Noticeboard: 3 March 2022

This week's Noticeboard includes the DfE's resources for schools regarding current events in Ukraine, information about local and national charities and community organisations collecting donations, the recording of yesterday's webinar with Dr Varney and

Included in this update:

Events in Ukraine

Birmingham as a City of Sanctuary

On the council's website at this link is information about national and local charities and community organisations collecting donations to support people suffering as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.

DfE guidance for teachers

On its Education Hub at this link, the DfE has made available advice and resources for schools and teachers to use when talking to pupils about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Public Health webinar: 2 March 2022

Thank you to the schools who attended yesterday's webinar with Dr Justin Varney.

The slides Dr Varney presented have been sent out to all schools and the recording can be accessed at this link. 

School Batonbearer opportunity for secondary aged pupils: Deadline tomorrow

Every school with secondary aged pupils in Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Coventry has an allocated place for one of their students to be a Batonbearer and carry the Queen’s Baton in July as it journeys through the West Midlands region in the final stages of it’s 294 day journey around the Commonwealth before the start of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

This is a great opportunity for schools to recognise the outstanding achievements or contribution of a student who has gone above and beyond, and they can use whatever method they choose to make their selection. If the individual passes the security checks and agrees to become a Batonbearer then they will have a confirmed place. A reserve nomination can also be included.

The deadline for being able to take advantage of this place is 5pm on Friday 4th March and schools will need to have nominated their student by this time, if not then they will lose their place. Nominations can be made via this website. 

Please ensure that your school is represented in this opportunity and nominate a student before the deadline of 4th March 2022.

Statutory Compliance Return

The Statutory Compliance Return is now live and can be accessed using this link. 

The date for completion of the Compliance Return is Thursday 14th April 2022. 

Once the deadline for returns has passed, a sample of schools will be selected for an audit of their compliance which will be undertaken by Schools Safety Services. 

Any school failing to submit a return will be first on the list to be audited.

2021-22 Year End Closedown Guidance - Update

Following the publication of the year end guidance on 17th February 2022, please note the following:

  • Housekeeping Checklist has been updated.
  • EPA and Non Cheque Books Schoolse Year End Procedures have been updated.
  • BCC Internal Invoices Approval – Schools are reminded again to liaise with BCC service provider asap to resolve dispute early and avoid rejecting invoices as adjustments can be done in the new financial year based on agreement with Service Provider.
  • The Income Portal postings need to be completed before 30th March 2022 at the latest due to 1B Oracle Implementation on 1st April 2022.
  • Invites will be sent out to Schools Enquiry Mailboxes for Year End Accruals Template Training for all schools on 9th March 2022 from 1pm to 4pm.  The second part of the training will be for cheque book Schools on Year end workbook so they will be required to stay on this call to the end. Please look out for this invite and forward to relevant colleagues. 

The Year End Procedures are available at this link.

The Schools Pre-Closedown Housekeeping Checklist 2021-22 is available at this link. 

2022/23 Section 251 School Budget Notification

Birmingham City Council published the individual 2022/23 primary and secondary school budget shares, relating to reception - year 11 provision on Thursday 24th February 2022 (an email was sent out on 28th February to all LA schools’ enquiry mailbox to notify all schools. Please ensure this is passed to to Head Teachers/Bursars/School Business Managers). 

A budget briefing document will be published very soon for schools’ information. 

Funding allocations for other delegated budgets (Early Years, Special, Resource Base, Post 16) will be published before 31 March 2022.

Budget information is available at this link. 

All budget queries should be sent to fairfunding@birmingham.gov.uk

Early Education Entitlement - 30 Hours Places for Summer Term 2022

For parents to access a 30 hour funded place in Summer 2022, they must have received an eligible code on or before 31st March 2022. Parents must have applied and received their code by 31st March 2022 or reconfirmed any codes that were due to expire by this date. Birmingham City Council cannot fund codes that have a validity start date of on or after 1st April 2022.

Please remind parents now to apply or reconfirm their existing code so that they don't lose out. 

It is the childcare provider's responsibility to check the date on the code before offering a 30 hour place or part of a 30 hour place. You must do this by entering the code on ECS and then check the validity start date of it to make sure it is eligible for the current term :

A child cannot have 30 hours extended entitlement in Summer 2022 if the validity start date of the code is on or after 1st April 2022. You must check the date before allowing the child to access a 30 hour place this term.

Further information about 30 hours and validating codes can be found on EYMIS:

  • 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)

If you have any queries regarding 30 hours extended entitlement please email NEF@birmingham.gov.uk 

Tax Free Childcare - Are you Signed Up?

As a childcare provider you can help childcare to be more affordable for parents. If you sign up to be a tax-free childcare provider, parents can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of their children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).

Childcare providers need to be registered with a regulatory body e.g. Ofsted or the DFE. To sign up to be tax-free, childcare providers should visit the government website.  

It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete your registration. Once a provider has signed up to tax free childcare a parent would be able to find them on the system within approximately 2 working days and can then pay the provider direct from their tax-free childcare account.  

What do you need? To sign up you should be the main contact for your business. You’ll be able to set up a ‘delegate’ to manage your account for you during the process.

You’ll need your:

  • 11-digit user ID from your invitation letter
  • bank account details
  • your business postcode (the one registered with your regulator, for example Ofsted / DFE)

Letters with the 11-digit user ID are sent out automatically by HMRC when settings register with their regulatory body e.g. Ofsted. If you did not get a letter or have lost it, please contact the HMRC helpline on 0300 123 4097. 

Parents should be signposted to www.childcarechoices.gov.uk for information about how they can sign up to receive tax free childcare. Parents can use tax free childcare with the 15 hours and 30 hours schemes.

Changes to IMPULSE Nexus from CACI

CACI has recently renewed its contract with Birmingham City Council for another three years.  This means that the work being carried out to improve schools' experience of IMPULSE Nexus will continue. CACI is working on several developments to enhance the functionality and usability of IMPULSE Nexus. 

CACI will soon be running sessions across key stakeholders to showcase these developments and how they will work. They will also demonstrate the changes that we are making to IMPULSE Nexus and how these will work. In the meantime, if you or your team have any questions on the functionality within IMPULSE Nexus, please let us know. We are happy to arrange demo sessions to run you through functionality and help you get the most from the software.

CACI are always keen to hear feedback, too, both good or bad! If you have any questions or would like to arrange a demo, please contact Sue Houghton at shoughton@caci.co.uk 

CACI will communicate product updates going forward as well. Again, if there’s anything you’d like to see, or anything you’d like to know more about, please feel free to get in touch.

Caretakers Houses Webinar

Caretakers Houses Webinar | Birmingham City Council

Birmingham Careers Service Online Webinar: My Options at 16+ 

Birmingham Careers Service is a free and friendly support service providing careers information, advice and guidance to young people age 16 to 19 who are not in education, employment or training. If a young person has a learning difficulty and/or disability then we can also help them until they are 25. We are part of Birmingham City Council and we work alongside other local services.

As part of National Careers week, Birmingham Careers Service will be hosting an Online webinar called ‘My Options at 16+’. This webinar will be an opportunity for young people to find out about the range of post-16 options available including A Levels, T Levels, Apprenticeships, Traineeships and how they can get support from Birmingham Careers Service deciding which option is best for you.

This webinar takes place at 2pm on Thursday 10th March. 

Any young person can sign up for the event using this link.

Birmingham ‘As One’ community initiative

Birmingham organisations including faith groups, schools and local businesses are joining forces to help people across the city renew their sense of belonging, support and friendliness, as widely experienced during the first lockdown of the pandemic. 

The aim of As One is to nurture a sense of connection, kindness, friendliness and belonging between people who live on the same street and aims to be a huge boost for elderly people, young families, single people, everyone. Dozens of churches and faith groups, community centres and other partners across Birmingham are preparing to host As One tea parties in their own neighbourhoods in the spring as the country prepares to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games this summer.

There, residents from each local street will be introduced to the idea of starting a Street Association for their own street, with the aim of keeping the friendliness going long after the pandemic has lifted. In many local areas, an As One memorial service will also be held, ahead of the tea party, to remember the anxiety, isolation, loss and bereavement experienced by so many over the past two years and help bring a measure of peace and ‘closure’, with the tea party then seeking to take the key ‘positive’ of the pandemic – the burst of community spirit – and help it to flourish for the long term.

More information about 'As One' can be found at this link. 

Hall Green Communities Family Support Directory

Available at this link is the Hall Green Families Support Directory which includes regularly updated information about free support for children, young people and families. This support covers many areas including parenting, mental health, debt and food support among others.

At the same link is a flyer with information about resources and support available to all Birmingham residents. 

To suggest information that should be added, please email hallgreen.families@greensquareaccord.co.uk  

This entry was posted by on 01/03/2022.