Director's Message - 9th April 2020
Dear Colleagues,
National guidance continues to be updated as new information is received to ensure that we can continue to respond to Covid-19 effectively. It can be difficult to adapt at the pace of change and we ask our schools to continue to keep themselves updated via the DfE alerts and Hillingdon LEAP.
I have highlighted some key changes below for your attention.
Data
1. Early years data collection required by the DfE for school nurseries will be collated by the Family Information Service twice a week.
2. The DfE has confirmed that no educational performance data will be released for 2020 and has published guidance to explain how accountability will operate.
3. Schools should continue to complete their daily DfE attendance returns throughout Easter.
Education Psychology Service
A working group from the Association of Educational Psychologists has compiled advice based on contributions from Education Psychologists across the UK, specifically looking at promoting teacher resilience at this time. This is attached and also available via LEAP.
Participation Service SLA buy back for Academies
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SLA for the Participation Team for Academy Schools has been amended to reflect the change in work focus that will be needed and more beneficial to schools at this time. The amended SLA has been sent and most Academies have purchased the package for their school based on previous years delivery and current needs.
For those Academies that have not yet bought an SLA, may I please invite you to do so urgently. The Participation team manager is currently undertaking staffing allocations to meet the exacting needs of the schools who have bought into the service and if we are not made aware of your requirements, you may find that we do not have capacity to support you fully in managing your attendance issues. In such cases, although the Local Authority does have a statutory duty to carry out legal actions in the form of Penalty Notices and prosecutions under the Education Act 1996, those matters would be reliant on your evidence in the form of witnesses, in writing and in person, from Headteachers and school staff that must reach the required thresholds and statutory timelines. The Participation Team would not be in a position to provide any evidence.
We anticipate that the service schools we require will be very different in the current climate, which is why we have offered an amended SLA. Our focus over the next few months will be on engaging families who are failing to communicate with their schools, help pupils to re-integrate to full time education, working with families to remove barriers and indeed when schools are delivering full time education again, carrying out legal action in appropriate cases.
The packages on offer are as follows and we would kindly ask that you submit your buy back level to schoolfinancereturns@hillingdon.gov.uk by 15th April 2020 to support service planning and delivery in time for the new term:-
Charges for the 2020/2021 financial year will be as follows:
(The full range of services for maintained schools is available at no charge).
Academies are able to purchase the SLA packages. However, packages must be purchased per school.
The costs for these packages and a guide to services included are outlined below:
Low user school (£500) - ½ termly 1 hour monitoring meetings, up to 2 attendance panels, access to telephone and email IAG. In the period of school closures due to Covid-19, support the school to engage families with the education provision and the transition back to school full time. May be required for schools with less than 300 pupils.
Low/medium user school (£1250) - 1 hour monthly monitoring meetings, up to 9 attendance panels, access to telephone and email IAG. In the period of school closures due to Covid-19, support the school to engage families with the education provision and the transition back to school full time. May be required for schools with excess of 300 pupils but not in excess of 600.
Medium/high user school (£3000) - 1 hour monthly monitoring meetings, up to 25 attendance panels, access to telephone and email IAG, agreed and appropriate home visits, representation at other professionals meetings eg TAF, inset/training. In the period of school closures due to Covid-19, support the school to engage families with the education provision and the transition back to school full time. May be required for schools with excess of 600 and no more than 1000 pupils.
High user school (£7500) - 1 hour monthly monitoring meetings, up to 65 attendance panels, access to telephone and email IAG, agreed and appropriate home visits, representation at other professionals meetings eg TAF, inset/training. In the period of school closures due to Covid-19, support the school to engage families with the education provision and the transition back to school full time. May be required for schools with excess of 1000 pupils.
To enable the planning of service delivery and associated staffing levels and allocation, it is recommended that schools consider their needs for the entire year and purchase the appropriate package/s from the outset. Schools are able to purchase multiples or combinations of packages to meet their needs.
Additional purchases during the financial year will be for a £500 minimum (which can be used for further meetings or attendance panels) but agreement with be solely dependent on team capacity to deliver.
Have a good Easter.
Best wishes,
Dan
