13th September 2021

Dear Colleagues,

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

Education Autumn Conference: HILLINGDON - STRONGER TOGETHER - Wednesday 15^th September 2021 

We look forward to welcoming everyone who has registered; tomorrow we will email all delegates directly to reconfirm the agenda for the day.

For Headteachers who have not yet registered, please do book your place in advance to help manage refreshments and seating arrangements by using this registration form. If Headteachers cannot attend, a deputy may attend instead. It is necessary to restrict delegates to one place per school due to the current climate. Please register by end of today, Monday 13th September 2021. You can view our conference agenda here - Events - Leap (hillingdon.gov.uk).

HR Mandatory Governors' Training for Maintained Schools Reminder

All maintained school Governors are requested to attend this funded HR Governors' training to understand roles and responsibilities, recruitment legislation, pay awards and more to be delivered by an external organisation. Each maintained school Governing Board has an allocation of 2 places, one for the Chair of Governors and the other for any other Governor on the Board. At least one governor from each maintained school must attend.

Please book using the following link:

Session Details:

Date: Wednesday 22^nd September 2021

Time: 17:00-19:00

Virtual link to be provided (MS Teams)

Cost: Free

* This session is not designed for Academy schools

Please book you place by completing this booking form by today, Monday 13th September.

SEND Annual Review Project

Many of you have been made aware of the Annual Review project that commenced in June. The SEND Team started working on reviewing Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and processing Annual Reviews to ensure all EHCPs reflect children and young people's current needs.  This was communicated to your SEND leads and SENCOs who attended the SENCO Forum prior to the summer break. 

We acknowledged your feedback and understand how difficult it has been to liaise with the SEND Service due to the high staff turn-over in within the SEND Team over previous years, resulting in outdated paperwork in some instances. This piece of work to update plans following Annual Reviews has started with our special school cohort and will then lead to the review of Specialist Resourced Provision (SRP) and finally pupils in mainstream settings. 

During this process, we will be looking at any requested amendments and will revise the Plans and recalculate resources allocated in line with the current needs of the pupil to ensure you are receiving the funding that is required to meet Section F linked to Section B of the EHCP.  Due to the substantial amendments we are making, we acknowledge that banding may change for a small number of pupils to reflect these amendments. The SEND Officer allocated to these cases will of course discuss this with you and ensure you are adequately resourced to meet the needs of pupils. We would be happy to initiate dialogue should you disagree with any proposed banding.  

We have issued SEND Annual Review Guidance and a new template for the Annual Review Meeting to streamline the process and minimise the administrative burden for your SEND lead/SENCO. 

If you would like any support in this area, please contact the SEND Officer.  Additionally, Tia Sohi, SEND Team Manager for Primary Casework, is offering free training to any SEND leads on 18th October 2021 from 14:00 - 15:30 hrs. 

We welcome your feedback on this project, please do email project lead Tia on tsohi@hillingdon.gov.uk or liaise with your SEND Officer should you require any further information.  

I hope you will join me in acknowledging this is a positive step forward into what we aspire our normal way of working to be.  

Kind regards, 

Dominika Michalik , SEND Service Manager 

 Hillingdon SEND team annual review guidance [731KB]

 Statutory annual review report (from year 9) [127KB]

 Statutory annual review report (up to year 9) [102KB]

NHS Test & Trace Update on Testing and Self-isolation

As schools and colleges across England welcome students back after the summer holidays, please see below a quick reminder of when to advise students and staff to book a PCR test. An individual should only undertake a PCR test if they meet one or more of the following criteria:  

1. If an individual is symptomatic
2. If an individual has recently tested positive on an LFD  
3. If an individual is identified as a close contact of a positive case 

Close contacts include those identified by NHS Test and Trace as a close contact with someone who's tested positive for COVID-19, or if they have identified themselves as a close contact based on national criteria. 

Education and childcare settings are no longer asked to undertake routine contact tracing. NHS Test and Trace will work with either the positive case - or in the case of children - the parents, carers, or guardian of the positive case to identify close contacts. 

We do not expect that entire classes or year groups will be contacted and asked to take a test. Please follow the national criteria for close contacts when advising students or staff to get a PCR test. This will help to ensure that the right people are prioritised for testing. 

Individuals who are aged under 18 and 6 months, fully vaccinated adults and those who are medically exempt no longer need to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a positive case. Instead, they should book a PCR test (either online, via the NHS Covid-19 app, or by calling 119). If they are symptomatic, they should self-isolate 

It's important to remember that anyone under 16 will need a parent or guardian present when attending a test site or to order PCR kits online. Further details outlining the latest contact tracing process and when an individual should seek a PCR test can be found here. 

Sexual Health Week

It is Sexual Health Week next week and this year's theme is Consent. At Brook they have launched a campaign toolkit for Sexual Health Week, which contains social media assets and posters.   The Hillingdon team have also worked on this video so please share amongst your contacts and young people you work with. As always, please don't hesitate to get in touch to secure bookings for this year. We can deliver RSE workshops and assemblies to your young people or staff training. 

For more information, please contact Lauren Chalkley, Education & Wellbeing Coordinator.  Brook.org.uk.  Tel 07760161237

Hillingdon Youth Council (HYC) - Member Of The Youth Parliament (MYP) Elections 2021 

Are you passionate about the environment, free school meals for all, more facilities for young people and other important topics?  

Do you have a voice that could be used to speak on behalf of your peers?  

Do you want to be part of a wider community?  

Do you want to add substance to your CV?  

If your answers are a resounding 'YES', then this role is for you!  

The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) is run by young people for young people. It provides opportunities for 11-18-year-olds to use their voice in creative ways to bring about social change. The UKYP is made up of over 300 MYPs, who are elected by their peers in youth elections throughout the UK. Any young person can stand or vote. They must live, work, be educated or volunteer in the (Hillingdon) area for 14+ hours a week to be eligible.  

Don't just wish for change, come and be a part of that change!  

Please use this link for more information about how to apply. You will have support along the journey to help you build a personal and credible manifesto.  

If you have any questions, contact Lakhbir Randhawa via phone or email as follows:  

Mobile 078 0923 0759 LRandhawa@hillingdon.gov.uk 

LA Schools' Governance Service Event - All Governors 

• Tuesday 5th October 2021 
• 5pm to 7pm 
• Virtual Session - link and agenda to be shared shortly

We look forward to seeing as many governors as possible there to hear an update from a variety of Local Authority Services.

Head Teachers Termly

• Thursday 11th November 2021 
• 2pm to 4pm 
• Virtual Session - link and agenda to be shared shortly 

Free Governor Briefing Sessions 2021/22 brochure

Following on from the success of last year's governor briefing sessions the LA Schools' Governance Service have created a brochure for the 2021/22. 

There are 13 different sessions for key service areas and will allow governors to gain a better understanding of the processes and the responsibility of the schools. 

To view the brochure and to book your place onto any of these sessions please click here or see the brochure here 

Reminder: The Engagement Model

The engagement model is now statutory for use from September 2021 for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum assessments and not engaged in subject-specific study. The STA has published guidance on the statutory requirements for using the engagement model. Schools can no longer assess pupils against P scales 1 to 4.

Further information will be available in the 2021/22 assessment and reporting arrangements scheduled to be published later in the autumn term.

Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher Vacancies - Process

In the event that you have a headteacher or deputy headteacher vacancy, please make governors aware of the following procedure when recruiting:

Notify the Local Authority

Maintained schools must notify the local authority (LA) in writing when there is a headteacher or deputy headteacher vacancy.

Appoint a selection panel - Headteacher

Maintained school governing boards must appoint a selection panel of at least 3 governors:

The current headteacher cannot be on the panel

At least 1 member of the panel must undertake Safer Recruitment training

Appoint a selection panel - Deputy Headteacher

While headteachers can sit on the panel for a deputy headteacher, they will not count toward the minimum 3 governors required. As the operational leader of the school, the headteacher's input is essential.

Commonly, the deputy head recruitment panel consists of 5 members:

• 3 members of the governing board (required minimum)
• The headteacher
• 1 additional governor to bring the panel to an odd number for voting purposes
• At least 1 member must undertake Safer Recruitment training

While the outgoing deputy head shouldn't be part of the formal appointment process, they can meet and greet candidates.

This is set out in regulations 15 and 27 of the school staffing regulations. 

For further information please also refer to DfE documents Recruiting a headteacher - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Headteacher Impersonation Fraud Alert

Please see attached for a fraud alert which has impacted schools recently.

 Head teacher impersonation fraud alert [568KB]

Schools must not share this document outside of your staffing team or upload it onto any public facing website.