11th November 2024

Dear Colleagues,

Can we ask you to please forward this email to the leads in your schools or settings who might be interested in the content, so they can follow up the relevant offers. Thank you in advance!

Reminders:
Last chance for schools to sign up to the Achievement for All Young People programme launch event here	by 13/11/24
Headteachers & Chairs of Governors should complete this form: Schools Forum Survey	by 15/11/24
Year 6 teachers can sign up to the LA's first Assessment and Moderation Briefing Session here	by 21/11/24
Governors can attend the Ofsted Update session. Please click here to register	on 04/12/24
All Academy Primary Schools - The STA requires you to nominate your moderation partner, please complete this form if you have not already	by 10/01/25
Development Day for DSLs - further details to be shared soon	on 04/04/25
Secondaries should share the Hillingdon Post 16 Prospectus 2024/25 with students, parents / carers, staff and governors	Ongoing
Secondaries should share details of Aim High with SEND students	Ongoing
Emergency closures of all schools must be reported to education@hillingdon.gov.uk	Ongoing
Notification of Critical Incident can be found here	Ongoing
Education Services contacts can be found here	Ongoing
Hillingdon LEAP can be accessed for information and guidance for all settings	Ongoing
HLP Course Booking	Ongoing

For Action All Schools:
Head Teachers' Termly - Autumn 2024 Please see agenda for the meeting on 12^th November 2024 at 10 am. Headteachers or deputies should attend to represent their school/setting. Head Teachers' Termly Agenda - Autumn 2024
SEND Sufficiently Strategy Following publication of the SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy (2023-2028), Hillingdon Council is developing a SEND Sufficiency Strategy to set out how we and our partners will ensure that there is sufficient high-quality specialist provision in both mainstream and special school settings in Hillingdon, to meet the future needs of children and young people with SEND. SEND Sufficiency Strategy - Draft October 24 (PDF) [1MB] We would appreciate your views about the strategy and would be grateful if you would spend a few minutes to complete this questionnaire. Please provide your comments here by 4th December 2024.
Please share this with your staff/parents/students: New Campaign Launched to Tackle Recycling Contamination Hillingdon Council has launched a new campaign to further reduce contamination in residents' dry mixed recycling. The 'Top of the Contaminants' campaign asks you to 'just take two seconds to check your recycling', by highlighting the misplaced items most commonly found by our crews during collections. Contamination occurs when items which can't be recycled are put out in your clear bag for collection. If too much contamination is present, it can mean all the recycling is sent to general waste instead. If you've been putting any of the items in our top five into your clear bag, it's time to double-check how to dispose of them and help get Hillingdon up the charts for good recycling. Find out more here.
Thrive Webinar: Spotting the Early Warning Signs of Poor Mental Health in Young People On: Monday, 25th November 2024 Time: 4:00 - 4:45 pm More young people today are facing mental health challenges that create barriers to learning, engagement, and school attendance. When children and young people struggle with their wellbeing, it affects how safe they feel in their surroundings and how connected they feel to their school community. This can lead to avoidance behaviours, keeping them away from school at the very moments they need connection the most. To help you address these critical challenges, Thrive invite you to join a free webinar, "How to spot the early warning signs of poor mental health in children and young people," where Thrive's Head of Product and Innovation, Viv Trask-Hall, joins colleagues from Delta Academies Trust, which has embraced the Thrive Approach in 42 schools. Hear how two of those schools have used Thrive to help them nurture compassionate, understanding relationships with pupils, enabling them to spot and address mental health needs early on.    Register here After this free 45-minute session, you'll have:  Useful tips to build trust-based relationships that foster a sense of safety and connection in school. Effective methods for recognising and supporting pupils facing mental health challenges so they can re-engage with learning. Practical ideas to help build an environment where pupils feel valued, understood, and motivated to attend school. Real-life examples of Delta Academies Trust's Thrive journey and outcomes. Can't join live? Register anyway, and we'll send you a recording of the webinar.  Don't miss this chance to strengthen your skills in supporting pupils' mental health and building a compassionate school environment.
Diversity Role Models - Subsidised Anti-Bullying Student Workshops, Staff Trainings, Training for Young People Diversity Role Models is a nation-wide charity with more than 12 years of experience helping schools to enrich their PSHE curriculum and embedding Inclusion and Anti-bullying in schools. All their work is subsidised to offer all schools accessible prices. They work with all levels of education and can offer schools two streams of work for student workshops, staff trainings, and training for young people's professional skills: one focussed on all protected characteristics and inclusion, and one focussed on LGBTQ+ inclusion/homo-bi-transphobic bullying. Schools find it useful to book for both strands of work to establish long-term collaborations that lead to positive whole-school culture. The programmes have been developed in long-term collaborations with the Department for Education and Local Authorities all around the country. All work is continuously evaluated by students and school staff themselves, showing visible and far-reaching impact on anti-bullying and inclusion. You can read more about it and the impact here. Please contact Luis La Fauci, Education Officer if you would like further information at Luis.LaFauci@diversityrolemodels.org

For Action All Schools:

Head Teachers' Termly - Autumn 2024

Please see agenda for the meeting on 12^th November 2024 at 10 am. Headteachers or deputies should attend to represent their school/setting.

Head Teachers' Termly Agenda - Autumn 2024

SEND Sufficiently Strategy

Following publication of the SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy (2023-2028), Hillingdon Council is developing a SEND Sufficiency Strategy to set out how we and our partners will ensure that there is sufficient high-quality specialist provision in both mainstream and special school settings in Hillingdon, to meet the future needs of children and young people with SEND.

SEND Sufficiency Strategy - Draft October 24 (PDF) [1MB]

We would appreciate your views about the strategy and would be grateful if you would spend a few minutes to complete this questionnaire. Please provide your comments here by 4th December 2024.

Please share this with your staff/parents/students:

New Campaign Launched to Tackle Recycling Contamination

Hillingdon Council has launched a new campaign to further reduce contamination in residents' dry mixed recycling.

The 'Top of the Contaminants' campaign asks you to 'just take two seconds to check your recycling', by highlighting the misplaced items most commonly found by our crews during collections. Contamination occurs when items which can't be recycled are put out in your clear bag for collection. If too much contamination is present, it can mean all the recycling is sent to general waste instead.

If you've been putting any of the items in our top five into your clear bag, it's time to double-check how to dispose of them and help get Hillingdon up the charts for good recycling.

Find out more here.

Thrive Webinar: Spotting the Early Warning Signs of Poor Mental Health in Young People

On: Monday, 25th November 2024

Time: 4:00 - 4:45 pm

More young people today are facing mental health challenges that create barriers to learning, engagement, and school attendance. When children and young people struggle with their wellbeing, it affects how safe they feel in their surroundings and how connected they feel to their school community. This can lead to avoidance behaviours, keeping them away from school at the very moments they need connection the most.

To help you address these critical challenges, Thrive invite you to join a free webinar, "How to spot the early warning signs of poor mental health in children and young people," where Thrive's Head of Product and Innovation, Viv Trask-Hall, joins colleagues from Delta Academies Trust, which has embraced the Thrive Approach in 42 schools. Hear how two of those schools have used Thrive to help them nurture compassionate, understanding relationships with pupils, enabling them to spot and address mental health needs early on.   

After this free 45-minute session, you'll have: 

Useful tips to build trust-based relationships that foster a sense of safety and connection in school.
Effective methods for recognising and supporting pupils facing mental health challenges so they can re-engage with learning.
Practical ideas to help build an environment where pupils feel valued, understood, and motivated to attend school.
Real-life examples of Delta Academies Trust's Thrive journey and outcomes.

Can't join live? Register anyway, and we'll send you a recording of the webinar. 

Don't miss this chance to strengthen your skills in supporting pupils' mental health and building a compassionate school environment.  

Diversity Role Models - Subsidised Anti-Bullying Student Workshops, Staff Trainings, Training for Young People

Diversity Role Models is a nation-wide charity with more than 12 years of experience helping schools to enrich their PSHE curriculum and embedding Inclusion and Anti-bullying in schools. All their work is subsidised to offer all schools accessible prices. They work with all levels of education and can offer schools two streams of work for student workshops, staff trainings, and training for young people's professional skills: one focussed on all protected characteristics and inclusion, and one focussed on LGBTQ+ inclusion/homo-bi-transphobic bullying. Schools find it useful to book for both strands of work to establish long-term collaborations that lead to positive whole-school culture.

The programmes have been developed in long-term collaborations with the Department for Education and Local Authorities all around the country. All work is continuously evaluated by students and school staff themselves, showing visible and far-reaching impact on anti-bullying and inclusion. You can read more about it and the impact here.

Please contact Luis La Fauci, Education Officer if you would like further information at Luis.LaFauci@diversityrolemodels.org

For Action Secondary Schools:
KS3 Phonics Programme We recently held a Q&A session for secondaries interested in GES Simply Letters and Sounds, a validated DfE Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme adapted for Key Stage 3. Currently, this is only being offered to Hillingdon and Camden schools. Of the 4 schools who attended the Q&A session, 3 have signed up to the programme. If you missed it, please share this with staff members who can watch the Q&A. Recording of the session: KS3 Phonics Programme - Leap If your school is interested in finding out more, please email us at education@hillingdon.gov.uk
National Innovation Competition Launch HRUC and the West London Institute of Technology are now accepting expressions of interest from secondary schools, colleges and sixth forms for students to submit their innovative ideas with winners having the opportunity to visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA. Please forward this link containing the competition details to your staff and students who may be interested: National Innovation Competition

For Action Secondary Schools:

KS3 Phonics Programme

We recently held a Q&A session for secondaries interested in GES Simply Letters and Sounds, a validated DfE Systematic Synthetic Phonics programme adapted for Key Stage 3. Currently, this is only being offered to Hillingdon and Camden schools. Of the 4 schools who attended the Q&A session, 3 have signed up to the programme. If you missed it, please share this with staff members who can watch the Q&A.

Recording of the session: KS3 Phonics Programme - Leap

If your school is interested in finding out more, please email us at education@hillingdon.gov.uk

National Innovation Competition Launch

HRUC and the West London Institute of Technology are now accepting expressions of interest from secondary schools, colleges and sixth forms for students to submit their innovative ideas with winners having the opportunity to visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA.

Please forward this link containing the competition details to your staff and students who may be interested: National Innovation Competition

Regards,

Abi Preston

Director of Education & SEND

Children's Services, London Borough of Hillingdon, 4E/07, Civic Centre, Uxbridge UB8 1UW