Provision of laptops and connectivity

We would appreciate schools completing a very short survey to enable the council to assess the gap between what schools have been provided by the DfE in terms of laptops and connectivity and the need. The data provided will assist us with lobbying government on schools’ behalf. The form is available at this link.

Please could you complete this by the end of tomorrow (Friday 8th January). It should take no more than two minutes to complete.

Brokerage of early years childcare places

If parents are struggling to find an early years childcare place as their usual arrangements have broken down they can make contact with the council’s Early Years Consultants who will broker a place for them directly. Please ask parents to email EYDuty@birmingham.gov.uk with a contact telephone number and an Early Years Consultant will contact them.

DfE guidance on restricting attendance

The DfE has published new guidance for schools in England on restricting attendance at school during the national lockdown. This guidance includes further information about provision for the children of critical key workers and vulnerable children as well as information on remote learning and school workforce.

Disapplication of legislation on compulsory attendance

Today, the Department for Education has announced that the legislation making attendance compulsory for all children on roll at school has again been disapplied.  Initially the disapplication is until 6th February but may be further extended as previously.  This means that from 4th January until further notice there should be no unauthorised absence codes used on registers.  This also means that referrals made to the Education Legal Intervention Team last term have been paused and schools must not use either FAST-track to Attendance or the Leave in Term Time (penalty notice) processes.  All planned SARMs should now be postponed until the legislation has been re-established.

Whilst specific guidance on registration codes during this period of lockdown hasn’t been published as yet, the DfE has stated the following:

• ‘All pupils who are not expected to be in school should be marked as Code X. They are not attending because they are following public health advice.
• As vulnerable children are still expected to attend school full time, they should not be marked as Code X if they are not in school (except if they are shielding, self-isolating or quarantining). Schools and colleges should encourage vulnerable children to attend but 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 Department for Education expects schools and colleges to grant such applications for leave given the exceptional circumstances. This should be recorded as code C unless another authorised absence code is more applicable {such as code I if the child is too ill to attend or has had a positive Covid test result}.
• As with vulnerable children, critical worker parents and carers should let schools know if their child will not be attending and, if not, schools should grant a leave of absence (code C) given the exceptional circumstances.’

We are aware that some critical key worker parents and carers have expressed concern about their children being marked as absent if they do not attend and this is being raised with the DfE.  Schools should ensure that the guidance on coding is strictly adhered to and seek to reassure parents that their children will not be disadvantaged in any way. Where children fail to attend as expected and there is no contact from the parents/carers schools should follow their usual same day calling procedures to ensure the child is safeguarded. Children currently absent because of unauthorised leave in term time should be coded according to whether they are children of critical workers/vulnerable children (code C), or children not required to attend (code X).

If there is any further guidance from the DfE regarding attendance we shall endeavour to share that with you at the earliest opportunity. Schools can contact the Education Legal Intervention team for advice or support (Attendance@birmingham.gov.uk)