Heads Up - 22 October 2020

Gloucestershire County Council sent this bulletin at 22-10-2020 12:50 PM BST

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Colleagues are encouraged to see the Bulletin Board which is updated as new information arrives.

Date: 22 October 2020

Heads Up replaces the Covid-19 Briefings and will be published weekly until further notice.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding – 'Nobody Understands' labels

Following serious concern regarding a number of teenage suicides, previously the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Executive and Suicide Prevention Group have sent out stickers for pupils to put in planners. The labels have been updated for 2020 and are now signposts to both Hope House, Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) and Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support. This is linked to 3 recent Rapid Reviews undertaken by the Safeguarding Partnership. Please see the Bulletin Board for additional information.

Covid-19 Information for Schools

Key Communications from the DfE (dated from 12.10.20)

Details and links to the key communications from the Department for Education (dated from 12.10.20) are available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Updated Guidance on Face Coverings in Education

On Friday 16 October, the Government updated the guidance on the use of face coverings for schools and other education institutions that teach people in Year 7 and above in England to align the guidance with the local Covid alert level framework. Further information is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Impact of the Welsh firebreak on schools

Further to the implementation of the Welsh firebreak this week, Welsh residents can still travel to work in England if they cannot work from home, including all school staff. Please see the Bulletin board at the above link for additional information.

Covid-19 Response Checklist

Please see the Bulletin Board at the above link for a Covid-19 Response checklist, to be used on receiving notification of a positive case(s) of Covid-19 within a school setting, either amongst staff and/or students.

Exceptional costs associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) for the period from September 2020 to October 2020

Schools are advised to continue to track their exceptional costs associated with coronavirus COVID-19. This information will be used to understand the impact the pandemic is having on school finances so that we can inform the DfE regarding the need for continued financial support. Please see the Bulletin Board at the above link for additional information.

Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Covid-19 Support Guide for Schools

This guide offers an overview of relevant evidence and links to key resources, with the aim of helping teachers and senior leaders support their pupils following the Covid-19 closure of schools to most pupils. It is designed in particular to support and inform decisions about how to use the £650 million 'catch up' funding.

Flu Vaccinations and Children

Side effects to the flu vaccine should be mild and only last for a day or so. They may include a slightly raised temperature but this would be different to Covid-19 symptoms. With Covid-19, there would be a high temperature and the child would feel noticeably hot to touch on their chest or back. Additional information is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Attendance Returns

Following DfE changes to educational setting status forms, we will now be able to access the centrally held information on the number of children absent for Covid related reasons. It will, therefore, no longer be a requirement to send copies of the returns into the education data hub or the X coded template (this was previously needed from schools that do not regularly share their B2B data).

Changing Rooms

Changing rooms can be an area of increased risk of transmission because of their size and frequency of use by multiple bubbles. Where possible the advice is to avoid using shared changing rooms. Further information is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.

All Schools

URGENT UPDATE – restriction on public sector exit payments from 4th November

The government has at very short noticed signed into law regulations to restrict the value of redundancy and pension payments to employees leaving on grounds of redundancy or voluntary severance on or after 4^th November 2020. It is essential that these regulations are applied to any employee in these categories with a leaving date on or after 4^th November. Additional information is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Reminder re parents and educational records

A reminder to all schools that every parent should be kept apprised of school information and provided with access to educational records related to their child(ren). This is particularly the case where the school is aware that a parent is not resident at the child’s registered home. Please see the Bulletin Board at the above link for further information.

Youth Support Team Holiday Hunger Gap provision

The Youth Support Team will be providing free daily sessions during half term to help alleviate the hunger gap that some young people will experience during half term. To find out more, please see the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Ourboretum - Free Pots and compost available

This autumn BBC Radio Gloucestershire is inviting schools, organisations, families and individuals to join them to grow 2,020 trees from seed. They have received a donation of 3,500 pots and enough compost to fill them, and want to give them all away for free. To find out more, please see the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Primary and Special

Update to FAQs for Primary Schools - October 2020

The FAQs for primary schools have been updated from the last issue on 29.9.20

Bonfire Night/Sparkler Safety Assembly Video

The SkillZONE team have produced a short video for young children about keeping safe on bonfire night. Further information is available on the Bulletin Board at the above link.

Previous issues of Heads Up, for the current academic year, are available on Schoolsnet at this link

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