Director's Message - 23rd November 2020

Dear Colleague,

Following on from the PM's address last night, we will share (when released) any local 'Tier' and community testing information that will be in place after the national restrictions are lifted.

Hillingdon's Covid Community Hub

Please note that a dedicated email address has also been created to help schools to report all confirmed Covid cases to the Local Authority, as an alternative option to the Hillingdon Hub telephone line.

Schools should report all confirmed cases to the Council as follows:

Tel. 0203 949 5786 to report locally (Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm - voicemail option only for out of hours urgent support (your contact details will be shared with the local Public Health Team who will call urgent cases back)

Email: COVID19Hub@hillingdon.gov.uk

Catch-up premium - what maintained schools should publish

The DfE has indicated that schools in receipt of the COVID-19 catch-up premium grant in academic year 2020 to 2021 should publish details of:

how it is intended that the grant will be spent
how the effect of this expenditure on the educational attainment of those pupils at the school will be assessed

Further information on the COVID-19 catch-up premium can be found here. School leaders must be able to show they are using the funding to resume teaching a normal curriculum as quickly as possible following partial or full school closure. Governors should scrutinise schools' approaches to catch-up from September 2020, including their plans for and use of catch-up funding. This should include consideration of whether schools are spending this funding in line with their catch-up priorities, and ensuring appropriate transparency for parents. Financial advice can be accessed through your finance school link officer.

School meals arrangements reminder

Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, the DfE expects schools to be able to provide food parcels for pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals during term-time. The new advice for those identified through a letter from the NHS or a specialist doctor as in the group deemed clinically extremely vulnerable applies nationally up to 2 December. The guidance for schools and local authorities on school meals arrangements during the outbreak has been updated to reflect these changes.

Brexit update

While schools have been preparing for Brexit, please continue to refer to DfE guidance to help assist with queries relating to staffing, EU Settlement Scheme for parents and carers, food suppliers and review how you collect, use and share personal data.

Covid-19 DfE guidance

Please continue to access our full update on Covid-19 guidance, including how schools should continue to ensure protective measures via our FAQs on LEAP.

Primary Assessment and Moderation training sessions reminder

Please share this briefing [58KB] with your primary assessment leads to ensure the free virtual training sessions are accessed. Our KS1 session takes place this Friday.

School Leaders' Briefing (SLB)

This fortnight's SLB articles are:

Elective Home Education Policy Consultation
Resources for the new RSE Curriculum
Governors for Schools
LBH Training for Governors
New webinar series #DiverseGovernance
Tackling child poverty - a guide for schools
DfE data - Early Years Provision
Reminder - Year 2 Autumn Term Phonics Screening Checks
FREE Good Practice Networks for Maths Leads
Schools Training Webinars - Learning and Development
Brand New Bunker Virtual Session
Army Youth Intervention
Computing Hub Update

Please continue to email the Education Team via education@hillingdon.gov.uk for any support.

Regards,

Dan