28th June 2021

Dear Colleagues,

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

New date for the Education Summer Conference: HILLINGDON - STRONGER TOGETHER - 15^th September 2021

Our conference has been rescheduled to Wednesday 15th September, from 09.00-16.10 at Oak Wood School. Please sign up to attend using this registration form to secure one place per school, for the Head Teacher or representative. It is necessary to restrict attendees due to Covid social distancing requirements. Please register* by Friday 23rd July 2021 and view our conference agenda here - Events - Leap (hillingdon.gov.uk).

*Any bookings made for the 12th July date have been carried over so if you have already booked your place there is no need to re-book.

Internal Audit Thematic Review of Schools

The Council's Internal Audit (IA) team conducted two thematic reviews as part of its 2020/21 IA Plan. The reviews covered:

• Purchasing and payments in Schools; and
• Governance and Financial Management in Schools.

The nature of a thematic review means that results were collated from all school visits and summarised into key themes which can be found in the attached documents below for your review and consideration.

Purchasing and payments in Schools Summary

IA Memo - Thematic Review of Governance and Financial Management in Schools

If there are any elements of these reviews you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact us at internal-audit@hillingdon.gov.uk.

Procurement Training - 14^th & 15^th July 4-5pm

Following a recent thematic review of purchases and payments, we have scheduled training for all schools to attend regarding procurement. This review has highlighted a number of areas for development across the Borough, relating in particular to procurement processes, which we are keen to support schools with. It is vital that a member of staff from each maintained school attends - either the Headteacher or School Business Manager. Please book your space here by 9^th July.

NQT/ECT funding

On 2nd June, the Prime Minister announced next steps in the government's plans to boost education recovery with a total of £1.4 billion being invested.

In recognition of the challenging initial teacher training and induction newly qualified teachers (NQTs) have experienced due to the pandemic, all state funded schools that currently have a NQT who is due to complete induction this summer will have access to a one-off payment to further support the development of this cohort.

Schools with NQTs due to complete induction this summer will have access to funding for the equivalent of an additional 5% off timetable for next academic year so these teachers have additional time to invest in their development. This time off timetable is not statutory but it has been designed to be used flexibly so that as many new teachers as possible can benefit from this additional support. We trust schools and their leaders to know what works best for them and their staff. Time off timetable can be grouped together in different ways, for example, taken as whole days or half days off.

Schools will be able to access DfE-accredited development materials based on the Early Career Framework for this cohort to use during this time off timetable.

Schools will receive this funding in summer term of 2022. Funding will be based on School Workforce Census returns. 

For further information and FAQ, please see attached document: NQT Briefing Pack

Transition Day Survey - for Admission Officers to complete

Following guidance released from the Department for Education (DFE) as a result of the delay in restrictions being removed, schools have been asked to complete thorough risk assessments before running transitional, taster and open days at their settings.

Schools can then decide as to whether it is deemed safe to proceed in person for transition days, based on the risk assessments completed.

The School Placement and Admissions team anticipate an increase in contact from parents seeking information and guidance on the matter of transition. Therefore, we would appreciate your response to the short survey below to assist us to manage parents' expectations. We are aware that Headteachers have been working in partnership between the primary and secondary sector to determine the most suitable and safest approach to this change in circumstance.

We appreciate that this change in guidance from central government has provided schools with limited notice. We are grateful for your ongoing, flexible support for children and young people attending schools in Hillingdon.

Please complete the survey here by 30^th June.

Sign Up for Online Presentations on Reducing Teacher Workload

Reducing teacher workload may seem like a daunting challenge when pressures in schools are still so high. Hear from school-based colleagues about how they achieved reductions, and from an award-winning school on improving staff wellbeing. These online events are an hour long, with a choice of presentations. They could be used as part of a training session for staff or used within a staff meeting.

Different offers are available on: 5 July at 3:30pm / 7 July at 11am / 8 July at 3:30pm. Sign up via Eventbrite for one or all of them where you will also find all details.

Monday 5^th July: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reducing-workload-school-presentations-on-teacher-workload-and-wellbeing-registration-159087403707

Wednesday 7^th July: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reducing-workload-school-presentations-on-teacher-workload-and-wellbeing-registration-159087987453

Thursday 8^th July (Primary School Focus only): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reducing-workload-school-presentations-on-teacher-workload-and-wellbeing-registration-159088071705

Support Overseas Teachers

If your school is recruiting international maths, physics and modern foreign languages teachers, DfE is trialling a new acclimatisation service to give them the knowledge and skills they need to flourish in English classrooms.

DfE will provide teachers with pre-arrival support, a two-day virtual acclimatisation training event, support throughout their first term and a further training and networking event with other international teachers. Schools are asked to appoint an in-school mentor, who can also access training to support your international teachers.

If you are interested in signing up for this service, or for further information, please visit  Recruit teachers from overseas or email international.teacherrecruitment@education.gov.uk

Year 2 Phonics Screening Check - Autumn Term 2021

The DfE have recently issued guidance to schools on the statutory requirement to carry out Phonics Screening Checks for Year 2 pupils.  These are to be carried out by the end of the Autumn Term.  A link is attached for your information and further details on how the data will be collected will be issued nearer the time.

Administering the phonics screening check to year 2 pupils in the 2021 autumn term - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Excerpt from the DfE website:

"Cancellation of the phonics screening check in June 2021 means incoming year 2 pupils did not take the check in year 1. In the 2021 to 2022 academic year, it is statutory for schools to administer a past version of the phonics screening check to year 2 pupils during the second half of the 2021 autumn term and return results to their local authority."

Reporting Attainment data in 2021 - Primary and Secondary Schools

Further to the item in the School Leader briefing of 11th May 2021 ("How to improve usage of your 2021 attainment data") this is to confirm that the NCER database is now open for Primary Schools who wish to return their EYFSP, Phonics and Key Stage 1 & 2 predicted outcomes. The spreadsheets below should be returned via secure email to Steve Buckingham (SBuckingham@hillingdon.gov.uk) and Sree Reddy (SReddy@hillingdon.gov.uk) who will process the data and prepare performance reports for participating schools.

Primary spreadsheet

KS4 spreadsheet

By the end of June, Primary Schools who subscribe to FFT will also be able to upload their data via linking their MIS system to FFT. 

For Secondary schools the databases will open in mid-August - further details will follow in a future update.

Deadlines:

• Primary - 17^th July
• Secondary - 16^th August

We would encourage all schools to submit their data for this year as this will enable the EIP team to identify trends and support schools accordingly.

Deep Dive Webinar for Music Leads

Hillingdon Music Hub is planning to run a Deep Dive webinar for primary music leads in the near future. The webinar will cover what to expect from a deep dive, what an Ofsted inspector is looking for, resources as well as advice on planning and progression. If you would like to take part please fill in our form here to let us know what days would suit you. The deep dive will have a small cost of £30 per head and will be a twilight session run for 1.5h online.

Make Music Day June 2021

This year we celebrated Make Music Day 2021 by highlighting the connections between singing and literacy. Our video features singing performances and interviews with teachers and pupils from Sacred Heart, The John Locke Academy, St Swithun Wells and Warrender Primary schools.

You can find the video on the Hillingdon Music Hub Youtube channel. We hope you find it as inspiring as we do!

Health & Safety Lessons Learned - GREEN ALERT - School Fined After Worker Injured in Fall from Ladder

The injured person was using an unsecured ladder at the school to dismantle a canopy roof. The ladder slipped, causing the worker to fall and sustain fractures to his face, a fractured femur and other injuries. The school pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It has been fined £24,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,446. If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the serious injuries sustained by the employee could have been prevented.

Full details and advice on this incident can be found here.

Hillingdon's Appropriate Body Offer

Further to our recent offer for Appropriate Body services for 2021-22 being shared with schools, please note the cost of the service is £80 per term rather than assessment period (as assessment periods have changed for the new ECT frameworks). Fidelity checks will are not needed for the Fully Funded programme, however, for schools who choose the Core programme or school-designed programme will also be charged for the new fidelity checks also. Please click here for our offer.

Regards,

Dan Kennedy