LA Education Weekly Update

2nd December 2024

This email can also be viewed online here

Dear Colleagues,

Can we ask you to 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:
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
Schools' Forum meeting papers can be accessed here	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:
EYES Hillingdon Council has invested in a new education system to improve the management of schools' data. This system is called EYES and is being provided by SystemC (formally Liquidlogic). With this new system we will be using Groupcall/Xvault to the link the data between schools with an automatic data update being done daily into Hillingdon Council. On review, over 90% of the schools already have this software, for the schools that don't we will work with you to action this. There are two new portals as part of the new system: A Parent Portal, which provides a means for parents, carers, and businesses to self-serve all things education in terms of application of entitlement to Early Years two-year-old provision, Admissions, Work/Entertainment Permits, and other support applications. Parents will access this via a URL, that we advise to be available on your school website and will be available on Hillingdon Council's website. The Establishment Portal which provides Early Years providers and schools a gateway into the Early Years and Education services of the authority for Early Years funding, effective processing of Admissions applications and offers, as well as referrals for Attendance and Behaviour related to compulsory school-aged children. The Portal will be accessible via a URL, which users will register for an account with their school email address. These changes will be going LIVE in August 2025 when schools are closed to minimise disruption. We will be sending across a new Data Sharing Agreement which will need to be reviewed, signed, and sent back to the Council. We will also be contacting you for a list of Admin staff who will need access to the Establishment Portal so we can provide preapproval and discuss training needs. For the small number of schools who don't have the software, we will be contacting you to discuss and assist with the software changes required. For any queries in the meantime, please contact Megan Chandler at mchandler@hillingdon.gov.uk
School and Workforce Census After your census return has been authorised by the DfE we recommend all schools export their census (both school and workforce) data to an Excel CSV format and safe store the file/s for reference in the next or later census returns. On the main menu there is an option to export your data, please do not use the XML format. At the same time, we also suggest you Launch reports to produce Notes and Error reports. Download these as Excel format. These also can be referred to in later census returns. Many thanks for all your efforts with this autumn's return. We are fully expecting this query to be deployed for all future school census returns. The Workforce Collect team have also hinted from next year they will deploy it in Workforce census. Marc Sherman, Business Intelligence Team
DfE Funded Senior Mental Health Lead Training Schools and colleges have until 31st December to claim a £1,200 grant to pay for senior mental health lead training which develops the knowledge, confidence and practical skills of your mental health leads. Access a resource hub to help you embed and sustain your whole school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing has been updated with new, evidence-based resources for the new academic year. Access a targeted mental wellbeing support toolkit to help you develop and provide effective in-school/college targeted support. Resources are also available for teachers, parents, and carers to support children and young people experiencing difficulties with mental wellbeing and school/college attendance.
#DoSomethingThisHoliday (Winter 2024/25) The Hillingdon Youth Offer's Targeted Team is offering a fun-filled winter programme during the Christmas school holiday for the enjoyment and growth of children and young people in Hillingdon. Across the action-packed days, expect activities ranging from creative arts, STEM, sports to cooking aimed at fostering fun, creativity, teamwork skills and improved well-being. It is a fantastic opportunity for our young residents to learn new skills, make friends, and create lasting memories. School years 4-6: Tuesday 24th December 2024, 10am-3pm at Ruislip Young People's Centre, Bury Street, Ruislip, HA4 7SX Tuesday 31st December 2024, 10am-3pm at Harlington Young People's Centre, Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 4ES School years 7+ : Monday 23rd December 2024, 10am-3pm at Ruislip Young People's Centre, Bury Street, Ruislip, HA4 7SX Friday 27th December 2024, 10am-3pm at Ruislip Young People's Centre, Bury Street, Ruislip, HA4 7SX Monday 30th December 2024, 10am-3pm at Harlington Young People's Centre, Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 4ES Friday 3rd January 2025, 10am-3pm at Harlington Young People's Centre, Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 4ES Lunch will be provided. To make a referral for the children/young people you are working with to our holiday offer visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/targeted-programmes. We will review the referral and make contact with the family/caregivers to book on their child/young person. Our holiday offer is part HAF funded, to learn more about HAF visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/haf-programme.

For Action All Schools:

EYES

Hillingdon Council has invested in a new education system to improve the management of schools' data. This system is called EYES and is being provided by SystemC (formally Liquidlogic). With this new system we will be using Groupcall/Xvault to the link the data between schools with an automatic data update being done daily into Hillingdon Council. On review, over 90% of the schools already have this software, for the schools that don't we will work with you to action this.

There are two new portals as part of the new system:

A Parent Portal, which provides a means for parents, carers, and businesses to self-serve all things education in terms of application of entitlement to Early Years two-year-old provision, Admissions, Work/Entertainment Permits, and other support applications. Parents will access this via a URL, that we advise to be available on your school website and will be available on Hillingdon Council's website.
The Establishment Portal which provides Early Years providers and schools a gateway into the Early Years and Education services of the authority for Early Years funding, effective processing of Admissions applications and offers, as well as referrals for Attendance and Behaviour related to compulsory school-aged children. The Portal will be accessible via a URL, which users will register for an account with their school email address.

These changes will be going LIVE in August 2025 when schools are closed to minimise disruption.

We will be sending across a new Data Sharing Agreement which will need to be reviewed, signed, and sent back to the Council. We will also be contacting you for a list of Admin staff who will need access to the Establishment Portal so we can provide preapproval and discuss training needs. For the small number of schools who don't have the software, we will be contacting you to discuss and assist with the software changes required.

For any queries in the meantime, please contact Megan Chandler at mchandler@hillingdon.gov.uk

School and Workforce Census

After your census return has been authorised by the DfE we recommend all schools export their census (both school and workforce) data to an Excel CSV format and safe store the file/s for reference in the next or later census returns. On the main menu there is an option to export your data, please do not use the XML format.

At the same time, we also suggest you Launch reports to produce Notes and Error reports. Download these as Excel format. These also can be referred to in later census returns.

Many thanks for all your efforts with this autumn's return. We are fully expecting this query to be deployed for all future school census returns. The Workforce Collect team have also hinted from next year they will deploy it in Workforce census.

Marc Sherman, Business Intelligence Team

DfE Funded Senior Mental Health Lead Training

Schools and colleges have until 31st December to claim a £1,200 grant to pay for senior mental health lead training which develops the knowledge, confidence and practical skills of your mental health leads.

Access a resource hub to help you embed and sustain your whole school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing has been updated with new, evidence-based resources for the new academic year.

Access a targeted mental wellbeing support toolkit to help you develop and provide effective in-school/college targeted support.

Resources are also available for teachers, parents, and carers to support children and young people experiencing difficulties with mental wellbeing and school/college attendance.

#DoSomethingThisHoliday (Winter 2024/25)

The Hillingdon Youth Offer's Targeted Team is offering a fun-filled winter programme during the Christmas school holiday for the enjoyment and growth of children and young people in Hillingdon. Across the action-packed days, expect activities ranging from creative arts, STEM, sports to cooking aimed at fostering fun, creativity, teamwork skills and improved well-being. It is a fantastic opportunity for our young residents to learn new skills, make friends, and create lasting memories.

School years 4-6:

Tuesday 24th December 2024, 10am-3pm at Ruislip Young People's Centre, Bury Street, Ruislip, HA4 7SX
Tuesday 31st December 2024, 10am-3pm at Harlington Young People's Centre, Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 4ES

School years 7+ :

Monday 23rd December 2024, 10am-3pm at Ruislip Young People's Centre, Bury Street, Ruislip, HA4 7SX
Friday 27th December 2024, 10am-3pm at Ruislip Young People's Centre, Bury Street, Ruislip, HA4 7SX
Monday 30th December 2024, 10am-3pm at Harlington Young People's Centre, Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 4ES
Friday 3rd January 2025, 10am-3pm at Harlington Young People's Centre, Pinkwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 4ES

Lunch will be provided.

To make a referral for the children/young people you are working with to our holiday offer visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/targeted-programmes. We will review the referral and make contact with the family/caregivers to book on their child/young person.

Our holiday offer is part HAF funded, to learn more about HAF visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/haf-programme.

For Action Primary Schools:
Water Only Schools The Mayor of London is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of children and young Londoners. This includes championing 'Water Only Schools' - an important public health initiative whereby water (alongside certain plain milk) is the only drink available during the school day. Please complete this survey so provide a better understanding of the current uptake of the programme and any barriers to becoming a Water Only School. We encourage all Hillingdon schools to take 10 minutes to complete this before the end of term: Water Only Schools survey
Hillingdon Libraries World Book Day Festival 2025 Following our hugely successful programme of virtual and in-person author events for World Book Day 2024, we are delighted to be offering free author events for schools from Nursery up to KS2 in 2025. Please see for more details about the fantastic authors who will be joining us for the Festival here: Hillingdon Libraries - WBD Festival - LS & LR (PDF, 2 MB) Events will take place on 27th and 28th February 2025 and are a great way to get your students ready for World Book Day. Virtual sessions will be on MS Teams 9.30am - 10.15am followed by in-person events at Winston Churchill Theatre, Ruislip, 10.45am - 11.30am. A limited number of spaces will be offered for the in-person events to each school on a first come first serve basis. All events are free of charge, but schools will need to arrange transportation to in-person events. To book your spaces, please email Gill Day, Children and Young People's Outreach Officer on gday@hillingdon.gov.uk. Please include which year groups and how many classes will be attending. We look forward to welcoming you to our 2025 Festival!

For Action Primary Schools:

Water Only Schools

The Mayor of London is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of children and young Londoners. This includes championing 'Water Only Schools' - an important public health initiative whereby water (alongside certain plain milk) is the only drink available during the school day.

Please complete this survey so provide a better understanding of the current uptake of the programme and any barriers to becoming a Water Only School. We encourage all Hillingdon schools to take 10 minutes to complete this before the end of term: Water Only Schools survey

Hillingdon Libraries World Book Day Festival 2025

Following our hugely successful programme of virtual and in-person author events for World Book Day 2024, we are delighted to be offering free author events for schools from Nursery up to KS2 in 2025. Please see for more details about the fantastic authors who will be joining us for the Festival here:

Hillingdon Libraries - WBD Festival - LS & LR (PDF, 2 MB)

Events will take place on 27th and 28th February 2025 and are a great way to get your students ready for World Book Day. Virtual sessions will be on MS Teams 9.30am - 10.15am followed by in-person events at Winston Churchill Theatre, Ruislip, 10.45am - 11.30am. A limited number of spaces will be offered for the in-person events to each school on a first come first serve basis. All events are free of charge, but schools will need to arrange transportation to in-person events.

To book your spaces, please email Gill Day, Children and Young People's Outreach Officer on gday@hillingdon.gov.uk. Please include which year groups and how many classes will be attending. We look forward to welcoming you to our 2025 Festival!

For Action Secondary Schools:

Young Peoples Voice Survey (SEND and SEN Support)

We have so far seen 61 responses to our SEND survey for young people and below is the top 6 hitters - how far can your school move up the league table?

Young people completing the survey will not only provide our internal services to understand what young people are saying, but also reports can be generated and provided to you - helping with your own reflections and also Ofsted evidence as part of a voice capturing procedure.

Position	Establishment	Count
1	Uxbridge College	27
2	Queensmead	5
3	Barnhill	2
4	Harrow College	2
5	Meadow High	2
6	Bishopshalt	2

The survey is open to both SEN support pupils and also those with Education, Health and Care Plans. Please share this link: SEND young persons voice survey

Hillingdon Libraries World Book Day Festival 2025

Following our hugely successful World Book Day Festival 2024, we are delighted to be offering a dedicated free author event for secondary schools for KS3 in 2025.

The virtual session will take place on MS Teams on Monday 3rd March, 2.00pm - 2.45pm and is a great way to get your students ready for World Book Day.

Please see this poster for more information about Jeffrey Boakye who we will be hosting for this session: Hillingdon Libraries - WBD Festival - JB (PDF, 737 KB)

Jeffrey is an ex-teacher turned writer, speaker, broadcaster and educator with expertise in issues surrounding race, masculinity, education and popular culture. He is a highly motivational speaker and his session will be extremely relevant for all your students.

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