Noticeboard

Noticeboard: 25 March 2021

This week's Noticeboard includes an update on the upcoming Link2ICT transion, the Early Education Entitlement and much more.

Included in this update:

Upcoming Link2ICT & BCC Transition

As per the last communications sent on 1st February 2021 via School Noticeboard and Link2ICT, Birmingham City Council are in the final stages of implementing the transition for the BCC applications used by Schools away from Link2ICT (Entrust) to Birmingham City Council. This change will take place from 1st April 2021.

What this means: - From 1 April 2021, the applications detailed below will be supported by Birmingham City Council.  Please refer to the new support arrangements for xPorter. Applications in scope:- HR Portal - Voyager Portal - AVCO AnyCommsPlus
Finance Reconciliation Files,  xPorter - can be used to run a variety of data collection / sharing jobs for your school.  (BCC will provide Advice and Guidance only for the xPorter job that supports the collection of MIS pupil data for the councils Education system)

AVCO Anycomms Plus: - As a part of the transition, we are upgrading AnyCommsPlus Portal from version 15 to 17, this will bring security enhancements, modern user interface updates and self-password reset function.  To ensure the system is kept up to date and you receive password reset notifications, please ensure your user details on the portal are updated including correct email address. The URL will remain the same: https://anycomms.birmingham.gov.uk. The upgrade will take place on 31st March 2021 between 08:00:10:00am. The system will be down for 2 hours. Please refer to AnycommsPlus School Guidance Notes which details the version 17 system changes, this can be viewed on the URL below from 22nd March 2021

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20014/schools_and_learning/2337/school_support_service/2

BCC ServiceNow Schools Portal & Interim Support Arrangements: As mentioned previously there will be a new BCC ServiceNow Schools Portal available for schools to use to log calls, work is currently underway developing this Portal, which is planned for implementation later in 2021. As an interim contingency process, Schools will be able to fill out the appropriate support request form from the Birmingham.gov.uk website, the URL is https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/school_support_service  which will be LIVE on 1st April 2021. This webpage will provide the ‘FAQ / Advice & Guidance’ you can read before you complete the form. The completed form will be sent to BCC IT&D School Support Service mailbox to manage your request.  You will receive an email confirming the form has been received. The Service Desk will send an email to confirm they have logged your call and provide the call reference number.

Next steps: Regular communications on progress and how schools can access the BCC ServiceNow new portal and log / manage calls can be seen on  https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/school_support_service
At this stage there is no further action required for Schools, Link2ICT will continue to support Schools for the applications in scope until 31 March 2021. They will also be managing existing calls raised up until 31st March 2021 via the normal Link2ICT Service Desk. Then all support calls from 1st April 2021, relating to the above applications will need to be logged via BCC IT&D webpage via https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/school_support_service 

If you have any questions, please feel free to direct any current support queries to - Link2ICT Service Desk - 0121 303 5100 - servicedesk@link2ict.org - www.link2ict.org/portal -  BCC Project Transition queries to - Matthew Ngai - Project Manager - BCC Information, Technology and Digital Services 
Matthew.Ngai@birmingham.gov.uk Jane James - Portfolio Manager - BCC Information, Technology and Digital Services -  Jane.James@birmingham.gov.uk

Early Education Entitlement - 30 Hours Places for Summer Term 2021

For parents to access a 30 hour funded place in Summer 2021 parents must have an eligible code on or before 31st March 2021. Parents must have applied and received their code by 31st March or reconfirmed any codes that were due to expire. The local authority cannot fund codes that have a validity start date of on or after the 1st April 2021. It is the childcare providers responsibility to check the code before offering a 30 hour place or part of a 30 hour place. You must do this by validating the code on ECS to make sure it is eligible for the current term. Further information about 30 hours and validating codes can be found on EYMIS: - www.ted-birmingham.org.uk - Username: PVI2 (please note this is a capital i not the number one). Password: PVI2year (please note this is a capital i not the number one)

Annual Tracking Cycle - Guidance Document 2021 -2022 

This return captures the details of all young people who are on roll at your establishment in academic years 11 and 12, from September 2020.

Please complete the return/check for accuracy and notify us by Friday 23rd April 2021 where a pupil is no longer on roll and their new destination or has recently joined your roll.  Please also update student details, with full address, contact telephone numbers, email addresses and include their ULN. The Insight reference numbers on the return must not be removed as we need this information to match with our Access database when it is returned for processing. All information must be provided.

For those who are no longer on your roll, please ensure that we have a new address and contact details where appropriate and the name of the new school/college/provider the young person has moved to. Without this information, we will not be able to take these young people off your roll, which may result in them becoming not known on your destination tracker. . Click Link for further information

Confirmation of Cohort Data Request - To All Providers of 14 – 19 Education and Training

This return is part of an intensive cycle of activity to ensure that every young person aged 16 or 17 participates in education or training.

Stage One: Validation of the pre-populated spreadsheet. For Year 11, this includes all young people on-roll at your institution. For Year 12, this only includes young people who are Birmingham residents. Please check for accuracy and notify us by Friday 23rd April 2021 where a pupil has joined your roll or is no longer on roll please ensure that we have a new address and contact details where appropriate and the name of the new school/college/provider the young person has moved to. Without this information, we will not be able to take these young people off your roll which may result in them becoming not known on your destination tracker.

The Insight reference numbers on the return must not be removed as we need this information to match with our Access database when it is returned for processing. All information must be provided. All completed returns to be sent back via the encryption software/secure method used within your institution to insight@birmingham.gov.uk by Friday 23rd April 2021. Failure to send in a return can result in the local authority having incorrect information on your cohort which could impact on what data is returned into the DfE for your institution. We will write out again for Stage Two of the process which will be: September Guarantee Returns for all year 11 and/or 12 (both internal and external candidates) for all offers received by young people currently on roll. September Guarantee data requests will be sent out from 10th May 2021.

Metacognition and Learning in the Primary School

Metacognition is a hot topic but it is often difficult to know how to implement it into your classroom/school. The half-day course on the Wednesday 28th April 2021 introduces the principles and considers how to implement them in a practical way. This course explores what metamemory is and the different areas of metacognition, including metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive control. You will also learn about the practical implications of metacognition for learners and teachers and the impact metacognition can make - https://www.servicesforeducation.co.uk/our-offer/metacognition-primary-school/

Risk of NEET Indicator (RoNI) Toolkit

Following on from the Risk of NEET Indicator (RoNI)  ‘Awareness Raising’ Event held for education settings on Wednesday 10th March 2021, the Local Authority have relaunched the RoNI Toolkit. The recommendations made by colleagues who attended the event have been incorporated and we are pleased to share with you the amended version with guidance notes for Pre-16 settings. Also attached is the Post 16 RoNI Toolkit which has been developed by the West Midlands Combined Authority with Birmingham Local Authority Pre-16 RoNI as a template to work from.

The Local Authority welcomes a citywide, consistent approach to identifying young people who may be at risk of disengaging from education. Please incorporate the use of these newly revised RoNI Toolkits within your education settings to support you with the early intervention of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) young people. If you have any queries, please contact a member of the 14-19 Participation and Skills Team on 07921 238 732 / 07742 405 112 - or by email: 14-9@birmingham.gov.uk

School and Governor Support (SGS), Traded Service Offer for 2021-2022

School and Governor Support Officers have reviewed and updated our service offer. Our brochure - which provides an overview of the services offered to subscribing schools and academies - is now available at this link.

85% of the family of Birmingham schools currently subscribe to our services. This continuing level of support is much appreciated and can only enhance our ability to respond to the range of issues that schools face. 

There will again be no increase in our charges from the £2,100 that applied last year. Many of you decided to sign up to the ‘Subscription Commitment for 3 years’ that we offered for the first time last year – this, as promised, will give you a 5% discount on the current subscription.

Invoices will be raised soon after Easter for maintained schools and recently converted academies. Existing academies will be invoiced as usual during September 2021 in line with their own funding arrangements.  If you do not currently subscribe and would like to, please contact us by email or telephone. We are in the process of reviewing our service linked to BCC’s statutory and non-statutory functions and will be talking to you about your future needs in an ever-changing educational landscape.  This will help us shape our future service offer. We hope that you will continue to use the services which always have been highly valued by schools and their governing bodies. fiona.chamberlain@birmingham.gov.uk

The Birmingham Assay Office competion

The Birmingham Assay Office is inviting children aged between 7 and 16 across West Midlands to design a unique logo that will signify ‘hope’ for the future.  Like the Rainbow logo launched by the Birmingham Assay Office last year, the ‘hope’ logo will be used as an optional mark that can be applied to jewellery alongside a statutory hallmark. The competition opens on 23rd March, 12 months on from the first lockdown, and all entries received will be reviewed by a panel of local judges to include West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street and Charlotte Schofield, Director of Fundraising - UHB Charity.

Once chosen, the winning design will be available to hobbyists, jewellery manufactures, jewellery retailers and members of the public. It can be lasered on gold, silver, platinum or palladium jewellery as well as a standalone logo on non-precious metal articles. How to Enter - Simply email your entry to competition@theassayoffice.co.uk no later than Friday 21st May 2021.  More information can be found here https://theassayoffice.com/assay-office-birmingham/hope-competition

IT and Business Training Available

Get All Your Staff Digitally Skilled with a FREE Online E3, L1 or L2 Qualification

E3 is basic and its mainly about navigating your way around Windows 10. Touches on all Microsoft office applications explaining what they are used for (can be achieved within 8 hours).  L1 is the basics for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Outlook - how to open, close, format, cut, copy, paste creating simple spreadsheets using formulas and PowerPoint to create slides (can be achieved within 15 hours).  L2 is advanced. Word for mail merge etc. Excel for pivot tables, macros etc. Powerpoint for advanced slide creation, as well as TEAMS and Outlook (can be achieved within 20 hours – this will involve a writeup too). The above courses are online which includes a multiple-choice exam. Course/s must be completed before 31st of July 2021.

Why not enrol today? All you need to do is email sameena.asmat@birmingham.gov.uk for an application form - www.trainbaes.co.uk

The PIPA Trial – exploring the effectiveness of an online parenting resource

The PIPA Trial is exploring the effectiveness of an online resource for parents/carers to help prevent depression and anxiety in young people. The trial is coordinated by the University of Warwick. We will be recruiting families of young people aged 11-15 years from Birmingham, Coventry and surrounding areas and are collaborating with secondary schools to promote the trial and engage with families. Involvement for schools is very easy and minimal – we will work with a key contact in your school (mental health/safeguarding lead or similar) to sign a letter agreement and send out invitations to families (we will provide all necessary documents).

The PIPA Trial is free of cost to families and schools and is conducted completely online. Parents/carers and young people who are eligible to take part will be asked to complete some questionnaires and will receive access to a range of online parenting resources.  This is a great opportunity for schools to get involved in the drive to improve youth mental health and support students and families, particularly during these unprecedented times.  If your school is interested in getting involved and would like more information please contact the trial team:  Email: PIPA@warwick.ac.uk -  Phone: 02476574316 or 02476575078 -  Website: www.warwick.ac.uk/pipa

This entry was posted by on 25/03/2021.

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