/ Urgent and important stories...!
Early Years SEN Inclusion Fund Consultation - The Local Authority are consulting with schools and early years providers in the private, voluntary and independent sector who offer funded places to 2, 3 and 4 years olds on the proposed Early Years SEN Inclusion Fund.The consultation period runs from Monday 18th September to Friday 29th September 2017. To complete the consultation please visit:
South Asian Cultural Festival 2017 - September will see arts, cultural and community partners from across Nottingham launch theSouth Asian Cultural Festival - the first of its kind anywhere in the UK. The month is a celebration of the culture and heritage of people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have settled, flourished and contributed to the vibrancy of the city. Celebrations began on Sunday 27th August with renowned poets and dignitaries coming together at the central Hindu Temple, Carlton Road, with an all-welcome, free Grand KaviSammelan. For more information on the South Asian Cultural Festival please visit:
/ Important but not urgent stories...!
Book your Free RSPB Schools Outreach Session - Since the start of the RSPB’s Schools Outreach Project, 10,000 Nottingham pupils have benefitted fromfree hands-on RSPB Schools Outreach sessions in their school grounds, enabling them to explore habitats, connect with nature and learn about wildlife on their doorstep.If you would like to book a session for this school year, the RSPB’s Schools Outreach Officer, Rosalind Allen, would be pleased to hear from you. For more information please visit:
Road Safety Team - The Road Safety Team at Nottingham City Council invites all primary/academy schools in the city to take part in our fun and healthy walking initiative “Footprints”. The project has proved to be a huge success with over 11,000 children taking part in 2016. Footprints is designed to be curriculum friendly, easy to organise and fun to take part in. It is also a valuable part of your school travel plan.For more information please visit:
Free School Furniture - Glade Hill Primary School have a selection of surplus school furniture which they are giving away.The furnitureis availablefor collection and a donation to the school fund is suggested (if possible). To view the furniture, please visit:
DfE Consultation Outcome - Primary school pupil assessment: Rochford Review recommendations - The government has published its response to the consultation on the recommendations of the Rochford Review of assessment arrangements for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum tests. For more information please visit:
DfE Consultation: Functional Skills Subject Content Consultation - The Government is reforming functional skills qualifications to improve their relevance and content, and to build their recognition and credibility in the labour market. The Department for Education is therefore seeking views on proposed subject content for revised mathematics and English functional skills. The deadline is 7th November 2017.To participate please visit:
Free Anti-Bullying Workshop for Schools - This anti-bullying workshop is part of the All Together programme, which the Anti-Bullying Alliance is delivering in partnership with Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.For more information please visit:
DfE Update: School inspection update - These updates (academic year 2017 to 2018)for inspectors and stakeholders contain information and guidance about Ofsted's inspection work inschools. For more information please visit:
Free Diabetes Training- Training dates are available for staff to attend to gain awareness, knowledge and skills around managing Type 1 diabetes.The free training willhelp staff to ensure those with the conditionare managing their diabetes safely and effectively allowing them to achieve their full academic potential. For more information, please visit:
Free PSHE Network Event for Primary Schools - The PSHE Advisory Service are running a free primary PSHE network event on 16th October at The College Street Centre, 3.45-5.45pm. There will be the opportunity for schools to find out what support they can access through the service, sharing good practice and an overview of the new Primary PSHE Entitlement resource that is replacing the current skills ladder.For more information, please visit:
Kellogg’s Breakfast Club Grants Programme - Schools in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland can apply for grants of up to £1,000 to support Breakfast Clubs. For more information please visit:
DfE Guidance: Get Information About Schools -This service, previously called Edubase, can be used by Educational professionals to search for and update establishment details. For more information please visit:
Primary Parliament – Primary Parliament 2016-17 Evaluation report, Future Plans 2017-18, and Primary Parliament session dates/themes for the coming academic year are now available.We will continue our aim to engage a larger number of schools in the coming year, in particular those that have not been able to attend in previous years and invite all Nottingham City primary schools and academies to be involved.For more information and booking details please visit:
Christmas Truce Play - The Martin Luther King Peace Committee has also launched a new key stage 2 (primary school) Christmas play based on the widely-used Christmas Truces resources the Peace Committee created three years back. As the WW1 centenary commemorations are entering their final Christmas period, this is an opportunity to help primary school children think about WW1 through the lens of the remarkable, temporary rejection of it in December 1914. For more information please visit:
Grant Opportunity - AXA has launched a road safety crowdfunding campaign to enable local communities to source funds for safety initiatives. Formore information please visit:
DfE Guidance: School teachers’ pay and conditions - Guidance to help schools and governing bodies develop their approach to teachers' and school leaders' pay. For more information please visit:
Special Schools Summer Term Adjustments - For a copy of the special schools summer term adjustments, please visit:
Safeguarding Children in Education Training Programme - The Safeguarding Training Pathway is a toolkit which professionals should use to ascertain the most appropriate training required by staff to enable them to undertake their duties and take an effective and efficient role in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Please be advised that we are currently running a reduced Training Timetable. The NCSCB website will be updated at half termly intervals with available courses. For more information please visit:
The 11th Annual East Midlands Network Day: Saturday 23rdSeptember 2017, 09:30 – 15:15 - You are invited to the 11th annual Institute of Physics East Midlands Network Day at Ockbrook School. This popular annual conference features a keynote lecture presented by Dave Cotton, IoP Teacher Network coordinator in Preston, entitled “Tones, Tines and Tings” – a short discourse on the development of ideas and usage of oscillation and vibration in music and beyond. For more information please visit:
NQT Induction Programme Registration 2017: NQTs Induction Programme 2017 - 2018 - If you haven’t already registered your NQTs for this academic year, registration is now open. The registration form and other induction information can be found by visiting: and the form can be found under ‘Essential Information Documents’. The deadline for registrations is Friday 20th October 2017. Please remember that without QTS, NQTs are not eligible to complete the Induction programme. There are some exemptions to this rule, which can be found in the DfE guidance handbook ‘Annex B’: For further assistance, please contact Mavis Bartley on 0115 8765039 or email:
National Justice Museum - The National Justice Museum Education team are holding a free open evening for teachers and educators on Wednesday 27th September 2017 4pm-6pm at the National Justice Museum, Lace Market, Nottingham. This will include presentations from ChalleNGe (Nottingham’s Cultural Education Partnership) and The Mighty Creatives. Attendees can also take part in two short interactive workshops and hear more about exciting new education programmes and projects available for schools and groups. For more information please visit: or to book a place email:
Mental Health and Wellbeing in Nottingham: How we can all make a difference: 2nd to 6th October 2017 - This event is a series of sessions over a one week period open to everyone who works within the Children's and Adults Workforce in the City of Nottingham. These are free raising awareness sessions run from 1 to 3 hours; giving you an opportunity to learn something new and network with the workforce from a range of different organisations. To find out more about these free sessions and how to request a place please visit:
Nottingham City SEND Strategy:Consultation meeting for all schools - The date of this meeting has now been changed to Tuesday 14th November. All Schools are invited to send two representatives to a consultation meeting on Tuesday 14th November, to inform the development of the Nottingham City SEND Strategy. This session will update participants about the national and local context and provide an opportunity for senior leaders to contribute to the strategic decision making process. Further details about the event will be circulated in September.
Nottingham City DSL in Schools Conference – The conference is on 18th October 2017, 8.30am arrival and registration for 9.15am start, until 3.15pm and is strictly one DSL per Nottingham City School/Academy. The keynote speaker is Andrew Hall. For further details please visit: you will find a flyer and booking form to download. The cost is £30.
Apprenticeship Levy Schools - From April 2017, the way the government funds apprenticeships in England changed. The City Council and its maintained schools are now required to contribute to the Levy. For more information please visit:
Robin Hood Under 19 Smartcards - There are now two Robin Hood Smartcards for under 19 travel, both allowing good value travel on all buses and trams within Greater Nottingham. The Robin Hood PayAsYouGo smartcard stores electronic money and charges the cheapest daily fare for any travel made, whether it's on one operator or several operators. For more information please visit:
Safer Recruitment Courses - From September 2017, the HR Advisory team will be running a half-day Safer Recruitment course. This course has been designed to meet the requirements of the School Staffing (England) Regulations 2009 to ensure that at least one person on any appointment panel has undertaken safer recruitment training. It will cover your legal duties and vigilance to keep children safe at all stages of the recruitment process, warning signs, how to interview and test applicants, pre-employment checks and how to address concerns. To book please email delegate(s) name, job title, school, email and phone details and first and second preferred dates to:
Young Black Achievers' Awards 2017 - Nottingham City Council's Equality and Community Relations Team alongside IDEAL are organising the Young Black Achievers' Awards. Children/young people of African, African-Caribbean and Black Mixed Heritage between the ages of 5 and 18 years who live in Nottingham City or are studying in Nottingham City schools/academies are eligible for nomination. For more information on the awards please visit:
/ Stories you might find interesting...!
DfE News: Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund - Six leading organisations, including the Teacher Development Trust, Teach First and the Institute of Physics, will share a fund worth almost £17million as part of the government’s drive to support and spread great teaching to provide teachers with skills and knowledge-based training. For more information please visit:
DfE Guidance: Cloud Services and Data Protection - Advice and information document issued by the Department for Education to help recipients understand some of the key principles and their obligations and duties in relation to the Data Protection Act 1998 when considering moving some or all of their software services to internet-based "cloud" service provision. For more information please visit:
Annual Financial Education Conference 2017 - The Centres of Excellence programme offers schools the support and expertise to be able to deliver practical, effective and sustainable financial education to their pupils. Young Enterprise achieve this by providing a whole school improvement framework, a set of professional standards through which excellence in financial education is achievable and exemplary. For more information please visit:
Sharewear Schools Partnership Programme - Sharewear is a Nottingham based charity, providing clothing and bedding for referred families in crisis.Sharewear opened a partnership scheme to build relationships with schools and colleges last year and are continuing to grow this scheme.Being a partner school means staff can refer children and families for the services that Sharewear provide. For more information please visit:
Nottingham Contemporary - You are invited to the launch party ofNottingham Contemporary'snext exhibition, States of America: Photography from the Civil Rights Movement to the Reagan Era. Be the first to see the show, and enjoy live music by roots and blues guitarist, King Size Slim, and a DJ set from Stiff Kittens. For more information please visit:
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