Dear colleagues, 

Welcome once again to Heads Up and a bit of a landmark introduction for me as it is my first since many of you will have reopened your schools more broadly to all year groups and we reach a new school year and implement many new routines in different times.

Anecdotally, I have heard many wonderful stories of children who couldn’t wait to get back into schools. I often wonder how children feel after the normal six week summer holiday.  My experience is that many look forward to going back to school even after that relatively short break.

So, given how they must feel after six weeks, for many children, the opportunity to resume their learning and see their friends and teachers again after more than five months must be overwhelming. We have seen and heard that this week.

I have used the word ‘anecdotally’ and for those who have read my briefings or introductions to Heads Up over recent months, they may seem like odd words for me to be using. It is in my DNA to be driven by evidence and for decisions to be informed by data and facts.

There remains an enormous amount of work to be done.  And what will help inform the important decisions around matters such as safeguarding, teaching capacity, health, wellbeing, transport, catering and the day to day running of schools is knowing exactly what we are dealing with. 

Now, more than ever, it is critically important that schools submit their daily attendance data so that we, as a local authority, have a clear picture of what is happening.  If there are some families who are reluctant to send children into school settings, we need to know if these are a small minority or if it is a significant proportion of families to shape our work in reassuring them and to help us to support you in welcoming this cohort of children and young people back into schools.

I know I have used words like ‘data’, ‘evidence’ and ‘fact’ but that is not to say that the fabulous anecdotes I have been hearing have fallen on deaf ears. I am incredibly proud of all of the work that has gone into getting all schoolchildren back to school and I have been delighted with the stories I have been hearing. There is just that small part of me that will rest more easily once I can see the numbers and know, for sure, that all of our hard work and planning is tackling what needs to be done. The data can help us refocus resources and services where they are most needed to support colleagues and to support vulnerable children and families.

You'll see below this introduction details on how to record daily attendance data.  Please can I urge you to complete these returns as requested?  They are critically important.

I always sign off by saying have a good weekend.  This week, it might even feel like a normal weekend and I hope you enjoy it all the more for that.  Well done to everyone on getting us to this point and let’s look forward to the same again for next week.

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services 

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You may have seen that the DfE are resuming their daily 'educational settings status' collection from 1st September.  They are doing this to "build a national picture of educational provision so that we can focus support more effectively, monitor the impact of the virus, and ensure children are safe." 

• The survey questions have been updated and the latest ones are available to view here: New questions
• The completion process is the same as before with schools accessing the DfE Sign-in website to complete the survey

As this DfE collection is resuming and data will be made available to Local Authorities, we are not running our own local collection for schools.  Therefore, please can we encourage you to complete the DfE return by 12:00 midday daily as requested.