Attendance from 8th March

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement yesterday that all schools, academies and alternative providers will fully reopen on the 8th March 2021, the DfE has published operational guidance.

Attendance at school will again become compulsory but there are exceptions, particularly in the case of clinically extremely vulnerable children who are advised to continue to shield, and other children who mustn’t attend in line with public health guidance.  Further attendance guidance from the local authority will be published in due course.  Any attendance queries can be sent to the Education Legal Intervention Team (attendance@birmingham.gov.uk).

Testing arrangements

Earlier today, council officers attended a briefing with the DfE on the roadmap for the return of schools. At the briefing the Department confirmed the plans for testing as set out below:

Sector	Testing
Private Nursery workforce	Introduce twice weekly home testing
Primary School pupils	No testing
Primary School staff	Continue twice weekly home testing
Secondary / FE pupils	4 tests on return (3 via ATS, 1 via home test) Introduce twice weekly home testing thereafter Retain small ATS site for those unable to test at home
Secondary/FE Staff	Introduce twice weekly home testing
Further Education	Twice weekly home testing (for older pupils in colleges) Testing by demand for independent and adult providers
Children’s Social Care	Introduce testing for new placements and visitors to secure and open children’s homes Introduce twice weekly testing for workforce
Higher Education	Continue twice weekly testing on site for all staff and students

Officials from NHS Test and Trace confirmed the plans for asymptomatic testing expansion, including moving to collect home kits from collection points or to arrange home delivery.

Letter from Returning Officer to schools regarding their use as polling stations

Please find attached with this update a letter from Robert Connelly, Returning Officer, regarding schools’ use as polling stations in the upcoming elections.

DfE guidance on keeping children safe online

DfE guidance on keeping children safe online is available at this link.

SEND Professional Development webinar with Tom Cross: The Right of Inclusion in Mainstream Settings

Speaker:  Tom Cross

Date: Monday 15th March 2021 at 4pm.

SEN legislation contains a “right to inclusion” in mainstream for children with SEN. In this webinar, Tom will outline what this means for schools and local authorities, and its relationship with the duty to make reasonable adjustments under equality law. Tom will discuss from experience the leading case law in which he has often been involved and give practical examples. Tom Cross is ranked as a leading junior at the UK Bar in the field of Education Law.  He acts for and advises all parties including; HEIs, Schools, Local Authorities, Parents, Young People and Interest Groups.  Working in both private and public law, he is also a co-author of Education and the Courts, representing parties in schools’ disability discrimination cases.

To register for this event please use this Eventbrite link. This event will take place in TEAMS, invitations will be sent 45 minutes before the event.

The inclusion service has planned a series of webinars including:

19th April 2021	Preparing for Transition, with speaker Amanda Kirby	Preparing for Transition Ticket Link
10th May 2021	Inclusion and Equity, with speaker Mel Ainscow	Inclusion and Equity Ticket Link