To ensure that the voice of schools is heard, Devon school leaders attend numerous statutory boards and working groups across the county.
Each year, representation on these groups is reviewed and the following representatives were agreed for 2023-24: DSLS Working Group Representatives
Additionally, the Schools Executive Committee (SEC) (DSLS SEC Membership 2023-24) acts as a conduit for two-way communication to regularly update schools with key messages and on work being undertaken at local authority groups. See the updates from the various autumn term meetings below.
Devon Education Forum (DEF)
Read more about the Devon Education Forum (DEF) objectives, terms of reference, minutes and agendas H E R E.
A new Social Work Academy is being designed with the support of Essex and Hertfordshire. The main aims are to develop and improve social work practise and improve the culture of Children Services. Recruitment and retention remains a priority concern but the reduction of agency staff and more locality permanent staff is a step in the right direction. DCC will be liaising with local universities, FE providers and schools to look at career pathways. Continued development of the front door, numbers being processed are still higher than other local authorities increased dip sampling and the use of power BI should support consistency along with multi-agency collaboration.
The SEND Strategic Partnership Board includes representatives from a wide range organisations and groups across Devon.
Read more about the DCC SEND Strategic Partnership Board objectives, terms of reference, minutes and agendas H E R E.
Special Request - can your school assist with hosting meetings?
DCC is working hard to transform SEND support and services. Much of this work will involve training or meetings across Devon. To enable funding to be directed at supporting children and young people, DCC is asking schools whether they have empty classrooms or space that could be used free of charge to host partnership training or parent carer co-production meetings.
If this is something you are able to assist with, please email office@devonsls.co.uk.
Schools Support Panel (SSP) (Formerly FIPS)
The SSP is an officer constituted group that has the function of scrutinising budgets and recovery plans of schools at financial risk. While there is a strong focus on financial risk, SSP will also focus on other areas, including school effectiveness.
SSP may signpost maintained schools to appropriate strategies to support them in planning for long-term financial viability and school effectiveness.
At the recent National Association of Headteacher’s (NAHT) Annual conference, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, announced changes to ungraded inspections.
This paper outlines how Ofsted will use artificial intelligence (AI) and sets out our position on the use of AI by education and social care providers.
Next phase of DfE’s world-leading attendance drive will provide new data for schools to help them spot trends in children’s attendance for earlier intervention.
The DfE wants your views on proposed changes to the statutory guidance on teaching:
relationships education
relationships and sex education
health education
These subjects are collectively known as RSHE.
Your views are important to help ensure that this guidance supports schools to provide high-quality RSHE which meets the needs of children and young people.
The DfE is seeking views on proposals to strengthen protections for children in unregistered alternative provision settings. We took evidence on the use of this provision in 2022.
We propose that all unregistered alternative provision will be subject to new, light-touch quality assurance frameworks. These will be underpinned by national standards.
We aim to deliver a balanced and proportionate approach to protect the children that this diverse sector supports and educates.
Exciting things are happening in Devon to improve support for families with children.
National guidance has been introduced to expand the range of support to families, and to develop a network of Family Hubs and associated outreach services. The charity, Action for Children, has been managing Children's Centres in Devon on behalf of DCC and is now preparing for this change to Family Hubs. Read more...
How to contact Family Hub services?
The next step will be to decide where the support can be accessed, but for now families are being asked to ring ahead to speak to one of the Action for Children team for advice and support, or complete an online form requesting that a member of Action for Children's staff contact them.
By adopting a single online form, the aim is to enhance efficiency, intelligence, and safety in facilitating the timely progression of children and families. This move has received validation from Ofsted during the recent monitoring visit, and it aligns with our vision of ensuring the right support at the right time.
Here’s what we are doing and why:
Implementation of a universal form across all organisations to standardise and streamline the referral process into Devon’s Children’s Front Door.
Centralisation of all support requests into one mailbox, optimising staff and managerial resources by eliminating the need to monitor multiple mailboxes.
Revision of wording and questions based on feedback, resulting in a more concise and user-friendly form.
Real-time processing ensures immediate triaging upon form submission, eliminating delays.
The go-live date for all organisations is set for Monday 6 June 2024. That is, by this point all organisations should be making referrals using the Request for Support Form.
The DfE is seeking views on child safeguarding practice in schools and colleges to inform the Department for Education’s safeguarding in schools and colleges policy including :
the role of designated safeguarding leads
child safeguarding information
safer staff recruitment
filtering and monitoring
supporting children following reports of sexual violence and harassment
protecting children in boarding and residential special schools
quality assuring safeguarding
children bringing their own devices to schools
artificial intelligence
Closes 20 June 2024
On behalf of the DfE, Arts Council England has announced a new generation of Music Hubs, covering every part of England. Following a competitive application process, Devon County Council, has been confirmed as one of 43 new Hub Lead Organisations, supporting music education across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay from September 2024.
Devon Music Education Hub will work with all schools across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay and plans to support new and existing opportunities for children and young people to engage with making and creating music, both in and out-of-school. This work will be supported by core funding of over £1.4M a year from the Department for Education, as well as additional capital investment of £474K over the next two years, specifically to support the purchase of musical instruments, equipment and technology. Read more...
