Noticeboard - 7 December 2023

This week's Noticeboard contains an important measles/MMR update, referral deadlines for the Bed Poverty Project; a consultation request for de-delegation for maintained primary and secondary schools; training opportunities, and more.

Included in this update

Important Measles/MMR Update from Birmingham Public Health 

Measles cases have been confirmed locally in Birmingham.  Measles outbreaks can happen when not enough children have been vaccinated.  

Education settings are asked to pass the below information to parents and encourage them to check that their child has been vaccinated. Parents can check the personal child health record (the Red Book) or if this doesn’t help, speak to their GP surgery. Parents can contact their GP surgery to catch their child up, at any age, or indeed, for themselves.

About measles

Measles is highly infectious (it can spread easily from person to person). While most people recover completely within a couple of weeks, measles can cause serious illness and in rare cases it can be fatal. Vaccination with two doses of MMR is the only way to give people maximum protection. 

The first signs of measles are:

  • high temperature
  • runny or blocked nose
  • sneezing
  • cough
  • red, sore, watery eyes
  • rash usually appears a few days after cold-like symptoms (sometimes starts around the ears before spreading to rest of the body)

Measles can cause complications, especially in certain at-risk groups that include babies and small children, pregnant women and people with weak immunity.

Further important information

The MMR vaccine

If your child has not received two doses of MMR vaccination as part of their childhood immunisation programme, you should take up the offer of the MMR vaccine for your child now. If you are not sure if your child needs an MMR vaccine, you can contact your GP to check.

The MMR vaccination is the best way to protect against measles as it is:

  • effective
  • safe and
  • free of charge

The vaccine provides effective protection against three diseases – measles, mumps and rubella. The first dose of MMR is given soon after the first birthday. A second dose is normally given before school entry. However, you can have the MMR vaccine at any age. If either you or your child are not fully protected against measles (two doses of MMR), you can contact your GP surgery to arrange vaccination. It is never too late to get vaccinated.  Two doses of MMR are required to produce satisfactory protection against measles, mumps and rubella. If your family avoids pork, a MMR vaccine is available that does not contain any pork products.

This is especially important when measles is circulating because any child or adult who has not had at least one dose of MMR and comes into contact with a person with measles will have to be excluded from nursery, school or work for 21 days and stay at home.

What to do if you think your child has measles

If your child develops symptoms, you should contact your GP. You must contact the surgery by telephone before visiting and tell the reception staff that you think that your child may have measles and not attend the surgery unless you are asked to. The doctor will make special arrangements to see your child so that, if they have measles, they won’t pass it to others.

People with measles will remain infectious, and so be able to pass on the disease to others for 4 days after the start of the rash. Therefore, it is important that anyone with measles stays away from nursery, school, group activities, gatherings or anywhere with people outside of the household during that time.

Further information on the MMR vaccine can be found on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/mmr-vaccine/

If your setting needs any further support or resources to have this conversation, or if you have any further questions, please email HPTeam@birmingham.gov.uk.

Pupil place planning - Proposals to reduce PAN for 2024 entry

In order to help address the sustained impact of surplus primary places and lower intakes in schools, we have reduced PANs at several of our maintained schools and we are currently seeking a proposed PAN reduction at the following maintained school:

Sladefield Infant School - reducing from 120 to 90 for Reception 2024

The business case will be sent to the Schools Adjudicator in due course for consideration. We will publish the outcome of the decision.

We continue to discuss reductions in PANs for Reception 2025 entry.

Community and voluntary controlled school PANs are currently being consulted on with a decision due in Spring 2024. If you are an academy and would also like to discuss proposals for Reception 2025 please also get in touch.

For further information, please contact Education Infrastructure: ediplaceplanning@birmingham.gov.uk

Dream Team Bed Poverty Project – Christmas Referral Deadlines!

To register your school as a Trusted Partner for the project please complete the Dream Team School Registration Form which can be found at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/W9FNB6V

Once accepted, the link to the referral form and catalogue and guidance will be sent out via email.

Please note that the last date for receipt of referrals before Christmas is Wednesday, 13 December. Our delivery partner will endeavour to complete as many deliveries as they can before the last working day before Christmas – Service delivery will continue on the first working day of January. No orders will be processed between 21 December and 2 January 2024.

Please help us to ensure that the limited resources we have are used effectively, by making sure that families meet the eligibility criteria.

  • Parent sleeping on chair, sofa or floor to give up the bed for their child
  • Child(ren) sharing bed with parents or siblings
  • Child(ren) sleeping on something other than a bed – floor, chair, sofa, bath, car seat etc
  • Childs bed broken and family have been unable to repair or replace in the last 6-12 months
  • Childs bed and/or bedding mouldy or damp
  • Child sleeping in a bed which is inappropriate for their age range – such as still sleeping in a cot or toddler bed due to inability to purchase a single bed.

For any queries or further information please contact the team at dreamteam@bvsc.org

With many thanks for your continued support in referring families into the Dream Team!

SEND Update for SENCos and SEND Leads

The next half-termly update for all SENCos and SEND leads across the sector is now available, sharing messages and information around SEND as part of our improved SEND communication framework – SEND December Update - Local Offer Birmingham

If your SENCo/SEND lead has not received an email alert from the Local Offer taking them to the SEND Updates, then please get in touch with Heather Wood at heather.wood@birmingham.gov.uk to make sure they are added to the circulation list.

Opportunity for KS1 Placements

The School of Education in the University of Birmingham is looking for KS1 placements for 20 primary student teachers in February 2024 due to increased demand for the 3-7 PGCE route.

The placements need to be within an hour max commute to the Edgbaston campus.  

The commitment for schools would be for each student to have a mentor who supports them throughout the placement and carries out formal lesson observations. They would need to complete 2 hours of online mentor training, be available for 1 hour a week for a mentor meeting with the students, and one mentor from each school is asked to attend a termly online mentor training/update (90 minutes).  

Whilst this is a substantial commitment for schools/mentors, it is a good professional development opportunity for primary schools.

For any queries or further information please contact k.kitching@bham.ac.uk

Consultation for De-delegations 2024/25 Response required from Maintained Primary and Secondary Schools

For 2024/25 the Local Authority is proposing the continuation of three existing de-delegation areas of commitment: Contingencies, Facilities Time and Behavioural Support Services.

By completing a short survey, we are asking Schools Forum members for all primary and secondary maintained schools to decide separately for each phase whether the service should be provided centrally. The responses received will be used by Schools Forum to inform the decision on the de-delegation of each service.

The survey, together with further details can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/0DLfkmc4Ux – Please note the closing date for responses is 5pm on 18 December 2023.

For any queries regarding the consultation, please contact fairfunding@birmingham.gov.uk 

BCHC Plus School Nursing Service

FAO SENCO/Head Teacher

Do you need additional School Nursing input? If so Birmingham Community NHS Foundation Trust can help.

Through its BCHC Plus (Traded Services) School Nursing service it can provide additional education focused services that supplement the NHS ‘core’ school nurse service.

The link between educational attainment and positive health is well documented; however sometimes schools find that incidence of health-related needs amongst their pupils requires more clinical support. We offer schools the opportunity to buy additional dedicated school nurse time to address health needs that lie beyond the scope of the core service.

School health topics that we provide support for include:

  • Curriculum input focused on health and wellbeing.
  • Issues arising in school that may have a link to health.
  • Dedicated support addressing a school’s wider health related challenges.
  • Liaison with GP’s Health Visitors and other professionals.
  • Health education and promotion activities.

To find out more about how BCHC Plus (Traded Services) can benefit your school; pupils; families and staff; please contact our BCHC Plus team as follows on 0121 466266 or e-mail bchc.bchcplus@nhs.net We will then arrange a Teams meeting with you to discuss our services and your requirements in more detail.

Free Suicide Prevention Training

Birmingham and Solihull councils have jointly funded half-day virtual suicide alertness training which is aimed at anyone who wants to understand more about suicide, how to know when someone may be having thoughts of suicide, how to talk about suicide, and how to offer practical support and keep someone safe.

This training is being delivered as part of our 'Orange Button' scheme – after completing the training, participants can sign up to receive an orange button which they can wear to identify themselves as someone who has had a level of suicide prevention training, is willing to have conversations about suicide and knows where to signpost someone in crisis to.

We want to promote this opportunity to colleagues in primary and secondary schools to upskill staff to identify and confidently support people in the school communities through a suicidal crisis. Places are limited so initially we are asking for a limit of one representative per school (this can be teaching, pastoral or any other support staff who would benefit from receiving the training). For more information and to book onto a course, please visit Every Life Matters - Birmingham and Solihull | Eventbrite.

Be Empowered Workshops 2024

This set of workshops is being held at: Acocks Green Methodist Church Hall, 1 Botteville Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, B27 7YE, during the day from 10am – 1.00pm on Tuesday’s starting on Starting Tuesday, 9 January through to Tuesday, 20 February 2024.

To book onto the workshop pleas fill in the form book now

It would be much appreciated if you could forward these with colleagues to share with any interested parent carers of children within SEND.

Deadline for receiving completed booking forms is Friday, 15 December 2023.

Any queries and booking forms can be emailed to: BeEmpowered@birmingham.gov.uk   

Services for Education Training Courses

The Reading Framework, July 2023 – 15.45- 16.45 Tuesday 9th Jan 2024

Updates Revisions and Additions  Book here:

Understanding the new 2022 Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education – in detail – Wednesday 17th January 2024: 09.00 – 12.00 Book here

Teachers New to Year 6 – Thursday 25th January 2024: 09.00 – 15.45. 

Preparing for Statutory Assessment Processes at the End of KS2  Book here

Teachers Experienced in Year 6 –  Thursday 8th February 2024: 13.00 – 16.00.

Updates and Guidance for Statutory Assessment Processes at the End of KS2 Book here

Teachers and Assessment Leaders New to Year 2 –  Monday 29th January 2024: 09.00 – 16.00

Preparing for the Essential Assessment Processes at the End of KS1 (CENTRE BASED) Book here

Teachers & Assessment Leaders Experienced in Year 2 – Wednesday 31st January 2024: 13.00 – 16.00

Essential Assessment Processes at the End of KS1 – (ONLINE) –  Book here

Supporting Struggling Readers in KS2 and KS3 Tuesday 30th Jan 2024.

This online webinar is perfect for English/reading leaders, class teachers and school leaders who wish to identify methods to support their struggling readers at KS2 and/or KS3. Book here.

Early Reading - Monday 19th Feb 2024

How to teach language comprehension in EYFS and KS1 Book here

National Apprenticeship & Education Events Central

FREE to attend - Thursday 25th April 2024 at Millennium Point – Birmingham.

The National Apprenticeship & Education Event attracts thousands of people interesting in finding out more about colleges, universities, apprenticeships, traineeships, Advanced British Standard, and career options.

The event will have 50 regional employers, universities and training providers showcasing different career options. Those who attend.

  • Receive face-to-face careers advice.
  • Get advice on Higher Education
  • Be inspired about the future.

Register your place at the National Apprenticeship & Education Event or call 0800 023 5407 for more information.

First ever Birmingham Housing Week chance for young people ‘to shape city’s blueprint’

Young people are being urged to use the first-ever Birmingham Housing Week to “look beyond the hard hats and bricks” and explore the raft of housing sector career opportunities as part of a city masterplan to deliver high levels of new jobs, homes, investment, and green space.

The rallying call comes as it was confirmed the action-packed week will be taking place from February 5th-9th 2024 and will centre on addressing the housing challenges in the city, while highlighting the investment and employment opportunities within Birmingham's current and future housing landscape.  Young people will play a significant role in the week, with events ranging from challenges to hearing from sector experts in sessions on the various careers in housing in an exciting time for the city.

Birmingham Housing Week is a private sector initiative, powered by national housebuilder Lovell Partnerships, with support from Birmingham City Council and educational charity, MOBIE. This initiative aims not only to showcase the investment into new and current homes as a key part of the Council’s growth strategy, but to ensure there are lasting opportunities to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future residents.

And today those behind Birmingham Housing Week urged young people attending to examine the raft of careers in an industry boasting jobs as diverse as architects, ledgers, surveyors, joiners, builders, project managers, bid writers, data analysists and engineers and in a city benefitting from a raft of new and future developments.

As excitement builds for Birmingham Housing Week, schools are also being encouraged to sign up for  the MOBIE Think Circular design challenge.  which aims to engage young people to the career and job opportunities in the housing and construction sectors, as well as encouraging them to get involved in the planning and thinking process related to the future of housing in their city. 

This entry was posted by Jaspal Shambi on 05/12/2023.