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Working together to improve school attendance guidance
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St Gerard’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School
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DfE School Defibrillator Registration
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Science Club for Kids at Halton Libraries
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Summer Reading Challenge 2024
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Half term events
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Royal Institution Science in Schools grant scheme
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Childcare Support is expanding
Working together to improve school attendance guidance
Dear colleagues
The DfE are holding a series of webinars to help everyone’s understanding of the changes in the updated Working together to improve school attendance guidance.
The webinars below are for both LAs and schools because of the number of attendees these are being done through eventbrite.
You will receive a link to the webinar and reminders through the Eventbrite site.
4 June 3.30 – 4.30 – National Framework for Penalty Notices overview – Sign up here
This webinar will provide an overview of the new national framework for penalty notices for schools and other stakeholders (e.g. early help staff) which applies from August 2024. It will summarise the new national threshold for considering a penalty notice, the escalation for repeat offences and the use of the ‘notice to improve’ where support is appropriate.
10 June 3.30 – 4.30 – School admission register: deletion from the school roll – Sign up here
This webinar will provide an overview of when a pupils name can be deleted from the admission register, highlighting changes made by the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.
25 June 3.30 – 4.30 – Data Returns: sharing attendance information with local authorities and others – Sign up here
This webinar will outline what information from school registers must be shared with local authorities and how the daily attendance data tool can support this.
2 July 3.30 – 4.30 – Holding effective targeted support meetings between schools and LA – Sign up here
This webinar will explore what makes an effective Targeting Support Meeting (TSM) between the school and LA. It will cover the expectations on TSMs; aims of the meetings; collaborative working; use of data; and action planning for persistently absent and severely absent pupils.
Vicci Lavery | Policy Advisor – School Attendance Policy and Strategy Team | School Attendance Division
St Gerard’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School
The Governing Body of St Gerard’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School is intending to extend the age range of the school from 3-11 years as it is now to 2-11 years. This would enable the school to provide a 2-year-old offer where children would be able to access their free nursery education entitlement.
Starting from April 2024, existing childcare support will be expanded in phases. By September 2025, most working families with children under the age of 5 will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support. From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours childcare support. With this in mind, we want to be able to offer our families a 2-year-old offer starting in September 2024. We feel that with our community centred ethos and our highly trained staff we can provide those eligible children with the high-quality nursery education they are entitled to.
In the immediate locality there is no Catholic school led provision offered for 2-year-olds, so we would be able to offer this choice for parents. This would be especially advantageous for parents with children currently on our roll as it would ease transition into the school and support progress for children with an increased continuity of care. Both the Local Authority and the Archdiocese have also been informed about this proposal
What would our 2-year-old provision look like?
We will provide high quality play-based provision for the 2-year-olds which will meet the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) including role play, sand, water, construction, reading, mark making, and outside play. The learning environment will be equipped with suitable furniture, equipment and resources for 2-year-olds. There will be free flow between the indoor and outdoor areas offering children the choice of activities and allowing them to engage in learning which is relevant and appropriate to their age and stage of development. The 2-year-olds will be taught and supported by knowledgeable and appropriately trained adults who are in tune with each child’s individual needs. The new provision for 2-year-olds would be overseen by our experienced Early Years Lead and will have suitably qualified and experienced teaching assistant(s) to provide an excellent environment for a young child’s development and to support the learning and development of 2 year olds with a 1 adult :4 children staffing ratio.
How many places will be offered?
We will be able to provide 16 part time places which may include provision over lunchtime. There will be an additional charge for this and if lunch is required.
Which children would be eligible for a place?
Priority for admission will be determined by the school’s Admission Policy for the Nursery.
Karl Landrum | St Gerard’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School
DfE School Defibrillator Registration
Schools are reminded to complete final registration of their defibrillator equipment if not already completed, so it is recorded nationally and can be accessed by the ambulance service and others in an emergency. Attached are two documents for your information from The Circuit, the national defibrillator network.
Defibrillators can be registered here: The Circuit – the national defibrillator network
Science Club for Kids at Halton Libraries
Halton Libraries is thrilled to announce Science Club for Kids – a fun, interactive 45 min session once a month at Halton Lea or Widnes library. For 7 years + see attached
No need to book, just drop in!
Summer Reading Challenge 2024
Please see attached
Half term events
May half term events at Halton libraries see attached
Royal Institution Science in Schools grant scheme
The 2024 Ri Science in Schools Grant Scheme is now open to applications. Apply now for a fully-funded school visit between 1st October 2024 and 30th September 2025.
Ri Science in Schools grants are awarded annually and offer free visits from our professional presenters worth £800. These grants are only for UK schools.
Our Science in Schools days are designed to support children’s science education, meet CPD requirements for teachers, engage families, and raise funds for your school.
This scheme is generously supported by the Bain Capital, The Kusuma Trust, AstraZeneca, The Farr Foundation, AM McGreevy No 5 Charitable Settlement, the John S Cohen Foundation, and a donation in memory of Bob Bell.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday 5 June.
SCI-Tech Daresbury free workshops for Halton Schools
Daresbury Laboratory coding /physical computing workshops have now been developed to a more advanced levels suitable for all KS2 and KS3.
These workshops are free for all Halton teachers and students and they can be run at your school or in Daresbury Laboratory.
We are taking bookings now for summer and autumn terms
Please email Gina at gina.czarnecki-gables@stfc.ac.uk to book.
Childcare support
Childcare support is expanding see attached information.
