Education Access update -Attendance reporting
I wanted to share an important update regarding the procedures for reporting student absences. As of 01 October 2025, schools are no longer required to send a separate return to the Local Authority for the 10–15-day reporting of absence.
This change comes as a result of Working Together 2024 which mandated Local Authorities to capture this information directly from schools. I am pleased to confirm that we are now receiving this data directly through the DfE portal WONDE from your school's reporting systems.
Thank you for your attention to this update and for your continued cooperation.
Best Wishes
Jo Smith
Lead of Education Access Service
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The Schools Forum generally has a consultative role in assisting the Local Authority discharge the conditions of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). However, there are some matters where Forum has decision making powers, such as the de-delegation of maintained school budgets and the development of a growth fund allocation. The role and function of Schools Forum will continue to evolve as the DfE/ESFA introduce the Direct National Funding Formula over the next few years.
The Shropshire Schools Forum currently has a number of vacancies, outlined below, and we would welcome expressions of interest from interested leaders in the phases/areas listed below;
- Academy representation - 3 vacancies
- Diocese - 1 vacancy for Shrewsbury
If you are interested in participating, please complete the form attached below by the 31st October 2025 and a Shropshire Council Officer will make contact with you.
EOI Schools Forum Representative
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Wraparound Childcare Programme Autumn Term update
Firstly, as you are all aware and has been conveyed for the previous terms now, this is the final term that you will receive funding, as per your grant agreements.
This means, as of January 2026, Wraparound provision in your settings is over to you to sustain. While I will be around to support wherever necessary, this has always been the plan. I am sure you will agree that the provision for wraparound put in place is excellent and will long continue to support families in the community for years to come.
Autumn term Payments are in motion and will be with you soon.
Management Information Survey & Data Capture
This is the second to last MI data capture (Expecting there will be one in Spring term 2026 too). As you all know by now, this survey aims to capture information relating to number of children schools can place in terms of capacity, not just how many attended. This informs the DfE of how well the money allocated to each setting is impacting on the provision and number of places. Please support us in responding to these surveys in a timely manner and before the deadline.
Here are the key dates outlined below for Autumn term:
Please mark your diaries.
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Friday 7th November- Survey link will be shared with you
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Monday 10th - Friday 14th November: Provider reporting week (This week is the ‘sample’ data week, i.e. you will be asked questions on capacity for this week)
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Monday 17th - Friday 21st November: Provider reporting window (Please note: Monday 10th November to Friday 21st November, survey will be open, and answers can be submitted. I would encourage you to answer as soon as you know the data to avoid last minute entries)
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Friday 21st November: Provider reporting deadline. (This is when you must have completed the survey by, failure to do so may result in funding being removed.)
If you have not received any communication on Wraparound from the LA this term, please reach out to Dan.Steele@shropshire.gov,uk
School Based Nurseries Grant- Phase 2- Applications open 22/09/2025
On Friday 5th September, it was announced the School based nurseries grant was moving into phase 2.
Schools are encouraged to apply to either create or expand existing provision for nursery places, with a particular focus on disadvantaged children. The aim is to have provision in place for September 2026.
Some key points below
- Schools can complete an application for this grant up to the value of £150,000.
- Applications open Monday 22nd September and the deadline is on Friday 5th December at 5pm.
- Schools can also register their interest for Phase 3 which was also announced for future years.
- This link outlines guidance for the scheme including terms and conditions and how to establish provision (School-based Nursery Capital Grant 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK)
Any questions or queries, please contact Dan.Steele@shropshire.gov.uk
Kind regards
Daniel Steele
Senior Development Officer
Early Years and Childcare Sufficiency
Learning and Skills
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Early Years Provider Agreement (Launching soon)
(This is ONLY for Early Years settings who claim funded entitlements)
The Background to the Agreement
The Department for Education have asked us to put a provider agreement in place; this is a statutory requirement for all local authorities and is essential that we have this in place between the LA and settings. The agreement itself encompasses the already published statutory guidance from the DfE, with some more detail in relation to Shropshire. It is key to understand that we want to work with providers to ensure this is launched in a collaborative manner. This agreement has been created collaboratively by the Early Years team, Shropshire Council Legal team and Shropshire Early Years Partnership board members. Therefore, we would like to announce the next stage towards the eventual launch of the provider agreement.
October 2025 Consultation (October 1st to Friday 31st)
We are delighted to announce a month-long consultation period between Wednesday October 1st and Friday 31st October. This consultation period will allow all settings to review an electronic version of the provider agreement (in Draft form) and pose any questions to Shropshire Council’s Early Years team.We are keen to hear your feedback / thoughts / questions on the agreement. You can pose any questions by using the link here: https://forms.office.com/e/juUHYuCuZS.
Please ensure any questions are sent to us by Friday 31st October at 5pm. We will review the questions and pose any responses back to you by mid-November. Following this consultation period, we hope to launch the agreement itself, please keep an eye out for updates on this.
Where can I find the provider agreement?
LINK HERE: Early Years Provider Agreement | Shropshire Learning Gateway
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a subtitle called ‘Links to Further resources’. Below that is the document itself. Click it and it will open.
Please note: This is a draft version of the document
If you are having trouble accessing the Microsoft form and you have any further questions, please email me on Dan.Steele@shropshire.gov.uk Please start your email with name/name of the setting/ point number within the document that you are referring to.
Kind regards
Daniel Steele
Senior Development Officer
Early Years and Childcare Sufficiency
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Fully-funded Year 2 School trips - applications open
A major new £5 million programme from the Clore Duffield Foundation will fund school trips for Year 2 pupils over the next five years. In its first year, it will support 5,000 pupils to go on 20,000 trips to museums, theatres, heritage sites, and the outdoors.
The programme exists to tackle the widening gap in access to enrichment, with recent research showing that 68% of the most disadvantaged schools have cut trips due to funding pressures. State schools in Blackpool and Cornwall with 28% or more pupils eligible for free school meals can apply. 📅 Deadline: Friday 28th November, 2025, 18:00 🔗 Find out more and apply: https://www.cloreduffield.org.uk/schooltripgrant
Alison Rae
Education Improvement Adviser (Early Years)
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Last week we delivered two webinars to introduce the EBSA toolkit and the AV1 Robots (ten of them) that we now have in Shropshire.
Over the next few weeks, we will be finalising the EBSA toolkit and formalising the process for access to the AV1 Robots so that schools will be able to take their APDR cycles of attempted reintegration to Integrated Practitioner Panels and with agreement of the children/young people, parents, professionals, and the teachers involved be able to request an AV1 Robot.
The purpose of AV1 Robots is that they are short-term and support reintegration back into school. There will be no cost to schools to have a Robot and over the next year we will be looking at the impact of the Robots to put a case together to request more Robots if they prove popular and impactful. They will be available to schools after next half term (November onwards).
To find out more and request access to the Webinar please click on the link below:
https://shropshirecouncil.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/sites/sep/SharedLibrary/Training/Webinar%20EBSA%20Offer%20of%20Support,%20Toolkit%20and%20AV1%20Robots-20250924_153409-Meeting%20Recording.mp4?csf=1&web=1&e=3XGLy4
In the meantime, resources to support the toolkit whilst we finalise the offer of support and pathway to access the AV1 Robots can also be found here: Emotionally Based School Avoidance | Shropshire Learning Gateway
Lisa Taylor
Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead
Learning and Skills
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Free School Meals funding in school holidays (state funded schools)
As previously advised, Shropshire Council has been allocated additional funding through the Household Support Fund (HSF7) for the 12 month period,1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026. This means that we are able to extend the arrangements for the provision of support with food costs outside of term time to fund benefits-related FSM pupils (including 24U and EYPP children who are in a school nursery class). Funding will be provided for the Easter holidays 2025 (2 weeks), Summer half term 2025 (1 week), Summer holidays 2025 (6 weeks, this was previously 3 weeks), Autumn half term 2025 (1 week), Christmas 2025 (2 weeks), Spring half term 2026 (1 week) and Easter holidays 2026 (2 weeks).
HAF - The Holiday Activities and Food Programme allows children and young people aged 4 (in reception class) to 16, who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals (FSM) and for those who have been referred by a professional to access free holiday activity, during the Spring/Easter, Summer and Winter/Christmas school holidays. For more information on the programme and to find out how to book onto activity, please go to - www.shropshire.gov.uk/HAF
There is further support for families who are concerned about the cost of living via Shropshire Council website link Cost of living help | Shropshire Council
For the Autumn half term, funding is provided for 1 week support, £15 per eligible pupil.
Schools using Edenred
The account will be open for schools to place orders between Monday 13 October and Friday 24 October.
Edenred have advised that they are imminently due to migrate our platform to a new ordering portal. The process for schools will remain the same but the platform will look different. School account holders will receive new log-in information directly from Edenred.
We will send a further email out to schools on Friday with details and confirmation of the ordering process for Autumn half term. The email will be sent to school admin email addresses from the EIS mailbox educationimprovementservice@shropshire.gov.uk
For changes to a school account, for example a change to the school email address or the name of the person on the account who places the order, please email those changes to FSM@shropshire.gov.uk
Schools who receive funding via the LA
For those schools who don’t use Edenred, please complete the following online form by Friday 17 October FSM funding in school holidays - Schools who receive funding via the LA | Shropshire Learning Gateway (shropshirelg.net) so that we can arrange payment to be made to your school. NB: Please ensure that the total number provided includes any eligible nursery aged children attached to your school. Once you have notified us of your numbers, please then order your vouchers via your usual method. Please note, if you don’t complete the form to advise of numbers we will be unable to process payment.
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Please see the attached poster for a free theatre workshop offer.
World Mental Health Day is held every 10th October to raise awareness and drive positive change for everyone’s mental wellbeing.
This year’s theme, “Access to services: mental health in catastrophes and emergencies”, highlights the urgent need for timely, compassionate support. For those working in education, the pressures can be especially intense.
To help, we’ve created a World Mental Health Day Toolkit featuring resources to support education professionals stay mentally well, manage stress, and encourages them to access support when it’s needed most.
Download the toolkit here
Please share this toolkit across your networks to help ensure staff know that mental health support is here for them
If someone needs to talk, our free, confidential emotional support helpline is available 24/7. Please share this number: 08000 562 561
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FAO: All Early Years Staff,
The Improving Immunisation Uptake (IIU) Team is thrilled to announce that we have been commissioned by NHSE to deliver training to Early Years Settings. Our team, which works directly with selected GP practices, is part of NHS SCW Child Health Information Services (CHIS) and remains committed to making a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of young children in our communities and improving vaccination uptake in children aged 0-5 years.
This training has been developed on behalf of NHS England, with sessions available to book across six different dates and times to offer maximum flexibility for attendance. The 1-hour sessions will be virtual via MS Teams, and individuals will only need to attend one of the free available sessions.
The training will be delivered between November 2025 and February 2026 by experienced clinicians specialised in childhood immunisations. The training session is aimed at Early Years providers, including nurseries, family and children’s centres, childminders, and preschools and will highlight the importance of routine childhood immunisations and the significant role Early Years providers play in supporting the UK’s routine vaccination programmes.
We recommend attendance by individuals interested in becoming immunisation champions alongside staff who regularly communicate with parents/carers, and those handling new child registrations. We would recommend that it may be beneficial for larger settings if a minimum of 2 staff members attend.
Your participation will play a crucial role in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of children and maintaining a safe environment in Early Years settings. This is a timely opportunity to support the NHS England national campaign to increase the uptake of childhood vaccinations, with a particular focus on the MMR vaccine.
We have attached an introductory presentation and the Early Years Managers Information Sheet that provides a summary of the project. Participants will also receive a free information guide and other complimentary useful resources to further support the training.
Kindly see below a table of available dates and times – Click on the link to book your training session place at your earliest convenience – please book
For more details about our work, please refer to the attached PowerPoint presentation.
Thank you Yours sincerely,
Improving Immunisation Uptake Team
Email: scwcsu.improvingimmsuptake.projects@nhs.net
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