Noticeboard - 2 May 2024

This week's noticeboard includes information on co-production opportunities, 2023-2024 Year End Accruals (Non-CHB/EPA), Legislative changes in School Attendance, and more. Wishing you a restful bank holiday weekend when it arrives.

Included in this week's noticeboard:

Co-production Opportunities – your chance to help shape the future of School Improvement and the Balanced Education System

Following our day of workshops last week, we are seeking Heads of Early Years, Post-16, Alternative Provision, Primary, Secondary and Special schools to work with us to co-produce:

  • The commissioning and launch of the school and LA school improvement portal
  • School Improvement Strategy
  • Terms of Reference for the Education Board

We are not expecting any Head to do all of these, but would ideally like a Head from each of the sectors above on each of workgroups listed.

We anticipate that each one will involve approximately 3 meetings (to be online or in person to suit members of the group) over the course of the next 3 months.

For further information, or to express your interest, please contact Lisa Smith and Fiona Chamberlain on schoolimprovement@birmingham.gov.uk by Friday 10th May.

2023-2024 Year End Accruals (Non-CHB/EPA)

We would like to thank all Schools for their submissions so far.

For all Schools where the Year End Submissions are still outstanding can you please ensure a submission is made by the deadline date of Friday 3rd May.

Please note that Nil Returns still require a submission.

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 DeMinimus of £1000 has been set, and all accruals must have evidence attached that support the accrued figure.

Full guidance on year End Accrual Procedures for Non-chequebook and EPA schools can be found at this link

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

BCC Schools Contracts Data Collection for Lease Accounting (IFRS 16)

FAO: Head Teachers and School Business Managers/Bursars

To prepare for IFRS 16 revision, BCC’s Final Accounts team are reviewing data collected from 2023/24 school lease returns and need to review all contracts, including vehicle leases, in order to assess them under IFRS 16.

If you have not already done so, please could you return your 2023/2024 lease return at this link  and could schools also complete the school contract data spreadsheet at this link providing details for all contracts where the total contract value is more than £5,000.

Please note a ‘nil return’ is required if not applicable.

Please provide sufficient detail in the contract description field to enable the Final Accounts team to understand if the contract includes physical assets and whether the assets identified are leased by the school. The returned data will be assessed under IFRS 16 and if any additional information is required for contracts deemed to be in scope of IFRS 16, the Final Accounts team will contact School Managers/Bursars directly.

Details requested must be provided by Monday 20th May 2024 to Jainam Mehta at Jainam.Mehta@birmingham.gov.uk

With many thanks for your assistance in this matter.

BCC Schools Contracts Secretary of State Consent (IFRS 16)

FAO: Head Teachers and School Business Managers/Bursars

The general position is that schools are only permitted to borrow with the written consent of the Secretary of State (SoS). The taking on of liabilities under a lease is deemed to be borrowing, and up until 31 March 2024 the framework has applied the finance/operating lease distinction. Schools were able to enter into operating leases but could only acquire assets through finance leases with SoS consent.

The new standard for lease accounting (IFRS 16) became effective from 01/04/2024. With the implementation of IFRS 16, most operating leases will require a liability to be recognised at 1 April 2024 (unless they had less than 12 months to run or were for low value items). This would require these leases to be consented to if they were to remain lawful. The Department for Education has addressed this issue by publishing a  general consent for borrowing comprised in a lease for property, plant and equipment of a description set out in the Schedule to the consent at this link. The items covered include such things as IT, telephony, catering equipment and vehicles. The consent is backdated to cover leases entered into before 1 April 2024.

Please note specific written consent will be required for any lease requiring the recognition of liabilities that involves items not covered by the Schedule, whenever they might have been entered into.

Please contact Ceri Johns at Ceri.Johns@birmingham.gov.uk or Magda Newman at Magdalena.Newman@birmingham.gov.uk if you have any queries.

With many thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Legislative Changes in School Attendance

School attendance Referrals

You may be aware that the new national framework for legal intervention in school attendance cases becomes law on the 19th August 2024.  In order to prepare for what are the most significant legislative changes in school attendance in a generation, amendments will need to be made to our referral processes and thresholds, particularly in relation to FAST-track to Attendance. In brief: 

  • Friday 24th May will be the last day year 11 referrals for either FAST-track or LITT can be accepted from schools. All FAST-track cases will need to be concluded and referred by this date. After 24th May, Step One, the early help stage can still be used but schools should refrain from using Step Two onwards for this year group. Year 11 LITT cases cannot be referred after this date.
  • FAST-track cases related to other year groups must be concluded and referred to ELIT by the 1st July 2024. After that time, Step One, the early help stage, can still be used but schools should refrain from using Step Two onwards. The new regulations mean that, unfortunately, cases cannot carry over from one academic year to the next and ELIT will need time to start to review the referrals before the end of term. This will be just for this academic year only.   

We know this will be disappointing for many colleagues working hard on attendance in schools, but as all procedures and guidance also have to be changed, the short term impact should give rise to long term gains. Please bear with us whilst we prepare for these changes and refrain from emailing for more details as this will prevent us from working on our current cases.

More details on the changes will be shared with schools over the coming weeks, including arrangements for leave in term time referrals for this academic year.

Part-time Timetables

Schools are reminded of the need to complete part-time timetable notifications, updates and nil returns (no new cases). 

Guidance for schools and links to notification forms can be found here

EYSFF Returns for Summer Term 2024

FAO: Schools who provide Early Years provision for funded 2, 3 and 4 years olds

Schools are required to submit and return an on-line EYSFF submission every term to provide us with your numbers of eligible disadvantaged 2 year olds and the numbers of 2, 3 and 4 year olds eligible for EYPP and FSM take up so that we can reconcile your early years funding. It is the school’s responsibility to ensure that the form is completed within the time frame - failure to do so will result in incorrect budget allocations.

The link to the form will be emailed to schools during Census week and you will be required to complete the form between 16th and 23rd May 2024. The email is sent to your enquiry@ email address so please ensure that the person responsible for this mailbox knows who to forward the link to within your school. We do not have the facility to use individual email addresses.

Please only include your Early Years Children who are in attendance with you for census week / headcount in line with the terms and conditions of funding. You must not include children in your reception classes.

It's important to emember that all 2 year olds eligible for disadvantaged funding that you claim for and all 2, 3 and 4 year olds that you are claiming EYPP and FSM for, must have an eligible code that you must keep a note of on the children's records for the purpose of EEE audit. All eligibility checks must be undertaken at the point of admission. If the initial eligibility check does not confirm eligibility, you can contact earlyeducation@birmingham.gov.uk for support.

Please note there is no facility to receive a copy of your on-line submission - however you must maintain records of all eligible children 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: http://www.ted-birmingham.org.uk  

To access EYMIS please use Username: PVI2 Password: PVI2year

 If you have any queries regarding the on-line form or the eligibility of children, please email earlyeducation@birmingham.gov.uk FAO Mrs Dee Sterling-Miller

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

Education Infrastructure - Dual Funding 2024/25

Following the success of 2023/24 Dual Funding schemes, we are pleased to launch the 2024/25 initiative. The application is only available to Community, Foundation and Voluntary Controlled schools. (This excludes Voluntary Aided, Academies and Free schools).

This is an opportunity for schools to apply to the Local Authority for funding to assist with addressing key building condition priorities.

Further information and application forms can be found at this link

Please submit your completed Dual Funding Application no later than Friday 24th May 2024.

Ordinarily Available Guidance for the Early Years

We have worked with our mainstream schools in developing the Ordinarily Available Guidance document i.e. the activities, experiences, and strategies that are ordinarily available within the existing resource within mainstream settings for all children and young people, including those with SEND.

We are now planning work with the Early Years sector and have strong representation from both the PVI settings and nursery schools. As the Early Years Foundation Stage extends into primary schools, we are keen to work with Reception teachers and primary SENCos with Early Years expertise to ensure this supports professionals across the whole Early Years sector.

If you are interested in being part of the working group or would like further information, then please contact Heather Wood at heather.wood@birmingham.gov.uk

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS 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 on 0121 466266 or e-mail bchc.bchcplus@nhs.net We will then arrange a Teams meeting to discuss our services and your requirements in more detail. Note we have capacity to commence with immediate effect.

Services for Education – Training Opportunities

Update for Existing DSLs on Safeguarding and Child Protection (Centre-Based) Wednesday 22nd May 2024 9.00-12.15.  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.

Safer Recruitment - Thursday 6th June 2024: 09.00 - 16.00
Delivered by accredited Safer Recruitment Consortium trainers, this course enables schools to meet statutory requirements and to improve processes that help deter, reject or identify people who might abuse children or who are otherwise unsuited to working with them and identifies ways settings can create safer environments with a culture of vigilance. Book here

Twilight Online Safer Recruitment - Monday 17th June 2024 & Monday 24th June 2024 & Monday 1st July 2024 & Monday 8th July 2024: 17.30 - 19.00 Book here

Safeguarding and Child Protection for Headteachers and Nominated Governors – Friday 5th July 2024: 09.00 – 16.00
This full-day course will equip Head Teachers/ Principals (who are not DSLs) and Governors with the information, knowledge and understanding to undertake their responsibilities in respect of safeguarding, including supporting staff members acting in the DSL/DDSL role and dealing with allegations against staff. Book here

Dog Safety Assembly for Primary Schools

Blue Cross, one of the UK’s leading pet charities, provides children, young people and their families with information and guidance about pet care and safety through free visits to Primary schools.

The organisation offers a free whole school assembly about dog safety; raising awareness of dog body language and simple procedures to keep people safe around dogs.

There have been too many reports involving dog attacks recently in the local and national press. Blue Cross has made it a priority to teach the importance of appropriate behaviour around dogs to pupils aged 4-11 as the majority of visits made to hospital following dog incidents are by children.

Blue Cross has offered a free education service to Schools since 2005, an as well as Dog safety talks, also offers class talks to KS1 & 2 on pet welfare and care.

To book a free assembly or class talk, please complete the booking form on the Blue Cross website www.bluecross.org.uk/education  where schools will also find more information on their talk topics and free teaching resources.

This entry was posted by Jaspal Shambi on 30/04/2024.