Information items
Covid-19 Information for Schools
Details and links to the latest key communications from the Department for Education are available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.
The latest version of the COVID-19 Risk Assessment for Schools is now available on the SHE webpages on Schoolsnet.
The ‘contains framework’ sets out four tiers of restrictions for education settings, which should be used as a last resort in areas subject to local restrictions.
Details are available on the bulletin board.
The DfE guidance does not prevent governors or trustees going into schools. When considering how to organise visits from governors or trustees, schools will need to consider their own risk assessments and how they will protect the health and safety of any visitors alongside staff and pupils, in line with the guidance. The guidance explains that schools should consider how to manage visitors to the site and ensure site guidance on physical distancing and hygiene is explained to visitors on or before arrival.
If your visits can happen outside of school hours, they should. A record should be kept of all visitors. Depending on their risk assessment, schools may choose to continue to host governor meetings virtually.
GCC has produced a framework designed to support senior leaders to develop/improve a Remote and Blended Learning offer.
The document is available on the Bulletin Board and can be used as a quick checking tool against the DFE expectations for schools. It can also be used as an action plan for those schools that are in the early stages.
The Department of Health and Social Care are sending schools and further education institutions an initial supply of ten test kits. Please see the Bulletin Board at the above link for additional information.
The link to the daily DfE attendance survey and further information is available on the Bulletin Board using the above link. It is expected that that the LA will be able to obtain this information directly from the central DfE reporting in the near future, however, this is not available yet.
Your support in completing these returns is greatly appreciated as it is important for that the county to have an understanding of any issues and to be able to report on school opening and pupil attendance.
LA schools are requested to send in their September 2020 risk assessments for review; the team has received about 50 to-date and a good standard has been demonstrated building upon the previous term’s experiences. More information is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.
The South West Health Protection Team have set up further COVID-19 educational setting webinars for any educational setting to attend. The sessions will cover infection prevention principles and then discuss scenarios to illustrate this. Please see the Bulletin Board at the above link for further information.
HMI has confirmed as its plans for visits to state schools, further education and skills providers and independent schools during the autumn term.
The guidance for schools and academies is here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/interim-phase-maintained-schools-and-academies
The visits will include schools of different types and of all Ofsted grades. Visits will be based around constructive discussions with the school leaders; they are not inspections, so will not result in a grade. More information is available on the Bulletin Board using the above link.
Information on the restart to the music service for September is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.
The webinar includes presentations on:
- How COVID-19 might affect our most disadvantaged children and young people and what schools can do to improve outcomes for these pupils.
- How metacognitive strategies can be developed to maximise learning in the classroom and at home.
Further details can be found here
Vacancy for a Primary School (Maintained) Governor Representative (non-academy schools only)
A vacancy has arisen within the Gloucestershire Schools Forum membership for a Primary (Maintained) Governor member, and nominations are currently being sought for this one seat. If you would like to put your name forward please see here for further details.
On Monday 21 September, Gloucestershire County Council will mark their first ever ‘Gloucestershire Day’ - an opportunity to publicly thank those who have gone above and beyond their normal duty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gloucestershire Day will also be a time to celebrate everything that is great about our county; our plans for economic recovery, and the businesses, areas of interest and hidden treasures that make Gloucestershire such a special place.
We hope to make this an annual event to celebrate the same day for years to come, to remember the valiant efforts of our public services, our schools and our community as a whole.
Ahead of the day, we will be asking for people to nominate their ‘Covid-19 Community Heroes’ to be showcased in a thunderclap across our social media platforms on 21 September.
On the day itself, we want people to share short video clips or photos showing how they are safely celebrating or to showcase what makes Gloucestershire special to them.
There will also be a downloadable Gloucestershire flag for schools, businesses and the public to print and display in support.
On the day we will be proudly flying the Gloucestershire flag high above Shire Hall.
We hope that schools across the county will enjoy celebrating the day and help to make it a special and successful event.
For information on how to nominate someone and other details about the day, please visit: www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/glosday
There is a new requirement for schools to publish financial information online. See link above.
We are currently delivering all of our training virtually. For a list of training courses being held until March 2021 please use the link above.
Headteacher Performance Management Training
Tuesday 6th October 2020 - 19.00 – 20.30
Thursday 12th November 2020 - 19.00 – 20.30
To book a place, please ask your school office to book you on or click on one of the links above.
We are able to deliver our school-based courses virtually. If you would like to have a virtual training session for your governors, then please do get in touch with us at governor.services@gloucestershire.gov.uk. For a list of courses, please use the link above.
Governing boards are reminded that information about their membership needs to be kept up to date on GIAS.
Governing Board Membership (LA maintained schools only)
If there are any changes to your governing board could you please let us know - Email: governor.services@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
Can we also remind schools to send us your draft full governing board minutes. This will then enable us to support your school effectively. Email: governor.services@gloucestershire.gov.uk
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