19th April 2021

Dear Colleagues,

Please see our weekly   Education Executive Summary [232KB]   round-up of schools' guidance update.

Matters the council are currently looking into. For these matters, we will be in touch when we know more:

Safeguarding Alerts Form on LEAP - Trial

Following feedback from LBH leaders, we have set up a new system for reporting safeguarding alerts for schools to be aware of, such as Stranger Danger. This system is for schools to use to notify the EIP team of a concern (normally involving the general public near schools) when there are incidents. This should only be completed once normal routes to report the incident have been followed ie. reported to the police. This reporting form is only for the purpose of notifying the EIP team of the incident, in order to review it with the Met Police to decide whether we should send communications to other schools to make them aware, so they can be more vigilant. It is not a general reporting route to get to the correct authorities or to be used in emergencies.

We are aware that it is vital that if there are any concerns about incidents surrounding any of our schools, that the appropriate local schools are made aware as soon as possible so that they can be more vigilant and potentially alert parents also. But this notification form must only be completed once the police (& MASH if appropriate) are already made aware. We will then work with the police to decide whether it is in schools' interests to be alerted and will then send out communication as necessary.

We are trialling this new system for the next term to see whether it is an effective way of alerting LBH leaders of potential concerns. We will welcome any feedback over this time.

To report an incident (once it has been reported to the relevant authorities), please click on the following link: Safeguarding Notification Form for EIP Team. It is also available under 'Safeguarding' section on LEAP.

SEND Survey for Children in Mainstream Settings with a Specialist Setting named on the EHCP - Secondary Schools

Following discussions with Headteachers recently, the SEND team & Education Improvement team have devised a survey for schools to complete to notify us of individual children who are in mainstream settings with a specialist setting named on the EHCP. Our focus is now on secondary schools reporting these cases to us so the SEND team can progress them as necessary.

Please complete this survey for each individual child who this applies to, in order for the SEN team to make plans to find suitable settings for these children.

Please click here to complete the survey: Secondary SEND Survey - Pupils in Mainstream with Specialist Setting Named

The deadline for completing this survey is: Friday 23^rd April.

Farewell message from Iris Cerny

Dear All,

It has taken me many hours of deliberation to come to the difficult decision to retire from my post in Hillingdon. I joined Hillingdon for a short term, interim post in School Improvement approximately 6 years ago. As most of you know, I travel into Hillingdon from Essex, I won't miss the M25. I will however miss working with the schools and colleagues in Hillingdon.  I would therefore like to take this opportunity to say how much I have enjoyed working with all of the Headteachers, Governors and schools in Hillingdon. It has been a privilege to work in partnership with school leaders at all levels supporting all aspects of school improvement. 
I wish everyone well in the continuation of developing all of those future leaders in Hillingdon Schools. 
Keep doing good things.

Iris

Victim's Commissioner Letter to Headteachers re: Everyone's Invited

Please find attached a letter from the London's Victim' Commissioner regarding the recent focus on issues of sexual assault and rape culture within schools relating to the website 'Everyone's Invited'.

 Victim's Commissioner Letter [304KB]

School Attendance - Advice for Schools

Hillingdon's Participation Team have collated the attached guidance for schools to help guide discussions with parents who feel unable to send their child(ren) to school because of health-related issues. The team have also collated questions received from schools regarding attendance and provided responses. At the end of the document, you will find a proposed framework to use for complex cases on non-attendance at school.

We hope you find this guidance useful but please do not hesitate to contact the Participation team for further guidance and support.

 School Attendance Guidance April 2021 [67KB]

Do Any of Your Pupils Require Support with Returning to School After Lockdown?

In seeking to support primary school aged children on their return to school after lockdown, LBH Adolescent Development Services' Transition Support Programmes would like to hear from you about the kinds of issues that your school pupils are experiencing. 

The idea is to provide a 6 or 12-week online session where we address some of the expressed needs of these young people in a fun and engaging way, possibly through games, discussion and quizzes, but what this will look like and the age-group we target will be based on your feedback.

We would really welcome your thoughts, so please email Chamila Somaskandan on csomaskandan@hillingdon.gov.uk by Friday 30^th April if you have any information that would be useful.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Mass Testing Funding

Testing carried out from 4 January to 5 March 2021

The ESFA will shortly be publishing the funding allocations for coronavirus (COVID-19) testing carried out in schools and colleges from 4 January to 5 March 2021. Payment for this funding will be made to local authorities at the end of April 2021 to pass onto maintained schools. Payment will be made directly to academies at the beginning of May 2021.

Testing carried out after 5 March 2021

For testing carried out after 5 March 2021 and up to 2 April 2021 payments should be made to local authorities at the end of May 2021 to pass onto maintained schools and directly to academies at the beginning of June 2021. The payment dates for any testing carried out during the summer term will be confirmed in due course.

Following the publication of the initial allocations, an online claims process will be launched. The claims process will cover exceptional costs incurred in the preparations for full testing ahead of the announcement on 4 January 2021 that schools and colleges would be closed to all but vulnerable children and the children of critical workers.

Exceptional claims relating to temporary premises costs will also be able to be submitted.

Any queries on this process should be directed to the ESFA here.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Free School Meal Additional Costs

The ESFA has announced that the coronavirus (COVID-19) free school meals additional costs online form for schools and colleges is now live and can be found here.

Schools can claim eligible costs related to free school meals and free meal additional costs during the period 4 January up to the start of the Easter holidays (as applicable).

• The deadline to submit your claim is 23:59 on 4 May 2021.
• The following guidance has been published to schools to complete the form: Guidance

Any queries on this process should be directed to the ESFA here.

Relationship & Sex Education Additional Offer

See below an offer from the newly independent Sex Education Forum.

Free two-month taster membership of Sex Education Forum 

The Sex Education Forum will be established as an independent charity from 1 April. To mark the start of this exciting new chapter, we are thrilled to offer you a free two-month taster membership. This celebratory offer will give you unlimited access to our membership benefits throughout April and May.

This taster membership is completely free and an opportunity to experience being part of the Sex Education Forum. There's no obligation to stay with us, although we hope you will! Signing up takes a matter of seconds.

Here's what you can expect:

• Unlimited access to our online catalogue of RSE guidance and resources.
• Discounted rate on webinars and RSHE training courses.
• Newsletter featuring reliable resources and updates on RSE policy, practice, and research.

SIGN UP FOR SEX EDUCATION FORUM TASTER MEMBERSHIP 

Elective Home Education updates

The School Placement and Admissions team would like to share updated versions of the attached documents. The Elective Home Education (EHE) procedure for school's form is currently a word document, however we are in the process of converting this to an electronic version. This will be uploaded to LEAP once created, hopefully within the next couple of months.

We have also created a briefing document for all schools regarding EHE, to explain the law around EHE, remind schools of your responsibilities when parents request that their child is removed from roll to become home educated and what is expected of the parent too.

Any questions on the documents shared or EHE in general, please contact us at ehe@hillingdon.gov.uk.

Documents can be accessed via these links:

1.  EHE Procedure for Schools [27KB]
2.  EHE Guidance - Schools - Covid-19 [26KB]
3.  EHE - Briefing - Schools [188KB]

Junior Citizen Programme 

An annual series of workshops aimed at introducing Year 6 pupils to key life skills has gone virtual for 2021.

A selection of videos has been made available for schoolteachers to access via YouTube. This includes safety videos from London Fire Brigade, the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, the NHS, the Dogs Trust, the RNLI, and the council's road safety team. Brunel University London has also supplied some supplementary videos.

Before Easter, all primary schools within the borough were invited to take part, the links to the videos will be sent in late April. Schools are being encouraged to share these key safety messages with pupils throughout May.  Participating children will receive a certificate. For queries, please contact scott.pearsall@london-fire.gov.uk

Taking part in The Daily Mile regularly can really help children with their physical and mental wellbeing. Just 15 minutes of jogging or running gives children a huge boost, improves their health and fitness and makes them feel happy. England does The Daily Mile

England Does The Daily Mile 

Schools across the country are signing up to take part in 'England Does The Daily Mile' on Friday 30 April. The Daily Mile Foundation, together with Place2Be and Sport England, are inviting primary schools around England to get moving on the same day, to celebrate the positive benefits that regular physical activity can have on children's mental health.

Schools just need to complete The Daily Mile at any time on the day and can sign up here for a host of fun resources.

2021 Virgin Money London Marathon - guaranteed places for school staff

London Marathon Events, organiser of the world's greatest marathon, wants to help school staff to inspire children to be physically active. They have 10 guaranteed places for 10 The Daily Mile primary schools in London, so that school staff can take part in the in-person 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 3 October. Places will go to schools that show how they will use their place to inspire their children - and even their whole school community - to get active. You can find out more and apply here. The deadline is Tuesday 4 May and we will let successful applicants know by Monday 10 May. Good luck! 

Kind regards,

Dan