Updates, News & Resources
The Green Paper – SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time
The long-awaited SEND Review was published this week with Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary, promising “a more inclusive and financially sustainable system, where every child and young person will have access to the right support, in the right place, at the right time”.
It sets out the government’s proposed reforms to SEND and AP provision and addresses three key challenges:
- outcomes for children and young people with SEN or in AP are poor
- navigating the SEND system and alternative provision is not a positive experience for children, young people and their families
- despite unprecedented investment, the system is not delivering value for money for children, young people and families
The delivery of the plans is set out in chapter 6 of the review and includes the publication of a national SEND and alternative provision delivery plan and a new National SEND Delivery Board.
Further information can be gained directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
Changes to the School Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Process
Statutory guidance describing temporary changes to the school suspensions and permanent exclusions process will not apply to suspensions and exclusions that occur from 25 March 2022 onwards. This brings an end to temporary arrangements regarding the use of remote access technology for meetings of governing boards and independent review panels (IRPs), unless the exclusion being considered occurred up to and inclusive of 24 March.
Governing boards and independent review panels must ensure that meetings take place within the normal statutory timescales described in the statutory guidance suspensions and permanent exclusions from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England.
In response to the Timpson review of school exclusions, the government is working with sector experts to publish clearer, more consistent guidance. They have undertaken a consultation process with a view to proposed changes to the behaviour in schools guidance and the suspension and permanent exclusion guidance for England. The aim of this guidance is to support schools to:
- create positive behaviour cultures
- ensure suspensions and permanent exclusions are conducted in a lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair way
Secretary of State letter to LAs about children arriving from Ukraine
The Secretary of State for Education wrote to local authorities on 1 April about the right of children arriving from Ukraine to access education and childcare while in the UK. This letter sets out the Secretary of State’s expectation for local authorities to work with families arriving from Ukraine to enable the children to attend school as soon as possible.
The letter can be viewed directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
Welcome to Spring Term 2022
Dear Governor and Trustee
I wanted to begin by wishing you, our governors, trustees and leaders a Happy New Year. I hope you managed to have a good break over the festive period.
As we move from the autumn into the spring term, the country remains in ‘Plan B’ of the Governments COVID measures. We are aware that transmission rates in the north-west continue to rise and that schools are experiencing significant pressures in terms of staff absence and the implementation of additional COVID strategies. Again, we highlight the importance of well-being and ‘checking in’ on your leaders and governance colleagues to provide support or sometimes just a listening ear. As always, your Clerk is available for support and advice, as is myself and other members of the Governance Services Team.
The Local Authority encourages Boards to continue meeting virtually until further Government guidance is issued and transmission rates in the area decrease. All governance training and development sessions scheduled before spring half term will continue to be held virtually.
On behalf of the Team and the wider Children’s Services Department, I wish to thank you for your continued support to our schools and academies and we look forward to working with you throughout the year ahead.
John Ashworth, Governance Services Manager
DfE Press Release – New Measures to Reduce Pupil Absence
As part of the Education Secretary’s commitment to make school attendance his top priority, new expert attendance advisers with decades of first-hand experience are to begin work to reduce pupil absence.
They will work with local authorities and multi-academy trusts who have been identified as having potential to benefit from the support and who want to use the expertise of the advisers to help re-engage persistently absent pupils.
The Department has also identified schools with some of the greatest decreases in absence rates over a five-year period prior to the pandemic, and that have maintained their excellent approach. They will be sharing their approach with other schools in a variety of ways over the coming weeks and months, to help reduce high absence rates.
The full press release can be found directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
DfE Statutory Guidance – Cost of school uniforms
The Department for Education has produced statutory guidance, the purpose of which is to ensure the cost of school uniforms is reasonable and secures the best value for money.
This means that schools and their governing boards must have regard to it when developing and implementing their school and trust uniform policies. It should be read alongside the non-statutory guidance on school uniforms.
The guidance outlines the cost considerations which schools should consider when developing and implementing their uniform policies and managing their uniform supplier arrangements
The statutory guidance may be downloaded directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
A Guide to Engaging with Parents and Carers
The NGA has announced the publication of their joint guidance with Parentkind this week. Engaging with parents & carers, a guide for governing boards informs boards about the importance of engaging with parents as a feature of effective governance and methods that can be put in place to maintain those relationships.
This guidance is helpful for boards to take a practical approach to listen to parents’ views and take these into account during strategic decision making.
A copy of the guide may be downloaded directly from the NGA website by following this LINK
DfE Governance Update – November 2021
The DfE (Department for Education), as part of their regular governance update, have provided additional guidance to assist governors, trustees and school leaders in their governance roles. You may have already received this update if you are subscribed to the DfE GIAS (Get Information About Your Schools) system. The November briefing includes the following updates:
- Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees updated
- National Leaders of Governance: eligibility for funded support and new designations
- Free services for finding skilled volunteers to become school governors and academy trustees
- Webinar for governors and trustees on implementing flexible working
- The View my financial insights (VMFI) tool has been updated with your latest data (academy trusts only)
- Update your information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS)
The guidance can be gained directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
Using Pupil Premium: DfE Guidance for School Leaders
The Department for Education has published advice for school leaders in managing the use of pupil premium (and recovery premium in the 2021 to 2022 academic year) in schools. The guidance may also be useful for governing boards, parents and local authorities who want to know how schools can use their pupil premium effectively and the reporting requirements. The Department has separate published guidance which gives a brief overview of the pupil premium. As in previous years, schools should continue to use the pupil premium to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. For 2021 to 2022, schools are required to:
- use the recovery premium alongside pupil premium funding and report on the use of them as a single sum in the strategy statement
- use the DfE template to publish the strategy statement
- publish the strategy statement by 31 December 2021
- demonstrate how spending decisions are informed by a range of evidence
The guidance can be gained directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) and Assurance Statement
The SFVS assists schools and local authorities to meet basic standards for good financial health and resource management. Local authority (LA) maintained schools must submit the schools financial value standard (SFVS) to the LA annually. Local authorities use this information to inform their programme of financial assessment and audit. For the financial year 2021 to 2022:
- schools should submit their SFVS to their local authority no later than 31 March 2022
- local authorities should submit their assurance statement to DfE within 6 weeks, no later than 31 May 202
This year the template has been updated for recording related party transactions. The ‘Dashboard guidance’ has been removed and there has been the addition of the ‘Template for recording related party transactions’. There is also updated ‘Checklist guidance’ with information for the new 2021 to 2022 financial year.
The guidance can be gained directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
Governance Services Update – Autumn 2021
Dear Governor and Trustee
Whilst reflecting on my introduction to the previous autumn term, it was apparent how optimistic I was about the year ahead. Little did I know that the challenges felt in summer 2020 would continue through the autumn term and move into spring and summer 2021. Schools and Academies once again felt a fresh wave of challenges with the pandemic, ensuring the safety of children and staff, whilst continuing teaching and learning via remote learning and in-school provision for vulnerable and key worker children.
The pressures for school leaders, teaching and non-teaching staff was palpable and at times relentless. Nevertheless, most schools remained open to our children, providing as much normality as possible. Governors and trustees supported their leaders and staff teams by conducting their strategic roles virtually but more importantly, I was heartened to receive positive feedback about how our strategic leaders were ‘checking in’ with genuine concern for staff well-being. The end of summer term could not come soon enough for many, and I hope all those involved in each school community had some much-needed respite from what had proved to be a difficult year.
Governance Services continued to provide support via virtual means throughout 2020/21, again with governors and trustees adapting well to the ‘new way of working’. The Team and I experienced many examples of exceptional governance in difficult times, with good virtual meeting conduct, continued training and development engagement and strong remote monitoring practice. Feedback has remained positive and the message from our governance volunteers is that a blended approach to services would be valued moving forward. With this in mind, and in line with the Government’s roadmap to recovery, we aim to continue to support both virtual and physical board meetings and provide a blend of face-to-face, live virtual and pre-recorded training and development events. We feel this will allow greater flexible and wider reaching support to our leaders, governors and trustees. The Chairs’ Briefing, Partnership Forum and Training & Development Lead Briefings will be a blend of face-to-face and virtual or pre-recorded events moving forward and feedback on this will continue to be sought.
So, from myself and the Team, I want to thank you for your support in 2020/21 and I wish you and your school and governance teams well for the year ahead.
John Ashworth, Governance Services Manager
DfE Governance Update – July 2021
The DfE (Department for Education), as part of their regular governance update, have provided additional guidance to assist governors, trustees and school leaders in their governance roles. You may have already received this update if you are subscribed to the DfE GIAS (Get Information About Your Schools) system. The July briefing includes the following updates:
- National Leaders of Governance (NLG) reform applications
- Academy Trust Handbook 2021
- Updated models of articles of association
- Keeping children safe in education guidance
- Consultation on proposed arrangement for exams 2022
- Guidance for trust partnerships
- Early career framework reforms
The guidance can be gained directly from the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
DfE Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021
The Department for Education (DfE) have released the updated Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment.
The DfE have also updated their advice on sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges.
Both documents come into force from 1 September 2021 and can be gained by selecting the following links:
Keeping Children Safe in Education
Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between Children in Schools and Colleges
School Admissions Code 2021
The Department of Education (DfE) have published changes to the School Admissions Code which will come into effect from 1 September 2021.
The changes aim to improve the in-year admission process, particularly for vulnerable children. Admission authorities should familiarise themselves with the new provisions to ensure compliance.
The DfE have also published new guidance to help local authorities and other admission authorities process admission applications for children adopted from state care outside of England, and has updated guidance around the effective operation of Fair Access Protocols.
Further guidance may be downloaded via the following links:
Admissions Priority for Children from State Care Outside of England
DfE New Model Articles of Association for Academy Trusts
The Department for Education (DfE) have published new model articles of association for academy trusts on 30 June 2021. The articles of association stipulate the trust’s charitable purpose and governance arrangements, including how members and trustees are appointed or elected, and the rules around meetings and voting.
Trust Boards are encouraged to update their articles of association, when possible, as the articles reflect current best practice and meet requirements set out in the Academy Trust Handbook.
The new articles of association may be found be visiting the www.gov.uk website via this LINK
Ofsted Inspection Handbook 2021 (June Update)
Ofsted have updated the School Inspection Handbook 2021 which comes into force in 1 September 2021.
Details of the updates can be found in the summary of changes which include general updates, clarifications and new sections detailing Ofsted’s position on harmful sexual behaviour (para. 306 to 310) and Careers information, education, advice and guidance (para. 256-259).
A copy of the revised framework and summary of changes may be downloaded via the www.gov.uk website using this LINK
Academy Trust Handbook 2021
The ESFA (Education and Skills Funding Agency) has recently published the 2021 edition of the Handbook, previously know as the Academies Financial Handbook. The revised handbook comes into effect on 1 September 2021. The changes in the edition includes new information about:
- Trusts’ existing obligations in relation to safeguarding, health and safety, and estates management
- Cybercrime
- External reviews of governance
- Renaming the financial notice to improve (FNtI) to notice to improve (NtI)
Copies of the Academy Trust Handbook 2021 may be downloaded via the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools & Colleges
Ofsted has published its review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. Inspectors spoke to more than 900 children and young people about the prevalence of sexual harassment in their lives and the lives of their peers. The findings include worrying statistics in regard to harmful sexual behaviours. The report advises school and college leaders to create a zero tolerance culture of sexual harassment and online sexual abuse and strategies for early intervention.
Governing boards will play a key role in making this happen from setting the right culture to ensuring appropriate trianing and policies are implemented effectively.
The full report may be accessed via the www.gov.uk website by following this LINK
DfE Mental Health & Wellbeing Support
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, the DfE outlined plans for £17.4 million funding on mental health initiatives in education settings. The funding will cover:
- A Wellbeing for Education Recovery program providing free training and resources for staff to support pupils experiencing additional pressures from the last year.
- Funding to the ‘Link’ programme run by the Anna Freud Centre which promotes joint working between schools and mental health services.
- Grants for training of senior mental health leads in up to 7,800 schools and colleges from September. Information on applying for funding and a list of approved training providers is expected to be announced before September.
In addition, the DfE and Ofsted made 12 commitments to support staff wellbeing including to review the impact of the Oftsed framework on staff wellbeing. The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter is intended to be a shared commitment across the sector to support staff, with schools and colleges invited to sign the charter in the autumn.
Guidance can be downloaded by selecting the highlighted links above.
The Role of Members in Academy Trusts – NGA Guidance
The National Governance Association (NGA) have updated their guidance on the ‘Role of Members in Academy Trusts’.
The NGA note that Members are the “guardians of governance” within an academy trust, performing a limited and distinct role which is often misunderstood.
This third edition of the guidance includes new sections on keeping members informed and addressing trust board under performance. Existing content has also been updated to reflect the evolving rules and guidance around members and their role.
This guidance is available via the NGA website and is a free resource open to all NGA members and non-members via the following LINK
