Information for Schools on Strike Action
A number of you raised questions regarding the strike action proposed by the NEU. Please do follow the DFE guidance.
School Improvement colleagues and HR colleagues are working together to get accompanying guidance to you by Monday. This will come from the school improvement inbox. So please look out for this. We will also follow this up in Tuesday’s Head Teacher briefing.
Hopefully, the supporting documentation will enable you to risk assess whether it is safe for your individual setting to remain open or whether partial closures may be necessary. The supporting documentation can also be used by Academy Trusts if they feel it is appropriate.
Many thanks for your co-operation with this.
Fully funded Leadership Professional Development Programmes
Origin Maths Hub are looking to train enthusiastic teachers in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire to become:
- Primary Teaching Maths for Mastery Specialists
- Secondary Teaching Maths for Mastery Specialists
- Further Education Mastery Specialists
- NCETM Accredited Professional Development Leads
- NCETM Accredited School Development Leads
All of these programmes are completely free for participants, and schools receive government funding to support release time.
Working together to improve school attendance
Recording pupils’ attendance during strike action
- If a school has to restrict attendance by telling some pupils not to attend school on a strike day, the Y code should be used for pupils who told not to attend.
- Pupils who are required to attend should be marked in the normal way. If a pupil is required to attend school on a strike day but does not, then they must be recorded as absent.
- The Y code does not count towards the pupil or school’s absence record
UKHSA advice for education and childcare settings amid high levels of flu, COVID-19 and scarlet fever
As winter illnesses continue to circulate at high levels and pupils are returning to education, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a reminder on how to minimise the spread of illness in education and childcare settings.
UKHSA advice remains clear that children can continue to attend as normal unless they are unwell and have a high temperature. Further information on when a child is too ill for school or nursery is available. There is no requirement to be absent from school on a precautionary basis. School staff should continue to maintain their high expectations for face-to-face attendance.
For further information, please also see the DfE Education Hub post on the latest guidelines around COVID-19 a separate post on the exact circumstances in which children should be kept off school.
UKHSA is providing regular updates on Strep A. Both UKHSA and DfE are continuing to closely monitor the situation.
To help reduce the risk of some illnesses, including flu, vaccinations are being provided in schools. UKHSA, in collaboration with NHS England and DfE, have produced a briefing for secondary schools giving details about all vaccines offered to adolescents in schools and the role that schools play. This includes information on the flu vaccination programme being offered this year to those in Years 7, 8 and 9.
School Attendance Network – Save the Date
The Warwickshire Attendance Service and the Stowe Valley Multi Academy Trust are jointly planning a school attendance network event. The purpose of the event will be to discuss the new attendance guidance and begin the development of an attendance support network.
The proposed date is 6th March 2023, 12:30pm to 3:30pm.
The initial meeting will be in person and is targeted at those responsible for school attendance, especially the school’s Attendance Champion. The venue is currently being arranged and further details will follow.
An invitation for schools to share daily attendance data and sign up for webinars
The DfE have advised local authorities that at some point this academic year they will start to contact schools who have not yet signed up to Wonde, as this will become a requirement.
75% of schools in England (74% of schools in Warwickshire) are now sharing daily attendance data with the DfE. Sharing data means you’ll be able to access daily attendance reports on view your education data.
To help you access and use the free reporting service, the DfE have a series of webinars for schools, trusts and local authorities starting this month. They will be holding monthly webinars, where you can learn about new features and get support with non-urgent technical issues.
25th January 2023 – 2pm – Using your attendance reports – an event for secondary schools
26th January 2023 - 2pm – Using your attendance reports – an event for primary schools
2nd February 2023 – 2pm – How schools are sharing automatic daily attendance data with DfE - Governors
You can agree to share daily attendance data by accepting the request in your Wonde portal. If you do not use Wonde, you should have received an email from them about setting up a secure portal. You can email them directly if you do not have this.
You can also view a public dashboard for pupil attendance and absence in England, allowing you to make local authority, regional and national comparisons.
We value your feedback, as we continue to develop the reports. Please sign up to take part in our research.
Reminders
- Working together to improve school attendance is now the attendance guidance that should be used for schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities.
- Improving attendance: good practice for schools and multi-academy trusts. There are some really useful effective practice attendance webinars produced by the DfE in conjunction with schools, with good or improved attendance, sharing their good practice. It is highly recommended that your attendance lead/champion access this free resource.
- Additional attendance resources are available on the Education Huband Teaching Blogs
- The code ‘X’ code can no longer be used in the attendance register to record COVID-19 related absence.
Contact Us
If you wish to discuss any issues relating to school attendance, please feel free to contact the Warwickshire Attendance Service:
was@warwickshire.gov.uk
Early Headship Coaching Offer for New Headteachers
Did you know you can access FREE coaching as part of the Early Headteacher Coaching Offer (EHCO)? The Early Headship Coaching Offer is available to those within their first 5 years of Headship who meet criteria from the DfE. Please read more here.
Cyber Crime Webinar
Monday 23rd January @ 4pm - register here
Tuesday 24th January @ 4pm – register here