LA Education Weekly Update
4th September 2024
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you have had a good summer holiday and managed to have some downtime before the new academic year starts.
Following the SEND Ofsted and CQC inspection, the services have been reviewing our plan for improvement and have an extended deadline of the middle of October to submit this. This was especially important so we could ensure our schools are involved as partners in this process and can input into the actions and activity to further improve our outcomes for SEND.
It is important we have schools' involvement in this plan, both to support the development of services in health and the Council, but also to agree actions for schools where there are areas of improvement required from the report around inclusion. We have arranged a workshop to discuss our Area SEND and AP inspection outcome report and coproduce the improvement plan.
Please register your name to attend:
SEND & AP Inspection Improvement Plan School Leaders' Workshop
Thursday 12th September 2024
09:30-11:30
Civic Centre
Suitable for HTs, DHTs, AHTs and SENDCOs
Please click here - Registration to SEND & AP Inspection Workshop Form
Updates on Council Education & SEND Teams
The leadership team been reviewing our structures and organisation for the last few months to ensure our services are appropriately meeting the needs of our families and schools, and to look at how our services are currently working in order to improve this further. There will be some further developments in the coming months which we will share with you in due course, but we have a number of updates we can share with you now.
Changes to SEND Teams
We are rebranding our teams to reflect more accurately what the team roles are so that SEND is seen more as a system approach moving forwards, rather than a sole team that is responsible for all elements. We are in the process of finalising the name of the SEND team service currently, but we have now changed the officer names from SEND officers to EHC Coordinators (EHCCos) moving forwards. This is in line with many other LAs and more accurately describes the officers' roles.
There will be some recruitment taking place in the SEND EHCP Coordination Team to create a larger service moving forwards, considering the increased demand and the need for more officers to manage the number of EHCPs we now hold. There will be additional roles to support the resolutions function of the service also. This should lead to improved caseloads and improved service for our families and schools in the long term.
SAS Service
There are some changes in SAS also. Priya, who was the team manager for the sensory team, recently left the service due to a fantastic opportunity to take on the Head of SEND role at a neighbouring authority. We thank Priya for the hard work over the years in Hillingdon and wish her the best for future.
Carole Lewis is also leaving the service after six years at the end of September to take on new opportunities. Heenal, who recently returned from maternity leave, is also leaving at the end of September to take on a new role. We thank both Carole and Heenal for their dedication to SAS over the years and wish them the best of luck in their new chapters.
As a result of the management changes, we have decided to restructure the SAS Service management roles. We will now have one Team Manager who leads the service and who will report into the Principal Educational Psychologist (EP) moving forwards. This is to ensure that the team of specialist advisors have the opportunity to work more closely with the EPS service to effectively support schools and settings. We are in the process of recruiting to the new Team Manager role and will keep you updated following the outcome of the recruitment process.
New EHCP+ Team
In addition to this, we have also designed a small new multi-disciplinary service which we will be actively recruiting to also. We have called this team the 'EHCP +' team. It will consist of a Clinical Psychologist (or similar), a specialist SEMH Educational Psychologist and a Senior Specialist ASD Teacher. This small team will also report to the Principal Educational Psychologist to ensure a strong alignment to the wider inclusion services. The team's focus will be on supporting inclusion for children with complex needs in mainstream schools. We will update you in due course when recruitment has been completed to share how schools can benefit from this new service.
SAS, EHCP+ & EPS
In light of the fact that the three services, SAS, EHCP+ and EPS, will be working more closely together under the Principal EP, we are creating a new name to reflect these services. The team name is still being finalised but will likely be the Specialist Inclusion Service (SIS).
Education
As part of review of services, we have made the decision to place education services together under one Assistant Director for Education to support teams working more closely together. Therefore, Kathryn Angelini will now be the Assistant Director for Education (removing the reference to the vulnerable cohorts) and will oversee all the education functions. There will be some additional roles within the EIP team to further support schools. We will keep you updated on these developments.
Other Updates
At the end of last term, we published an escalation process for schools to follow if there are any challenges within SEND. Please do use these - we ask that schools follow the various layers of escalation where there are challenges rather than going straight to a senior manager so we can ensure we provide the appropriate support from the officers closest to the cases. We will update these in due course as there are changes in staffing etc.
Policy on Supporting Schools in Financial Difficulties
Finally, towards the end of last academic year a new policy on 'Supporting Schools in Financial Difficulty' was shared with Schools Forum for consultation. The feedback was used to add some further elements to it before moving forward for approval. The policy has since been approved by the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education and will be applied moving forwards. You can find the policy on LEAP here: 'Supporting Schools in Financial Difficulty'.
We hope you have a positive start to the new academic year and we look forward to working with you all.
Please find our weekly briefing below to cascade to your colleagues who can respond on behalf of your team, school or setting
Reminders: |
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All governors are invited to attend our online Being a Supportive & Challenging Governor Training Session.Please register HERE | On 24th September 6 - 7 pm |
Hillingdon LEAP can be accessed for information and guidance for all settings | Ongoing |
Notification of Critical Incident & contacts can be found here | Ongoing |
Education Services contacts can be found here | Ongoing |
Ongoing |
For Action All Schools: |
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Hillingdon Learning Partnership The HLP's new website is now live and ready for course bookings. Please see Hillingdonlearningpartnership.org.uk. To enquire about membership please email info@hillingdonlearningpartnership.org.uk.
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Head Teachers' Termly Meeting Dates All Headteachers or Deputies are invited to attend our Head Teachers' Termly meetings. Please note these upcoming meeting dates in your diaries. Agendas and link to join the online meetings will be shared nearer the time. Autumn 2024 - Tuesday 12th November 10 am - 12 pm Spring 2025 - Tuesday 11th March 10 am - 12 pm Summer 2025 - Tuesday 10th June 10 am - 12 pm
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New Headteacher Mentoring Opportunity We have several new headteachers who have joined our schools this term. There is a mixture of new and experienced headteachers, some that have worked in Hillingdon and some that are completely new to the Borough. As last year, we are looking for existing Hillingdon heads to volunteer to support our new headteachers during their first year of appointment as mentors. It is expected that the mentor and mentee will have weekly mentoring sessions for the first 2 months, moving to monthly thereafter. Mentoring discussions points, location (virtual/ face to face), timings and frequency can be agreed directly between the mentor and mentee and should be flexible and needs led. If you would like to be listed as a Hillingdon mentor, or have any questions, then please email: education@hillingdon.gov.uk with 'New HT Mentor' in the title as soon as possible. Please indicate if you have a preference for the type of new headteacher you would like to mentor. For us to target the right support for our new headteachers, please could you share the key areas that you would have liked to be supported on when you became a new headteacher - who did you need to meet first, what areas were most difficult in your first year, what was your most valuable learning points, etc. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Hillingdon Safeguarding Partnership Please see the Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Conference poster Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Conference (PDF) [93KB]. Please share with staff. Booking is essential for admittance. The poster contains all information regarding the conference and booking links. World Suicide Prevention Day is on 10th September. Resources have been added to LEAP here: Suicide - Leap. You can access a range of awareness raising material, in a variety of languages here: WSPD - IASP. The Safeguarding Partnership has commissioned two sessions of CPD accredited training from Papyrus. Spaces are limited, so please do book on as soon as possible to secure your place.
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AXIS Newsletter The latest edition of the AXIS bulletin can be found here: AXIS - Leap.
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Critical Incident Policy This policy has recently been updated an can be found here: Notification of Critical Incident & Contacts - Leap
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Incident Reporting (Assure System) Shortly the Health & Safety team will be issuing QR code posters to be displayed on school notice boards to help facilitate easy reporting of workplace near misses, incidents and recording DSE assessments. The posters will be sent out directly to all schools.
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Hillingdon Council Penalty Notice Code of Conduct 2024 - Period of Consultation Every local authority must draw up, and is expected to publish on their website, a Local Code of Conduct for issuing fixed penalty notices which must be adhered to by all schools, the police and any local authority officer issuing a penalty notice. In producing or amending the Local Code of Conduct the local authority must consult with schools and the police. For further information please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance The Attendance Support team is opening a period of consultation from Monday 12th August 2024 to Friday 13th September 2024 to schools and the police inviting any comments that wish to be made. Should you have any comments during this period, please email the Attendance Support Team at attendancesupport@Hillingdon.gov.uk. Thank you. LBH Penalty Notice Code of Conduct Hillingdon 2024-25 (PDF) [240KB]
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SACRE Newsletter Please see the new newsletter here: Hillingdon SACRE Newsletters - Leap. Please share with your RE leads.
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Ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) Teacher Toolkit In the 2023/24 academic year, Tender, on behalf of MOPAC, have delivered 117 Teacher Toolkit training sessions to 590 teachers from 363 settings and 107 school governors from 99 settings across London. The 2024/25 phase of Ending GBV Teacher Toolkit training sessions are now open for registration. Please see flyer with Hillingdon's dates and sign up details: Ending GBV Teacher Toolkit - Hillingdon - 24-25 (PDF) [125KB] These free, CPD accredited and online trainings aim to support the use of the Toolkit in schools, to have important conversations with children and young people around issues such as healthy relationships, misogyny and consent, and meet key elements of the RSE curriculum.
The Primary and Secondary Teacher Toolkits are available here.
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Brilliant Parents Please see details of the Triple P programmes running in Hillingdon this Autumn: Parent Carer Champions and Triple P Positive Parenting Principles Course (mailchi.mp)
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For Action Secondary Schools: |
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Elevate Mentoring - FREE Offer We have recently conducted a survey with over 400 young people in Hillingdon where questions were asked like; what concerns you for the future? What pathway are you looking to take for post 16? and is there anything your school doesn't offer that you would like to offer. We found that young people are generally concerned around financial management with the cost of living and the prospect of having a low paid job being particular themes. We also found many young people are concerned about upcoming exams - whether this be failing or just the mental lead up to these events. These themes are consistent with what young people are telling us in internal forums and at a recent 14-19 Steering Group meeting a young person voiced "I don't even know what a mortgage is and would like to know how tax works - these are real issues". We want to listen to young people and have partnered with Elevate Mentoring who are offering their services for free. Young people can be upskilled in these key areas. There is no limit to the age group and can be delivered from years 7 to 13 and even for specialist provisions where workshops can be done in person. Please use the QR code on this poster to sign up: Elevate Mentoring (PDF) [340KB]
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SEND Youth Forum We would like your support in cascading the poster linked below to your students with SEND, their parents and appropriate staff so they are aware of the new SEND Youth Forum and launch event on 17th September. Please encourage sign up! SEND Youth Forum Flyer (PDF) [393KB]
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For Action Primary Schools: |
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Universal Free School Meals (UFSM) Programme For the 2024/25 academic year, the Mayor's UFSM programme for KS2 pupils will provide funding based on a cost of £3.00 per meal. This is a 13% increase from funding in the first year of the scheme. Funding allocations will be split into three payments which will be paid via cash advance in the following months:
Schools can continue to use the following GLA link to access resources which includes templates, information for families and good practice examples. These can be used to assist with communication with families to encourage take up of the FSM for Key Stage 2 pupils. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the team at education@hillingdon.gov.uk.
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School Food Standards The 'Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014 in England' (known as the 'School Food Standards'), are mandatory for all schools. The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted, and those that must not be provided across the school day to include breakfast clubs, free school meals, and after school food and drink provision. It is the statutory responsibility of the schools governing body and trustees to ensure that School Food Standards are being met and Ofsted have been increasing their focus on how schools are creating a culture and ethos of healthy eating. The Council's Public Health and Environmental Health Teams are carrying out a pilot in a small number of primary schools to contribute to understanding of the current picture of school food and what support schools say they need to improve a whole school approach to food. This project is running alongside the School Food Matters survey and audits you will already be aware of. What do you need to know about the pilot?
Queries should be direct to Julia Heggie at jheggie@hillingdon.gov.uk.
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Talk PANTS NSPCC's Talk PANTS campaign helps keep children safe from sexual abuse. Developed in consultation with children, parents, carers and teachers, Talk PANTS is here to help children understand their body belongs to them, and they should tell a safe adult they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. The NSPCC are offering sessions to professionals as part of Pan London's Talk PANTS campaign 2024. The sessions will cover:
There is no need to register to attend, simply log in on the dates listed here: Professionals Pan London Talk PANTS Workshops (Word doc) [119KB]. In addition to the date for professionals, there is a parents/carer workshop that will go through Talk PANTS and support for Talking PANTS at home. Please download this letter which can be shared with parents: TALK PANTS letter (Word doc) [118KB]
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Please share with parents / carers: Family Links - Nurturing Parenting Course The Nurturing Programme provides parents/carers of children aged 0-8 years with the understanding, skills and ability to lead emotionally healthy lives, build resilience, empathy, self-esteem and support positive relationships. A fun ten-week course that provides you with tools to ensure a calmer and happier family life. Nurturing Programme (PDF) [1MB]
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Regards,
Abi Preston
Director of Education & SEND
Children's Services, London Borough of Hillingdon, 4E/07, Civic Centre, Uxbridge UB8 1UW
For previous LA Education Weekly Updates please click here
