24th February 2025

Year 6 teachers can sign up to KS2 Writing Assessment and Moderation Briefing Session 2 HERE

Early Years Leads should sign up to attend the Achievement for All Event for at the Civic Centre. Please email shynds@hillingdon.gov.uk to book

Secondaries & Post-16 should sign up to attend the Achievement for All Event at Barnhill Community High School. Please sign up to attend here

Primaries should sign up to attend the Achievement for All Event at Ruislip Gardens School. Please sign up to attend here

**Last few places available **   DSLs can sign up to attend 'Strengthening Safeguarding: Best Practices for School Leaders' HERE. Agenda for the day will be shared shortly

on 04/04/25

Schools' Forum meeting papers can be accessed here

Emergency closures of all schools must be reported to education@hillingdon.gov.uk

Notification of Critical Incident  can be found here

Education Services contacts can be found here

Ongoing

HLP Course Booking

Ongoing

Head Teachers' Termly - Spring 2025

This online meeting is being held on Tuesday 11 March at 10 am.  Please see Agenda with link to join.  If you cannot attend, please share with your deputy / colleague so all schools are represented.

Head Teachers' Termly Agenda - Spring 2025 (PDF, 173 KB)

Schools Forum Meeting - 28 January 2025

Papers from this meeting can be accessed here: Hillingdon Schools Forum - Hillingdon Council

EYES

Following on from our communication on 2 December, we are underway with migrating our current education systems over to a new management system (EYES) to improve the recording and processing of our education data.  We have now contacted all relevant settings with a Data Sharing Agreement which needs to be signed and returned to education@hillingdon.gov.uk before we can access your data via the EDI (Daily data feed). 

We are in the process of setting up two new portals which settings and parent/carers will use for all education referrals and applications as of Mid-August 2025.  Once we have finished the setup and testing, we will be contacting schools to organise training. We will supply these sessions to give you an understand of how the portals function. This training will take place in June/early July. We will confirm exact dates in the coming weeks.

If you have any queries please contact EYES Project Manager, Megan Chandler: MChandler@hillingdon.gov.uk

Non-Statutory Funding

Following the outcome of the schools' block transfer being agreed at 0.5% and the financial pressure on the high needs budget still being significant, we have reviewed our non-statutory funding streams (funds that the Local Authority has decided to provide over and above any requirement to do so). A discussion took place at the high needs group meeting on 12 February about the various non-statutory funding streams which include: 

·         SENDEX

·         ESF

·         Exceptional notional funding (for schools with high EHCP %)

All of these funding streams are non-statutory so there is no expectation that these are provided.  In many LAs, they are either not provided at all or have been stopped due to the financial pressures in the high needs block. 

Hillingdon has been very supportive of non-statutory funding streams being available to schools to ensure needs can be met early in order close the gaps quickly for children and young people. We know they have an impact and are changing outcomes. However, the funding pressures on the high needs block are significant. This year, we are expected to have a c.£17m in-year deficit. Whilst this is an improving position to 2023/24, where it was £25m, that is still a big gap between budget and costs.

The funding agreed from the schools' block transfer goes back into the high needs budget to support the high costs the local area faces with provision and enables the Council to provide additional funding, above that which is statutory, to better support our schools with early intervention. However, the budget cannot continue to support these funding mechanisms given the position we face with funding pressures. 

Following discussions at high needs group, it has been decided to pause SENDEX funding for 2025-26 and continue to offer ESF and exceptional notional funding for this financial year. The decision to pause SENDEX solely, compared to ESF or exceptional notional funding, would have the least impact on schools. However, we will also need to review whether these non-statutory funding streams can continue to be provided for 2026-27 given the funding position. 

We will discuss this in more detail early in Autumn term during Schools Forum, where we will review the schools block transfer proposals and work with school leaders to find an appropriate way forward for 2026-27.

EBSNA

We are working closely with schools and partner agencies to support children and young people who experience difficulties in consistently attending school due to mental health challenges. Emotion Based School Avoidance (EBSNA) is a growing concern, with students avoiding school because of anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns.

Please see our new section on LEAP for support, resources and a handy student leaflet: EBSNA - Leap

Prevent in Education Sessions for Governors & DSLs

DfE Regional Prevent Education Coordinators (RPECs) will be delivering virtual training sessions aimed at designated safeguarding leads and school governors to support them in understanding the Prevent duty and their safeguarding responsibilities in protecting young people from radicalisation and extremism.

Please click to see all available dates and further details: Regional Prevent education coordinators - GOV.UK

Hate Crime Awareness Workshops for Schools

Hate crime and discrimination at school can have a huge impact on students, from lowering attendance and educational outcomes to mental health issues and community tensions. Therefore, it is essential for them to know the ways they can protect themselves and others around them from the harms of hate.

The workshops are specifically designed for students and include a general introduction to hate crime including current statistics. They cover various stands of hate crime and their impacts on the communities. The sessions also have a special focus on learning various methods of challenging and reporting hate crime.

Learning activities:

• A detailed presentation on discrimination and hate crime.
• Detailed discussions on five centrally monitored strands of hate crime.
• Online safety and reporting hate crime on social media websites.
• The importance of challenging and reporting hate crime.
• Barriers to reporting hate crime.
• Various reporting and support channels available in the UK

We offer Primary and Secondary School Workshops (60 min) for up to 40 students and Awareness Raising Session for Teachers (60 min). Over 4,000 pupils in various primary and secondary schools have been benefited from these free workshops.

Some feedback received from the attendees:

•   "I learnt what transphobia is."
•   "We should not discriminate others because of their disability."
•   "Not to discriminate and judge people based on who they are."
•   "Don't target people because of their race, religion, skin colour and disability."
•   "We learnt that we should report hate crime and that we can do it anonymously."
•   "I learnt various different types of hate crime and to feel confident in reporting them."
•   "To support those who are being targeted and report when we see them happening."
•   "We learnt about different ways to report hate crime."
•   "Never leave the victim alone."
•   "If witnessing (hate crime), one should report it to the Police, and you should also support victims."
•   "I learnt about Islamophobia and invisible disabilities."

If you would like to arrange a free session for your school, please contact Rehman on ranwer@hillingdon.gov.uk

First Aid Training for Schools

Hillingdon Council provides a range of first aid courses that are relevant to the requirements of schools and their staff. Schools can book individual course places held at the Civic Centre and/or request a course to be run on their premises, ideal for inset days.

For more information, prices and course dates please visit the Council's website - https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/first-aid-courses

First Aid Training for Schools E-flyer Final (PDF, 654 KB)

Work-related Incident/Accident Investigations

All work-related accidents/incidents MUST be investigated within 10-days of the event date and submitted for approval within Assure. This is to ensure the Council can meet statutory reporting requirements under RIDDOR where applicable.

You can use the attached guide to assist in the process and it is strongly recommended you attend our half-day course on how to use Assure which can be booked via the Council's Learning Zone.

If you need to update your reporting structure/hierarchy within Assure please contact the Health & Safety Team.

How Do I... Investigate an Accident or Incident (PDF, 402 KB)

Uxbridge Town Centre Vision - Have your say! 

As part of the Uxbridge Vision consultation - we have launched a survey for your valuable feedback. You can find out more about the plans for the town in the Uxbridge Vision Summary: https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/uxbridge-vision-consultation

Deadline for responses - 28 February 2025.

SEND Post 16 School Travel Policy Consultation 2025

As part of our commitment to supporting young people, the Council has a responsibility to publish the annual Post 16 travel policy. This year, we are taking the opportunity to review and consult on this policy to ensure it provides greater flexibility and promotes independence for young people.

The consultation on potential changes will start on 17 January 2025 and will be concluded 28 February 2025. 

For more information about the policy, proposal and how to respond to the consultation please use the following link: www.hillingdon.gov.uk/send-travel-consultation

Whole School SEND

Whole School SEND is a consortium of charities, schools and organisations. Committed to helping children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or learning differences reach their full potential.

Hosted by NASEN, they lead Universal SEND Services with their strategic partners Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and the Autism Education Trust (AET). They are also delivering a randomised control trial funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). 

Discover the latest upcoming CPD webinars and live online discussions delivered by Whole School SEND. They offer CPD on a wide range of topics, hosted by regional lead teams and a range of guest speakers from the world of education. All CPD is fully funded by the Department for Education and free to attend.

Click here for more information or to book course: Whole School SEND

What is a 'Service Children's Champion'?

Are you interested in finding out more about what you can do to support children and young people from armed forces families? Brunel University are hosting a free online event on 4 March at 3.30 pm. 

Please see flyer to book:  Service Children's Champion Project - Event Flyer 4Mar25 (PDF, 223 KB)

Team Teach Courses

Team Teach Level 1 & 2
24 & 31 March 2025 (Colham Manor Primary School)

To view the course agendas please see the links below:
Click here to view Team Teach Level 1 agenda.pdf

Click here to view Team Teach Level 2 agenda.pdf

Team Teach Level 1
19 May 2025 (venue TBC)

To view the agenda please see the link below:
Click here to view Team Teach Level 1 agenda.pdf

To check availability, reserve your space or simply find out more please email info@changing-behaviour.co.uk.

Music CPD for Primary Schools

Prior to February half term, some schools will have received a link to a survey titled "Music in Schools". If you have received this, please ensure this is completed by Friday 28 Februaryat the latest.

Brand New! Post 16 Transition Guidance Document

In partnership with schools, colleges, internal and external professionals, please find attached the Post 16 Transition Guidance Document.  The document aims to help provisions understand processes and some advice and guidance around topics like mental health, work experience, 'what works' and a host other topics.  

In tandem with the document there is a 'Risk of NEET' indicator tool which Harlington and Park Academy have been using to help identify at risk groups and target interventions to them. 

14-16 Education Guide (Post 16 transition guidance) Online (PDF, 777 KB)

Copy of RONI sheet (Excel doc, 1 MB)

You will find these two documents in the Post 16 LEAP page.

Content within this guidance has largely been co-produced through our 14-19 Steering Group which is held every term - the next of which will be at Guru Nanak School on 7 May at 10 am. If you (or a deputy/head of year/DSL) are interested in being part of the 14-19 Steering Group please contact mpearson@hillingdon.gov.uk.

Vocational Carousel 

Emails have been sent to all schools regarding the Vocational Carousel - a 5/6 week 1 day a week programme for pupils in year 10 or year 11 to take part in.  The courses provide young people with practical information, advice and guidance around their future steps and have proven to improve attainment, attendance and destinations for those young people who are at risk of becoming NEET.

If you are interested and would like to make a referral please contact mpearson@hillingdon.gov.uk for further information.

So far we have The Skills Hub, Queensmead, Park Academy, Swakeleys and Harlington pupils referred onto the programme.

Vocational Carousel (PDF, 130 KB)