LA Education Weekly Update

19th January 2026

Dear Colleagues,

This bulletin is for all settings that educate Hillingdon children, maintained, academies and independent.

Please forward this email to the leads in your settings or team members who might be interested in the content, so they can follow up the relevant offers. Thank you in advance.

Reminders:

Useful Links:

Please contact education@hillingdon.gov.uk with any queries 

Hillingdon LEAP can be accessed for information and guidance for all settings 

Critical Incident Notification can be found here

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

Education Services Contacts can be found here 

Education & SEND Policies can be found here 

EYES/Establishment Portal information can be found here

Governors can access LA training here 

Hillingdon Learning Partnership 

Schools' Forum meeting papers can be accessed here. If anyone would like to attend meetings, they are welcome to do so.  

All Schools/Settings:

Two New Special Schools Open in Hillingdon to Meet Growing Demand for Specialist Places

Two new special schools have opened in Hillingdon in response to the growing demand for specialist school places for children and young people with severe learning difficulties.

The opening of Pinn River School and Grand Union Village School represents a significant expansion of special school provision across the borough, enabling more pupils to attend a school closer to home. This responds to increasing local need, a challenge being seen across Hillingdon and many other areas.

Both schools have been designed around inclusion, connection and belonging, and have already begun building strong relationships with pupils and families.

Together, the two schools strengthen Hillingdon's specialist education offer by providing high-quality local provision across the borough, with environments designed to meet a wide range of complex learning, communication and sensory needs.

Pinn River School is based in brand new, purpose-built facilities on the former Grangewood School site on Fore Street, Eastcote.

Susan Douglas, CEO of Eden Academy Trust, said:

"It was fantastic to see the first children cross the threshold of Pinn River School, where they were met by our amazing staff and welcomed into their new school. This is an incredible build, made possible by Kier Construction's excellent management and unwavering commitment to creating the best possible space for our pupils. Our children and families deserve no less.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of these projects, and I want to thank everyone — especially our fantastic staff — whose commitment and hard work have made them a reality. I hope they will stand as a lasting legacy of our Trust for many years to come."

The opening of Pinn River School and Grand Union Village School marks an important milestone in strengthening high-quality, inclusive special education across Hillingdon, ensuring more children and young people can access the specialist support they need within their local community.

Weapons Protocol & Substance Misuse Guidance

Both documents have been updated and can be found on LEAP here.

Stronger Schools Officers - Supporting Armed Forces Children

Two new Stronger Schools Officers have recently joined the Education Service. They will be advocating for Armed Forces children and their families, ensuring continuity of support across the borough by acting as key liaison between schools, families, RAF personnel and Children's Services. Their role includes delivering targeted transition support for children experiencing school moves due to parental deployment and to ensure children's wellbeing is supported.

In addition, they will provide assistance with attendance, attainment and early identification and intervention of service pupils with SEND. They will also focus on meeting the needs of small cohorts of service pupils within our schools, with the goal of building a strong community network of service families.

Things to contact them about could include:

• Attendance or attainment concerns involving Armed Forces children
• Support with early identification and interventions for service pupils with SEND
•  Wellbeing concerns affecting service pupils
• Support with communication between schools, families, RAF personnel and Children's Services
• Support for schools with small cohorts of Armed Forces pupils

They will also be posting further information and resources on a Service Children page via the LEAP website over the coming months.

Please do reach out to Hannah Dent - Hdent@hillingdon.gov.uk or Bernard Boyle - Bboyle@hillingdon.gov.uk

RISE Attendance & Behaviour Hubs Programme

Please find attached below a letter from Simon Blake, Deputy Director for Attendance at the DfE, which sets out next steps for the RISE attendance and behaviour hubs programme and the lead schools that have been appointed.

RISE A&B Hubs LA letter (PDF, 141 KB)

Attendance and Behaviour Hubs: Expression of Interest - Fill in form 

Thrive Webinar - AI and Wellbeing: What Schools are Noticing and Why it Matters

On: Tuesday 3^rd February 2026 at 4 - 4.45 pm

Thrive's Viv Trask-Hall, will be joined by Anthony Magee, Head of Data and Insight at Supporting Education Group and Fiona Jarman, Services & Safeguarding Lead at GLF Schools, for a fireside conversation exploring how AI is beginning to shape children's emotional and social worlds, and how schools can respond. Register here

STEM with Wings: Space Weather Event

Big Ideas have another FREE digital event now open for school registrations about space weather on Tuesday 24^th February for primaries and Thursday 26^th February for secondaries.

This is a fascinating topic of huge relevance to everyone who uses electricity, with a world class guest speaker who is also a brilliant female STEM role model. Suitable for children ages 8-14. More details in this flyer: STEM with Wings_ Space Weather - Flyer for Schools 2026 (PDF, 3 MB)

Primary Schools:

The London South Early Years Stronger Practice Hub Training for EYFS

The London South Early Years Stronger Practice Hub delivers free, online training to all Nursery and Reception colleagues in Hillingdon. As an existing Research School, they have a track record of supporting leaders and practitioners to understand and apply evidence in their contexts, to deliver better outcomes for our youngest children.

Upcoming training sessions include a Maths Session: Promoting Fluency with Numbers & Sequences and a Network Meeting for Reception Teachers: Developing a Writing Culture in Your Classroom.

For further information and to book on to a session please click: Stronger Practice Hubs

Secondary / FE:

Virtual Work Experience - National Apprenticeship Week (9-11 February 2026)

We pleased to share details of an immersive three-day virtual work experience programme taking place 9-11 February, during National Apprenticeship Week. 

This exciting opportunity is open to students aged 14-19 and will give them the chance to: 

• Meet the team across United Infrastructure and PiLON and hear from professionals in construction, business, and project management 

• Gain project experience by working on a real project and learning what it's like to help build the future 

• Learn about apprenticeships and how they can kickstart a career in the industry 

• Get insider application tips to help them stand out in the recruitment process 

• Access live apprenticeship opportunities and be among the first to hear what's available 

Following the success of a recent pilot virtual work experience programme delivered in partnership with Futures for All, which supported several schools across the West Midlands, we are delighted to now host our own national virtual programme across United Infrastructure, including PiLON. 

The event will be delivered remotely via Google Classroom, with students joining on their own devices. Sessions will be highly interactive and include presentations, group activities, breakout rooms, quizzes, and live discussions to ensure an engaging and valuable experience despite being virtual.   

Please find full details via Future Finder - Futures For All,  

Registration closes on 23 January. 

Warm regards, 

Abi Preston 

Director of Education & SEND 

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