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- Message from Councillor Dr Mike Hardacre
- A big thank you
- Testing in Schools
- COVID Winter Fund Grant
- COVID-19 Public Health
- Digital Divide - CWC launches initiatives to support digital access
- Information
- Training and consultation
- DfE daily update
Dear Education Leaders,
I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all for your leadership in what have been very difficult times. This has been a year like no other in living memory.
I thank you for motivating, managing your staff. I am grateful to each and everyone of them for the efforts they have put into ensuring that our children get the best possible start in life.
I thank you for your close co-operation both with the Education Department and the Public Health department of the Local Authority. The steps you have taken to ensure all our children receive the education they deserve is living proof of what this vibrant city can do when it works in successful partnership.
Please pass on my heartfelt thanks to all your staff. Could you also pass my thanks to all of your governors who are the unsung and unpaid heroes of public service.
Last of all may I pass on to you, your staff, your governors, your parents and above all your children my best wishes for the festive season and my profound hopes for a return to normalisation for us all.
Councillor Dr Mike Hardacre
Cabinet Member for Education and Skills
Thank you letter to all employees
Please see attached a letter (here EY) expressing our thanks to all the employees based in schools, academies and educational settings for all their hard work this term and their on-going support to our children and young people.
As we do not hold addresses for all we are kindly asking for this letter to be distributed to your employees as you see fit.
We are also using this opportunity to signpost to resources available in support of employees’ mental health and wellbeing in the Education context.
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Marie Marenda
HR Business Partner
Marie.marenda@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Testing in Schools
Work is underway in the city to introduce Lateral Flow Testing for staff into schools. This week sees two pilot schemes get underway at Field View Primary School and Wood End Primary School.
The schools have worked closely with the council’s Public Health team to set up designated testing areas within their schools so that staff members can self administer a lateral flow test, with the results being sent directly to the testee within approx. 30 minutes of taking the test.
The following photos were taken this morning at Field View Primary. Executive Headteacher- Ben Davis said “The process has been really well thought out and has been received positively by staff in school. We certainly want to roll it out across the rest of our schools in the St Martin’s Trust”.
It is planned to roll out the testing programme further in the new year. Thank you to those schools that have already expressed an interest in participating. This has been noted and you will be contacted in January.
Alongside the local testing programme, it has been announced today that a national programme of testing will be rolled out in the new year. Further information can be found in the daily update from the DfE. We will work with colleagues from the Department of Health and Social Care to prepare a support plan for the city’s schools to ensure that the testing capability is maximised across the city.
We will update you all with more details once they are available.
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 Lead person to contact in the LA:
Bill Hague
Head of School Business and Support
01902 555100
07771836958
Bill.Hague@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Covid Winter Grant Fund – Thank you!
Thank you to colleagues for identifying children and young people in need, completing and returning Referral Templates and raising awareness of the support available to families through the Covid Winter Grant Scheme to help those most in need during the winter months.
Your hard work, support and co-operation has been invaluable in ensuring more than 12,000 children and young people at risk of food poverty will receive the help they need at this time.
Many of you have requested information about what happens next. Please find an outline of the remainder of the process below.
Successful applications (all Referrals and some online applications):
eCodes will be sent to the address provided on the application and should arrive before 20 December. Due to the volume of correspondence, they may not all be sent / arrive on the same day. We are planning to prioritise those on the Referral Templates received from schools and early years settings as many have already been identified as being in need of additional support. Emails started to go out on 14 December 2020.
Unsuccessful applications (some online applications):
Any other parents who applied online but didn’t meet the extended eligibility criteria will receive an email to confirm this.
Parents in this situation will be advised to contact the Stay Safe Be Kind Helpline on 01902 290241 if they are in need of urgent help. Parents will also be directed to other sources of support such as the Council’s Stay Safe Be Kind pages, the Government’s Money Advice Service and Citizens Advice.
If you become aware of any other families in need as a result of parents contacting you this week, you can submit their details on the Referral Template to freeschoolmeals@wolverhampton.gov.uk so we can add them to the list to receive support. Any late applications will be on referral only (by schools, early years settings or the Elective Home Education team).
Please be aware that we will not be able to guarantee that late applicants will receive their eCode before 20 December 2020
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Free School Meals
Free.SchoolMeals@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Laura Jude
Disadvantaged Advisory Teacher
Laura.Jude@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Covid-19: Updated letters for parents when advising on self-isolation
From Monday 14 December 2020, the length of time that a person is required top self-isolate if they have been a close contact of a positive case was reduced from 14 days to 10 days. The attached letters (Letter 1, here EY and letter 2, here EY) reflect this change in guidance and replace any previous versions sent to school by the local Public Health team. Please now use these updated letters when communicating with parents about self-isolation periods. Please note: You should only send these letters out if advised to do so by a member of the local Public Health Incident Management Team, following a risk assessment of the Covid related incident at your school.
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Neeraj Malhotra
Consultant in Public Health
Neeraj.malhotra@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Covid-19 reporting during the first part of Christmas break: 21 December – 23 December 2020
The schools’ Covid-19 support line will still be operational during the first few days of the Christmas break. for you to report positive cases to the Local Authority and to help you to complete any necessary risk assessments.
The line will be open from 9am to 4pm and the e-mail address monitored from Monday 21 December to Wednesday 23 December. The line will then be closed from 24 December to 3rd January 2021. It will reopen on 4th January 2021 at 9am.
For support please call 01902 553957 or email schoolscovid@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Howard Jobber
Senior Public Health Specialist
howard.jobber@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Covid-19: Staying safe over Christmas – letter for the whole school community
Attached is a letter (here EY) aimed at the whole school community – all staff, parents / carers and governors. It provides tips on how to reduce risk of infection and stay safe over the Christmas break, particularly during the ‘Christmas bubble’ period of 23 – 27 December 2020. It also provides information about how to get tested if symptomatic or if asymptomatic. Please distribute this letter as widely as possible amongst your school community and post on your website and social media channels.
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Neeraj Malhotra
Consultant in Public Health
Neeraj.malhotra@wolverhampton.gov.uk
City of Wolverhampton Council launches initiatives to support digital access
We are pleased to share with you that CWC have recently launched a range of initiatives aimed at increasing digital access for pupils.
A big thank you to all schools who took part in our Digital Divide Survey, have worked with us on pilot projects and who have shared their experiences of the digital divide during the partial school closures. Your support has helped us to develop opportunities that will work toward addressing the digital divide for children and young people in our city.
An email to Headteachers details the support available and the criteria used to prioritise for those initiatives where there are limited resources available.
Schools will be contacted on a tier by tier basis for access to initiatives where there are limited resources. Digital Leads will receive a further email letting you know when you can express an interest in this support.
If you have not yet nominated a Digital Lead you can do so here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.
Please do take a look at the email to Head teachers as there is a lot of support both from CWC and other agencies that all schools can access straight away.
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Laura Jude
Disadvantaged Advisory Teacher
Laura.Jude@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 consultation
The DfE are seeking views on proposed changes to the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education' with a view to making changes for September 2021. They are seeking views on:
This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 4 March 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/keeping-children-safe-in-education-proposed-revisions-2021
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Denise Mooney
School Safeguarding Officer
Denise.Mooney@wolverhampton.gov.uk
01902 551411 or 07469410516
Mathematics Baseline Training events
These upcoming online sessions are for class teachers and maths leads. They will look closely at the outcomes of the maths baseline tests. Each session will offer teaching guidance in relation to areas of learning which are likely to have the biggest impact on pupil progress. The focus will be on Paper 1 (Arithmetic) using the QLA baseline. The sessions will be recorded if you can’t personally attend but please book online via WVES.
- Y2 Baseline -Wed 16 December 2pm-3.45pm
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Sandeep Vashisht
Mathematics Advisory Teacher
Tel: 07812495069
Sandeep.Vashisht2@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Training opportunities that are offered for NQTS and RQTs include:
NQT Support and Training Programme: NQT drop-in sessions - Thursday 21 Jan 2021 3:45 - 4:45pm
Moderation opportunities that are offered to support statutory assessment and moderation include:
Moderator meeting for all moderators for EYFSP, using the ‘old’ ELG - only open to EYFSP Moderators - Tuesday 12 Jan 2021 1:30 -4:00pm
All participants should be booked onto training via WVES. If you experience any difficulties in booking then contact the school office for assistance, if further support is needed then please contact Hardip Jassal (Hardip.Jassal3@wolverhampton.gov.uk)
Lead person to contact in the LA:
Jo Horlock
NQT and Assessment Advisor
Jo.Horlock@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Training courses for schools Spring Term 2021
For further information on any of the training please contact: Cyndy Morris 554209
Due to Covid-19 all training courses for schools will take place on Microsoft Teams and not in the Civic Centre or at the GTG Training Academy.
Before the training courses take place, all attendees will be sent an invite to the training via teams
Fire Marshal – 28.01.21
IOSH Working Safely in Schools – 04.02.21
Role of the Client (CDM) – 11.02.21
Lone Working & Personal Safety – 25.02.21
Provision & Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) – 01.03.21
Fire Risk Assessment – 02.03.21
COSHH Awareness – 05.03.21
Manual Handling – 09.03.21
Working at Heights – 12.03.21
IOSH Managing Safely in Schools – 15.03.21 and 22.03.21
Fire Marshal – 17.03.21
School Playground Inspections (RoSPA) – 18.03.21
Risk Assessment – 26.03.21
Letters for the training courses are now accessible on Cloudw and can also be found on Wolverhampton Education Services.
Places can be reserved on either Cloudw or Wolverhampton Education Services
Lead person(s) to contact in the LA:
Cyndy Morris
Health & Safety Co-ordinator
cyndy.morris@wolverhampton.gov.uk
School Governance Training
Tuesday 12 January 2021 Risk Management at 10am - 12pm
Tuesday 19 January 2021 Pupil Premium: Monitoring progress and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils at 6-8pm
Tuesday 26 January 2021 The responsibility of Governors in managing Safeguarding at 10am - 12pm
Tuesday 9 February 2021 Stakeholder engagement at 6-8pm
Tuesday 23 February 2021 Effective Governor Visits at 10am - 12pm
To view training and to book onto courses, please follow the link to WVES website.
Bespoke training to meet the needs of your Governing Board can also be arranged. To discuss your requirements further, please contact Kay Mason.
Lead person(s) to contact in the LA:
Kay Mason
School Improvement Advisor
Kay.mason@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Sarah McElduff
School Governance Co-ordinator
Sarah.mcelduff@wolverhampton.gov.uk
14 December – Coronavirus – Daily update to all early years, children’s social care, schools and further education providers - click here or here (EY)
15 December – Coronavirus – Daily update to all early years, children’s social care, schools and further education providers - click here or here (EY)
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