Email from interim Chief Executive regarding Dr Tim O’Neill

Dear Colleagues

I regret to announce that our Director for Education and Skills, Dr Tim O'Neill has decided to move on from his role at Birmingham City Council.

He has been appointed as the new managing director of children’s services at the charity Action for Children and he will start his role there on 1 February. You can read more about this here:

Tim's decision is not one that he has taken lightly and I would like to thank him on behalf of the council for his contribution to the council and wish him the very best for his future endeavours.

We are actively considering a range of options for the leadership of the service and will bring these forward before Tim leaves the council – in the meantime Tim will remain the council’s Director of Children’s Services.

Regards

Chris

Chris Naylor
Interim Chief Executive
Birmingham City Council

Information from DfE following yesterday evening’s announcement of national lockdown

We have received confirmation today from the DfE that children with at least one parent or carer who is listed as a critical worker are eligible for a school place and it is not necessary for both parents to be critical workers.

The DfE confirmed that vulnerable children are still expected to attend school full time and should not be marked as Code X on the DfE attendance portal. If the parent of a vulnerable child wishes their child to be absent from school, the parent should let the school know that the pupil will not be attending. The DfE expects schools and colleges to grant such applications for leave given the exceptional circumstances. This should be recorded as code C.

The DfE advised that further information about the government’s expectations for free school meals will be provided as soon as possible.

The information regarding the announcement of ‘National lockdown: Stay at Home’ is available at this link.