Summer term | 22 June 2022
DSLS School Leadership Briefing - Summer term
Wednesday 29 June 2022 at Exeter Racecourse
At our Summer Briefing, DSLS is delighted to welcome following guest speakers:
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Professor Mick Waters, Author & Education Consultant
Mick Waters is best known as former Director of the Curriculum at the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) where he gained an heroic reputation amongst teachers while consulting on and explaining the new curriculum, making it relevant and meaningful for professionals working directly with children and young people. A former headteacher, Mick is passionate about the role of education in improving life chances for pupils and is still very much involved with teaching and learning. He is the President of the Curriculum Foundation and a charismatic speaker who pushes the boundaries to improve learning and make schools better.
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Paul Walker, CEO, First Federation Trust - “How do you know your curriculum is effective?”
Paul will focus on considering curriculum design and measuring the impact of what is intended.
Aisha Thomas, Director, Representation Matters
- Culturally Educating - Enriching the curriculum with diversity and inclusivity
“Until society represents everyone, the question will always be, where do I belong? …Representation matters.” Aisha challenges us to imagine a world where all races are represented in all aspects of life. Where children grow with a sense of value, connection and understanding of difference. Students of all races should see diverse representation in the curriculum they receive.
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James McNeillie, Regional Director South West, Ofsted
James will provide an update on the inspection framework, changes, and challenges.
View full details of the AGENDA here and BOOK ONLINE
Bookings are essential for venue and catering arrangements. The Briefing is fully subsidised and open to all members of Devon SLS i.e. school leaders within Devon primary and secondary schools. One delegate place per school – other colleagues are also welcome to attend (note charges apply). For full details please see the terms and conditions on the booking form.
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DSLS Annual School Leadership Conference 2022
13 & 14 October 2022
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We are delighted to announce the following speakers have been booked for the conference:
Target audience: primary and secondary school leaders and other members of the school leadership team.
Guarantee your place at the 2022 conference. Over 70 bookings received so far!
One booking form per delegate required. Terms and conditions apply, please see the online booking form for further details.
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Advice for Schools on dealing with Vaping
DCC and Public Health Devon have been working with Smokefree Alliance Devon to support schools with their ongoing work of tackling the problem of vaping in schools | READ MORE
Disposable Vapes Flyer
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DSLS is recruiting for it’s aHead service
Following two years of successful Professional Partner support for school leaders across Devon we are now in the position to recruit additional serving or recently served headteachers to our team. Closing date 27 June 2022. READ MORE
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Headship can be isolating and overwhelming, particularly during these challenging times. We wanted to remind you that the team of aHead Professional Partners are here to provide confidential support and guidance to school leaders.
Additionally, Devon SLS member schools have access to the Devon SLS Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - free individual access to confidential information, support and counselling service plus the option of purchasing for the whole school at a discounted price.
Question or need support? Contact us:
E aHead-DevonSLS@devon.gov.uk T 01392 380518
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 Closure of Chittlehampton C of E Primary School
Devon County Council’s Cabinet on 8 June 2022 approved the proposal to close Chittlehampton C of E Primary School from the 31 August 2022 READ MORE
Making a Child Friendly Devon: Wish for Devon
Devon County Council’s ambition is to create an even better place for children, young people and families to grow up in – a Child Friendly Devon. To support this ambition, Devon is creating a new visual identity and vision to bring Child Friendly Devon to life.
They want Child Friendly Devon to be shaped by everyone and would like to hear the thoughts and ideas of parents, carers and guardians.
If you’d like to shape and develop this important and exciting piece of work and make Devon an even better place for children, young people and families to grow up in, please complete the short survey before Friday 24 June.
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 Implementing the direct national funding formula
The DfE are seeking views on their approach to implementing the direct national funding formula (NFF) for mainstream schools. Closing date 9 September 2022. READ MORE
School registers and national thresholds for legal intervention
The DfE is seeking views on new regulations for keeping school registers and draft thresholds for legal interventions to improve consistency across England. Following public consultation in February 2022, the Secretary of State committed to introduce a new national framework for the use of legal interventions for absence and excluded pupils in public places during the first 5 days of exclusion. Closing date 29 July 2022. READ MORE
Reviews of Education, Health and Care plans: proposed timescales
The DfE are seeking views on the deadline for a local authority issuing proposals to amend an Education, Health and Care plan following a review. Closing date 12 August 2022. READ MORE
HMCI commentary: consulting on Ofsted's new area SEND framework
Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman announces the launch of a consultation on Ofsted's special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) inspection framework. Closing Date 11 September 2022. READ MORE
 The state of Hinduism in UK schools
A recent report on the state of Hinduism in Religious Education in UK schools has found significant shortcomings in the way this religious tradition is taught in UK schools. INSIGHT UK conducted a project with a team comprised of highly experienced members of the Hindu community. The project goal was to assess the current state of Hinduism in RE in UK schools and recommend changes to improve it.
Hinduism is the third largest religion practised in the UK, yet this report finds that the teaching of Hinduism in mainstream UK schools is very limited, flawed and often ignored. This imbalance has led to an inaccurate portrayal of Hinduism and can result in feelings of negativity and ignorance when meeting UK citizens belonging to the Hindu faith.
The study of Hinduism in RE is often overlooked, in favour of teaching about the Abrahamic religions, which are perhaps more familiar to pupils in this country. This narrows pupils’ understanding of the diversity of worldviews in contemporary society.
In particular, the report raises concerns about the negative and inaccurate portrayal of Hinduism in some GCSE textbooks, specifically naming the Hodder Education AQA GCSE Religious Studies book.
The report recommends that SACREs and schools should ensure that Hinduism has a firm place in RE syllabi, and that Hinduism education resources are factual and credible.
 Ongoing Pooled PAYE issue for schools
Foundation and Voluntary Aided (F/VA) schools are currently affected by the ongoing Pooled PAYE issue, meaning they can’t access apprenticeship funding due to sharing the Local Authority’s PAYE number (as part of the Pooled PAYE Scheme) and are therefore unable to set up a Digital Apprenticeship Service Account READ MORE
 School Admission Policies – what you need to know, when you need to know it
Whoever picks up duties in your school or MAT, they will need to know when to arrange meetings for governors, what to publish on websites, when to respond to the LA.
Training is available from DCC to help you meet statutory responsibilities, either as a refresher or if you’re new to the tasks. This can be arranged via Teams in response to demand for groups of schools and MATs. For example, the annual cycle will start again at the beginning of September with draft policies for 2024-25 being prepared for you to consider. Whether you are an academy or maintained school, you should schedule a meeting for Governors in the first half term. To register an interest in attending a training session focussing on Admissions Evidence, email schoolsadmissionpolicy-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
Statutory guidance - Keeping children safe in education 2022
‘Keeping children safe in education 2022’ is for information only and does not come into force until 1 September 2022. Schools and colleges must continue to use ‘Keeping children safe in education 2021’ until then.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022
 June coronavirus (COVID-19) recovery premium funding
Allocations and conditions of grant released – Academies and maintained schools can view the June 2022 allocations here and read the conditions of grant to learn more about the eligibility, payments and allocations for the recovery premium grant.
ESFA Updates
Latest information and actions from the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, schools, colleges, local authorities and further education providers READ MORE
 DCC Early Years Update to include:
- Refreshed early years and childcare webpages for parents which schools should ensure are updated on their websites
- Early Years Funding
- Nursery admissions
- Tax-Free Childcare
READ MORE
And a reminder....
Keep up to date:
Contact: Fran Butler Early Years and Childcare Sufficiency Lead, DCC
E-mail: fran.butler@devon.gov.uk
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DAG Newsletter
Click here to view the latest newsletter from DAG.
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 SWIFT News
Click here to view the latest news from SWIFT.
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Happy Retirement Dawn Stabb
After being with Devon County Council for 22 years, Dawn Stabb, our Head of Education and Learning in Children’s Services has decided to retire | READ MORE
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Message from colleagues at DSLS:
“DSLS (previously DAPH and DASH) and Dawn have enjoyed many years of working together to support our school leaders. We are particularly grateful for her efforts during the pandemic where she was a strong voice in ensuring the exceptional efforts made by staff to safeguard pupils and their learning was understood and appreciated. We wish her a very happy retirement and thank her for her services to education.”
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