Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to this week’s issue of Education Essex.
I am looking forward to meeting current and new colleagues at the upcoming events taking place over the next few days, including the termly meeting for Secondary Headteachers tomorrow, as well as, a welcome event for new Headteachers next Monday, 30 September 2013.
All governors are invited to our termly Communications meetings in each of the 4 quadrants.These meetings provide a local forum for guidance, dialogue and consultation between the Local Authority and governing bodies on strategic issues of governance and related Local Authority policies and practice. Please see the attached invitationfor more information. For governors in secondary schools, we are also putting on special ALPS Project Briefing sessions – please see the attached invitation for further details.
I would also like to congratulate Lee Faris, the Foundation Stage Leader at Briscoes Primary School in Basildon, for being shortlisted for a prestigious national award with the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.Lee has been nominated and shortlisted for the award of Inspiring Educator. Voting is online and closes on Friday1November 2013.
In this week’s issue:
School Updates
- Closures and Partial Closures
- Collection of On Entry FSP data (autumn 2013)
- Clarification to schools on the use of holiday codes
- SEN Recoupment Mainstream Schools
- School Census – Autumn Term 2013
- Health and Safety Advice for Schools
- The 2014 national curriculum for primary schools
- SENCO Bulletin – 24 September 2013
- Safeguarding Children with the Internet, Social Media and Mobile Phones
- Positive Assertive Confidence Skills (Pacs) - Free Training For Years 5,6 7 And 8
- Autumn and Winter Warmer car parking for just £10!!
- Your Essex – Autumn Edition
Tim Coulson
Director of Education and Learning
School Updates
- Closures and Partial Closures
- Collection of On Entry FSP data (autumn 2013)
- Clarification to schools on the use of holiday codes
- SEN Recoupment Mainstream Schools
- School Census – Autumn Term 2013
- Health and Safety Advice for Schools
- The 2014 national curriculum for primary schools
Audience:Headteacher
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
The Department for Education has informed Local Authorities that they wish to collate information about the impact of the Industrial Action on Tuesday 1 October 2013.
We request all schools notify the Schools Communication Team as to whether your school will be closed, partially closed or open on Tuesday 1 October 2013 by emailing .
Collection of On Entry FSP data (autumn 2013)
Audience:Headteacher
Phase:EYFSInfantPrimary
School Type:All
Following on from the current Department for Education consultation on Primary assessment and accountability as part of the proposed national curriculum changes, Essex County Council is offering schools the opportunity to return their entry level data this year so we can share comparative on-entry data across Essex schools and prepare ourselves for the possibility of a compulsory collection in Autumn 2014.
Early Years and Target Tracker staff are planning to start a collection of EYFS on-entry level data during the autumn term 2013.
Schools will be able to submit their entry level assessment data using EYFS target Tracker Version 6 or Primary Tracker version 14. All on-entry data will need to be submitted by Friday 15 November 2013. Version 6 of EYFS Target Tracker will return the latest assessment data that is entered, so it is important thatyou should not enter post-entry-level assessment until afteryou have extracted the data for the return.Further instructions will be made available to schools by mid-October.
If you do not currently subscribe to Target Tracker but are interested in doing so:
Visit:
Contact: Target tracker Team
Telephone: 01245 213 141
Clarification to schools on the use of holiday codes
Audience:Headteacher/ Administration Staff
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
Following enquiries received regarding clarification on the use of the holiday codes F, G and H please see the following update:
As you are aware, amendments to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations removed all references to family holidays and the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that head teachers may only grant leave of absence during term time in exceptional circumstance and they have to determine the period of the leave. This means that code F – authorised absence due to agreed extended family holiday – has effectively become redundant.
The Department for Education has asked software suppliers to disable code F in their systems from January 2014 onwards or, if they are able to do so, from September 2013 onwards. Code H, ‘Authorised absence due to agreed family’, and code G, ‘Unauthorised absence as pupil is on a family holiday, not agreed, or for taking days in excess of an agreed family holiday’, will be retained in order to measure the impact of the changes to regulations.In the 2014 Spring School Census, code F may be returned for absences during the 2013 autumn term and any such absences will be aggregated with those with code H. Code F will not however be collected in the 2014 Summer School Census and so schools will not be able to use it for the recording of absences during the 2014 spring term.
For further information or if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact your local EWS Duty Officer.
SEN Recoupment Mainstream Schools
Audience:Headteacher/ Finance Officer
Phase:All Phases
School Type:Mainstream Schools
Please see the SEN Recoupment Letter2013 – 14 on the Finance Documentspage under Special Educational Needs and Additional Educational Needs, which provides important information on how to recoup for High Need Block pupils from other local authorities attending your school.
It is important to note the contents as responsibility for providing top up funding for High Needs Block pupils now rests with the Commissioning Authority and if that Authority is not Essex it is a requirement of the Schools Funding Reform that the providing school recoups the cost of additional support directly from the Commissioning Authority.If you have High Needs Block pupils in your school from Other Authorities you will need to follow these instructions to ensure your school does not lose out financially.
For further information:
Contact: SEN Planning and Provision Development
Email:
Telephone: 01245 437 054
Visit: Special Educational Needs and Additional Educational Needs, Essex Schools Infolink
School Census – Autumn Term 2013
Audience:Headteacher
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
The 2013 Autumn School Census will be held on Thursday, 3 October 2013.
Local authority maintained schools are asked to upload their census files to the COLLECT website by Wednesday, 9 October. The Department for Education will advise academies directly about their required return deadline.All schools are reminded that COLLECT is now accessed through the ‘Secure Access’ web portal.
School Census guidance, including details of how to submit your return to COLLECT, is available on School Census, Essex Schools Infolink.
Please refer any queries about the content of the census to our helpline on 01245-436885.Guidance on how to create the School Census return will be provided by your management information system supplier, and any system related enquiries should be referred to their helpdesk.
For further information:
Contact: Data Collection & Maintenance Team
Email:
Telephone: 01245 436 885
Visit: School Census, Essex Schools Infolink
Health and Safety Advice for Schools
Audience:Headteacher/ Chair of Governors
Phase:All Phases
School Type:AcademyFoundationVoluntary AidedIndependent
Academies, Foundation, Voluntary Aided, and Independent schools are reminded that as part of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, they should ensure they have access to competent Health and Safety advice.
Essex County Council’s Corporate Health and Safety can provide an advisory service to schools supported by a dedicated team of health and safety professionals. The services include a dedicated phone and email support service, as well as, access to health and safety procedures, guidance and templates on Essex Schools Infolink. Please see attached service level agreementand application form.
Schools wishing to purchase a service elsewhere are reminded that they should ensure that they purchase a service from a competent company or consultant with education experience.A list of the registered consultants with their areas of expertise can be found on the Health and Safety Executives, Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR)
For further information:
Contact: Essex County Council Corporate Health and Safety
Email:
Telephone: 01245 436 896
The 2014 national curriculum for primary schools
Audience:Headteacher/ Literacy Coordinator/ Teaching Staff
Phase:InfantJuniorPrimary
School Type:All
The final Programmes of Study and guidance for the National Curriculum were published on Wednesday 11 September 2013.
We are committed to providing on-going support to all schools in Essex as they review their current curriculum provision and prepare for the full implementation of the new curriculum in September 2014.We are developing a menu of support, to include the following:
- Courses to support subject leaders, curriculum managers and phase leaders.
- Publications to support curriculum planning and assessment including progression guidance in mathematics and English: available later in the autumn term
- Senior leadership briefings
- Spring / summer term conferences
- Bespoke consultancy and CPD
If you wish to discuss bespoke support for your school or consortium:
Contact: Schools’ Learning and Development Team
Email:
Telephone: 01245 434 300
Visit: Schools Learning and Development
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Continuous Professional Development
- SENCO Bulletin – 24 September 2013
- Safeguarding Children with the Internet, Social Media and Mobile Phones
Audience:SENCO
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
This edition of the SENCO Bulletin contains information on:
- Secondary SENCO Conference – Wednesday 16 October 2013 at Chelmsford City FC
- Communication Connects Conference – Tuesday 5 November 2013 at Chelmsford City FC
- SENCO up-date meetings
- ‘Let’s get …’ courses for TAs new to supporting pupils with SEN
- Opportunities for Level 4 accredited courses for experienced TAs
- SENCO drop-in meetings
Please contact us if you need any further information:
Contact: INSET Team
Telephone: 01268 632360
Visit: SENCO Bulletin, Essex Schools Infolink
Safeguarding Children with the Internet, Social Media and Mobile Phones
Audience:Headteacher/ Teaching and Support Staff
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
Colleagues wanting to learn more about how potential perpetrators of abuse use the internet to access children and young people are invited to attend Safeguarding Children with the Internet, Social Media and Mobile Phones provided by the Essex Safeguarding Children Board.
The session provides further information on:
- The benefits and risks for children and young people who access the internet, social media, mobile phones and games
- The potential for risk and harm for children and young people who access the internet, social media, mobile phones and games
For further information and to book your place:
Contact: Lorenda Paul, Team Administrator, Essex Safeguarding Children Board
Email:
Telephone: 01245 435 168
Visit: Essex Safeguarding Children Board
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School Visits, Events and Resources
- Positive Assertive Confidence Skills (Pacs) - Free Training For Years 5,6 7 And 8
- Autumn and Winter Warmer car parking for just £10!!
- Your Essex – Autumn Edition
Audience:Headteacher/ Pastoral Leader
Phase:InfantJuniorPrimary
School Type:All
Essex County Council is delighted to be working in partnership with the charity Kidscape to offer their Positive, Assertive, Confidence, Skills (PACS) programme to young people in years 5, 6, 7 and 8.
The PACS programme is delivered to groups of approximately 10 students by a PACS trainer and learning mentor from the school who work with the children over a period of 6 weeks.During the sessions the children are challenged to look at the impact their behaviour has on others and gives them an opportunity to explore different ways of responding to difficult situations.
PACS has been fully funded by the Big Lottery Realising Ambition Programme.
We will officially be celebrating the launch of the PACS programme at an exciting event to be held at Wat Tyler Country Park, Basildon on Friday 8 November.Further details will follow soon but if you would like to register your interest please email Samia Uddin on 01245 436012 or by email
We still have a few places available for the programme this term and If you are interested in finding out more:
Contact: Julie Keating
Email:
Telephone: 01245 436 012
Autumn and Winter Warmer car parking for just £10!!
Essex Country Parks
Audience:All Staff/ Pupils/ Parents and Carers
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
Following the success of the summer car parking ticket, Essex Country Parks are now offering a £10 Autumn and Winter Warmer unlimited car parking ticket.
Please find attached a digital poster and flyer which we are happy for you to share with colleagues, parents and carers through your school website and newsletter. The ticket will be valid from 1 October right through to 31 December and can be purchased online.It offers the bearer unlimited car parking (for one registered car) across the chargeable seven Essex County Council managed country parks; Belhus Woods, Cudmore Grove, Danbury, Great Notley, Hadleigh, Thorndon and Weald.
Visit the Visit Parks websiteto purchase the Country Parks £10 Autumn and Winter Warmer car parking offer or for further information on seasonal activities and outdoor fun.
For further information:
Contact: Emily Patel
Email:
Visit: Visit Parks
Your Essex – Autumn Edition
Audience:All Staff
Phase:All Phases
School Type:All
The autumn edition of Your Essex e-magazineis out now - packed with news and inspiration for things to do over the coming weeks.
Essex County Council’s free magazine for residents highlights all that’s great about this county including the wealth of innovative work taking place in Essex schools.
Take a look at our education section – In the Classroom – where stories include a feature about a STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) project, which encourages girls to consider roles in traditionally male-dominated industries, the success of a reading scheme, news from three inspiring Essex pupils who have been recognised for their sporting achievements plus a new outside play area in Hylands Park.
And subscribers have the chance to win a special set of travel books courtesy of Oxygen Books. Subscribe now(if you haven’t already).
For further information or if you wish to feature a story about your school in the magazine:
Email:
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Education Essex is written by the Schools Communications team. If you have any comments or would like something included in a future edition of Education Essex please contact us:
Telephone: 01245 434745 Extension: 40745
Email:
Previous editions of Education Essex can be found on the Essex Schools Infolink website by visiting the Home page > General Information > Education Essex
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Look out for the next issue of Education Essex in your mailboxesTuesday 1 October 2013
Please contact our Schools Communication Team if you or your colleagues would like to receive Education Essex by email every Tuesday.
Top 5 Essex Schools Infolink Pages visited this week:
- Human Resources
- Oracle
- Finance
- Education Essex
- Health and Safety
Useful Links
- Essex Teaching Awards – Nominations open
- Department for Education
- Essex County Council website
- Professional Learning and Development website
- School Workforce Census – Begins 7 November 2013
- Your Essex, free online residents’ magazine, packed with information about services and the county.
© 2013 Essex County Council