Schoolsnet Bulletin Board

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The School of Liberal and Performing Arts at the University of Gloucestershire are lead partners of a

three‐year European project: ARTPAD (Achieving Resilience Through Play and Drama).

The project explores the use of drama and play for supporting teachers and practitioners working with children and young people to promote engagement with learning and we are holding an event

on Tuesday 24th April, 15:30 - 18:30 at University of Gloucestershire, Oxtalls Campus, Gloucester.

Royal Forestry Society ‘Teaching Trees’ project is offering assemblies to schools to provide an overview of the importance of good woodland management and what we can all do to support woodlands now. Teaching Trees also offers outdoor learning sessions at £2 per child.

Date: Wednesday 27^th June 2018

Time: 09:15-15:30, registration from 08:15

Cost: £155 per delegate

Venue: The Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. GL7 6JS

Key note speakers: Jean Goss (CBE), sponsored by Oxford University Press; Brian Foster; Chair of ACERT; and Andrew Moffat (MBE), Parkfield Community in Birmingham.

We are delighted to announce the launch of the new Early Years Business Support team.   We have developed a generic business support email which can be used by all Gloucestershire Early Years Providers requiring business support.

Please find attached the Gloucestershire Schools Forum Outcome Report from the meeting held on 15 March 2018.

Outcome Report

Children already entitled to free school meals under the old criteria will have their entitlement protected until 31 March 2022 regardless of any changes to their family circumstances. This has been agreed by the DFE.

In January 2018 the latest inspection framework was introduced. The Ofsted: Developments in education inspection blog looks at the way Ofsted inspects education, from early years to schools and the further education and skills sector. It provides updates on developments and features current issues.

The DfE has announced that the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) will develop the new Reception Baseline Assessment for introduction in the academic year 2020/21. 

Ofqual has published an observational study of 2017 local authority KS2 writing moderation.

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has published information and guidance to support schools with the administration of the 2018 KS1 and KS2 national curriculum tests and phonics screening check (PSC). 

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) has published guidance for how local authorities (LAs) conduct monitoring visits to schools for KS1/KS2 national curriculum assessments and the phonics screening check. 

The Governors Budget Plan 2018/19 template is now available to download.

Google and the family internet safety experts at Parent Zone recently launched the Be Internet Legends programme for Key Stage 2 primary school students to help them be safe and confident explorers of the online world.

The third phase of the Home Office Disrespect Nobody campaign will run from 29th March to the beginning of May 2018.

Great Expectations is an intervention programme run by Gloucestershire Constabulary aimed at preventing young people from making decisions that may have a negative impact on their future. Sessions are delivered by police officers, PCSO’s, Youth Support Team, ex-offenders and current serving prisoners.

The resources from the March briefings are now available.

The UK’s first National Festival of Specialist Learning is being hosted at the National Star, Ullenwood, Cheltenham on Saturday 2^nd June. 

Please note that with changes to the Disclosure and Barring Service over the years, the 2010 blanket letter now no longer applies because not all Gloucestershire County Council posts in schools fall under the definition of a Regulated Activity. 

An e-mail has been sent to all Infant and Primary schools outlining the data collection process for 2018.

The GSCB Newsletter for Education Setting is attached.

GSCB Newsletter

The result of the election for a Primary (Maintained) Governor Representative is:

Sara Morris, St John’s C of E Primary School (Cheltenham), is duly re-elected to the Forum (new term of office 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021).

Please find below a link to the GCC website showing the determined term dates for 2019/20 Academic Year for Gloucestershire Community and Voluntary Controlled schools. 

Term Dates

When: Thursday 24^th May 2018.

Where: The Pavilion, Sir Thomas Rich’s School, Oakleaze, Gloucester, GL2 0LF.

Cost: £75.00 per person, with refreshments provided upon arrival and throughout the morning.

Free Wi-Fi access will be available. You will find it useful to have a laptop/tablet and a memory stick to hand for the session.

Deadline for bookings: Early booking is recommended as places are limited.  Please apply no later than Wednesday 9^1h May 2018.

Your pupil number forecast will be available to download week commencing 26^th March, it is a likely indication of your pupil numbers over future years to enable you to plan provision. 

Phonics training for teachers and teaching assistants will be taking place across the county during the summer term.

There have been a number of reports of phishing/scam emails to schools. Please make sure you check your emails carefully paying particular attention to suspicious email addresses and attachments.

The spring edition of the Closing the Gap newsletter is now available.  This is intended to provide useful updates for those leading on Closing the Gap in your school. 

Your pupil number forecast is now available to download, it is a likely indication of your pupil numbers over future years to enable you to plan provision. This pupil number forecast will be used in assessing basic need, through the school capacity return, to ensure sufficiency of school places throughout the county. It will also be used in any Section 106 agreement negotiations affecting your school. The forecast is available via Perspective Lite.

Gloucestershire County Council’s Educational Psychology Service and the Nurture Group Steering Committee are carrying out a survey regarding the use of Nurture Groups and Nurturing Approaches in the Local Authority.

Social Care Front Door have advised that they are noticing two trends regarding MARF.

We all have a role to play in protecting children and young people from child abuse and neglect. To help protect a child or young person, look out for changes in their Appearance, Behaviour, Communication (ABC).

Primary: For all primary schools and academies

Tuesday 22 May 2018, 9:00am-12:00pm or Wednesday 6 June 2018, 9:00am-12:00pm

Secondary: For all secondary schools and academies

Thursday 14 June 2018. 9:00am-12:00pm

Special Schools are welcome to attend either session.

Refreshments and registration available from 8:45am for a 9.00am prompt start.

Following the success of the recent KS1 and KS2 Assessment and Moderation CPD events, we are running one further event for each Key Stage. These will be run on 17^th April at the National Star College. They are half day sessions at a cost of £60 per delegate.

Date: Weds 25^th April 2018

Time: 7-9.30pm

Venue: Oxstalls University Campus .  This is a free event.

Gloucestershire County Council is supporting the ‘Together we can tackle child abuse’ campaign which is led by the Department of Education.

Date: 19^th April 2018

Times: 09.15-15.30

Venue: The Pavilion, Cheltenham GL51 6PN

Cost: £40 per person to cover administration, venue and refreshment costs which includes lunch.

On Wednesday 13 December 2017, Cabinet gave approval to establish a new 900 place secondary school in Cheltenham. Funding for the school was approved by Council in February 2018.

Gloucestershire County Council is now seeking proposals from appropriate sponsors to run this new school.

The county council has published a specification and impact assessment from Wednesday 28 February 2018 for a period of four weeks to allow interested parties to submit bids to run the new school.

It has been drawn to our attention that some schools are being approached by an organisation called Milsted Langdon Financial Planning (MLFP) offering to attend the school to provide pension-related information/advisory (or other financial) services for teachers and support staff. The advertising material that they use has the Gloucestershire County Council logo on it, which implies that we endorse them as a company, which we do not. 

The Cheque Book Schools CFR return 2017/18 template is now available to download.

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schoolsnet/school-office/finance/funding-reporting-and-accounting-guidance/financial-reporting-and-returns/

The new statutory guidance for the designated teacher for children in care and previously looked after children has now been published.

The next Secondary Senior Leaders’ Meeting will be held on Tuesday 20^th March 2018, 1.30pm-3.45pm, at The National Star College, Ullenwood, GL53 9QU. 

The primary and secondary Spring 2018 newsletters for English and mathematics are now available:

Primary:  English_Mathematics _Spring 2018  Newsletters

Secondary: English_Mathematics_Spring 2018_ Newsletters

There has been a recent national increase in notifications of scarlet fever to Public Health England, above seasonal expected levels.

In accordance with the County Catering Contract, the price of a paid school meal will increase to £2.36 from Monday April 16^th 2018.  The County Council reluctantly have to increase the selling price of a school meal due to the increases in the national living wage, food, materials and transport during the last twelve months.

We are seeking the views of headteachers and governors on the proposal to establish a county-wide partnership to improve educational outcomes for all children and young people in Gloucestershire.

The 2018/19 Primary, Secondary and Special Schools Budgets are now available to view:

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schoolsnet/school-office/finance/school-budgets/school-budgets-2018-19/

A nomination has now been received for the Special School Governor seat. No other nominations were received

A complimentary two hour presentation delivered by the Fischer Family Trust (FFT), where you will learn about the key features of the new FFT Aspire, Analyse School Performance (ASP) and Inspection Dashboard Summary Report (IDSR) systems. 

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) has seen an increase in recent weeks in the volume of what is referred to as CEO Fraud reports whereby schools are the targeted victim. This has resulted in substantial financial losses for several schools that have fallen victim to this type of fraud.