Education Providers' Bulletin

Tuesday 29 June 2021

If you would like your Chair of Governors, SENDCo, DSL or Digital Leads to receive this bulletin, please email Georgia.Smith@wolverhampton.gov.uk with their email address who will add them to the distribution list.

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Bulletin Summary

1. Message from Brenda Wile
2. Covid-19 update
3. Early Years
4. Information 
5. Leadership and Management - Governance

6. Training and consultation

7. DfE daily update

Message from Brenda Wile

Dear Colleagues,

We will have all seen that numbers of positive cases of the Delta variant are increasing across the city and whilst Wolverhampton is still performing well compared to most other regions we are now above some other West Midlands areas that were previously reporting higher numbers.

I am therefore asking once again that you continue with your stringent efforts to minimise transmission.  We now have more outbreaks across our schools than anytime since the schools re-opened fully in early March.  Whereas previously the prevalence of the virus was among older age groups it is clear that children and young people are now those most affected.  Hospitalisations remain low and as a result of the phenomenal vaccine roll out, the numbers of people affected more seriously is also much reduced.  That said, some people are still experiencing very debilitating symptoms and long-lasting effects so we cannot afford to be complacent.

Although only guidance at the moment, I would ask that you consider the re-introduction of secondary school children wearing face masks, at least in communal areas if this is something you have relaxed.

Please continue to encourage twice weekly home testing and results reporting also advising anyone displaying symptoms even beyond the more common ones of new continuous cough, change to or loss of taste and / or smell or a high temperatures to get a PCR test.  Only by doing this are we picking up cases that might otherwise have been missed.  A positive LFT test means immediate isolation for the individual and close contacts until a negative PCR result is received.

Please also avoid mixing of bubbles, we are aware that this has started to be relaxed in a small number of settings.  Transition activities should be limited to remote or virtual sessions with any on site sessions undergoing a comprehensive risk assessment to provide assurance that the risk is extremely low.

Testing over the summer holidays can be paused unless a summer holiday activity is taking place when all participants and leaders must continue to test regularly.

We don’t yet know what the arrangements may be for testing in the Autumn term and very much depends on the situation nationally and locally at the time and we are urging the DfE to provide early advice and guidance before schools return in September.

The Council is developing dedicated web pages on vaccines, where they are available and how to access them as well as other Covid-19 advice and guidance. 

Best wishes,

Brenda

Covid-19 update

Please share the following information on your website to maximise the potential reach of the Covid-19 vaccine bus

Please copy and paste the following information on to your website and social media accounts:

The Covid-19 vaccine bus will be making two stops in Wolverhampton this week, as it continues its tour around the city, taking vaccines to where they are needed most. Today (29 June) and Wednesday (30 June) the vaccine bus will be at All Saints Community Centre, off All Saints Road, between 2pm and 7pm.

The bus will then move to Low Hill where it will be in Thorne Avenue, off Showell Circus on Thursday (1 July) from 1pm until 6pm, then Friday (2 July) and Saturday (3 July) 12pm to 6pm.

Anyone aged 18 or over can get their first or second Covid-19 vaccines at the bus, without needing to pre-book. Supplies of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are available and first and second doses are being offered. For people aged over 40 doses must be at least 8 weeks apart; for anyone younger the gap should be twelve weeks between injections.

Thank you for your help!

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Suzanne Dunn
Citizenship  Language and Learning Teacher Advisor
Suzanne.Dunn@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Early Years

Delivery of the Black Country Early Outcomes Speech & Language Pathway Practitioners Handbook  

Holiday Clubs

If your school or setting are planning to run a holiday club this summer, please complete the form and return it to claire.whittaker@woilverhampton.gov.uk

This will help us judge sufficiency across the city and we can also help advertise your club through Information for Families for parents looking for childcare during the holidays (with your permission).

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Claire Whittaker
Quality and Access Officer
Claire.whittaker@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Information

Transition Materials Year 6 to 7

The LA has worked with Connect Ed to produce some free year 6/7 transition materials for Maths and Literacy which year 6 have the opportunity to use in the final couple of weeks

The video guide to the resources is here Connect Ed Yr 6 Rollout Maths and Reading.mp4 on Vimeo

English Materials Link

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hI-Qi7NU9z51XovSxxAaQeLWaU5do2G1?usp=sharing

Maths Materialshttps://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oj3cOUvq9RurI8rRFg8Qkg-yY0ZiZF7G?usp=sharing

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Mark Smith
Citizenship Language & Learning Senior Advisor
Mark.Smith2@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Wolverhampton Reads For Ethiopia

Read for Ethiopia is the opportunity this term or next to support school libraries in Ethiopia. It costs £200 to employ a librarian for a year in a school which ensures children access books and gives a job to a female who has finished school and uses the money to continue their education. We have produced some lovely resources about Ethiopia and Ethiopian schools which you can use. Elizabeth Laird is providing a signed copy of the Garbage King and The Fastest Boy in the World to any school who wants to take part.

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Mark Smith
Citizenship Language & Learning Senior Advisor
Mark.Smith2@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Continued support for current NQTs (2020-2021): the Government's Education Recovery Arrangements   

Schools with NQTs due to complete induction this summer will have access to funding for the equivalent of an additional 5% off timetable for next academic year so these teachers have additional time to invest in their development. This time off timetable is not statutory but it has been designed to be used flexibly so that as many new teachers as possible can benefit from this additional support.

• Time off timetable can be grouped together in different ways, for example, taken as whole days or half days.

• Schools will be able to access DfE-accredited development materials based on the Early Career Framework for this cohort to use during this time off timetable.

Schools will receive this funding in summer term of 2022. Funding will be based on School Workforce Census returns.  

To find out more information on this additional funding, please visit  Induction for newly qualified teachers during the coronavirus outbreak - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Jo Horlock
NQT and Assessment Advisor 
01902 556576
Jo.Horlock@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Beat the Street is back this summer!

Lead person to contact in LA:

Laura Jude
School Improvement Advisor for Equalities
Laura.jude@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Surplus Furniture on offer

Please see attached items of available furniture which are currently in storage at Loxdale Industrial Unit and are available to schools should there be an interest in any of the items.  The furniture is available on a first come, first serve basis so please notify your expressions of interest to the e-mail address provided by Friday 9 July 2021.  Interested parties will then be notified individually to arrange collection of the items before the end of the summer term.

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Hayley Kelly
School Organisation Officer
Hayley.Kelly2@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Tree Planting Opportunities for Wolverhampton Schools Winter 21/21

There are 2 events taking place:

Tiny Forests – Funded by Severn Trent as part of the Commonwealth Games legacy, planting to take place winter 21/22. Schools can plant trees at their school or in their local neighborhood.

Queens Green Canopy - To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year, we are all being encouraged to plant trees: https://queensgreencanopy.org/

Schools are being encouraged to get involved and there will be three million free trees for schools and community groups to plant, during 2021 and 2022. More details are here: https://queensgreencanopy.org/get-involved/schools/

For further information or to register your interest for either/both of these opportunities please email Amanda.

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Amanda Evans
PSHE Advisory Teacher
Amanda.evans@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Leadership and Management - Governance

Training and consultation

Summer Training

Please find attached Education Excellence's Summer Training Brochure outlining all our training for the summer term. 

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Mark Smith
CLL Senior Advisor
Mark.Smith2@wolverhampton.gov.uk

RE CPD – Curriculum Working Party Groups Autumn 2021 – dates 

As previously advertised:
NQT Registration and Support training

Moving towards fully qualified status and preparing for a middle leadership role 7 July 2021 1:30 - 4:30pm

NQT drop-in sessions 8 July 2021 3:45 - 4:45pm

To view training and to book onto courses, please follow the link to the WVES

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Jo Horlock
NQT and Assessment Advisor
Jo.Horlock@wolverhampton.gov.uk

As previously advertised:
Health and Safety Training courses for schools Autumn Term 2021

Before the training courses take place, all attendees will be sent an invite to the training via teams

Fire Marshal – 23 September

Risk Assessment – 24 September

COSHH Awareness – 1 October

IOSH Working Safely in Schools – 5 October

Control of Legionella – 12 October

Provision & Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) – 14 October

Lone Working & Personal Safety – 3 November

IOSH Managing Safely in Schools – 9 and 16 November

Manual Handling – 18 November

Working at Heights – 26 November

Role of the Client (CDM) – 30 November

Fire Marshal – 1 December

Fire Risk Assessment – 2 December

Off Site training will be held at the Kingswood and Wildside Centre

Visit Leaders – 19 October

New EVC – 20 October

EVC Update – 21 October

Letters for the training courses are now accessible on Cloudw and can also be found on WVES. Places can be reserved on either Cloudw or WVES.

Lead person to contact in the LA:

Cyndy Morris
Health & Safety Co-ordinator
Cyndy.Morris@wolverhampton.gov.uk

DfE daily update

28 June – Coronavirus – Daily update to all early years, children’s social care, schools and further education providers - click here. 

If you don't have a CloudW account and cannot access a document within this bulletin, please contact Georgia.Smith@wolverhampton.gov.uk who will send it to you.