oracy for EAL Learners (CPD 731)	Wednesday, October 02, 2024	1.15pm to 4pm
Using Trauma Informed Practice to Develop Change for All Learners (PSS 025)	Wednesday, October 02, 2024	9.15am to 12noon
Schemas in the EYFS (EY 340)	Thursday, October 03, 2024	1.15pm to 4pm
Accredited Safer Recruitment Training (HR course)	Thursday, October 03, 2024	9am to 4.30pm
Supporting SEND in the Classroom for Early Career Teachers - part 1 (LSAT 502)	Thursday, October 03, 2024	9.15am to 12.30pm
Managing Anxiety in Children (PSS 018)	Thursday, October 03, 2024	9.15am to 12noon
Managing Child on Child Abuse (SG 208)	Thursday, October 03, 2024	1pm to 4pm
Literacy Pathway Intervention Training for TAs - part 1	Monday, October 07, 2024	9.15am to 12.30pm
Talk Boost KS2 (LSAT 511)	Tuesday, October 08, 2024	9.30am to 3pm
Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA) - Part 2 - CPI accredited (BSAT 201)	Wednesday, October 09, 2024	2pm to 4.30pm
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 1 (SG 102)	Wednesday, October 09, 2024	9.15am to 4pm
Assessing and Monitoring of Progress in EAL (CPD 701)	Thursday, October 10, 2024	1.15pm to 3.30pm
Best practice in your breakfast, after-school and holiday provision (EY 104)	Thursday, October 10, 2024	9.15am to 12noon
Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 2 (SG 102)	Thursday, October 10, 2024	9.15am to 4pm
Literacy Pathway Intervention Training for TAs (part 2)	Tuesday, October 15, 2024	9.15am to 12noon
Designated Teacher for Children in Care Network Meeting (Post 16 )	Tuesday, October 15, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Positive Behaviour Management in the Classroom (PSS 008)	Tuesday, October 15, 2024	2pm to 4pm
EAL and SEND? (CPD 601)	Wednesday, October 16, 2024	1.15pm to 4pm
Meeting the Statutory Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements of the EYFS (EY 009)	Wednesday, October 16, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Understanding Nurture (PSS 101)	Wednesday, October 16, 2024	9.15am to 12noon
Behaviour Support Intervention Refresher Training - Non-accredited (BSAT 302)	Thursday, October 17, 2024	9am to 1pm TBC
Messy Mathematics in an Outdoor Learning Environment (EY 341)	Thursday, October 17, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Absence Management of Employees (HR course)	Thursday, October 17, 2024	2pm to 5pm
Raising Awareness of Child Protection (SG 108)	Thursday, October 17, 2024	9.30am to 11am
PROTECT Professional Campaign Launch	Monday, October 21, 2024	9.30am to 1pm
SEND and AP Change Programme Learning Lunch	Tuesday, October 22, 2024	12.30pm to 1pm
Adapting High Quality Teaching for SEMH (PSS 012)	Tuesday, October 22, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
The Visually Impaired Child in Your Class (SIS 001)	Tuesday, October 22, 2024	9am to 4pm
School Attendance Briefing Updates (AST 004)	Wednesday, October 23, 2024	4pm to 5.30pm
Autumn Term Leadership Conference for Headteachers, Principals and CEO’s of Multi-Academy Trusts (see separate article)	Wednesday, October 23, 2024	9am - 1pm with lunch

Leadership Conference

Telford & Wrekin Education Strategic Partnership Board Autumn Term 2024 Leadership Conference

The conference will take place on Wednesday 23 October 2024 8.45am to 1pm with lunch Mercure Telford Centre Hotel. We are pleased to introduce our two key note speakers

Darren Edwards is a record-breaking Disabled Adventurer and Malcolm Reeve is a National Leader of Education and Chair of the Programme Board for Whole School SEND.

Download the conference flyer

Course booking form

Attendance support team

In the ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’. Aug 2024, the DfE have introduced ‘Sickness returns’

From September 2024 schools have a duty to inform the LA of any child who is recorded with code I and who the school has reasonable grounds to believe will miss 15 days consecutively or cumulatively because of sickness.

DfE - Working together to Improve School Attendance – August 2024

40. Sickness returns: providing the local authority with the full name and address of all pupils of compulsory school age who have been recorded with code I (illness) and who the school has reasonable grounds to believe will miss 15 days consecutively or cumulatively because of sickness. Only one sickness return is required for a continuous period of sickness in a school year. This is to help the school and local authority to agree any provision needed to ensure continuity of education for pupils who cannot attend because of health needs, in line with the statutory guidance on arranging education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs.

Schools will need to use the SAM Portal on Synergy to report sickness returns.

Synergy has functionality to receive forms from schools electronically so we will be asking all schools to use the School Access Module (SAM) Portal (link below) to complete and send in AST Referral. Referrals will no longer be accepted via email.

SAM Portal:

This is the link to the SAM Portal: https://education.telford.gov.uk/live/SynergyWeb/schools

Existing SAM Portal Users:

If you already have an account on the SAM Portal to complete FAP and Student Engagement Referrals you will be able to complete an AST Referral in the same way and will not need your account to be updated.

If you already have an account on the SAM Portal in respect of Admissions only, and will also need to use the Portal to AST Referrals, you will need to have you permissions updated. Please either email educationsystemssupport@telford.gov.uk or log a call with IDT Self Service, with the SAM Portal New User Form attached for this to be set up. Once set up, the SAM Portal should look like this (new “Online Forms” button):

New SAM Portal Users:

If you are going to need access to the SAM Portal, please either email educationsystemssupport@telford.gov.uk or log a call with IDT Self Service, with the SAM Portal New User Form attached for this to be set up.

Please do not click the “Create Account” button

There is also a user guide for the SAM Portal should you need any further support.

SAM Portal User Guide

In the ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’. Aug 2024, the DfE have introduced new attendance codes.

From September 2024 schools must now use a wider range of attendance codes, in particular to record when a child is absent from school. There are now over 30 codes available to schools to record attendance and absence. To assist schools we have developed a guide to the new codes, and some case examples of when they should be used.

For each type of code, and for the wider umbrellas of authorised and unauthorised absences it is advised that schools are undertaking some on going analysis of their usage of the codes to identify trends.

This guidance has been written using the DfE webinar ‘Working Together to improve school attendance – School attendance register – attendance and absence codes. A link to the webinar is attached,

Schools are advised that they contact the Attendance Support Team to discuss any queries that they may have in relation to the application of the codes.

From 19th August 2024, registers must be kept in accordance with the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.

all schools, except those where all pupils are boarders, must keep an attendance register. Schools cannot delete a pupil’s name from the attendance register unless they have a reason to delete the pupil’s name from the admission register. The attendance register is kept by every school where there is at least 1 day pupil.

Every pupil that is entered onto the admissions register/school roll must also be on the attendance register. Pupils can only be removed from the attendance register when they are removed from the admission register. These regulations are covered by strict deletion from roll regulations. A pupil cannot be retrospectively deleted from the register.

Pupils must be coded appropriately for every session up to the point where they are deleted.

For every session that the school is open, the most appropriate attendance code or absence code must be recorded for every pupil on the register. This is a record at the time the register is taken.

They must be recorded accurately and breaching or not following the regulations is a criminal offence. Codes cannot be back dated.

The key question to consider is whether the pupil is physically present in school or another place where they are authorised to be at the time the register is taken. If they are not present, they are absent, and schools should decide which is the most appropriate absence code to describe their absence.

Attendance must be recorded in the same way for pupils of compulsory school age and non-compulsory school age, to enable schools to better track attendance and absence for all pupils.

Once a code has been entered, with the exception of code N, it should not be changed. If a school needs to amend it, they must record the reason for the change and the date and reason for the change.

If a pupil leaves the session after the register is marked the register should not be amended, but the school should ‘sign the child out’ to record that the pupil is no longer on the premises.

Key codes of note are:

Codes P, W and B.

(Participating in a sporting activity, Attending work experience and Attending any other approved educational activity.

A pupil can only be recorded as attending a place for an approved educational activity if it meets the following definition as set out in the guidance:

The pupil must have permission to attend the provision.
The place where the pupil is attending is not the school or any other school at which the pupil is registered as a pupil.
The activity is educational in nature;
The pupil’s attendance at the place for that activity has been approved by the school: and
The activity is to be supervised by a person thought by the school to have appropriate skills, training, experience, and knowledge to ensure that the activity takes place safely and fulfils the educational purpose for which the pupil’s attendance has been approved.
but not:
- Education provision arranged by a local authority under section 19 (1) of the Education Act 1996 or section 42 (2) or 6 (1) of the Children and Families Act 2014: or
- An educational visit or trip attendance by or on behalf of the school and supervised by a member of school staff.

Code K

(Attending education provision arranged by the local authority).

The pupil is absent from school to attend educational provision arranged by the local authority. This should not be used where the pupil is attending education provision which is managed by the local authority, but where the school has made the arrangements for the pupil to attend.

Code C2

(Compulsory school age pupil subject to a part time timetable)

This will be used in very exceptional circumstances where it is n the pupil’s best interests to have a temporary part time timetable. The C2 code should only be used for the sessions where it has been agreed that the pupil will not be attending school. It should not be used as a blanket code.

Code Q

(Lack of access arrangements)

This should only be used in scenarios where the local authority has a legal duty to provide the pupil with transport and it has not been arranged. It is likely to be most applicable when a pupil is initially placed at a school, and is most likely, but not exclusively, at a special school or provision.

Code Y1

(Transport normally provided not available)

This is to be used where a pupil is unable to attend because the school is not within walking distance and the transport to and from the school that is normally available is not available. It is expected that the school will have ascertained why the transport was not available.

Download T&W Registration Codes

Virtual School

Attachment Research Community Learning Programme

Please see the upcoming events from the Attachment Research Community Learning Programme, including a live event from St George’s C of E Primary School in Telford.

ARC Learning Programme

The Attachment Research Community are delighted to announce the new Learning Programme with events beginning in this month.

The Learning Programme will consist of both live in person events and virtual webinars from our Learning Hubs schools where you can find out more about their attachment and trauma aware journey and meet their teams. The webinar programme will also join the learning programme where you can hear from relevant training providers and organisations, dates for these will be confirmed soon. Further developments to the learning programme will also be announced in the coming weeks.

We would like to particularly draw notice to the upcoming live event at St George’s C of E Primary School in Telford on 1st October:

ARC Learning Hub Events: St George's Primary School

Relational Approaches within daily practice and routines

Live Event - Free to attend

Venue: St Georges C of E Primary School, London Road, Telford, West Midlands, TF2 9LJ

Time: 4.30pm - 6pm

This session will focus on our relational based approaches used by all staff who are attachment and trauma aware. We are happy to share effective strategies and the positive impact they have had on our pupils. The visit will also include a tour of the school and a Q&A session.

To book a place please visit: Event Booking | ARC (the-arc.org.uk)

If you would like to be automatically booked on to all virtual events and webinars, then please email admin@the-arc.org.uk

Early Years

Save the Dates!

Early Years and Wraparound Conferences 2024

EYFS Conference (PVIs): Friday 8 November 2024

Guest Speakers: Aaron Bradbury

Greg Bottrell

Download the flyer

Wraparound Childcare Conference: Saturday 9 November 2024

Guest Speakers: Ben Kingston Hughes – Inspired Children

Rebekah Jackson Reece – Out Of School Alliance

Download leaflet

It’s Time to Talk?

Places are now available for each school nursery and childcare settings to access this training.

What is It’s Time to Talk?

It’s Time to Talk is a group intervention for children in the early years who are struggling with early interaction, single word vocabulary, attention and listening. It is designed to be run by early years professionals and covers these skills through a topic based approach.

Who is the intervention suitable for?

The children who are likely to benefit most from this intervention are those in early years who have delayed language skills as a result of limited early stimulation. Appropriate early intervention will help to narrow the gap between those with delayed language skills and their peers. These children may present with difficulties in some of the following areas:

 listening & paying attention

 sitting for any length of time

 waiting & taking turns

 following an adult’s lead

 understanding words

 saying words

The attached flier explains the ‘It’s Time to Talk’ intervention. Each setting will receive a copy of the book and the opportunity to book places on the training which will be via teams and led by speech and language therapists from Stoke. There are two sessions available this term see below:

26th September 2024 6:30pm to 9:00pm via teams
20th November 2024 6:30pm to 9:00pm via teams

To book places on any of our training courses, please complete and return the attached booking form to talkingchildcare@telford.gov.uk

Download the flyer

Golden Key Training

The training is for ALL PRACTITIONERS OR KEY PERSONS to develop their understanding and confidence in SEND within the Early Years.

Due to the low uptake for the ‘Golden Key’ training for the first half of the Autumn term 24, revised dates have been organised. The ‘Golden Key’ training is now being run over 4 x 2hour evening sessions. The training is presented by Nasen using Zoom.

The training is for ALL PRACTITIONERS OR KEY PERSONS to develop their understanding and confidence in SEND within the Early Years. There is NO restrictions on how many delegates are booked on per Early Years setting. The flyer includes a QR code to book your places.

This is a one-off training, so please take this opportunity for SEND CPD for all your practitioners. This will be a benefit to everyone due to the increasing level of support needed for children in our Early Years settings. There are only 150 places, please do not miss out on this training.

Download flyer

SEND

PODS PARENT CARER FORUM – ANNUAL SURVEY 2024 available until 4th October 2024

FEEDBACK – EXPERIENCES – IMPROVING OUTCOMES

Please share your experiences of local services, to help have your voice heard in service developments and improve outcomes for local families.

The survey covers a range of service areas across Education, Health and Social Care, your experiences of the community and your own wellbeing.

Please can schools share the survey link with parents.

PODS Annual Experience Survey - 2024 - Prize Draw for £50 Shopping Voucher (office.com)

PODS Annual Experience Survey - 2024 - Prize Draw for £50 Shopping Voucher

PODS Parent Carer Forum is the officially recognised parent carer forum for Telford & Wrekin. To ensure your voices are represented, we receive a yearly grant from the Department for Education to enable Participation and Co-Production, including this survey. We are collecting experiences from families with children and young people aged 0-25years.

All information is anonymised when we produce our report. The evidence from this report is used in discussions with strategic and operational teams - across health, social care, education to work with services to understand the parent carer and family needs, and to improve outcomes.

This survey will take approximately 6 minutes to complete.

As a thank you, if you wish to be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 shopping voucher, please complete your name/email/telephone details at the end of the form.

Thank you for completing, from the PODS Team.

Educational Psychology Service

Telford and Wrekin Educational Psychology Service 2024/25

TAW Educational Psychology Service is excited to announce the pilot launch of our refreshed and enhanced Educational Psychology service delivery model, designed to optimally support our children, families and schools across Telford and Wrekin.

TAW EPS is excited to announce the pilot of our refreshed and enhanced Educational Psychology service delivery model, designed to better support the needs of our schools and students across Telford and Wrekin. We will be seeking feedback from stakeholders on this pilot across the academic year and welcome involvement from schools in this.

This year, schools will be supported by a Lead Educational Psychologist (EP) who will be working closely with a dedicated team of Trainee EPs and Assistant EPs to provide comprehensive support and a bespoke action plan for each setting.

Schools have been grouped into three localities to foster peer support, share expertise and pool resources effectively. This model aims to build a strong network of collaboration and mutual learning. At its core, this pilot aims to support our schools to further promote inclusion and achievement for all.

Each locality EP team will offer a Planning Consultation with the SENCo to consider each school’s wider needs in terms of key priorities from school development plans, professional development/training needs, staff wellbeing and drop ins, community work with parents & carers, developments around SEND and inclusion and the opportunity to work together with colleagues from within each locality in EP team-led Group Consultations. Following the Planning Consultation the locality EP team will create and share a bespoke delivery plan outlining how each school’s EP package can best be delivered across the year.
Please see the attached brochure for full details of our offer.

As always, TAW EPS looks forward to working with schools, families and partners across the LA in 2024/25 and to providing a professional, dynamic and effective consultation-led educational psychology service.

Download Flyer

Other Information & Resources

Preparation for Autumn 2024 School Census

Guidance notes for the Autumn 2024 (October) School Census for Headteachers/School Business Managers/School Administrators

Download Guidance

Local artist creates historical timeline at Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School & Nursery

A historical timeline, showcasing local and world History, has been competed at Alexander Fleming Primary School & Nursery.

The artwork, which is located in the school hall, was created by local artist Jack Bowdler, working in partnership with the schools History lead, Tom Johnson.

The timeline displays local history to the children, as well as world history relevant to the curriculum.

Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School & Nursery have coordinated with local artist and animator, Jack Bowdler, to complete a stunning display of art and learning in the school’s hall through a historical timeline.

The artwork showcases world history from the Stone Age to the crowning of King Charles III; the timeline also displays local history from Madeley, Sutton Hill and Telford. The school’s own history is showcased, giving children the chronological knowledge of historic events both world and local.

Tom Johnson, a year 6 teacher at Alexander Fleming, commissioned local artist Jack Bowdler to complete the artwork to aid the students understanding of chronology within History, as well as to capture key historical moments in their own local area with events/people like: Abraham Darby III, Alexander Fleming, Thomas Telford and the Industrial Revolution.

The timeline took four months to complete and it situated in the school hall for all to enjoy during assemblies and lunch times.

Please see below the photos of Jacks work

This entry was posted by Becky on Monday, 23 September 2024.

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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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