CROSSPHASE
MESSAGE FROM MING ZHANG, SERVICE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND SEND
Dear colleagues,
As we are in this school exam week, I had a little fun over the weekend trying out a mock Maths GCSE paper — just to see how much I’ve forgotten after all these years! Let’s just say that I have only managed to score enough to keep my day job, but it really gave me insight into the intellectual challenge our Year 11 students are facing in this exam period. So, I want to start my weekly wrap-up with a huge thank-you to all school staff, parents and everyone supporting our pupils through their exams - whether it was KS2 pupils tackling SATs last week or our KS4 and KS5 students currently in the midst of GCSEs and A Levels. Wishing all our exam-takers the very best of luck!
It’s a busy week here in Wokingham schools, with recruitment for September’s teaching positions closing on the 31st May. Many schools are working tirelessly to secure the best staff and complete promotion moves - including supporting the headteacher recruitment at Lambs Lane and Radstock Primary. Your efforts are truly appreciated!
On another note, our SENCO induction programme wrapped up this week, after six sessions led by our Area SENCO Helen and Deputy Area SENCO Kathryn since September 2024. This new programme is designed to empower our SENCOs to enhance inclusion at mainstream schools. I’m delighted to share that 16 SENCOs successfully graduated this Monday — congratulations to all! And I must share some fantastic feedback from one of our participants:
“Just wanted to say that this course was perfect - exactly what I needed as a new SENDCO. Very useful and based on on-the-ground needs. I also wanted to say thank you for the support … it has been invaluable …”
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Well done, Helen and Kathryn, and congratulations to our SENCO graduates!
Have a restful half-term break.
Ming - Service Director of Education and SEND
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IMPORTANT CHANGES TO WBC TEAMS MEETINGS
Dear Colleagues
Starting today there will now be screenings on meetings to check for unauthorised external AI bots (Artificial Intelligence Robots) which has seen a rise of use in recent weeks. We are making this change to enhance our security.
School colleagues, and indeed any external guest, will be asked a screening question when joining meetings to prove they are human. This screening means that unauthorised external transcribing AI bots can’t be added.
 example of verification question on screen
Wednesday 18th June 2025
7.00 – 9.00 pm
Flavell Suite, Sindlesham Court, Wokingham
An opportunity for governors to hear from Public Health colleagues about the Marmot principles which ensure that Wokingham is a place where everyone can thrive.
A Marmot borough is somewhere that recognises that to create a community where everyone can thrive we need the right building blocks of health and wellbeing in place. A Marmot approach improves the outcomes for everyone but with a focus on those who have the greatest need and the worst outcomes.
There will be an opportunity to hear how this approach is working across Foundry College as the Headteacher will be joining to outline the impact so far.
If governors are interested in attending please email school.governors@wokingham.gov.uk. For those who buy in for the governor services traded offer there are 3 free places available and for those who not there is a £100 per delegate charge.
CONTRACTOR MANAGEMENT
A school has been fined after pleading guilty to breaching their duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The school was fined £20,000 (and ordered to pay £4,344 in costs) after a member of the public was hit by a tree being felled by a contractor.
The academy trust had not
- checked that the contractor had the right experience, training and qualifications to undertake the work,
- considered how the contractor intended to do the work safely, or those that might be affected before work started,
- stopped the work continuing after the incident had occurred.
Steps to take:
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Choose a qualified contractor: Make sure they have the skills and knowledge to work safely and without risks to the health and safety of any person.
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Assess risks before starting: Evaluate the potential health and safety risks of the planned work.
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Monitor contractor activities: Ensure they follow the school’s safety rules and the agreed safe work system.
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Stop work after an incident: Investigate the causes and take corrective actions.
Resources:
Anna Norris
Health and Safety Advisor
healthandsafety@wokingham.gov.uk
 SAFEGUARDING DROP-IN
A reminder for Designated Safeguarding Leads or their deputies to join the next online Safeguarding Drop-in session on Thursday 5th June 3:00pm to 4:00pm.
The session will cover helpful information about the School Nursing Service, some upcoming training on Child Financial Exploitation Prevention, and to hear about the Helping Early work Wokingham is doing around increasing the offer of parent support - and how you can help shape it.
If you haven’t yet accepted the invite, please contact Sarah Isaac at sarah.isaac@wokingham.gov.uk for the Teams link.
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 9th 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 2nd June; visits after the check period will take place from Monday 16th June.
Visits will be carried out by Emily Waddilove and Majid Ali.
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: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-screening-check-local-authority-monitoring-visits
As stated in the monitoring visits guidance, officers will present photo identification on arrival at a school.
Guidance related to phonics screening checks:
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF RECEPTION
Please advertise to Parents of Reception Starters 2025
Dear Primary School Headteacher,
It would be great if you could help us advertise this to parents who have children starting in reception this year.
This session will take place online on
In person at Hawkedon Primary School
Wednesday 11th June at 6.30pm
Online
Wednesday 18th June at 6.30pm
and will cover various appropriate areas including preparing your child for reception such as toilet training, dress/undress themselves etc.
The flyer is attached and parents will need to scan the QR code to book a place on this event which will take place online.
If you have any queries, please contact Amy Dixon at Hillside Primary School AssistantHead@hillside.wokingham.sch.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
COSHH
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 EdPartnershipTeam@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 Training Calendar (wokingham.gov.uk) and will make it
clear how to book.
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 EdPartnershipTeam@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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