澳门天下彩

Noticeboard

Noticeboard - 12 September 2024

Welcome to this week's Noticeboard including a message from Dr Sue Harrison, the latest Oracle Transition for schools updates, details for an In-Year Admissions webinar and more.

This week's noticeboard includes: 

Message from Dr Sue Harrison, Strategic Director for Children and Families

Dear colleagues

As schools enter the second week of the new academic year, I’m sure the initial excitement has begun to settle into a productive rhythm, with pupils adjusting to their new schedules and getting to know their teachers and classmates.

We’re all aware that on 2 September, the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP, unveiled a significant reform to Ofsted inspections for state-funded schools. Gone are the days of single-word overall effectiveness grades like ‘outstanding’ or ‘inadequate’. Instead, schools will now receive detailed individual judgements and the overall grade will be a thing of the past. This change is exclusive to state-funded schools and does not impact independent schools, early years, further education and skills (FES), or social care providers. Despite some queries from schools inspected last academic year, Ofsted has assured that their previous judgements remain unchanged.

For the current academic year, parents can expect to see four distinct grades covering quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership & management. This reform paves the way for the introduction of School Report Cards in September 2025, which will offer parents a comprehensive assessment of school performance, ensuring inspections are more effective in driving improvement. I was interested to read the full press release:

This week’s update on the Oracle Transition programme for schools is now available: Oracle transition for schools, updates, questions and answers. This document is key to providing regular updates and will continue to be highlighted in the weekly School Noticeboard. The next ‘Drop-In’ session is planned for – so please do attend if you have any questions or concerns, and the team are always on hand to support at OracleSchoolsRelationship@澳门天下彩.gov.uk.

I’m privileged to chair the 澳门天下彩 Children and Young People’s Partnership meeting, joined by dedicated colleagues from 澳门天下彩 Children’s Trust, our school Fora chairs, 澳门天下彩 and Solihull Integrated Care Board, West Midlands Police, and the 澳门天下彩 Voluntary Services Council. The partnership is passionately committed to working hand-in-hand with families and communities across 澳门天下彩 and striving to create a city where babies, children and young people can flourish and reach their full potential. Our plans to introduce district based teams around the family and school are developing fast and I’m pleased to announce we will be commencing a pilot district working model in Hodge Hill, which will provide rich learning to inform our roll out of multi-agency district based team working fully by 2027. The team will shortly be in touch with our schools in Hodge Hill to discuss next steps.

You may recall that back in 2023, we launched the a visionary five-year roadmap created in collaboration with the very children and young people it aims to support. The plan encapsulates their hopes, dreams, and the challenges they face, ensuring that their voices are at the heart of everything we do. It’s well worth a read, or revisiting, as it’s a powerful reminder of our collective commitment to making 澳门天下彩 a great place for our children and young people to grow and thrive.

Thank you for all that you do every day to ensure the lives of our children and young people are enriched, supported, and full of opportunities. Your dedication and hard work make a profound difference, and I’m incredibly grateful for your unwavering commitment. Keep up the fantastic work and have a fabulous weekend when it arrives!

With my very best wishes

Sue

Oracle Transition for Schools - Latest Updates 

The latest updates can be found here: Oracle transition for schools, updates, questions and answers.

For any queries or further information please contact the team at oracleschoolsrelationship@birmingham.gov.uk

Thank you for your ongoing support. 

In-Year Admissions Webinar for Schools

The School Admissions Code requires that schools provide relevant information relating to the in-year admissions process to the Local Authority on a regular basis.

To outline the information that schools need to provide to the Local Authority and to identify how the Schools’ Portal supports the collection of this information, the School Admissions team is hosting two online sessions. While these sessions will be of interest to headteachers, they may also be helpful to members of staff who submit information via the Schools Portal.

Both sessions with cover the same content, so you only need to attend one. Please use the appropriate Microsoft Teams link below to join the session of your choice:

  • Tuesday, 17 September 09:30-10:30 –
  • Thursday, 19 September – 14:00-15:00 –

A recording will be made available shortly afterwards for those schools who are unable to attend on the day.

We very much look forward to seeing you at one of these sessions. In the meantime, if you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact the team at inyearadmissions@birmingham.gov.uk

Introducing Pendulum into NCER Perspective Lite Portals

The Children and Families Directorate is introducing a new application called Pendulum into schools’ NCER portals. This system, designed by Angel Solutions, will appear under the “Records of Visit” section on your home page. No new software is required.

Over the next few months, more services will start using Pendulum for communication with schools, maintained nursery schools, and colleges.

To learn more about Pendulum and see which services will be communicating through it, join one of our webinars in October:

  • Tuesday, 15 October - 9:30am-10:30am
  • Wednesday, 16 October - 4:00pm-5:00pm

Booking details will be available through Angel Solutions and an Eventbrite link shared in next week’s school noticeboard.

To prepare for the webinar, please ensure you have a working Perspective Lite username and password. New headteachers can request access setup via the Data and Intelligence team at Educationdata@birmingham.gov.uk.

Schools Budget Payment Schedule 2024/25

A new cash sheet which will be issued on a monthly basis can be found at this link: Statement of funding and provisional school budget payment schedule 2024 to 2025 | 澳门天下彩

We hope you find this useful in reconciling the monthly instalment as well as grant payments the authority has paid in a given month. 

Please note, grant payments that were made to the LA at the end of June will be paid to schools in July, and the August copy of this spreadsheet will reflect this when it is issued. 

If you have trouble accessing the file, you may need to save the spreadsheet to your personal desktop, then unblock the file by right clicking, properties, and clicking unblock and applying changes. 

Any queries should be directed to the team at FairFunding@澳门天下彩.gov.uk 

School Attendance

Webinar links from last term; leave of absence referrals; illness absence notifications, ‘Support First’ webinars for schools

‘Working together to improve school attendance’ webinars

The links for last terms webinars covering the new statutory guidance, including deletion from roll, attendance and absence codes and new responsibilities for schools, MATs and governors are now working and available for schools to access.

You can find all the webinars here:  (Click on page 5).

Leave of absence referrals

A reminder for colleagues that referrals for leave in term time from last academic year, including July 2024 can no longer be accepted and should not be made. Referrals related to 10 sessions of unauthorised leave of absence for this academic year only can be made as long as the school have sent the appropriate LD (leave denied) letter. Schools can refer cases where parents were sent LD1 letters last academic year where the leave is being taken this academic year. The new Leave of Absence (legal) process and letters can be found here: (Click on option 2 and scroll down).

Illness absence notifications

The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 place a duty on schools to inform the local authority of any child with illness absence of 15 school days or more, either consecutive or cumulative. Schools won’t be able to complete notifications until the service redesign has been concluded but until then, schools should continue to refer all children with illness absence of 15 or more schools days where there is medical evidence to support the absence directly to James Brindley Academy. There is more advice related to this and general illness absence in the ‘Support First’ guidance.

‘Support First’ webinars for schools – save the dates!

The Education Legal Intervention team is planning a series of webinars on the new ‘Support First’ attendance framework, and the updates ‘Leave of Absence (legal) process’.

The provisional dates for these are:

  • Support First – ‘Listen, understand and facilitate support’.  A guide to early help approaches related to ongoing poor attendance – 2nd October 2024 10:00-12:00
  • Support First – ‘Formalise Support’ and ‘Enforce’.  More formal and legal approaches when all else has failed – 9th October 2024 10:00-11:30
  • Leave of Absence (Legal) Process.  A guide to leave of absence, including authorisation for exceptional circumstances and subsequent legal approaches for unauthorised leave – 10th October 10:00-11:30

These dates are subject to change and the confirmed dates and links for booking will be circulated to schools on the next noticeboard submission.

EYSFF Returns for Autumn Term 2024

For schools with Early Years provision for 2, 3 and 4 year olds

Each term schools are required to submit and return an on-line EYSFF submission to provide us with your numbers of eligible 2 year olds, EYPP and FSM take up so that we can reconcile your early years funding. It is the schools responsibility to ensure that the form is completed within the time frame - failure to do so will result in incorrect budget allocations.

The link to the form will be emailed to schools during Census week and you will be required to complete the form between 3rd and 10th October 2024. The email is sent to your enquiry@ email address so please ensure that the person responsible for this mailbox knows who to forward the link to within your school. We do not have the facility to use individual email addresses.

Please only include your Early Years Children on this form - do not include children in your Reception classes.

Remember that all 2 year olds that you claim for and all 3 and 4 year olds that you are claiming EYPP and FSM for must have an eligible code that you must keep a note of on the children's records for the purpose of EEE audit. If the system does not confirm eligibility you can contact earlyeducation@birmingham.gov.uk  for support.

Please note there is no facility to receive a copy of your on-line submission, however you should have the details of numbers of eligible children on your records in line with the terms and conditions of EEE funding.

The EEE Provider Agreement detailing the terms and conditions of delivering Early Education Entitlement can be found on EYMIS: 

To access EYMIS please use Username: PVI2 Password PVI2year

 If you have any queries regarding the on-line form or the eligibility of children please email earlyeducation@birmingham.gov.uk  FAO Mrs Dee Sterling-Miller

If you have any queries regarding your funding allocation please email fairfunding@birmingham.gov.uk  

BEHEARD Wraparound Childcare Parent Survey

The Local Authority is rolling out a Parent Survey using the BEHEARD platform requesting feedback on its current and future requirements for Wraparound Childcare.

The survey is targeting those parents and carers specifically with primary school age children.

The expectation is that the survey results will help shape and support Wraparound Childcare for Primary School Age children in 澳门天下彩 to meet the needs of children, parents, carers and families.

The Survey will open on Friday 13th September 2024 and close on Sunday 20th October 2024.

To maximise participation we respectfully ask schools to promote and encourage as many parents/carers to complete the survey as possible, and make the promotional flyer accessible on noticeboards, school websites and newsletters. 

The Wraparound Childcare Parent/Carer Survey Promotional Flyer includes a QR code enabling easy access to the online survey.

The survey is strongly linked to the Wraparound Childcare Programme announced in the Budget March 2023. Schools are key to this programme and there is, therefore, a strong expectation from the DfE that schools will fully engage with the Local Authority by supporting information collection through surveys and other data collection methods to shape and inform ongoing strategies to ensure statutory duties are met.

Many thanks in advance for your support. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin Caulfield at kevin.caulfield@birmingham.gov.uk

Briefing for New SENCos

We are delighted to invite to all new SENCos to a briefing on Friday 4th October 2024 at 1-3.30pm. This briefing is aimed at SENCos who are either new to the SENCo role this term or experienced SENCos new to post within 澳门天下彩.

The aim of the briefing is to introduce SENCos to the senior leaders within the LA SEND teams as well as to representatives from the Local SENCo Consortia groups.

The afternoon will give an opportunity to:

  • Find out who the SEND teams are and what support they are offering,
  • Have an overview of the 澳门天下彩 funding system,
  • Understand the Local area SENCo groups,
  • Understand the LA communication process to SENCos,
  • Learn about the Balanced system approach to SALT across the city,
  • Learn about the Parent Carer Forum and their offer,
  • Find out who the SEND OT locality therapists are and what they offer,
  • Network with other SENCos.

The Council House have kindly offered to host this event for us and the team will be providing light refreshments on arrival.  A place has been reserved for each new SENCO and an email link will be sent out to confirm whether they would like to attend.

For further information, please contact Heather Wood heather.wood@birmingham.gov.uk, Head of SEND Advisory Services

IT Hacking Warning - Could you afford to lose your salary this month?

BCC’s IT Security and Corporate Fraud Teams are unfortunately seeing evidence of school email accounts being compromised on a very regular basis.

An email account becomes compromised when someone has gained unauthorised access or ‘hacked’ the email account. Over 95% of compromises result from phishing emails, where the account holder has inadvertently clicked a link, which has then exposed their login credentials.

Compromised email accounts at a school can have serious implications for the individual account holder, the school and also other partner organisations (such as other schools and BCC).

The vast majority of these incidents can be easily prevented by ensuring that Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is enforced for school Microsoft 365 accounts. Without properly configured security, Microsoft 365 accounts can effectively be accessed from anywhere in the world, from any computer. This is why it is vital that Microsoft 365 accounts have the additional layer of protection provided by MFA. Passwords alone are not an adequate level of protection anymore. 

You will know if you have MFA enabled as you will be required to enter an additional code when logging into your school email account or network remotely. This will usually be a code sent to you via text message, or via an automated telephone call, or one that you generate using the Microsoft Authenticator smart phone app.

Why does this matter?

  • Compromised email accounts can, and do, lead to payment diversions, where staff wages get stolen. We have unfortunately seen two cases in the past few weeks where hackers have managed to get the bank details for staff changed so that their monthly salaries get diverted elsewhere.
  • Compromised email accounts are used to send out further phishing emails to colleagues and partner organisations. As these emails are from known addresses, the recipient is far more likely to trust any links, increasing the risk of further compromises.
  • Compromised email accounts can lead to the loss of private and sensitive data about the school and its pupils. This creates a potentially very serious safeguarding risk.
  • Compromised email accounts can lead to major cyber security incidents, such as ransomware attacks, which could cripple a school’s IT systems for months and cost thousands to recover from.

What do you need to do?

  • Please speak to your IT provider urgently to confirm with them that every school email account has Multi Factor Authentication enforced and has been set up correctly.
  • Please go into your mailbox settings and check whether you have any mail rules set up that you do not recognise.  We are finding that as soon as hackers gain access to an email account, they set up mail rules to divert all incoming emails to a folder so that they can read them first.  If you find that you have mail rules set up that you do not recognise, contact your IT provider urgently.
  • Ensure that regular password changes are enforced for all staff. 

Further information on Multi Factor Authentication in Microsoft 365 is available via the Microsoft website -

Dream Team Back to School September 2024

The current round of Household Support Fund money for Bed Poverty ends 30th September 2024!

Teachers and pastoral staff in schools are integral in identifying signs and symptoms of a child/children living in bed poverty.

We want to encourage all 澳门天下彩 Schools to sign up and refer in currently 308 schools are registered.

It’s estimated that 澳门天下彩 has at least 22,807 children currently living in the City without a bed of their own.

So far since November 2023 the Dream Team have supplied 2684 children across the city with beds, that’s 11% of the estimated need, we want to do more!

What is Bed Poverty?

  • Parent sleeping on chair, sofa or floor to give up the bed for their child.
  • Child(ren) sharing bed with parents or siblings.
  • Child(ren) sleeping on something other than a bed – floor, chair, sofa, bath, car seat etc.
  • Childs bed broken and family have been unable to repair or replace in the last 6-12 months.
  • Childs bed and/or bedding mouldy or damp.
  • Child sleeping in a bed which is inappropriate for their age range – such as still sleeping in a cot or toddler bed due to inability to purchase a single bed.

Signs of Bed Poverty to look out for:

  • Child bed poverty in the classroom can manifest in various signs. Some common indicators include:
  • Lack of energy and fatigue: Children may show signs of tiredness and lack of energy during class.
  • Poor concentration and focus: caused by sleep deprivation, they may also have difficulty paying attention, retaining information, and participating actively in class activities.
  • Frequent absenteeism or lateness: Children may have irregular attendance or arrive late to school. This could be because they have trouble getting enough restful sleep at home, leading to difficulties waking up in the morning.
  • Reduced academic performance: it can significantly impact a child's ability to learn and perform well academically. It may lead to lower test scores, decreased engagement in class, and slower progress compared to their peers.
  • Emotional and behavioural issues: the stress and discomfort caused by bed poverty can take a toll on a child's emotional well-being. They may exhibit behavioural problems such as irritability, aggression, or withdrawal.
  • Physical signs: Children may come to school with physical signs of lack of sleep, such as dark circles under their eyes, drowsiness, or falling asleep during class

How do I approach families to find out if they are affected?

While talking to schools we’ve heard a variety of approaches schools have used, for some these children and families are already known to staff and they are aware of the unsuitable sleeping arrangement, for others they suspect this is a factor in the child’s poor attendance and attainment and plan to have a conversation with the child/family. Others have advised that they have used opportunities like parents evening to ask whether every family member has their own bed currently or creative opportunities such as asking younger children to draw their bedroom or describe their sleeping arrangements.

Bed poverty is an often hidden situation and families do not openly mention circumstances due to embarrassment, or concerns about wider intervention, we want to encourage families to come forward and talk to the school where this is an issue. We are happy for schools to adapt their own approach to engaging families, where schools choose to “promote” we suggest that schools promote “a conversation around bed poverty and potential support” rather than the opportunity of a free bed to ensure that we reach the families who are in need.

To Register to become a school trusted referral partner and to be able to submit referrals for your families please click and complete the Registration Form

Please help us to ensure every child in the City has a bed to get a good night's sleep in.

Are the defibrillators in your school registered on The Circuit?

It takes as little as 5 minutes to register a defibrillator on The Circuit - the national defibrillator network. There is no cost to register - and it could be the difference between life and death.

Thousands of families in the UK are left devasted by cardiac arrest every year.  Early use of a defibrillator with CPR can more than double a person’s chance of survival. But if ambulance services don’t know where they are, they can’t direct people to them in an emergency. That’s where The Circuit comes in.

The Circuit is the national defibrillator network which provides ambulance services with visibility of the nearest defibrillator. This helps emergency call handlers direct bystanders to their nearest defibrillator when 999 is called. At a time when every second counts - you can make the difference.

  • Schools can check whether a defibrillator is currently registered here:  .
  • If the defibrillator is not registered, please take a few minutes to register on .
  • Once registered, schools will receive regular email reminders to check the defibrillator status, along with other updates such as when the pads are due to expire.

If schools have any questions, please contact ndnsupport@bhf.org.uk and thank you for your support.

The Circuit has been developed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in partnership with the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, Resuscitation Council UK, St John Ambulance and NHS England.

澳门天下彩 Adult Education Training Courses

FREE DIGITAL and VOCATIONAL COURSES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED OR WORKING and EARNING LESS THAN £32K

澳门天下彩 Adult Education are offering classroom based or self-study courses in the following subjects:

Digital Skills:

  • Basic IT Skills from Entry 3 to Level 1 (classroom)
  • ICDL Level 2 – includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint (classroom or self-study)
  • ICDL Level 3 - includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access (classroom or online with a teacher)
  • Microsoft courses at all levels - Introduction, Intermediate and Advanced (self-study)
  • Route to Work - CV Writing, Looking for a job (self-study and workshops)

Vocational Skills:

  • Teaching Assistants (classroom)
  • Classroom Assistants (classroom)
  • Counselling, Mentoring (classroom)
  • Health Care (classroom)
  • Mental Health (classroom or online)
  • Accounts & Book-keeping (classroom)

And many more at

FREE HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE COURSES

澳门天下彩 Adult Education Service are offering online flexible qualifications and courses to study in your own-time:

  • Alcohol Awareness - Level 1 Award (NCFE)
  • Allergy Awareness in Children - Level 2 Certificate (TQUK)
  • Bullying in Children & Young People - Level 2 Certificate
  • Information, Advice or Guidance - Level 2 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Mental Health Awareness - Level 1 Award (TQUK)
  • Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care - Level 2 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Special Education Needs & Disabilities - Level 2 Certificate (TQUK)
  • Substance Misuse - Level 1 Award (NCFE)
  • Understanding Autism - Level 2 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Understanding Autism - Level 3 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Understanding Children & Young Peoples Mental Health - Level 2 Certificate (TQUK) Understanding Mental Health - Level 3 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Understanding Nutrition and Health - Level 2 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Working in Mental Health - Level 2 Certificate (NCFE)
  • Working with Individuals with Learning Disabilities - Level 2 (NCFE)

Continued Professional Development:

  • ADHD
  • Forced Marriage and Honour-based Violence Awareness
  • Keeping Young People Safe Online
  • Knife Crime Awareness
  • Menopause Awareness
  • Role of the Senco
  • Safeguarding in Out-of-School Settings
  • Spiking Awareness
  • Stalking and Harassment Awareness
  • Suicide Awareness and Prevention
  • Understanding Gender and Identity in Children and Young People
  • Understanding the Power of the Influencer

Microsoft courses:

  • Excel: Beginners | Improvers | Advanced |
  • Excel: PivotTables Excel: VLOOKUP Tables
  • Cyber Security Awareness for Businesses: Beginners
  • OneDrive: Improvers
  • OneNote: Beginners
  • Outlook: Beginners | Improvers | Advanced |
  • Project Online Essentials: Improvers
  • PowerPoint: Beginners | Improvers | Advanced |
  • Project Power Users: Advanced
  • SharePoint: Beginners | Improvers | Advanced |
  • Teams: Beginners | Improvers |
  • Word: Beginners | Improvers | Advanced |
  • Planner: Improvers
  • Power BI: Improvers

THINKING OF A CAREER IN TEACHING?

FAO: All Staff/Parents

澳门天下彩 Adult Education Service are offering FREE Education and Training Level 3 qualification

This qualification course will introduce you to the basics of teaching and allow you to gain some practical classroom skills. The course is delivered online with significant elements of self-study and regular tutorials. Course requirements GCSE English and maths at grade 4/C or above or equivalent.

Start date: 25th of September – 18th of December

Time: 6pm – 8pm on TEAMS

*This course is free if you are unemployed and are actively looking for work and earning less than £32k.

For all BAES training queries please contact Sameena.asmat@birmingham.gov.uk 

Health & Safety - School Caretakers/Site Managers Training Course

Date:  16th & 18th October 2024              
Start Time:  9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost:  £166.10 per delegate
Schools must book on the

This course is suitable for School Caretakers/Site Managers and staff with roles which include promoting Health and Safety in the workplace and ensuring schools are safe environments.

Covering the following key areas:

  • Organising for Safety  - An overview of H&S Law, Roles and responsibilities, Safety Management systems
  • Risk Assessment  - HSE 5 steps, different risk assessment techniques
  • The Workplace  - Safe access/egress, slip/trips, temperature, lighting, housekeeping, & welfare facilities
  • Manual Handling  - Manual Handling risk assessment, Human Body
  • Working at Heights  - Hierarchy of control measures, Safe use of ladders, Inspection of equipment
  • COSHH - Data Sheets, COSHH risk assessments
  • Fire Safety Management - Fire Protection measures, Risk assessment, Fire policies & procedures
  • Management of Contractors - Selecting competent contractors, Risk assessments & method statements, Record keeping,  Permit to work systems

For queries or general enquiries please contact the team at: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

Grants available from OVO Foundation for Nature in Schools

FAO: Head Teachers, School Business Managers and Climate leads

will reopen on Monday 14 October 2024. Schools can win a cash prize of £200 or £1,000 to support them implement a community nature project by signing up to . Schools from less advantaged areas with high pupil premium are encouraged to apply. Applications will close on Monday 25 November 2024.

or join a free fact-finding webinar on Tuesday, 22 October 15:45-16:30.  

 

This entry was posted by Jaspal Shambi on 10/09/2024.

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