Noticeboard

Noticeboard - 11 September 2026

This week's Noticeboard includes: 

A message from Stuart Lackenby, Interim Executive Director of Children and Families

Dear colleagues

As schools settle into the new academic year, I wanted to take a moment to recognise some of the positive partnerships and achievements helping to make a difference for Birmingham's children and young people.

I was delighted to hear about the support provided by Jaguar Land Rover volunteers at Mapledene School over the summer. Their efforts helped transform areas across the school, creating refreshed and welcoming spaces for pupils, staff and families. Headteacher, Jonathan Hyde, and his team have spoken warmly about the volunteers' hard work and the difference it has made, helping to ensure the school was ready to welcome pupils back for the new academic year.

I’d also like to congratulate Calthorpe Academy on achieving the Birmingham SEND Silver Co-production Award. Calthorpe's success reflects the growing commitment to co-production across Birmingham, with more than 74 schools and settings now achieving Bronze Award status and six achieving Silver. Within Children and Families, Early Years Inclusion Support (EYIS) has also become the first service to achieve the Birmingham SEND Gold Co-production Award, demonstrating our shared commitment to ensuring the voices of children, young people and families help shape services and support.

Whether you're just beginning your co-production journey or already have strong practice in place, I would encourage schools and settings to explore the Co-production Award Scheme and consider how it could support and celebrate the work taking place in your setting.

There is so much fantastic work happening across Birmingham schools and settings. Please do share your achievements, projects and success stories with us so we can help celebrate them more widely.

A reminder that our next Schools Webinar will take place on 17 September. If you've not yet registered, I hope you'll be able to join us: Schools Webinar - 17 September 2026 14:00-15:00

Best wishes

Stuart

Stuart Lackenby
Interim Executive Director, Children and Families

Fair Access Protocol Review: Update for Schools

Earlier this year Birmingham City Council consulted with schools, trusts and partners on proposed changes to the Fair Access Protocol. We would like to thank schools once again for the detailed and constructive feedback received. The feedback highlighted a number of areas for further development, including reintegration arrangements, safeguarding and risk management, operational processes, transparency, and support for children and young people with complex needs.

As previously communicated, our intention was to work with schools and partners to take this work forward.

In the meantime, the Department for Education has indicated that it intends to consult on changes to the School Admissions Code. The School Admissions Code sets out the statutory requirements governing the operation of Fair Access Protocols, and early indications suggest that future changes could affect how local protocols are required to operate.

Given the potential for changes to the School Admissions Code, we believe it is sensible to await greater clarity before progressing further work on a revised Fair Access Protocol. This will help avoid a situation where further time and resources are invested in developing and consulting on proposals that may need to be revisited once the statutory requirements of the new Code are confirmed. It will also reduce the risk of completing a local review only to need further significant amendments to comply with a revised School Admissions Code.

Although further work on a revised Fair Access Protocol will be paused at this stage, the feedback received through the consultation remains valuable and will continue to inform improvements to current arrangements. We will continue to strengthen transparency, monitoring and operational processes wherever possible, including further improvements to the information available through Fair Access Panels and consideration of arrangements to support effective monitoring following placement.

One particular area of feedback received through the consultation was the need for greater information sharing and transparency for children returning to mainstream education following a permanent exclusion. In response, during the summer term the Inclusive Pathways Team worked collaboratively with other services, schools, Local Sharing Panels and Centres of Best Practice (CoBs) to develop a new Pupil Passport. The Pupil Passport will follow the child from the point of permanent exclusion throughout their education journey, providing a comprehensive record of support, interventions, strengths, needs and key information to support successful reintegration. The new documentation will be implemented from the week commencing 14 September 2026. Copies of the Pupil Passport, together with supporting guidance and training materials, will be available through Inclusion House.

We remain committed to working in partnership with schools and will provide a further update once there is greater clarity regarding the new School Admissions Code and timescales for the consultation process.

Pay and Policy Compliance

This month’s (September) Pay and Policy Compliance briefing provides important updates on:

  • Schools Assurance / Compliance Team Updates
  • NJC Pay Award
  • BCC Teacher Pay Policy 2026
  • Schools converting to Academy Status  
  • Time served increments
  • Salary Statements
  • Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026: Key Safer Recruitment Updates

The full briefing can be found here: Compliance | Birmingham City Council

Please take a moment to read through these points carefully. They are essential to ensuring we remain compliant and informed.

For any questions or queries, please contact the Schools Compliance Team directly at SchoolsCompliance@birmingham.gov.uk

Birmingham Virtual School Annual Conference 2026

Join Birmingham Virtual School on Wednesday 11 November 2026 at Alexander Stadium for a day of professional learning focused on improving outcomes for children in care and care-experienced young people.

The conference will feature keynote speaker Luke Rodgers BEM, interactive workshops, service updates and opportunities to share effective practice with colleagues.

Places are free but must be booked in advance. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Book your place now:  Registration: Birmingham Virtual School Annual Conference 2026

Get Involved in Best Start Brum - Birmingham's Best Start in Life Strategy

Birmingham's Best Start in Life Strategy is moving into delivery and we're looking for colleagues who would like to help shape the work.

Six workstreams have been established covering:

  • Child and Family Voice
  • Parenting Support
  • Workforce Development
  • Transitions
  • Early Education Entitlement Take-Up
  • Early Years Inclusion and SEND Reform Readiness

If you have experience, ideas or an interest in supporting better outcomes for babies, children and families, we'd love to hear from you.

Taking part is an opportunity to share good practice, work with partners across the city and help improve outcomes for babies, children and families.

To find out more or express an interest in joining a workstream, email FamilyInformation@birmingham.gov.uk.

New SENCO Briefing – Tuesday 29 September

SENCOs who are new to role this term, or new to post within Birmingham, are invited to attend the next New SENCO Briefing on Tuesday 29 September, 9am to 12pm.

The session will introduce local SEND services, support networks, funding processes and professional development opportunities, as well as providing an opportunity to meet colleagues from across the city.

If your school has a SENCO who is new to role this term and has not received an invitation directly, please contact david.w.hill@birmingham.gov.uk.

Autism & Me training continues for Birmingham secondary schools

The Communication and Autism Team (CAT), in partnership with Birmingham Parent Carer Forum (BPCF), is continuing Autism & Me training through the Autism Champions pilot following the success of the Autism in Schools Project.

During 2025-26, eleven Birmingham secondary schools took part in the programme, with trained Autism & Me Ambassadors supporting autistic pupils to better understand themselves, recognise their strengths and develop a more positive autistic identity. Feedback from schools, pupils and parent carers was overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting increased confidence, understanding and inclusion.

We would like to thank the schools, Autism & Me Ambassadors, pupils and parent carers who took part and helped make the programme such a success.

For further information about the training and programme, please contact your allocated CAT teacher.

Healthy Schools Lunch & Learn Webinar: Infant Feeding Resource Pack

Join the first Healthy Schools Lunch & Learn session of the academic year, Teaching about infant feeding – introducing a new, free resource pack for schools, on Wednesday 16 September 2026 at 4pm.

Open to all secondary school staff, the webinar will introduce a new infant feeding education resource pack developed by Birmingham City Council's Public Health team in partnership with breastfeeding experts and young people.

Register here: Teaching about infant feeding – introducing a new, free resource pack for schools

To hear about future webinars, email HealthySchools@birmingham.gov.uk to join the mailing list.

Healthy Schools Conference 2026

School staff are invited to attend the Healthy Schools Conference 2026 on Tuesday 10 November 2026 at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC).

The free event will feature keynote speakers, interactive workshops and a marketplace showcasing services and support available to Birmingham schools.

Full conference and registration details can be found here: Birmingham Healthy Schools Conference 2026.

For queries or further information, contact HealthySchools@birmingham.gov.uk.

Young People's Vaping Survey

Birmingham City Council's Public Health team is seeking feedback from schools to help shape future guidance, resources and support relating to vaping among children and young people.

The survey is open to all school staff across Birmingham and aims to understand the challenges schools are facing, along with the resources, policies and support that would be most helpful.

The survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and closes on 28 September 2026.

Complete the survey: Young People's Vaping Survey

Could you be a KS2 Teacher Moderator?

Applications are now open for teachers wishing to become a Standards and Testing Agency (STA) accredited KS2 Teacher Moderator for summer 2027.

The role provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen your expertise in KS2 writing assessment and moderation while contributing to Birmingham's statutory assessment programme.

A webinar outlining the role and application process is available on the Services For Education website.

For queries or to apply, contact sharon.noble@servicesforeducation.co.uk.

Applications close on 29 September 2026.

This entry was posted by Dawn Evans on 04/09/2026.