Autumn Term | 04 November 2022
DSLS Autumn School Leadership Briefing
10 November 2022 - Sandy Park Conference Centre, Exeter
At our Autumn Briefing, DSLS is delighted to welcome Diane Rochford OBE. Diane has gained extensive senior management experience across complex needs settings, schools, and Trusts. Until Dec 2019 she worked in a mixed Multi Academy Trust in London as an Executive Headteacher of a complex Special needs school. Her current work includes School Improvement for different Local Authorities and schools focusing on Send practice and strategy. Additionally, she has worked with the DfE advising on statutory assessment for those children with SEND who have both additional and complex needs. As Chair of the Rochford Review in 2016-20 the group considered and defined statutory assessment for pupils working below the standard of the statutory test resulting in the Pre-Key Stage standards and The Engagement model.
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Rachel Shaw, in her role as Head of Education (Delivery) for DCC, will be focussing on their mission statement - "Every child thriving in an education setting every day." Rachel will focus particularly on diversity, inclusion and belonging and delegates will have the opportunity to offer feedback on the core and traded offer available from Devon Education Services. Colleagues, Jen Norris, Jane Jarman and Andrew Brent will be sharing the latest important updates regarding Attendance and Admissions.
To conclude the day, we are delighted to welcome Nina Jackson, pastoral and pedagogical champion, International Mental Health Advisor and education leader. During this session Nina will guide us through the importance of “Leadership is a Work of Heart” and that means the importance of you, your wellbeing and celebrating your wonderful skills as a leader. She will build on the ‘I Care, You Care, We Care’ approach enabling to schools to also fit the needs of SEND/ALN, Inclusion, Accessibility and Diversity.
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There will also be opportunities throughout the day to network with other school leader colleagues and to meet with your Professional Partners.
We really hope you will be able to join us for what will be a stimulating and engaging day.
The DSLS Schools Executive Committee
Please see the Booking Form for Terms and Conditions.
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DSLS Annual School Leadership Conference 2023
12 & 13 October 2022
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We are delighted to announce that bookings have now opened for the 2023 Conference.
Target audience: primary and secondary school leaders and other members of the school leadership team.
Guarantee your place at the 2022 conference. Over 40 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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Key Updates from the DCC Admissions Team
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Review of catchment areas 2024-25
Following an exercise in 2023, a review of catchment areas was undertaken for 2024-25, covering the remainder of the county.
A map set has been prepared for schools to view ahead of the annual public consultation starting on 1 November. This enables all schools and trusts to view what is being suggested. This map set is at DCC School Designation Areas - 2024-2025 (devon.gov.uk) and overlays the determined maps for 2023 with the suggested maps for 2024.
All potential changes have been identified as has the history of children known to have attended school from each address. This is at Map amendments list a.xlsx
Schools are asked to consider any proposed changes and to contact andrew.brent@devon.gov.uk Senior Policy Officer, DCC Admissions with any queries or concerns.
Admissions Policies
The Local Authority has a statutory responsibility to publish a copy of all admissions policies for state-funded, mainstream schools. It does this at http://devon.cc/schoolpolicy
All admissions authorities and schools are requested to review the documents in these folders and ensure that the policies are as expected, including updates and amendments to reflect changes to name, contact details, school status, logos, ethos statements and any necessary error corrections.
Changes may be necessary in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 documents. Any queries can be raised with the LA Policy Officer. In the absence of comment, these documents will be taken to be the admissions policies for the schools for each year.
Admissions Policies - School Website content
Recent decisions of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) have highlighted technical matters related to Admissions policies:
- Admission arrangements should not be hard to find for parents. There was criticism that policies were ‘hidden’ among other, general policies. The OSA gave a view that policies should be available on an admission page that was easy to navigate to.
- In responding to an objection against the arrangements for one school, the OSA requested evidence of the date when it had been published online. A statement that it had been published by a particular date was not accepted.
- It is common for the OSA to request a copy of the minutes of the meeting at which the admissions policy was formally determined.
To address these matters, click here for suggested wording for Admissions pages. The wording covers all areas that should be featured. Schools are requested to copy or adapt the wording as they wish on their websites.
Admissions Policies – Formal Determination
Schools and trusts are requested to provide the dates when governing boards and trusts will meet in late January or February 2023 to formally determine policy.
The Cabinet of Devon County Council will consider the policies of community and voluntary controlled schools for determination on 10 February. A date for publication has also been requested for all schools.
This should be any time between determination and 15 March.
Levels of Need
DCFP have launched a new Levels of Need Tool (was Threshold Tool) a resource for professionals for assessment, prevention and intervention for children, young people and their families and directly support the Early Help Assessment (EHA). READ MORE
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Supporting the Health of Young People in Devon Survey 2021
The survey was commissioned by the Devon County Council's Public Health Team as a way of collecting robust information about young people’s lifestyles.
Summary report of the Children and Young People Survey 2021
SHEU Summary Slides 2021
  SWIFT News
Click here to view the latest news from SWIFT.
 Click here to read the latest news from DiAS
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.co.uk T 01392 325890
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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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 School Leadership changes and Headteacher email updates
We should be grateful if you would kindly bring to our attention any known forthcoming or impending changes to school leadership roles eg. Headteacher, Head of school etc. as it is not always possible to pick these up, particularly within MATs and Federations.
Please email office@devonsls.co.uk
Additionally, to ensure that school leaders are well informed and kept up to date with important information from the Local Authority and the DfE, regular headteacher updates are being emailed directly to you via DCC.
If you are not receiving these on a regular basis please let us know via email and we'll make sure you are added to the distribution list.
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