Update from the Chair of the Education Challenge Board

Last month the Commonwealth Heads of Government met in London. The event put me in mind of one of the phrases used by Eric Wood, our former County Education Officer, who often referred to the ‘Commonwealth of Warwickshire Schools’. The description was designed to capture the way in which every school in Warwickshire was inter-connected and had a valued part to play in the totality of education across the county.

I think something of the same thought runs through the developing work of the Challenge Board. Our big focus at present is on seeking to join up the different strands of work taking place across Warwickshire. Our aim is to create a structure that is joined up, a coherent system in which we all play a part in offering the best possible education to children across the county. As part of this, the Board is hoping to draw together in one place the different projects happening across the county which may be of interest to schools and others involved in education.

It is very encouraging that Warwickshire’s successful bid to Round 1 of the Strategic School Improvement Fund has released additional funds to support the development of schools across the county. Another area of focus will be to ensure that these funds are used in a highly effective manner to support pupils in these schools.

As with all emerging structures, we are not there yet. However, we have come a long way in a relatively short time. The Board is very clear that over the coming years we need to concern ourselves not with micro-management but with broad strategy across the Commonwealth of Warwickshire schools . In this respect it is very appropriate that the Challenge Board is taking the lead in overseeing the implementation of the WE3 strand of Warwickshire's Education Strategy.

Peter Kent, Chair of the Education Challenge Board

New Home to School Transport Policy

New Strengthening Families Service

Warwickshire County Council’s Children and Families business unit has a new service which incorporates Targeted Family Support and Child In Need and is called Strengthening Families.

The service is for families with children and young people aged 0-18 years old who need support to improve their life chances or avoid issues escalating to child protection concerns. Depending on the level of need they will either receive targeted
support or child in need support.

Key to the new service will be the joint approach between multi-disciplinary and multi-agency professionals who will be supported by a Strengthening Families Social Worker (advanced social work practitioners who work closely with a small group of family support workers and other professionals within communities to provide the most comprehensive support possible at an early stage).

More detail is included in the attached short briefing from John Coleman, Interim Head of Service for Children and Families, which outlines the new service. 

Summer Term Headteachers' Meeting

Warwickshire's Summer Term Headteachers' Meeting will be taking place on the afternoon of Thursday 28 June 2018 at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth.

** Please note we have issued a revised agenda with some slight changes to the running order - see link below**

We are very pleased to have secured Sir John Timpson CBE as our keynote speaker.  John is well-known for his 'upside-down management' philosophy, as well as for being a foster parent with his late wife Alex to over 90 children. John is currently working with Headteachers of Virtual Schools in the West Midlands on improving outcomes for Children who are Looked After.

The meeting will also be an opportunity for headteachers to hear key updates from Education and Learning. Please view the attached agenda for further details of the programme for the afternoon.

Date: Thursday 28 June 2018

Time: 1pm arrival for a 1.30pm start. Finish at 4pm.

Venue: Stareton Hall, NAEC, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, CV8 2LZ (For Satnav please use CV8 2LG)

Booking: if you haven't already done so please follow the link below to register your attendance using the online booking form by the latest Wednesday 19 June:

Booking Form - Summer Term Headteachers' Meeting

For queries please contact Ruth Waterman on 01926 742075 or email schoolpartnerships@warwickshire.gov.uk

Research into contemporary safeguarding practice in schools

ESRC funded research project: Supporting and engaging schools in decision-making and multi-agency working for the protection and safeguarding of children

Colleagues are encouraged to respond to the survey by 22 June to help with the request to understand the pressures facing schools in relation to safeguarding/child protection.

Schools should already have received an email from Adrian Over explaining that Warwickshire County Council has agreed to participate in research, along with a number of other Local Authorities, looking into safeguarding practice in schools and schools' engagement with partner agencies in undertaking safeguarding activity. The research is being conducted by Dr Carl Purcell, Research Associate at King's College London

John Coleman, Head of Service for Children and Families, and Adrian Over, Education Safeguarding Manager, have already responded to detailed questionnaires and are keen for as many schools as possible to also respond.  It should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

Information provided by Dr Purcell provides more information:

The overall aims of the project are to investigate the nature and quality of:

• contemporary safeguarding practice within schools
• schools’ engagement with other agencies in child protection and safeguarding practice.

More detail about the project can be found at:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/scwru/res/knowledge/EdProt.aspx

The research team is planning to carry out case studies in 5 local areas. Warwickshire children’s services have agreed participate in one of these case studies. These case studies will help the research team to understand the pressures schools face in relation to safeguarding/child protection. The case studies will involve:

• a short questionnaire for local schools.
• follow-up interviews/discussions with staff at 10 schools.
• Interviews/discussions with local authority staff.
• Feedback on findings.

The short questionnaire can be accessed via the link below. This has been sent to all maintained schools in Warwickshire. We hope you feel able to contribute to this research by completing this questionnaire by 22nd June 2018.

https://kings.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/schools-and-multi-agency-safeguarding-schools-questionn-4

All the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be shared outside of the research team. Any report on the questionnaire will not identify any school or individual. A privacy notice explaining how the data will be handled by the research team is attached to this email.

The research team have shared documents with the local authority evidencing approval for this work from King’s College London’s Ethics Panel and from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services Research Panel.

If you have any further questions about the research please contact:

Dr Carl Purcell: carl.purcell@kcl.ac.uk or 07949296640.

'Our quality of life'

The poem is written by April Mitchell, mum to Jayden who is currently in Year 6 at the Discovery Academy, a new specialist setting in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. This poem was written in response to a request to parents asking how the school had supported children and families during the first two terms/seven months of opening. April says that "poems are a great way to display emotion and thoughts."

In the past, at school my son was always seen as the 'naughty child',
Misunderstood, the crazy one, often wild,
Excluded from school because no-one understood,
Put on a part-time table and told to be good.

So many rules with which to comply,
Too many bright lights upon high,
Noise everywhere, too much to filter out,
No wonder he wanted to fight and shout.

So, I took him out of that school,
See he's a good child not a fool,
His daily struggles all too real,
How was this child supposed to feel?

Each day spent confused, depressed and alone,
He needed a sanctuary, somewhere more like home,
Along came a school, The Discovery Academy,
A school so great they treated my son more like family.

The Academy, a place to nurture not to preach,
A wonderful space in which to learn and to teach,
Along with time, understanding and much care,
New friends were made in a place he could bare.

Look at him now, he's full-time in school,
Finally, he has been given the right tools,
Happier, healthier, no longer doomed,
Releasing his potential and blossoming to full bloom.

So, now life as a family is far less stress,
Looking back we were in a right mess,
Now able to work and to go out,
The difference is amazing there is no doubt.

Thank you for helping us to smile again,
Maybe it's time to crack open the Champagne,
So, here is to each and everyone at the school,
Our family think you are all pretty cool.

April Mitchell

Funding to help celebrate the centenary of World War 1

Have you thought about how your school will commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One? If you are holding an event, or plan to hold an event, then you could apply for a fully funded grant to purchase 'Silhouettes' thanks to a new programme from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust will be opening a programme making small awards to communities who want to engage in remembrance activity but who may have a financial barrier to doing so. As part of their project, organisations will need to hold a self-funded event bringing together the local community to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One, and to remember and think about the Armed Forces Community today.

Organisations, including schools, can apply for an award to purchase up to 10 silhouettes. These can be placed within community halls, places of worship and places of education, bringing to mind those who went to war and did not return.

The award is open to the following organisations:

• A charity
• A Community Interest Company (CIO)
• A School
• A place of worship, Multi-faith facility within a hospital or Armed Forces base, where people would not otherwise be able to engage in remembrance and engagement activity without financial resource.
• A community organisation with a constitution and a community space.

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund is working with There But Not There to raise awareness of this award scheme and hopes to reach communities that may not have had previous support from the Covenant Fund. More information including some useful pre-application guidance is available on the There But Not There website.

DfE- Return to Teaching Pilot

Are you looking to recruit Secondary Physics, Maths and MFL teachers (including community languages)?
Are you looking to support teachers returning to the classroom?
If so, we can help you!

The Return to Teaching programme, funded by the Department for Education (DfE), is supporting qualified teachers to return to teach.
Each teacher receives individual, bespoke support from a Return to Teaching Advisor (RTTA), and are offered the opportunity to do Teacher Subject Specialism Training (TSST) courses, and other courses with associations such as the Institute of Physics (IOP) and Maths in Education and Industry (MEI), so they can get up to date with the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment for their subject.
We also help returning teachers arrange classroom observation and teaching experience, and support them to make applications for teaching posts.

How we can help:
• We can offer you potential candidates for your current or future teaching vacancies with no cost
• We will highlight your vacancies to returning teachers in your area, and support them to apply
• We have returning teachers who are available now and are looking for flexible or part-time working – see guidance here:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexible-working-in-schools

How you can help:
• Offering taster days and longer term classroom observation and teaching experience to returning teachers
• Encouraging returning teachers (of any phase or subject) to register their details with us so we can provide them with advice and guidance: www.education.gov.uk/returners
• Bid for funding to run Teacher Subject Specialism Training (TSST) courses: www.gov.uk/guidance/teacher-subject-specialism-training-funding-for-schools

For more information, or to offer your support, please contact the Return to Teaching Advisor (RTTA) Team: RTTA@ta-recruit.education.gov.uk

Schools’ Forum

The Education Act 2002 requires each Local Authority (LA) to establish a Schools' Forum. This is a consultative group made up of head teachers, governors, trade unions, the diocesan authorities and Early Years providers.

The purpose of the forum is to provide guidance to the LA about decisions relating to the local funding formula, changes to the scheme for financing schools and spending priorities of the LA.

The forum is an elected body and the members representing Warwickshire School Governors are listed below:

Please click here to see the minutes from the last meeting

RE Facilitator to support schools using the new Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education

FAO HEADTEACHER AND RE COORDINATORS / RE SUBJECT LEAD - PLEASE FORWARD TO THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR RE IN YOUR SCHOOL

We are very pleased to have successfully appointed Jennifer Jenkins as Religious Education Facilitator for Warwickshire and Coventry. Jennifer has been seconded from St Paul's CE Primary School, Nuneaton for one day a week starting in September, providing support to schools across the two authorities to implement and deliver the new Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. Jennifer will also bring her expertise to provide more general guidance to both Warwickshire and Coventry SACREs (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) with the aim of ensuring that pupils receive their RE entitlement and provide new and innovative ideas to help schools to deliver high quality RE and collective worship.

We would like to welcome Jennifer to Warwickshire and wish her every success in this role.

Request to schools - RE co-ordinator contact details

To assist Jennifer in her role it would really help us to build a contact list for RE coordinators and subject leads across Warwickshire. We would therefore be grateful if you could ask the person responsible for RE in your school to complete the form at the link below:

https://goo.gl/forms/QRtGbaJcJ9X5nvZj2

A bit about Jennifer....

I have been Assistant Head Teacher at St Paul’s CE Primary School in Nuneaton for the past 5 years and have been subject leader for RE for 15 years of my 16 year career. I am passionate about the teaching of RE and creating meaningful opportunities for SMSC (social, moral, spiritual and cultural) growth for pupils throughout the curriculum and their school experience. I have successfully led our school toward becoming an ICON School with Coventry Cathedral, committing us to promoting peace, forgiveness and reconciliation, and one of my greatest hopes is to see schools and communities brought together to work and thrive together.

I am looking forward to working with schools across Warwickshire and Coventry and supporting teachers in the pursuit of excellent, inspirational RE in our locality.

Independent travel training for students with SEND

In October 2017 Warwickshire County Council began working with Lift Training (part of National Star College) to deliver travel training to students with special educational needs. We have three travel trainers working with students from schools and colleges across the county, with the opportunity for students to obtain an EdExcel qualification at the end of training.

The programme enables young people to develop the skills to travel to and from school or college independently and has proven very popular with four students now successfully trained and another nine students currently undertaking training.

One of the first students to complete the training was Anthony:

“Anthony completed his independent travel training under the direction of his trainer Ed in March and now travels to and from school independently.

In order for Anthony to achieve his goal of studying level one Animal Care at College in September Anthony completed several sessions to that location and on two of those days, some taster sessions were included.

This is Anthony training "Scout" in his final session with Ed to the College and  he is now fully prepared for the journey. All the staff at LIFT wish him well for his future.”

If you are a special school and would be interested in taking part in this scheme, please call 07976 231 383 or email lift-warwickshire@nationalstar.org

Alternatively, please visit the website https://www.nationalstar.org/learning-programmes/prospectus/lift-training/warwickshire/ where more information about the training programme is provided along with an online enquiry form.

Southam Primary Out of School Care Scheme judged outstanding

Congratulations to all of the staff at Southam Primary School Out of School Care Scheme for receiving an outstanding judgement following an Ofsted inspection in May. The Out of School Club has made significant improvements since they were last inspected in April 2015 receiving a 'good' judgement. 

Brookhurst School awarded Primary Science Quality Mark

Congratulations to Brookhurst Primary School who have successfully achieved the Gold Level Primary Science Quality Mark.

The award celebrates a commitment to excellence in science teaching and learning. 180 infant, junior, primary, middle and special schools received this nationally recognised status in the latest round of awards given out in May, including Brookhurst, 

The Primary School Quality Mark scheme enables schools to work together to share good practice and is supported by professional development led by local experts. It encourages teacher autonomy and innovation while at the same time offering a clear framework for development in science subject leadership, teaching and learning.

As part of a quality assurance process, Brookhurst were selected at random to be reviewed by two external representatives.  One of the reviewers commented that:

'The portfolio has a varied and rich range of examples that show that science is valued across the whole school. I particularly like one quote from a member of staff, “Science has become a fantastic subject at Brookhurst. It
has gone from strength to strength and has captivated the children and the staff.”'

The Primary Science Quality Mark is led by the University of Hertfordshire, School of Education in partnership with the Primary Science Teaching Trust. It is supported by the Royal Society for Chemistry, the Ogden Trust and the Association for Science Education.

Jane Turner, PSQM National Director said: “Gaining a Primary Science Quality Award is a significant achievement for a school. The profile and quality of science teaching and learning in each awarded school is very high. Children are engaging with great science both in and outside the classroom, developing positive attitudes towards science as well as secure science understanding and skills. Science subject leaders, their colleagues, head teachers, children, parents and governors should be very proud.”

For more information, please contact:

Jane Turner PSQM Director:

j.turner@herts.ac.uk

01707 28 1036

07792 395015

Competition for funding to support projects in the Bedworth/Bulkington area

Survey - maternal and child health services

Training

We provide a comprehensive training programme for all school governors, clerks and head teachers, whether in maintained or academy schools.  Places on training sessions are available to all schools.

For subscribing schools these will be free of charge and for non-subscribing schools there is a charge per delegate.

If your governing board does not subscribe to Warwickshire Governor Services and you think it would be useful to do so, please contact Gurby Dhesi to discuss your requirements:

Email - gurbydhesi@warwickshire.gov.uk

Telephone – 01926 745 137

Courses being delivered this term are:

Effective Classroom Visits (G18-ECV-Cov-01)

Thursday 14 June

7.00pm – 9.00pm

Hearsall Community School, CV5 6LR

Effective Clerking (G18-EC-NB-01)

Monday 18 June

9.30am – 3.30pm

Bulkington Village Centre, CV12 9JB

GDPR - Are you prepared for it? (G18-S-GDPR/01)

Monday 18 June

10:00am to 11:30am    

Stratford-Upon-Avon College, CV37 9QR

Engaging with Parents and the Community (G18-EPC-Cov-01)

Tuesday 19 June

7.00pm – 9.00pm

Walsgrave C. of E. Academy, CV2 2BA

Pupil Premium – The performance of vulnerable pupil groups (G18-PP-Cov-01)

Wednesday 20 June

9.30am – 11.30am

The Welcome Centre, CV1 2HG

Child Protection & Safeguarding (G18-CP-S-01)

Thursday 21 June

10.00am – 12.30pm

Stratford Upon Avon College, CV37 9QR

Health & Safety for all Academies & Schools where the school is the employer (G15-HAS-S-01)

Tuesday 26 June

9.30am – 11.30am

Stratford Upon Avon College CV37 9QR

Refresher Course for Experienced Governors (G18-GE-C-01)

Tuesday 26 June

7.00pm – 9.00pm

Aylesford School & Sixth Form Centre, CV34 6XR

GDPR - Are you prepared for it? (G18-C-GDPR/01)

Tuesday 26 June 2018

7.00pm – 8.30pm

Aylesford School & Sixth Form Centre, CV34 6XR

Clerking Panel Hearings (G18-CEA & C-C-01)

Wednesday 27 June

9.30am – 12.00pm

The Welcome Centre, CV1 2HG

Induction to School Governance (G18-IG-E-01)

27 June, 4, 11 July

7.00pm – 9.30pm

Boughton Leigh Junior School, CV21 1LT

GDPR - Are you prepared for it? (G18-NB-GDPR/01)  

Thursday 28 June

5.00pm to 6.30pm    

Bulkington Village Centre, CV12 9JB

Finance Part 2: Budget Management – a Closer Look (G18-FR-S01)

Thursday 5 July

Stratford School, CV37 9DH

Click here to view our Training and Support Programme (April 2018 – March 2019)

If you would like to book on a course, or for further information please:

• Email your booking or enquiry to governors@warwickshire.gov.uk,
• Telephone Governor Services on 01926 745120
• Book via the WES website at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/wes 

When booking a course, in addition to quoting the course reference number, title and date, please provide:

• the name of the person attending the training event
• the school / setting they are from
• a contact email address and telephone number

Dates for your Diary

NGA / DfE - Development for Clerks:

Level 3 Certificate in the Clerking of School and Academy Governing Boards

The new development programme for Clerks of all school and academy governance boards has been launched and is being delivered in Warwickshire; the first cohort is scheduled to start in September 2018 at The Honiley Court Hotel, Kenilworth, CV8 1NP.

The course attracts DfE support funding which for eligible schools & clerks could see a cost reduction from the full price of £350.00 to £75.00.

Course content, dates, time, venues, support funding and booking information can be found here

NGA / DfE Development for Chairs

The new DfE funded development programme for all in a Chairing role or aspiring to be as part of succession planning is being delivered in Warwickshire with the first cohort starting in S2018 at The Honiley Court Hotel, Kenilworth, CV8 1NP.

The programme offers a blend of flexible learning attracts DfE funding with full funding of £500 available for the Development for Chairs in most circumstances. Please see here for funding and registering requirement, FAQ’s and to book your place.

Safeguarding

ESFA publishes information on enhanced DBS checks for chairs of academy trusts.

The ESFA (Education and Skills and Funding Agency) has published information on the enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate that chairs of academy trusts must have. Chairs are also required to have their application countersigned by the secretary of state for education.

The information is also a reminder that all new chairs require a new enhanced DBS certificate even if they were previously chair elsewhere; only those chairs that hold an enhanced DBS certificate from the same school prior to converting to an academy trust are exempt.

Clerks of trust boards should ensure that their Chairs have obtained an enhanced DBS certificate and that their application is countersigned by the secretary of state. Clerks may also want to use this as an opportunity to ensure that other trustees have an up-to-date enhanced DBS certificate although these do not need to be countersigned by the secretary of state.

Enhanced DBS disclosure checks for chairs of academy trusts: Information and forms for academy trust chairs of trustees applying for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate.

Updated Safeguarding Guidance from September

The Department for Education (DfE) has published an updated version of the statutory guidance, Keeping children safe in education  which will come into effect on 3 September 2018. Until that date, the current guidance (published in September 2016) is still in force.

‘Keeping children safe in education’ is the key document setting out schools’ safeguarding responsibilities and governing boards should ensure that it is reflected in the school or trust policies and understood by all staff.

Download the Keeping Children Safe in Education (2018) guidance here. Please remember that this document is FOR INFORMATION ONLY. REVISED GUIDANCE WILL COMMENCE 3 SEPTEMBER 2018. UNTIL THAT POINT SCHOOLS / SETTINGS MUST CONTINUE TO HAVE REGARD TO THE 2016 KCSIE

DfE advice on sexual violence and sexual harrassment 

The DfE has also published separate advice on sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges.

The advice covers schools’ legal responsibilities, a whole school approach to prevention, and responding to a report of sexual violence or harassment.

Free weekly safeguarding briefing

A reminder that Governors / Clerks can sign up to receive a free weekly safeguarding briefing from Andrew Hall (Safeguarding in Schools).

“Helping schools and colleges do all they can to keep children safe in education. The safeguarding briefing provides practical information and resources for anyone with responsibility for safeguarding.”

You can sign up to the weekly safeguarding briefing here - www.safeguardinginschools.co.uk/  

Free safeguarding and governance email course

In addition to this you can also enrol on a free safeguarding and governance email course and strengthen your understanding of Safeguarding and Governance.  

The course is aimed at governors in maintained schools and academies, but has value for MATs, independent schools and free schools too, although some legislative requirements around governance might be different.

The course consists of ten units that will help all governors, but particularly the safeguarding governor, understand their role and how it helps keep all children safe. https://www.safeguardinginschools.co.uk/understandingsafeguardingandgovernance2/

Free monthly e-safety newsletter

You can also subscribe to receive a free monthly e-safety newsletter on this website: http://www.esafety-adviser.com

GDPR News & Updates

A Teacher Tapp poll has revealed that 42% of the 2,452 teachers who responded haven’t received any training to prepare them for the introduction of the new GDPR laws.

Governor Services have been sharing GDPR information and advice with Governors since July 12th 2017 we hope you are aware of what your board needs to do to ensure you and your school are compliant.  We have uploaded a “Governors and Trustees Checklist to help to prepare for the GDPR” to WES and to GovernorHub.

Governor / Clerk Email Accounts
As a governor, the personal data you send over email must be kept secure. Using a secure school email address will help you to meet the GDPR requirement to prevent a data breach and respond to subject access requests quickly.

As we continue to advise, GDPR does not specifically require governors to use a school email account when communicating on governing board matters. However, the GDPR does mean Governors / Clerks should be doing everything in their power to prevent a breach of personal data. This means the use of secure school email accounts by all governors / clerks is strongly advised.

• We continue to receive GDPR advice / updates which we share with you. The latest being:
• If a school email addresses isn’t an option available, you could use a service like Gmail or Outlook. Both of these will allow schools to set up email accounts for free.

In Gmail, emails will be encrypted if both sender and recipient(s) are using Google apps, such as Google Chrome or the Gmail phone app.
However, if you have any questions regarding GDPR, we would strongly advise you to seek advice from or question your school / academy / setting DPO as they should be able to answer any questions you have.

We too are aware of the extra work GDPR is causing, but the main aim of the law within a school context is the need to protect sensitive information about the children in our care, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

To ensure Governor Services comply with the GDPR legislation, as we have mentioned in previous emails we will only be sending emails to a secure / school / academy based email address. If the Chair or Clerk does not have a secure email address we will forward our communication to the Head teacher / school admin email.

GDPR Update for Clerks:
With support from the Chair of Governors and School DPO review your understanding of best practice.

• Clerks will have a role in processing personal data used by the governing board, such as data contained in confidential minutes, as they will often be in charge of sharing, storing and disposing of it.
• As clerk to the governing board all clerks should understand what is best practice for keeping the data you handle secure.

Actions for clerks:

• Ensure you have an understanding of the GDPR
• Review (with help from your school or trust) how you share, store and dispose of personal data.
• For clerks not on the school or trust's payroll (such as those employed through the local authority or an agency), talk to your school or trust about ensuring that your contract’s terms meet GDPR requirements.

This is explained in more detail in the ICO guidance:

How will governors and trustees monitor GDPR compliance?
To monitor GDPR compliance from May onwards some of these monitoring methods may work for your school and governance structure.

Possible actions:

• Add a standing agenda item to full governing board meetings to scrutinise the risk register, which will include the data protection section
• Designate a data protection champion who can liaise with the DPO and relevant school staff before each meeting
• Make sure your governing board receives reports from the DPO (a requirement under the GDPR)
• Request a 6-monthly update from the DPO on how the GDPR is working in practice (throughout the school / academy).
• Ask the relevant committee to present to the full governing board on the effectiveness of your data protection procedures and IT controls
• Incorporate questions about data protection into your school visits:
• Ask staff what training they receive on data protection, if they know what counts as a data breach, what procedures they should follow to keep personal information safe, and if they understand how data protection fits in with safeguarding
• Ask pupils how they learn about keeping information safe and how they learn about the internet
  

Local governing bodies in MATs: Need to check how the trust is preparing
In a multi-academy trust (MAT), the trust is the legal entity responsible for the processing of personal data and compliance with data protection law in all its schools, provided that the schools do not have any legal status separate from that of the trust.

However, at school level, it's worth being aware that if there is a serious breach involving one school, any resulting fine will apply to the MAT as a whole – not just that school.

Actions:
If you’re on a local governing body, seek assurances from the board of trustees or relevant central staff members that the MAT as a whole is preparing for the new law.

How you check that your trust is preparing will depend on the trust's communication arrangements, it may involve:

• The school’s IT technician, who as well as supporting other schools in the trust, is attending the local governing body meeting to discuss the GDPR at school level
• The chair of the local governing body attending the MAT’s regional board meeting to ask about the trust’s GDPR preparedness
• The local governing body asking the board of trustees for assurance that the MAT central staff team will be arranging a moderation of data protection processes and controls in each school in the MAT
  

It would be usual for the MAT central staff team and the board of trustees to be organising this moderation work. The MAT finance or business director will normally be the person co-ordinating this internal data protection audit, with an external audit arranged when appropriate.

Schools ‘breaking rules’ on Clerks

Schools ‘breaking rules’ on Clerks (Schools Week 30^th April)

Some schools are not using a professional clerk for their governing boards, and are therefore in breach of government rules. The national schools commissioner has called for a greater number of clerks to be recruited and for existing clerks to be developed.  

Ofsted News

You can sign up to Ofsted news to receive a free monthly newsletter.

Ofsted has announced changes to its inspection timeframe - click here for more information

• schools previously judged ‘good’ will now receive a short inspection approximately every four years rather than every three years
• schools judged ‘requires improvement’, ‘serious weaknesses’ or ‘special measures’ will be re-inspected within 30 months (previously the timeframes were 30, 18 and 24 months respectively) while monitoring inspections will continue as before

Inspecting schools – A leaflet for schools and a leaflet for parents

The Future of Small Rural Schools

The Church of England Education Office has published a report entitled “Embracing Change: Rural and Small Schools”  in which it re-emphasises the conclusion of its previous publications that “small rural schools could not continue to operate as stand-alone units” and highlights the need to come together in formal groupings such as federations or multi-academy trusts (MATs).

It states that the key message for governing bodies of small local authority maintained schools primary schools is that “doing nothing is not an option”.

The report calls for further research into what ‘outstanding’ looks like in this context and also highlights a number of key challenges for small schools:

• recruiting, supporting and retaining high quality staff
• maximising available funding
• working with available physical resources, such as older buildings

Finance

Deadline for academy trusts to submit their budget forecast return

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has updated information to help academy trusts submit their budget forecast return.

The deadline for academy trusts to submit their budget forecast return is Monday 30 July 2018. The online form will go live for users to complete on 21 June 2018. This year, trusts are required to provide three-year forecast data and advice on compiling the data can be found here.

ESFA will also be publishing the budget forecast return Excel workbook by 1 June, which will outline what information is required.

Trustees should ensure that the budget forecast returns are prepared and submitted in time.

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and Capital Funding Allocation

The ESFA have published updated information with regards to the DSG allocations for 2017-18 and 2018-19 as at March 2018.

Similarly, they have also updated the published information relating to school capital funding allocations up to 2019 which can be viewed here.

Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) Framework and Schools Financial Value Standards (SFVS) 2018/19

The ESFA have published CFR guidance for 2018/19 and SFVS guidance for the same period.

The CFR provides a standard template for schools to collect information about their income and expenditure in the financial year 2018 to 2019. The information collected is used to support benchmarking and enables comparative reports to be produced for governors and local authorities (LAs).

The CFR framework applies to maintained schools and pupil referral units. It is optional for nurseries and non-maintained special schools.

The SFVS helps schools to manage their finances and to provide assurance to the local authority that they have secure financial management in place and applies to maintained schools.

As governing boards have formal responsibility for the financial management of their schools, the standard is primarily aimed at them.

Governing Board Tasks

Maintained schools

16 August – A Level results released to candidates

23 August – GCSE results released to candidates

DfE Updates / Documents / Guidance

Charging for school activities: The guidance which applies to all local authority maintained schools outlines what schools can charge for including voluntary contributions and reduced charges.

Data protection: privacy notice model documents: Suggested privacy notices for schools and local authorities to issue to staff, parents and pupils about the collection of data (15th May update.

Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges: Advice for schools and colleges on how to prevent and respond to reports of sexual violence and harassment between children.

Summer-born children: school admission: Guidance about school admissions for children born in the summer.

Staffing and employment: advice for schools: Guidance for managing staff and employment issues.

What academies, free schools and colleges should publish online: The information that academies, including 16 to 19 colleges and any educational institution that has academy arrangements, should publish on their websites.

What maintained schools must publish online: The information that schools maintained by their local authorities must publish on their websites.

School land: decisions about disposals: A summary of the decisions about the disposal of school land.

Good estate management for schools: Tools to help you make sure your organisation has the right skills, processes and policies in place.

Enhanced DBS disclosure checks for chairs of academy trusts: Information and forms for academy trust chairs of trustees applying for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate.

New free website for schools to advertise vacancies: Education Secretary launches crackdown on “excessive” teacher recruitment costs.

Skills for Employment 2018-2020 - additional £600k confirmed

When the Skills for Employment programme was introduced in early 2015, £2.4 million was available to fund activity until the end of the 2017/18 academic year. All of that funding was allocated by the end of 2017 and will be spent by August 2018.

In February 2018, Warwickshire County Council (WCC) confirmed an additional £600,000 would be available for Skills for Employment from April 2018 to August 2020. The programme specification for the 2018/19 academic year is available on our website. It includes information on a new Capability & Capacity match-funded grant to help enable schools and colleges to meet the requirements of the new national careers strategy. Details and the application form for the grant are also available in the Latest News area of our website here:

https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/growing-your-business/skills-for-employment

Careers Strategy development day - 4th July

As part of the new Careers Support Framework (see here for the programme specification) we’re providing a development day for Careers leaders from schools and colleges.

Taking place on 4^th July 2018 at Chesford Grange Hotel just off the A46 near Kenilworth, the day will be led by David Andrews OBE who works as a policy adviser for the Career Development Institute. He is also a former teacher and school inspector. David will explore the requirements of the new national careers strategy and the practical implications for schools and colleges. He will also highlight sources of support being made available.

The afternoon session will enable careers leaders to discuss their approaches and challenges with each other.

To book your free place or request further details, please e-mail skillsforemployment@warwickshire.gov.uk

Balfour Beatty free Employability activity in your school or college

Balfour Beatty is the council’s main contractor for highways maintenance. As a major multi-national organisation it has a wealth of expertise in engineering and related disciplines. The company is offering a menu of employability support it will provide to schools and colleges in July. The menu is on the Skills for Employment website in Latest News here:

https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sfelatestnews

To express an interest in discussing with Balfour Beatty what it could provide on which dates, please e-mail glennrobinson@warwickshire.gov.uk and we’ll put you in touch with the company.

Supporting pupils with SEMH: sharing good practice event

Warwickshire SEND and Inclusion invite you to attend a celebration event recognising good practice in supporting pupils with SEMH needs in Warwickshire 

When: 27^th September 2018, 8.00am - 12.30pm at the Ambleside Sport Club, Nuneaton

Free to all state funded Warwickshire Schools

Selection of pastries, toast, jams, sausage and bacon batches, fruit and drinks on arrival.

Audience: will be of interest to Primary Head Teachers and will also be beneficial to Secondary Head Teachers supporting transition

This event will showcase the excellent work being done to support pupils experiencing SEMH difficulties in Warwickshire's Primary Schools and provide an opportunity to co-produce the SEND and Inclusion strategy

To book a place please click here

Improve students’ reading, vocabulary & comprehension through Inference Training

Inference training is a group intervention for pupils in KS2 and KS3 who decode adequately but fail to get full meaning and enjoyment from their reading. Evidence suggests one in ten pupils who decode satisfactorily, fail to get full meaning and enjoyment from reading.

One day training for SENCOs, Teachers,TAs 

Date: Tuesday 25^th September 2018

Venue: The Pound Lane Learning Centre, Leamington Spa, CV32 7RT

Time: 9:30 – 4pm - Lunch is provided.

Key Information about Inference Training:

• Inference training was highly recommended in Professor Greg Brooks’ study 'What works for children and young people with literacy difficulties'
• It is for KS2/3 pupils who decode adequately but experience comprehension difficulties
• It is a group intervention but training includes whole school strategies to boost comprehension
• In the group intervention, four pupils work with an adult (trained Level 2/3 TA or Teacher) for 40 minutes a session, twice a week for ten weeks. (But adults need an extra 20 minutes per lesson to include planning and recording time)
• Groups that have two sessions a week for 8-10 weeks make an average of 12 months progress in comprehension age (2/3 sub levels)
• The Inference Folder/DVD is only available to schools that access the training.

Costs

Cost per delegate: £190 for two people from subscribing schools.   £240 for two people from non-subscribing schools.

One resource folder per pair provided.

Additional delegate: £40 from subscribing school.   £60 non-subscribing school. 

For further information contact:

joannearrowsmith@warwickshire.gov.uk or janebennett@warwickshire.gov.uk

or call: 01926 413777

Assessing EAL New Arrivals 2018

The Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service provide training for schools on assessing EAL new arrivals. Two free funded places are offered to all Local Authority primary schools (additional places charged at £180 per person)

1.5 day training course to be held on the following dates:

Friday 21st September 2018, 9.30 – 16.00 and Friday 28^th September 2018, 9.30 – 12.30.

Venue:  Pound Lane Learning Centre, Pound Lane, Leamington Spa, CV32 7RT

Feedback has shown it is essential for participating schools to send two staff members, ideally one senior teacher (SENCO / EALCO) and one TA for schools to get the best outcomes from the training

Training includes assessment materials.  Drinks will be provided.

You will need to bring a packed lunch.

Charge to Academy Schools:  £180 per person

To book please click here

Please note cancellations made within 5 days of training will incur a £20 charge

CSWSport Physical Education Subject Leaders Day

To support schools on increasing the provision and quality of PE, School Sport and Physical Activity, Coventry Solihull and Warwickshire (CSW) Sport are delivering the Primary Physical Education Subject Leaders day on 27th June 2018 in Solihull. The day will help schools understand how they can use their PE and School Sport Premium to impact on the quality and sustainability of provision, impact on the Active 60 minute’s agenda and develop the emotional wellbeing of pupils in your school.

For more information please see the attached flyer.

TO BOOK A PLACE PLEASE VISIT eventbrite.co.uk/e/primary-physical-education-subject-leaders-day-2018-tickets-46281801113

CPD event for teachers of A Level Computer Science

FAO Headteachers, Computer Science Teachers

The Griffin Teaching School Alliance -  An introduction to Visual Basic, C# and Object Oriented Programming  for A Level Computer Science

The course will involve learning about the concepts of using the Visual Basic and C# programming languages in order to support the teaching of exam concepts and the NEA coursework projects for A Level Computer Science.

This will include how to use both console (text) and form based (GUI) interfaces in Visual Studio.

The course will also involve an introduction to the concept of Object Oriented Programming and how to teach these concepts practically using Visual Basic and C#.

Much of the course will be practically based, using both Visual Basic and C#

No laptops are required, guest accounts will be provided on the school network for the session.

Venue: Lawrence Sheriff School, Clifton Road, Rugby

Date & Time: Friday 29^thJune, 9.30 until 15.00, refreshments on arrival and lunch provided.

Cost £50 per participant

TO BOOK YOUR PLACE CONTACT CHRIS BLAY:

christine.blay@lawrencesheriffschool.com

National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership

Promote change and improvement in leadership, behaviours, capability and capacity

This programme will be delivered by trained NPQ facilitators who are experienced teacher practitioners from across the Shire Alliance.

Programme modules:

• Leading and Teaching Curriculum Excellence;
• Strategy and Improvement;
• Increasing Capability;
• Leading with Impact;
• Managing Resources;
• Working in Parnership.

The course includes both face-to-face and online learning. The face-to-face sessions will take place between Autumn 2018 and June 2019.

Price: £850 (exc VAT) per participant.

Book now or for more info: hello@shirestsa.co.uk.

You can view the flyer by clicking here.

National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership

Improve classroom practice and lead a high performing team.

The programme will be delivered by trained NPQ facilitators who are experienced teaching practitioners from across the Shires Alliance.

Programme modules:

• Leading Teaching and Curriculum Excellence;
• Strategy and Improvement;
• Increasing Capability;
• Leading with Impact;
• Managing Resources;
• Working in Partnership

The training will be delivered in a series of fact to face sessions delivered between Autumn 2018 and June 2019.

Price: £750 (ex VAT) per participant.

Book now or for more info email: hello@shirestsa.co.uk.You can view the flyer by clicking here.

Autism Education Trust Training Tier 2

Develop capacity to meet the needs of Pupils on the Autism Spectrum by signing up for…

Autism Education Trust Training Tier 2

9:00-3:30pm

We offer a nationally acclaimed, face to face, personalised, multi-tier training programme, supported and quality assured by the Department for Education

Cost: £150 per delegate for a full day course, including resource packs, plus additional workshop training and a resource trail.

Lunch will not be provided, however refreshments will be available throughout the day

Click here to view the flyer