Noticeboard 30 June 2022

This week's noticeboard contains information on Oracle Cloud; Birmingham Virtual School Early Years Team; Available Used Equipment; Expressions of Interest for Secondary Resource Bases and more!

 

Eid-ul-Adha

Eid Mubarak to all colleagues who will be celebrating Eid-ul-Adha next weekend.

Eid ul-Adha (‘Festival of Sacrifice’) is one of the most important festivals in the Muslim calendar. Advice regarding religious observance is available from School and Governor Support – schoolsupport@birmingham.gov.uk

Oracle Cloud Weekly Update from 1B Team

Thank you for your continued patience as we implement this new system.

  • Work is on-going on BCC reporting functionality from Oracle and we hope our HR, Finance and Payroll colleagues will begin to have access to the reports soon. However, specifically regarding payroll costs reports, it is anticipated they will be sent out by the end of June / early July.  Once the reports have been issued and where it is applicable regarding Cheque Book Schools, the Direct Debit will be re-started.   
  • Work is ongoing to provide schools with reconciliation files. We hope to update you towards the end of this week with an idea of timelines for a resolution.  
  • Last week we provided schools' finance users with a list of suppliers who do not have their VAT registration listed in Oracle. This is causing invoices to these suppliers to require Accounts Payable (AP) revalidation before payment is made. The AP team is working through this list, and we will contact Simplified Loader users directly when these issues are fixed. Please only contact AP in an emergency; the team is processing invoices in the order they come into Oracle. 
  • Work continues to identify the correct approvers of internal charging. Until this issue has been rectified BCC colleagues have been requested to pause processing internal charging through Oracle. 
  • The remittance batch issue is now fixed and has been tested by a number of schools. Please commence entering your income banking onto Oracle and creating your remittance batches. Our subject matter expert will be running a refresher drop-in session in the coming weeks and all school finance users will receive an invite directly.

The majority of users are accessing Oracle and Simplified Loader without issues. However, if you experience access issues please follow the below: 

Birmingham Virtual School Early Years Team 

Birmingham Virtual School is delighted to announce a new dedicated Early Years team:

The team will be supporting and advising Early Years settings, attending some PEP meetings, and delivering training to Social Workers and professionals regarding Children in Care and the role of Birmingham Virtual School.

We look forward to working with you to improve the outcomes of our Early Years children in care.

REMINDER: Fair Access Protocol 2022 Sign-up

All schools will have received a copy of Birmingham’s Fair Access Protocol which has been finalised in accordance with the revised School Admissions Code 2021; we have also taken into consideration comments/views made during the formal period of consultation.

As a matter of procedure, we are now asking all schools to formally acknowledge and sign-up to the new Protocol. If you have not already done so, please simply complete and submit the short sign-up form at this link by no later than close of play Friday 8 July 2022.

In line with government guidance, we require over 50% of schools to have agreed to the revised Fair Access Protocol. It will be implemented from September 2022 with all schools required to adhere to its policy and procedures.

Any queries should be directed to fairaccessprotocol2022@birmingham.gov.uk 

Schools Contribution to Strategy and Conference Discussions During the Summer Holiday Period

As the summer holidays fast approach, the Education Safeguarding Team is putting arrangements in place to ensure school participation and engagement at all strategy meetings and child protection conferences during this period.

The team will shortly be contacting schools for details of representatives who will be responsible for attending meetings during the summer holiday period and your assistance in ensuring this information is readily available is greatly appreciated.

An education presence at all meetings is paramount to ensuring Birmingham’s children are effectively safeguarded and we thank you for your continued cooperation.

Statutory guideance can be found here:  Keeping children safe in education 2021 - paras 93 and 96 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 - page 53

Contact details: educationsafeguarding@birmingham.gov.uk

Understanding the 2022 Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education – An Overview

Extra date added - Tuesday 12 July 2022: 09.30-11.30am

For those already fully conversant with the dispositional approach this on line briefing will enable delegates to have an overview of the updated 2022 Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. Dr. Simone Whitehouse has worked in the capacity of drafting secretary for the syllabus and will be able to explain the Conference’s discussions and the changes to the existing syllabus.   You can book your place by simply following this link.

Participation Events in Birmingham for Young People with Additional Needs Aged 13-29

Have your Say! Are you aged 13 to 29?

  • Do you have any type of Additional Need or Disability?
  • What are your experiences of support for this in Birmingham?
  • What support has worked well for you?
  • What support hasn’t worked well for you?
  • What else could have helped? 

If interested (to just listen, talk or get involved), please join us! These events are  for Young People with Additional Needs aged 13 to 29 with a Birmingham home address. Food and drink will be provided. For under 18’s - Parent and Carers are welcome to stay also. More information can be found here. 

School Organisation Proposal: Al-Furqan Primary School

Statutory Proposal by the Interim Executive Board of Al-Furqan Primary School (Voluntary Aided):

  • Change the category of the school from Voluntary Aided (VA) to Voluntary Controlled (VC).

You can find a copy of the full proposal and details of how to submit comments here.

Please note that all comments must be received no later than 21st July 2022.

Available Used Equipment/Furniture

Used Library Unit at Baskerville School now available for collection

The Baskerville School is currently undergoing refurbishment and now has a Library Unit in excellent condition that is surplus to requirements.  Please note: 

  • Items are accepted by schools “as seen” and the LA retains no liability or warranty for items; the responsibility is with individual schools to assess the suitability of items for reuse.
  • Items will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Requests must be received by email no later than Friday 8 July 2022 and schools are responsible for arranging collection and transportation of the unit which must be arranged no later than the week ending Friday 15 July 2022.
  • Schools will need to arrange maintenance/repair of unit (if required).
  • If you have an interest in the library units, please email: edsi.enquiries@birmingham.gov.uk and include the email subject ‘Baskerville School – Request for Library Unit’.

Please follow this link for school information and location - Details of the unit can be found here. 

My Bold Birmingham Art Competition

Are your children or students budding artists?

Birmingham City Council has launched an art competition My Bold Birmingham for youngsters age 4 - 18 to draw or paint a picture of what Birmingham means to them.

The winning artwork will have their work displayed across digital screens across the city and inside the Council House this summer!

Creativity is encouraged - there are no rules! Bold and colourful artwork that represents our unique city is very much welcomed.

The competition closes on 11 July 2022. Competition details and how to enter can be found on the Be Birmingham website.

REMINDER: 2022 Data Collections for EYFSP, Phonics, Key stage 1

  • The website Primary data has all the necessary documentation regarding the statutory collections including how to submit the returns and online confirmation forms, which need to be completed once CTF has been sent to the LA for EYFSP, Key stage 1 and Phonics.
  • Please see link 'Deadlines Poster 2022’ for deadlines of each key stage assessment return. As these deadlines have now all passed, if you haven't submitted your CTF file for EYFSP, Key stage 1 and Phonics please do as soon as possible.
  • Please note, ALL schools are required to submit final returns by the stated deadlines.
  • Any files received after the deadlines may not be validated before being submitted to the DfE and schools may not receive reports in a timely manner.
  • All schools will submit their CTF containing the assessments to the LA using Anycomms+
  • If you have forgotten your password please try ‘Forgot password’ option on the login page, if you are unsuccessful please complete the following service request form.

Contact details: Data and Intelligence Team (educationdata@birmingham.gov.uk)

Invite for Expressions of Interest for Secondary Resource Bases

To support the need for additional SEND specialist places across the city and in line with our inclusion strategy, we are proposing to greatly increase the number of SEND resource bases within mainstream schools.

We are in particular demand for additional Resource Base provisions across our mainstream secondary schools. We would therefore like to invite our secondary schools to consider submitting an EOI in setting up a new (or expanding a current) Resource Base to meet the needs of young people with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), Cognition and Learning (C&L), and Social Emotional mental Health needs (SEMH).

The resource base would ideally cater for both Key Stage 3 and 4 and expressions of interest can extend to Key stage 5 to support transition. We are particularly interested in securing positive transition points and interested in speaking with providers with established links to primary schools with existing resource bases, or groups considering provision across multiple schools for example.

If you are interested in providing additional SEND resource base provision, please complete the Expression of Interest form here.

Please note that all forms should be emailed to edsi.enquiries@birmingham.gov.uk  by close of play Friday, 15 July 2022 latest.

Returning the form will allow us to start a conversation with you around areas of demand, numbers, process and funding. Whilst we are targeting secondary schools at this time, we will open the round again later in the autumn to invite other settings to express an interest.

Proposed Expansion of North Birmingham Academy

E-ACT is consulting on a proposal to expand North Birmingham Academy. This proposal is to support BCC to meet ongoing demand for additional secondary places in the north of the city.

The current admission number for the school is 180. The school is proposing to take an additional 60 pupils in Year 7 in September 2023 onwards, taking the admission number to 240.

Further information on the proposal can be found on the schools website by following this link.

The consultation period began on 27th June 2022 and will run until 24th July 2022. During this time anyone who wishes to make comments/objections regarding this proposal should do so by emailing: NBA.ExpansionEnquiries@E-ACT.org.uk.

The proposal including any comments/objections received will be taken for a decision by the Secretary of State.

 

 

This entry was posted by Laura Hendry on 27/06/2022.