13th March 2023

Dear Colleagues,

Please find our weekly briefing below and share with any colleagues who can respond on behalf of your school or setting. Many thanks.

Ongoing reminders:
Clerks to governing bodies are invited to the LA Schools' Governance Service Event for All Clerks. No registration needed. Please click here to join the meeting	On Tuesday 21st March 10 - 11 am
Maintained schools should submit their Climate Action Plans	By 28th April
Schools can sign up to SEND Training here	Ongoing
Schools can sign up to the Hillingdon Learning Partnership courses here	Ongoing

Public Health Reminder - please forward to parents / carers

Parents and carers are reminded that there continues to be a small number of invasive Group A Streptococcal (iGAS) cases. Whilst case numbers are much lower, we have had a small number of very unwell children. Parents and carers should be aware of the signs and symptoms.

The most common infections caused by Group A Streptococcus are Scarlet Fever and Strep throat. Symptoms are usually mild and can include sore throat, mild fever and minor skin infections, if your child has these symptoms and are unwell we would advise that you contact your GP surgery or call NHS 111.

In very rare cases, this infection can be more serious and cause invasive group A streptococcus disease, particularly when the child or adult also has another infection at the same time, for example flu. It is important to seek medical help as soon as possible if they are experiencing the following symptoms:

High fever
Severe muscle aches
Localised muscle pain
Unexplained diarrhoea or vomiting

Further Information is also available at NHS Choices Or: Public Health England

Public Health Team

Head Teachers' Termly - Spring 2023

Thank you to those who were able to attend. Please see slides below used during the meeting.

EIP Slides HTT 9.3.23 (PDF) [1MB]

Data Team Slides HTT 9.3.23 (PDF) [378KB]

Participation Team Slides HTT 9.3.23 (PDF) [236KB]

Safeguarding slides will be shared at a later date.

Following on from the recent Cost of Living survey, as discussed at the meeting, we have put together the following documents you can share that explain FSM & PP and a list of organisations who can support families:

FSM and PP Explained (PDF) [127KB]

Organisations that can support children with cost of living crisis (PDF) [150KB]

You can also find these on LEAP: Support for Families 2022/23 - Leap (hillingdon.gov.uk)

Important Update: Change to dates for return of key stage 2 test results for 2023

Following the announcement that key stage 2 (KS2) test dates will move as a result of the additional bank holiday in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) have been working to assess how the change in dates affects other aspects of the KS2 test cycle for 2023.

After careful consideration, the STA is moving the date they return 2023 KS2 test results to schools by one week, to Tuesday 11 July 2023. They will publish 'KS2 attainment 2023: national headlines' statistics at 9:30am on the same date. The later date for return of results means they can extend the deadline for schools to upload KS2 teacher assessment data on the Primary Assessment Gateway to Friday 30 June, giving schools and local authorities more time to check and submit this data. Note the deadline for submission of key stage 1 teacher assessment data has not changed and will remain Tuesday 27 June.

Schools should note this change will also impact on the processes which follow return of results in 2023. The window for schools to submit marking reviews will move back by one week to Friday 21 July, and the date the Department launches the checking exercise for school performance data will also move back to Monday 11 September.

Please see the guidance KS2 assessment and reporting arrangements for further information. If schools have queries on this announcement not answered in the guidance, they can contact the national curriculum assessments helpline on 0300 303 3013 or by email at assessments@education.gov.uk.

Inspection Training

Thank you to those who attended the sessions by Jason Hughes, we hope you found them useful. Please see link to slides used and recordings of the sessions on LEAP here.

We would really appreciate your overall feedback, please take a minute to complete this form. This will help us shape other training sessions in the future.

LA Education Key Contacts

You can find this here on LEAP: Education Key Contacts - Leap (hillingdon.gov.uk)

Blast! Online Competition

This term Hillingdon Music Hub are hosting an online "Blast!" competition for all Key stage 2 classes in primary schools across the Borough.

The "Blast! Online" competition is an opportunity for schools to showcase their progress in their whole class instrumental lessons. There will be 1 winner in each year group and an overall winning class who will be rewarded with a musical experience for their school.

To take part, schools must submit a recording of their classes playing an instrumental piece of music. This recording should be about 1 minute long.For more information or to enter your classes, please visit: Opportunities to get involved in events - Hillingdon Council

Please note: Performances must be of a whole class and cannot include singers and entries close on Friday 31^st March.

Opening School Facilities Fund Renewed for 2023

London Sport will deliver £5.7m of investment to schools in the capital, over the next three years. Please see London Sport for more information.

Sport and Physical Activity Team