Noticeboard - 11 April 2024

Welcome back and we hope you've enjoyed a well-deserved Easter break. This week's noticeboard contains a reminder for headteachers to register for the forthcoming School Improvement Workshop, year end financial guidance, and more!

Included in this week's noticeboard:

 

Balanced Education System and School Improvement Workshop – 25 April 2024

A reminder that headteachers are invited to the Balanced Education System and School Improvement Workshop at Prince Albert High School on Thursday, 25 April 2024. To register your place simply follow this link. We very much look forward to seeing you!   

2023-2024 Year End Accruals – Guidance and Documentation (Non-CHB/EPA)

The final date for submitting year end accruals is Friday, 19 April 2024, and we’d appreciate your support in advising all staff involved in the closedown process.

If schools have any queries in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact the team at SchoolsAccruals@birmingham.gov.uk

With many thanks for your continued support - School Finance Team

2022-2023 – Final Carry Forward Balances (CHB & Non-CHB)

At the end of each financial year, the Chief Finance Officer has the responsibility for preparing the annual accounts for the City Council, this includes consolidating school accounts.  

The final balances are within the excel documents through following the below link, you will need to know your school code when accessing the document.

Full guidance on 2022-2023 carry forward final balances can be found at the following link:  ttps://www.birmingham.gov.uk/downloads/download/6607/final_carry_forward_balances_for_2022_-_2023

For any queries please contact: SchoolsYEAccountsClosedown@Birmingham.gov.uk

Education Settings Self-Assessment Tool (Section 175)

Introduction
It is vital to ensure that Birmingham schools and colleges can demonstrate that they are meeting key statutory duties and following safeguarding children and young people guidance. All schools and education settings are being asked to complete the audit on-line, enabling them to provide information to the Local Authority, Birmingham Children’s Safeguarding Partnership and other statutory safeguarding partners on how they discharge their duties and help to keep children and young people in Birmingham safe.

Section 175 of the 2002 Education Act requires local education authorities and the governing bodies of maintained schools and FE colleges to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are carried out with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Section 157 of the 2002 Education Act and the Independent School Regulations 2003 convey the same responsibilities on all other non-maintained settings.

Section 175 Audit 2023/24
It is the responsibility of the local authority to formulate and administer the Education Safeguarding self-assessment tool (section 175). The audit tool for 2023/24 was released on Wednesday 10th April 2024.

This year’s Section 175 tool has additional questions around first aid and medical needs, child on child abuse and certain policies, in response to some of the themes and trends that have been raised to the attention of the Education Safeguarding Team. These have been identified through work undertaken with schools, concerns and complaints that have been submitted into the local authority and requests from some of our safeguarding partner agencies. The link to access the tool is: https://birmingham.onlineaudits.org.uk/

The final submission date for the 2023/24 audit is Friday 12th July 2024.

Schools have been notified by email that the Section 175 2023/24 tool has gone “live” on the PHEW! system. Schools and education settings can now populate the tool with data. However, please note that Question 9 cannot be completed until closer to the date of submission as the data required for this question is captured from September 2023 to June/July 2024. Consequently, schools and education settings must NOT click on the submit button until all data has been included.

More information and guidance can be found at this link

Advice & Support
If you have any questions in relation to the completion of the Section 175 and/or require technical support, please contact the Education Safeguarding Team on educationsafeguarding@birmingham.gov.uk or click the guidance below for additional support when using Phew https://academy.phew.org.uk/en/knowledge/audits-respondents-manual

SENAR Service Contact Information

If schools need help and support from the SENAR service please don’t forget you can find out the contact information for your assigned officer here: SENAR - Local Offer Birmingham. This information is updated weekly to ensure contact details remain fresh and schools can reach the right person first time.

Deadline Extended for the Spring Term WellComm Data Return.

FAO: Primary schools and Nursery Schools

Thank you for using the WellComm Toolkit to improve Speech Language and Communication (SLC) outcomes in schools and settings. The WellComm data collection returns are demonstrating that targeted interventions offered by early years providers have improved children's level of SLC development. Each term we request that each early year's provider returns their WellComm screening results to us via an online survey. We have extended the deadline for the Spring term data return to Sunday 21st April 2024. If you have already returned your screening data, thank you, and no further action is required. 

If you have not had the capacity to screen all of your children during the term, then please send us the results that you have so far.

You can complete the survey by following this link

Supported Internship Programme with Amazon

Are you between 19 and 24 years old on an Educational Health Care Plan or a Parent/Carer of someone who is? This is a great opportunity to kick-start your career!

Birmingham City Council's, 14-19 Full Participation and Skills Team Supported Internship Programme in collaboration with Heart of Birmingham Vocational College, Royal Mencap and Amazon provides hands-on work experience, training, and a Job Coach to support you into work. Do not worry, your benefits will not be affected.

We welcome all young people with disabilities, learning difficulties, or other additional needs.

If you are interested, please complete the application form here: Heart of Birmingham Vocational College - BCC Supported Internship (hbvc.ac.uk). Please also ensure the 14-19 Team is copied into your response at 14-19Supported.Internship@Birmingham.gov.uk.

In partnership with Amazon there will be an assessment day on 18 April 2024 where there will be an opportunity to discuss the types of roles on offer and suitability for the programme.

For any queries in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact the team at 14-19supported.internship@birmingham.gov.uk

Supported Internships at Heartlands Hospital

Birmingham City Council's, 14-19 Full Participation and Skills Team Supported Internship Programme in collaboration with Royal Mencap and Heartlands Hospital provides hands-on work experience, training, and a Job Coach to support 19-24 year olds with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to kick start their careers!

Find out more here: Supported Internship Programme, or contact Sarah Fletcher directly at sarah.fletcher@mencap.org.uk

Risk of NEET Students - Years 11, 12 and 13

Birmingham Careers Service will be offering its RONI (risk of NEET) offer with effect from 2nd April 2024.

Careers Leads are invited to submit a fully completed referral form for any 2024 leaver they consider is at risk of not progressing into education, employment or training.

For full details and a referral form, please visit: https://www.birminghamcareersservice.co.uk/roni  

Please be aware this does not replace the school's statutory duty to provide impartial and independent careers guidance.

Do you teach creative minds with a flair for design?

George Clarke brings the Think Circular Home Design challenge to Birmingham – Think Circular for young brummies!

Join the Lovell and Ministry of Building, Innovation and Education (MOBIE) Think Circular home design challenge and be part of shaping the future of Birmingham's built environment.

The Lovell and MOBIE Think Circular Home Design Challenge is looking for 11-18 year olds to design a sustainable future home. Your young designers will need to consider recyclable materials and use energy reducing ideas where possible. The deadline for entries is 30th June and the winners will be announced in July. View the full brief by following this link.

MOBIE and Lovell have partnered to launch the Think Circular Home Design Challenge. The challenge is asking young people aged 11-18 to ‘Think Circular’ and design a sustainable future home and community for the city, that is a great place to live in and reduces energy use and recycles and reuses materials wherever possible.

Considering Birmingham’s need for 65,000 new homes by 2031, we want to ensure that the city’s future housing stock meets the needs of its future occupiers and that young people growing up in the city can really benefit from this major investment in housing. The challenge engages young people in thinking about the type of homes that the city needs for the future and how they can be designed and built more sustainably. We hope to inspire future generations about home and housing and help attract the city’s brightest young talent into the housing and construction sectors in the future.

As part of the challenge, MOBIE is offering free design workshops to schools and colleges across the City.  The 2-3 hours workshops introduce your pupils to home, design and sustainability issues and thinking.  We ask them to work in teams to design a home or place of the future for Birmingham. There are separate workshops for the 11-15 and 16-18 age groups.  

ENTRY: Submission date for your entries is Sunday 30th June 2024. There is a cash prize of £100 per team member (max 6) for the winning entries and £500 for their school or college.

To sign up or find out more information please visit www.mobie.org.uk or email home@mobie.org.uk

Moor Street Queensway Temporary Bus Stop Relocation

From Sunday, 7 April until Autumn 2024 approximately, there will be changes to bus stops around Birmingham City Centre as Metro extension works begin on Moor Street Queensway.

If you usually get on or off your bus by New Street Station, Moor Street Station, or Priory Queensway in Birmingham City Centre. Your bus route is still operating, and you are still able to reach your destination. However, the stop you need to use to get off or on the bus may have changed.

All bus services will still be running as normal, with some minor diversions in the city centre.

The key advice is as follows:

  • Your bus route is still running and you are still able to get it close to where you usually do, however the stop you need to get on and off at may have changed.
  • Familiarise yourself with bus stops; another route/stop might suit your destination better.

A dedicated Transport for West Midlands webpage has been set up to provide key links and information for bus users. 

Click here for more information about Birmingham Eastside Metro extension

Bite Back Programme - Applications Now Open

FAO: Secondary School Staff

Empower your pupils to put good food at the heart of a healthy, high-performing school community.

Every single child deserves access to healthy, nutritious food at school – but we all know that’s not the case. Yet. Bite Back challenges a world in which a handful of companies have the power and influence to flood our world with junk. Schools can join the Bite Back fight.

The Bite Back programme runs from September 2024 to June 2025 and features:

  • a powerful assembly from a young activist
  • whole year group sessions
  • School Food Champions club, where students plan and deliver a social action project to make a difference to their school food

The Bite Back programme will also help students develop a range of skills from teamwork and leadership, project and time management, budget and problem solving.

There are 80 funded places available for the September 2024 intake. Successful applicants will be provided with a specialised digital platform, funding and resources, plus merchandise and sessions from youth ambassadors. Training and support will be provided to ensure schools feel empowered to deliver.

The deadline for applications to the programme is 31 May 2024 and schools can apply by completing a short application form at this link

For more information, please visit the Bite Back website at this link, and view a Bite Back in Schools video here

Please direct any queries regarding the Bite Back programme to: schoolfoodchampions@biteback2030.com

Schools Air Quality Monitoring Programme

Poor air quality remains the single biggest environmental risk to public health, and children and families are particularly exposed to it at the school gate. To raise awareness of the importance of air quality, Birmingham City Council has installed 70 air quality monitors outside schools across the city, and it’s the council’s ambition to extend this programme to every school in Birmingham. Good air quality is crucial to everyone’s health, particularly children, and the first step towards improving air quality is knowledge and awareness.

Small changes can make a bit difference, and we can all play our part.

Please join us in tackling air pollution and take up the offer of a free air quality monitor in the autumn!

More information on the Schools Air Quality Monitoring Programme will be made available over the coming months, but in the meantime, if schools would like to find out more, please contact the team at SchoolsAQMonitors@birmingham.gov.uk.

Find out more about how schools can help to make our city a greener space by visiting The Modeshift STARS website at this link.

Peace Education

Peacemakers are pleased to share a short animation which explains all schools need to know about peace education, how to get started and the benefits schools and children have experienced.  Schools can download a free 'Starter Pack' and more information is available on the Peacemakers website.

Services for Education - Training Opportunities

Assessment Briefings for Senior Leaders (ONLINE) - Wednesday 17th April 2024
This course will provide senior school leaders with essential information, guidance and updates regarding Statutory Assessment and key assessment issues at both local and national levels. 8.00-10.00 Book here & 14.00-16.00 Book here

Interim Writing Moderation at KS1 – For Year 2 Teachers (Centre-Based) Thursday 23rd April 2024
This shared moderation will be an opportunity for Year 2 teachers to ensure that assessments of writing are secure. Although now non-statutory, it is best practice to continue using the 2019 KS1 Teacher Assessment Framework to maintain rigour and make robust and accurate judgements at KS1. Book here

KS2 Centre-based, Peer Moderation of English Writing – Thursday 2nd May 2024: 09.00 – 15.45
This session is an opportunity for cross-city peer moderation of evidence based teacher assessment judgements at KS2, offering a greater understanding of national standards and expectations. Book here

Update for Existing DSLs on Safeguarding and Child Protection (Centre-Based) Wednesday 22nd May 2024: 09.00 – 12.15 Book here & 18th June Book here
This centre- based course is designed for existing Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) and Deputy DSLs who have previously attended the two-day DSL training course and require update training in line with the requirement set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education.

This entry was posted by Dawn Evans on 02/04/2024.