CROSSPHASE
 How not to miss out on TEAMS training last minute
We don't want any of you to miss out on the valuable training we provide.
If you request a TEAMS link and don't receive the link in time or, at the last minute, you just can't seem to find it, please email the meeting leader. The meeting leader's details can be found on the Hub calendar or in the place the course has been advertised such as email or this bulletin.
We look forward to seeing you!
School Teams
 Leadership Drop-In Agenda Tuesday 13th June 2023
- SEND Safety Valve and its meaning for the school system – Ming Zhang
- Headline feedback from WBC ILACs inspection- Ming Zhang
- Update on the Annual Engagement Meeting with Ofsted – Ming Zhang
- AP review – Carey Tulloch
- Whole School Send DfE/ Nasen Support – Majid Ali
- Early Years SEND support- Anne Stopforth
- SI Team foci 2023/34- Gillian Cole
We look forward to seeing you there!
Gillian Cole – Schools Improvement Officer
Gillian.cole@wokingham.gov.uk
 Annual Survey of Local Authority School Improvement Support – last chance to have your say!
It’s the time of year when the School Improvement Team review the work of the year and take your feedback to influence the work of the year ahead.
Your time in helping us work together as effectively as possible is hugely appreciated. To that end we ask that you complete our short survey to assist us in shaping services for 2023/24.
The survey is designed to be completed by any member of staff who has engaged with our services whether that is by attending a network meeting/ training event or being part of a school visit/ discussion with our team.
Your feedback is important to us.
The survey will be open until 16th June 2023
Many thanks for your continued engagement
Gillian, Anne, Emily, Majid and Vicky
You can access the survey using the button below.
 ECT New Registrations from September 2023
For those of you with new ECTS starting their first year of induction in September 2023 you will need to register with a Teaching School Hub to ensure your ECT is assessed for Statutory Induction.
Please find attached information from Teaching School Hub Berkshire regarding how you can access their services to that effect and an invite to an explanatory session
Gillian Cole – Schools Improvement Officer
Gillian.cole@wokingham.gov.uk
Pupil Premium Network Meeting - 29th June
Colleagues are reminded that this term’s Pupil Premium network meeting is taking place in person on Thursday 29th June from 1.30-4pm at Bracknell Open Learning Centre. Refreshments will be available from 1.15pm.
To book to attend the meeting, please contact schools.teams@wokingham.gov.uk for the calendar invitation. Once you have the invitation, please click to ‘accept’ it so that we know to expect you at the meeting.
The meeting will focus on school culture, values and expectations, following on from our previous meetings this year, and will support colleagues to review their school’s vision for disadvantaged pupils and the ‘intent’ section of their PP strategy document. PP leaders will be supported to consider ways of ensuring that their school’s intent for disadvantaged pupils is lived in the day-to-day practice of all colleagues.
The agenda will include lots of opportunity for discussion with colleagues, as well as a presentation from a school, and information on the latest research and resources.
Please bring your PP strategy with you to the meeting (either as hard copy or electronically).
Emily Waddilove - Teaching and Learning Adviser Emily.waddilove@wokingham.gov.uk
Last chance to book only 2 spaces still available
Wokingham SENDIASS Training Programme
Book now via MyLearning
Education Health and Care Plans—A Guide for Professionals
This workshop is aimed at any professional who may work with families with children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities. Many of you will work with children with Special Educational Needs and may be supporting a family who has an EHCP or is applying for one.
This SENDIASS training course will help you to understand the process and to participate fully.
Target audience: Children’s Service staff, SENCOs, SEN staff in schools, inclusion managers and family support workers.
Available Dates:
15th June 2023 10:00am—11:00am Virtual Delivery
Course Link
Please note: There is no charge for attending this event, however our late cancellation and non-attendance charges apply (see below*)
All bookings are via our on-line booking portal – MyLearning: http://wokingham.learningpool.com If you have not used MyLearning before you will need to register before booking. If you have any problems creating your account or logging in please contact childrens.servicesLD@wokingham.gov.uk for assistance.
Flyer
How to create a MyLearning account
January 2023 School Census Data: Ethnicity/ EAL
Data from the January school census has now been collated and analysed. The data on ethnicity and EAL shows that, at the time of the census:
- 1% of Wokingham primary school pupils were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, compared to 34.8% nationally.
- 6% of Wokingham secondary school pupils were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, compared to 34.1% nationally.
- 4% of Wokingham primary school pupils were EAL learners, compared to 21.2% nationally.
- 7% of Wokingham secondary school pupils were EAL learners, compared to 17.5% nationally.
The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds in Wokingham schools has increased by 2.7% since the school census in January 2022 (a bigger increase than in previous years).
The percentage of EAL pupils in Wokingham schools has increased by 3% since the school census in January 2022 (a bigger increase than usual – the average increase in the three previous years has been 2.1%).
There are 114 main different languages spoken in Wokingham schools. (141 languages including all varieties of each language and British Sign Language.)
Chinese languages are now the second most spoken languages in schools in the borough, after English. At the time of the census there were 1,171 Chinese speaking pupils in Wokingham schools – compared to 690 in January 2022, and 264 in January 2021 (the month in which the Hong Kong British National Overseas visa launched.)
As with the data in previous years, there are ways in which we can improve our data collection as a borough for languages and ethnicity.
Please find HERE some areas for development in relation to schools’ collection and recording of language and ethnicity data.
Emily Waddilove - Teaching and Learning Adviser Emily.waddilove@wokingham.gov.uk
Refugee Week 19th – 25th June
Refugee Week is a UK-wide celebration of the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Refugee Week is held every year around World Refugee Day on 20th June. In 2023, Refugee Week takes place from 19th-25th June.
The theme for Refugee Week 2023 is ‘Compassion’.
Schools can explore what compassion looks like in action and how arts and culture can help widen our circles of compassion with the activities and resources provided in a free Childrens and Young People’s Pack from Counterpoint Arts.
Further exciting events and useful resources to support schools to celebrate the week can be found here: Refugee Week - Literacy Hive
An item in Education News before half term shared information about a Great Big Live Assembly for World Refugee Day on the 20th June. You can sign up to join the Great Big Live Assembly and find out more information here.
Emily Waddilove - Teaching and Learning Adviser Emily.waddilove@wokingham.gov.uk
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June is Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month |
Since 2008, every June people from across the UK have celebrated Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month (GRT).
GRT History Month celebrates the unique and diverse histories, cultures and languages of these communities in the UK, and also the considerable and outstanding contributions made by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and communities to wider society.
Through celebration, education and raising awareness, the month helps to tackle prejudice, challenge myths and to amplify the voices of those communities.
This year the theme is “Weaving Journeys: A celebration of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller lives, histories and cultures”. The theme will focus on patterns of travel, spanning across the past, and leading to the future.
An Education pack to increase understanding and engagement with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month across schools and prisons can be downloaded from the link above. You'll find resources such as a competition for children to design their own patterns, and a how-to guide on raising awareness of and celebrating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month.
Further information about Gypsy, Roma and Traveller lifestyle, history and culture can be found here: The Travellers Times - Online FAQ Pack - Lifestyle, History and Culture
Emily Waddilove - Teaching and Learning Adviser Emily.waddilove@wokingham.gov.uk
Update From Wokingham Borough Council On The Uk Committee For UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Child Friendly Cities And Communities Programme
We are writing to you to let you know there has been a change to the proposed timescale for Wokingham Borough Council’s involvement in the UNICEF UK Child Friendly Cities and Communities programme.
Our participation in the three-to-five year initiative is part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that all children and young people experience their human rights in action and that they play a part in the development of services which affect them and their families, and are empowered to have a meaningful voice in the Borough.
As an effort to keep you updated on the development of this programme, we would like to let you know that Wokingham Borough Council has taken the decision to pause our work with the programme due to the need to reprioritise resources in the short term. However, we will be re-joining the programme from 1st February 2024.
We have a work plan in place to address the development of meaningful participation and engagement mechanisms for all children and young people, including those whose voices are often marginalised and unheard. We will be strengthening our governance arrangements and carrying out preparatory research in advance of re-entry to the programme to ensure that we are in the strongest possible position to continue our work on the programme in 2024.
We would like to take the time to thank any schools and pupils, who participated in our discovery phase, and to ensure you that all data and information collected to date will be used to strengthen our participation work with children and young people in the Borough.
If you have any questions please contact the project officer: Sarah.desson@wokingham.gov.uk
 A picture containing 2 toddlers drawing with pens
The University of Reading is involved with a Masters research project that will explore school staff understanding of and attitudes towards local mental health services available to the children and young people they work with.
We would like to invite you to participate in a survey around child and adolescent mental health. It is hoped that this information will provide more targeted training as part of the PPEPCare project which currently offers free training in mental health to schools across Berkshire (see this LINK for further information). This work has been approved by the University of Reading (School of Psychology and Clinical Language Science).
Anyone working within the school who has contact with the children would be eligible to participate - the link is within the attached flyer, and the survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete.
Thank you so much in advance for your time and help with this.
Majid Ali – Schools Improvement Officer
Majid.Ali@wokingham.gov.uk
Educational Visits / Evolve
For information and queries regarding Educational Visits and Evolve please click on the link below
Safeguarding Updates
Please click on this link for the latest edition of the BWSCP Safeguarding Updates
PRIMARY
 Phonics Screening Check Monitoring Visits
As headteachers will be aware, the LA has a duty to monitor the delivery of the Phonics Screening Check. Monitoring visits help to ensure that the security and confidentiality of check materials are maintained, and that the check is administered correctly and consistently.
Most monitoring visits will take place in the week of Monday 12th June, but the LA is also obliged to carry out monitoring visits just before and just after the check period. Visits before the check period will take place during the week of the 5th June; visits after the check period will take place from Monday 19th June.
Visits will be carried out by Emily Waddilove, Majid Ali and Anne Stopforth.
Visits will include, where applicable:
- Monitoring of: unopened check packs and their storage; storage of opened check materials; annotated delivery notes; the rooms being used for administering the check; storage of completed answer sheets; preparations for submission of check data
- Discussion about the suitability of the members of staff delivering the check
- Observation of some checks being conducted
The monitoring visitor will complete a monitoring visits form. At the end of the visit, the visitor will need to meet with the headteacher, or delegated member of staff, to discuss their findings. Both the visitor and headteacher need to sign the monitoring visit form to confirm the visit took place and that feedback has been provided by the visitor. A copy of the form will be left with the school.
Visits will be conducted in line with STA’s guidance document for LA monitoring visits which can be found HERE
As stated in the monitoring visits guidance, officers will present photo identification on arrival at a school.
2023 guidance documents related to phonics screening checks:
Emily Waddilove - Teaching and Learning Adviser Emily.waddilove@wokingham.gov.uk
TRAINING: COURSES AND CONFERENCES
 Please check out the Schools Hub for details of training sessions.
NOTE: Not all training is advertised on the Schools Hub. Some training is always or regularly available on 'My Learning' so we recommend checking it out regularly for training such as;
Asbestos Awareness Training
Emergency First Aid at Work
Fire Safety
Fire Warden
Managing Health and Safety
Risk Assessor Training
Safer Recruitment
HELP and FAQs
Who do I contact at the council?
Did you know there is a list of useful contacts at WBC on the Schools Hub webpages? Follow the instructions on the page. You will need your school login to access it.
Where can I find training and resources?
Please don’t forget to drop into the Shared Document Store on the Schools Hub for all the resources available from our Roundtable, drop-in and training sessions. You will need your school login to access the store. If you can’t find your login, please email us at schoolsimprovement@wokingham.gov.uk and we can send you a reminder.
How do I book a training course with the council?
Most courses are listed on the Schools Hub Calendar and will make it
clear how to book. You will either need to book using the booking form provided and quoting the course code or you will need to request to book by emailing schools.teams@wokingham.gov.uk
How do I book a course that is on My Learning?
Courses advertised as being on 'My Learning' need to be booked directly, by the delegate, on the My Learning website. My Learning is a personal training tool it requires the individual learner to book using their email address and password which they set up the first time they log in. My Learning will then be able to keep a record of the training that an individual has completed as well as provide a certificate of completion. This is essential with Health and Safety courses.
How to create a My Learning account
What's the key information I need for emergency planning? Guidance for schools on emergency planning is available in the Rainbow Plan which is available via a ‘login only’ Shared Documents webpages of the Wokingham Schools Hub (WSH). If you don’t know your WSH login details please contact SchoolsImprovement@wokingham.gov.uk. If you have questions about how to complete the Rainbow Plan, contact community.resilience@wokingham.gov.uk.
COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT SCHOOL CLOSURES Confirm decisions to close immediately by email to schools.alert@wokingham.gov.uk and cc’ing your Attached Officer. Contact your Attached Officer if you are looking for advice on a closure, before confirming to the schools alert inbox.
Where multiple schools are closed, the Council will support with communication as appropriate, such as displaying information on our website and communicating with local radio stations, if needed.
EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBERS
Customer Services 0118 974 6000 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm)
Property services: (0118) 974 6789 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 5pm,)
Out of hours emergencies: 0800 212111 (out of hours, weekends and bank holidays)
Public Health - UKHSA Thames Valley Health Protection Team: 0344 225 3861 (24/7)
Seeing this update for the first time? To sign up for the term-time weekly updates email education.news@wokingham.gov.uk and we'll add you to the list.
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