Included in this update:

• Roadshows with Sue Harrison, Director of Children's Services
• Safer Internet Day: 8th February 2022
• Notification of School Organisation Proposal: Al-Furqan Primary School
• School Attendance – Early Help and Legal Processes training
• EYSFF Returns for Spring Term 2022
• A reminder of the statutory duty to register Early Career Teachers (ECTs) with an Appropriate Body
• 10 years of the Health for Life Programme
• Birmingham Careers Service webinar: Apprenticeships or Traineeships?
• Communication and Autism Team training courses
• Services for Education training course: Maths for Teaching Assistants
• Raising Awareness of Parental Conflict CPD Training
• The World Reimagined national programme - Bursaries

Roadshows with Sue Harrison

Earlier this week, Sue Harrison, the new Director of Children’s Services invited school leaders to a 55 minute online roadshow where she will share her vision with you and begin to build positive relationships for future working. Two sessions have been arranged, please attend the one that is most convenient for you.

• The first roadshow will take place on Monday 31st January at 11.00am – 11.55am. 
• The second roadshow will take place on Thursday 10th February at 8am – 8.55am. 

Microsoft Teams links were sent in the email to headteachers earlier this week. During each roadshow there will be the opportunity to ask questions. For any queries, please contact education@birmingham.gov.uk 

Safer Internet Day: 8th February 2022

The West Midlands Regional Cyber Crime Unit is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring Safer Internet Day on 8th February 2022. Alongside partners in the School of Coding, they aim to deliver age appropriate online safety advice whilst also promoting the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.  

Schools can sign up using the Eventbrite links below to receive a pre-recorded presentation for Safer Internet Day 2022 of age appropriate online safety advice that promotes the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people.

• Pre-recorded presentation for primary schools
• Pre-recorded presentation for secondary schools

Notification of School Organisation Proposal: Al-Furqan Primary School

The Interim Executive Board (IEB) of Al-Furqan Primary School has started part 1 of the consultation process to propose a change of category from voluntary aided to voluntary controlled with effect from 1st September 2022.

Part 1 of the School Organisation Process is the Informal / 'Pre-publication period': It started on Tuesday 25th January 2022 and will finish on Monday 14th February 2022.

The IEB of Al-Furqan Primary School would like to receive comments from interested parties.

Further details, a copy of the proposal document and online survey for part 1 are all available at this link

School Attendance – Early Help and Legal Processes training

Places are still available for the above online training that will take place on Microsoft Teams on Wednesday 2nd February. 

The course focuses on pupil absence from school, covering early help, children with frequent illness absence and what to do next when all else has failed, including using ‘FAST-track to Attendance’ and the ‘Leave in Term Time (Legal) process’.

To book your place via BESS, please use the link below. Two places per school are available. 

• Wednesday 2nd February 2022, 9:30-12:30 - Book via this BESS link.  

Additional dates for this term will be published in due course.

EYSFF Returns for Spring Term 2022 for schools with Early Years provision for 2, 3 and 4 year olds

Each term settings are required to submit and return an EYSFF spreadsheet to the Fair Funding team to provide numbers of 2 year olds, EYPP and FSM take up so that early years funding can be reconciled. This is now completed using a simple online form available at this link that is managed by the Early Years Funding Team (NEF). 

The information must be submitted by no later than 28th January 2022 

Please note there is no facility to receive a copy of your submission - you should have the details of numbers of eligible children on your records in line with the terms and conditions of EEE funding. The EEE Provider Agreement detailing the terms and conditions of delivering early education entitlement can be found on EYMIS.

If you have any queries regarding the online form or the eligibility of children please email NEF@birmingham.gov.uk

If you have any queries regarding your funding allocation please email fairfunding@birmingham.gov.uk   

Duty to register Early Career Teachers (ECTs) with an Appropriate Body

The Early Career Framework based induction was introduced during a time when schools faced immense strain due to Covid. With a myriad of new documentation to digest and action, some confusion crept in. This message acts as a reminder regarding the statutory duty to register ECTs with an Appropriate Body, as schools will have done in the past with NQTs.  
 
In line with induction guidance an ECT cannot start their statutory induction until their AB has been agreed. For example, if an ECT was undertaking induction activities from September 2021 but there was no AB in place until January 2022, the statutory induction start date would be registered as January 2022 as it is not possible to backdate the start of an induction period.  
 
Additionally, schools will know that they must also choose a provider and a level of opt in for ECTs' ECF based induction. Information on this is available on the Services for Education website at this link. 

10 years of the Services for Education Health for Life Programme

Services for Education are very excited to be celebrating 10 years of the Health for Life programme. It has been an incredible time, with 189 schools involved, all being able to show a real long term impact of the activities they undertook whilst on the programme. To mark this milestone S4E is delighted to announce as a celebration of the 10 year anniversary and as a ‘thankyou’ to schools for taking part in the programme, the opportunity to bid for an additional cash grant to fund a project to develop one area of the Health for Life programme further. This must be related to one of the three programme strands (growing food; healthy eating/cooking; physical activity) and will be an initiative which makes a significant and sustainable impact in promoting healthier lifestyles for pupils, building upon the school’s initial involvement.

This is an amazing opportunity to move froward from your original success and achievements as Mondelez International will award grants of £5000 to three schools which can demonstrate:

• How the grant would be used to progress the school from the work originally undertaken
• How the school will measure the impact of the funded project
• How to school will utilise the whole school community
• How the project will make a sustainable impact or create a long-term resource

The opportunity to bid for an award is open to all Health for Life primary schools – cohorts 1-9 inclusive. Schools should submit their application by March 31st 2022.

More information is available at this link. 

Birmingham Careers Service webinar: Apprenticeships or Traineeships?

Are you confident that your KS4 students understand the full breadth of post-16 opportunities open to them? Are apprenticeships and traineeships high on your careers agenda? As we approach National Apprenticeship week, Birmingham Careers Service is preparing to host one of its increasingly popular webinar sessions for young people: this time, the team will explore apprenticeships and traineeships - helping your students to consider what is the best progression pathway for them. 

The live webinar - " Apprenticeships or Traineeships? - You decide" ...explore these options with Birmingham Careers Service will run on Wednesday 9th February between 2pm and 2.30pm and will include an opportunity for questions and answers from the audience. 

Free tickets can be booked through Eventbrite using the link 

Communication and Autism Team training courses

AET Exclusions Module: Tuesday 1st February 9am - 12.30pm

The aim of this module is to enable delegates to:

• understand the legal context of autism and exclusion
• understand the risk of illegal exclusion and how to avoid it occurring
• better understand the triggers and ways of managing distressed behaviours
• reflect on ways to support autistic CYP and their families during the period of exclusion
• consider ways of transitioning the autistic CYP back into school and how to manage the reintegration meeting

This session will be run via Microsoft Teams/remote training by Communication and Autism Team (CAT).

To secure your place, please book online via this link.

Autism Awareness for Parents/Carers

Following feedback from parents, the Communication and Autism Team has widened its offer by developing a parent autism awareness course (CAT PAC) aimed at parents/carers of secondary age pupils. This course not only helps parents/carers to gain an understanding of autism and how it may present in their young person, but it also enables parents to reflect on the challenges and opportunities faced by autistic teenagers.

Each week, a different topic is discussed:

• Week 1 – What is Autism?
• Week 2 - Social Communication Differences in Teens with Autism
• Week 3 – Sensory Differences
• Week 4 – Teenage Issues and Autism
• Week 5 – Autism, Anxiety and Emotional Well-being
• Week 6 – Preparing for Adulthood

Flyers will be sent via school SENCOs when courses are available. The first course will be delivered virtually and begins on Tuesday 8th February 2022. 

For further information contact wendy.peel@birmingham.gov.uk or visit this link. 

Services for Education training course: Maths for Teaching Assistants

This half-day course aims to prepare Teaching Assistants more fully for their role in the primary maths classroom and empower them in line with the Education Endowment Fund’s recommendations.
During the course participants will take time to:

• consider effective questioning methods to help pupils to become increasingly independent and able to reason about their maths
• consider their own role in maths lessons to enable the best outcomes for pupils
• gain knowledge of the aims of the National Curriculum for Mathematics and current approaches that promote success in maths including a CPA approach.

Date: 15 March 2022
Time: 1pm - 4pm

For more information or to book a place, please use this link.

New Multi Agency Training: Raising Awareness of Parental Conflict

Target group

Professionals who provide support and intervention to children and/or their families in Birmingham

Event Aim:

This training, taking place on MS Teams, aims to enhance your knowledge, understanding, skills, and confidence to work with parents who experience conflict in their relationships. Trained staff will be able to support parents to understand the impact that conflict has on their children and promote healthier ways of resolving disagreements and positive relationships.

By the end of the training you will be able to:

• raise parents’ awareness and understanding of the impact of parental conflict on children.
• access digital resources and tools to help parents recognise and reduce conflict.
• enable parents to develop positive communication skills and helpful conflict behaviours which are not harmful to children.

Sessions available:

• 28th Feb and 1st March
• 3rd and 4th March
• 7th and 8th March
• 17th and 18th March
• 21st and 22nd March
• 24th and 25th March
• 30th and 31st March

For more information and to book please register/log in to the Birmingham Safeguarding Children Partnership booking system: https://booking.lscpbirmingham.org.uk/

This event is free to book but please ensure that if you need to cancel that you do so at least 14 days before the course start date on the booking system.  Inside 14 days please email bscp.contactus@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk; with the reason for your cancellation.  This will avoid the possibility of your organisation being charged for non-attendance.

Please note that this training is delivered over two sessions and you must attend both sessions to obtain a certificate and resources.

The World Reimagined: Deadline for bursary applications

The World Reimagined is an exciting new national programme that brings people together through art, history, dialogue and learning to consider our shared history so we can make racial justice a reality, together. The deadline for applying to receive a bursary to be a part of The World Reimagined is Monday 31st January. The form takes no longer than 10 minutes to fill out.

A trailer giving more information is available here or more information about the programme is below.

The World Reimagined Learning Programme is a creative and experiential journey of discovery for school communities featuring classroom resources and leadership in teaching modules that have been co-created with artists and subject matter experts including Baroness Floella Benjamin; poet & playwright Inua Ellams; Professor Kehinde Andrews; and cast members from the West End's Hamilton.
 
The World Reimagined gives schools the opportunity to take part and showcase their commitment to racial equality and the creative expression of students as part of the largest public art education project for racial justice the UK has ever seen. The World Reimagined will see sculpture trails take place in 8 cities across the UK and engage 2m+ people from August to October 2022 - and is supported by Sky.

The first of the World Reimagined resources are now available to download. The resources available are: 

• Mother Africa: The Power of Symbols (primary learners)
• Mother Africa (11+ learners), 
• Teaching Racial Justice well-being resource
• Wild in Art (our Delivery Partners) - Sculpture Guide

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Sabrina Reid: sabrina.reid@theworldreimagined.org or Mabel Msonthi mabel.msonthi@theworldreimagined.org