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Trauma Conference
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EYFS Framework and Assessment Workshop
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End of Key Stage Teacher Moderation Training
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Recruitment of moderators
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September 2022 – Safeguarding Update & The Virtual School
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SEND Services to Schools Briefing
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Office 365
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Energy Projects Plus – August News
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Governor Training
Trauma Conference
The conference will be open to anyone Working in educational settings in Halton
See attached for more information.
EYFS Framework and Assessment Workshop
@DCBL Stadium
Three possible sessions:
Thursday 13th October 0930-1130
Thursday 13th October 1pm-3pm
Thursday 13th October 3.30pm-5.30pm
Aim:
To allow EYFS practitioners to have the opportunity to discuss recent changes in the EYFS Framework and how this has affected assessment. Delegates will have time to reflect on the key changes to the Framework and Assessment. Discussion time with peers will provide opportunities to reflect on what this looks like in practice.
This will allow the following:
1) What does assessment look like?
2) How is assessment recorded?
3) What challenges do we face and how are they being overcome?
This is a joint event run by Early Years and School Improvement Halton to develop collaboration between settings. There will be opportunities to discuss how we can all work together going forward.
Who is the meeting for?
All Early Years practitioners who work in pre-school settings/rooms and reception classes.
What to bring
Please feel free to bring anything you would like to share around teaching, learning and assessment.
To book please follow the link below:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MUxaFLJvrUaSkpKuP3lo_ixa8YL7dENOvRfIfkUsdS9UQ04wTEk3RFpWUTRLR0VBRllWTko2U0hGRy4u
For further information please contact:
mike.stapleton-chambers@halton.gov.uk
or
Gail.Vaughan-Hodkinson@halton.gov.uk
End of Key Stage Teacher Moderation Training
Yr2 & Yr6 Teacher Moderation Training
@ The Bridge Suite DBCL Stadium various dates throughout 2022-23
These courses will provide an early opportunity for Year 2 & Yr6 teachers to review writing evidence against the KS1 and KS2 teacher assessment framework standards to inform next steps in the teaching, learning and assessment process.
Important Information:
Each delegate should bring routine evidence of pupil performance derived from normal classroom practice for three, sample pupils who represent the teacher assessment framework standards of WTS, EXS and GDS as appropriate.
During the course, participants will gain:
- Peer moderation and review of writing across all standards awarded within the national teacher assessment framework
- An understanding of what constitutes independent and effective evidence to ensure consistent and reliable teacher assessment judgements
- An opportunity to reflect on necessary next steps and opportunities needed to ensure a robust end of key stage teacher assessment process.
To book follow the link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MUxaFLJvrUaSkpKuP3lo_ixa8YL7dENOvRfIfkUsdS9UQUI5WTdHWTU0Sk1UQkZPOUNWREUyMkJESC4u
For further information please contact: mike.stapleton-chambers@halton.gov.uk
Recruitment of moderators
Applications are welcomed from serving teachers who should seek the support of their Headteacher before making their application.
We are looking to appoint Moderators who have the range of skills, knowledge and experience that will enable the Local Authority to carry out its statutory duties in relation to the moderation.
All LA external moderators must:
- be qualified teachers with recent and relevant experience of KS1 or KS2 assessment and internal or external moderation
- successfully complete the STA standardisation process for moderation
- be able to:
- systematically review evidence against the Teacher Assessment (TA) frameworks and adhere to STA guidance
- manage a professional discussion with teachers about the evidence presented and how a pupil’s work meets the standard
- where appropriate, discuss and explain why a school’s TA judgements cannot be validated
- provide accurate written and verbal feedback to the teacher(s) and Headteacher
We are looking for practitioners who have the following skills, knowledge, experience and interests:
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
You will be a qualified teacher and have appropriate current experience of:
- delivering the National Curriculum at KS1 or KS2
- good assessment practice at KS1 or KS2
CPD – Training and Development
You will be willing to undertake training in using the national teacher assessment framework and STA exemplification materials, you will be supported in the role by training to develop your knowledge and skills.
Please note: STA will set a national standardisation exercise which must be passed to undertake this role in 2022/23.
Personal Qualities
You will be able to communicate very effectively and accurately both orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences and in a variety of settings and be able to enter into professional dialogue with teachers and Headteachers. You will be supported by a mentor and through shadow visits to further develop these skills.
Time Commitment
You will be able to commit the necessary time to attend training and to undergo the quality assurance work that will be needed to support the moderation which will take place in the summer term. It is likely that this will add up to around 4 days- schools will receive a rate for supply cover. This funding will be paid to the school at the end of the process.
If you are interested in this exciting professional development opportunity, please by email giving details of how your skills, knowledge and experience would enable you to fulfil this role.
Following shortlisting, successful applicants will be invited to attend a short interview with the Moderation Manager, If you are successful at interview, you will then be required to go on to complete the STA standardisation task.
Letters of application should be emailed to:
Mike.stapleton-Chambers@halton.gov.uk
Informal discussions about the work are welcomed also.
September 2022 – Safeguarding Update & The Virtual School
Benjamin Holmes – benjamin.holmes@halton.gov.uk
Dear Headteachers & DSL’s,
I hope you are well and had a very enjoyable and restful summer break?
For those of you who are new to post, welcome! By means of a quick introduction my name is Ben Holmes and I am the (new) Headteacher of the Virtual School. Until the appointment of a new Safeguarding Children in Education Officer (my previous role), I also continue to advise and support all education settings across Halton in all aspects of safeguarding (including regular updates, training, escalations and support with LADOs). Any questions or issues, please do not hesitate to email or give me a call.
Virtual School September Briefings
In a couple of weeks, I will be hosting 4 short ‘introductory briefings’ later via Teams in order to properly introduce myself and the virtual school team, and go through some of the key messages for the year ahead (including the plan for PEPs and a new deadline each term). If at least one member of the team from every school and setting can attend one of these sessions, it would be incredibly appreciated.
The dates and times of these are:
Monday 12 September @ 12:15 – 13:00
Monday 12 September @ 14:00 – 14:45
Monday 12 September @ 15:45 – 16:30
Wednesday 14 September @ 14:00 – 14:45
To book on to any of these briefings, please complete this very short form: https://forms.office.com/r/ChPS9wQuxf
I will then send out the Teams link towards the end of next week to all those booked on. Thank you.
PEPs
Since joining the virtual school team, I have spoken with many colleagues, managers within social care and other virtual schools, and have concluded that we need to introduce a deadline for the completion of PEPs each term.
I will discuss the rationale for this in a lot more detail at the briefings, but this will strengthen the use of PEPs as active documents, which truly impact upon the education of our children and young people.
Therefore, the deadlines for all PEPs (early years, school age and post 16) for each term this year will be:
| 2022-2023 | Halton PEP Submission Deadline |
| Autumn Term | Friday 4th November 2022 |
| Spring Term | Friday 3rd March 2023 |
| Summer Term | Friday 9th June 2023 |
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022
The new version of KCSiE 2022, has been published TODAY and replaces the draft version shared in the summer. Thankfully, there are few changes between the two. You can download a copy of the full version and part 1 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education–2
Change of email addresses
If your email address has changed (or is due to change!) please do let me know, but also remember to change this within the safeguarding partnerships training portal, so that you are still able to book onto any of their courses (dates of upcoming courses can be found below). You can also update your safeguarding team details here: https://forms.office.com/r/aqxfVha5JQ
Model Policy and Training Materials
In case you missed my email last week, I have attached a copy of the new model safeguarding policy. Via this link Whole Staff Training Materials you will also be able to access the new whole staff training materials. Within the 2022-2023 file, you will find a copy of the new ‘full course’ training and a new ‘refresher’ for use as the annual update. Both include a ten-question assessment which can be used to demonstrate that all staff, volunteers and governors have read and understood Part 1 of KCSiE 2022. TIP! You will not be able to edit the documents online, but once they have been downloaded you will be able to tweak them and change them to reflect your school. I have also included updated ‘notes’ to support the delivery of the training – if anything is unclear or you are not sure what to say for any slides, please do let me know and I will offer further guidance.
iCART Referrals
Over the summer, iCART has launched a new referral process. They have moved away from the old word document to a new web-based referral. A poster is attached FYI, but all submissions must now be completed here: https://halton.me/icart-referral/
A Review of all Child in Need Cases, Step Down Meetings & Social Care
Over the summer, children’s social care have appointed a new ‘Service Manager’ called Simon Delamar. As part of his role, Simon is currently reviewing every case currently open at Child in Need (level 3) to identify if there is any drift or delay and if it is sitting at the appropriate level on the continuum of need. As a result of this, some cases may step up to CP conference, others might review the actions on the CiN plan, while others might inevitably be stepped down to Level 2.
In addition to this, there will be a new pilot ‘step down’ process, where any case which might move from L3 to L2 will be discussed within a multi-agency forum, chaired by Simon and involving locality team managers and other relevant agencies (including schools). These meetings will take place every other Tuesday afternoon via Teams (from 6th September) with a set ‘slot’ for each case to be discussed. If a case is due to be discussed, or you want to find out more, please email Simon (simon.delamar@halton.gov.uk) or myself.
Simon will be attending the next Education Subgroup meeting, so if you have any feedback or concerns relating to any of these changes, please contact your Education subgroup rep.
I will share updated team structures for the social care teams as soon as I receive them later this month.
Neglect Posters
Please find attached some ‘Neglect’ posters, to use around school in staffrooms etc. to continue to raise the profile of neglect following the launch of the neglect strategy earlier this year.
Think U Know & CEOP
Think U Know (CEOP) have updated their training materials for 4 -7-year-olds relating to keeping safe from exploitation online:
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7
CEOP for older students – https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/professionals/resources/respecting-me-you-us/ ‘Respecting me, respecting you’ – Designed for young people aged 12-14, Respecting me, you, us is a set of eight lesson plans and five short situational films.
The resource aims to help young people develop a better understanding of healthy relationships, and how to challenge unhealthy behaviours and social norms, to better protect them from harm through child-on-child abuse, both off and online.
The resource is designed to be delivered through structured sessions in education settings. In schools, the lesson plans should be embedded into the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum. The lessons can be delivered in consecutive weeks, or separately to fit within a wider scheme of work on healthy, respectful relationships.
Respecting me has been awarded the PSHE Association Quality Mark, demonstrating that it supports safe and effective teaching practice and meets the PSHE Association’s ‘Key principles of effective PSHE education’
Stop It Now – Child Sexual Abuse
The Lucy Faithful Foundation have released this great video for professionals which may be useful in an upcoming staff meeting or training session:
Safeguarding Practice Review Findings
Halton’s Safeguarding Partnership has published the findings of its recent ‘Safeguarding Practice Reviews’ – details (and 7-minute briefings etc) can all be found here:
https://hcypsp.haltonsafeguarding.co.uk/serious-case-reviews/
Can you spot the signs of exploitation?
Across the country, young people are being manipulated, sexually abused, forced to launder money and deal drugs. Exploitation isn’t obvious. But it happens everywhere. And you can stop it.
By getting to know the signs and how to report your concerns if worried, we can keep more children safe from abuse.
How well do you think you could spot the signs of a young person being exploited? The Children’s Society have created this excellent resource which can help:
Promoting Positive Pathways for Autistic Children and Young People who have engaged In Harmful Sexual Behaviour
The Lucy Faithful Foundation are delivering this course which you may find beneficial:
21 September 2022 (10am – 12pm, via Zoom)
This course focuses on:
- a brief overview of key issues around harmful sexual behaviour by children and young people
- how autism may impact on harmful sexual behaviours
- what the current research and knowledge in this area tell us
- key areas which parents and professionals need to consider when tackling these behaviours
For more information and to book onto any of these webinars, email our training coordinator or call 01527 406 912.
Anna Freud Resources – Microagressions & Anti-Racism Materials
Microagressions. Something we are going to be hearing a lot more about this year. Want to know more and how this can have a significant impact on mental health? Here is a handy presentation and training materials for use in a staff meeting.
Anna Freud have also released these new anti-racism materials:
Year 6? Year 7? Moving on up resources from Childnet
Toolkit with videos and lesson plans for adults helping young people aged 10-13 with the online aspects of moving to secondary school.
https://www.childnet.com/resources/moving-on-up/
Domestic Abuse – Emotional Harm or Neglect; Which category?
Some clarity around domestic abuse when it comes to categories of abuse and CP conferences.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ for domestic abuse and often this sits alongside other risk factors and harm.
Therefore, decisions should be based on impact or greatest risk posed to the child. For example, the greatest risk to a younger child is being caught up in an incident or being physically hurt, this could be deemed a failure to protect, which comes under a neglect category. For an older child, they may intervene and be physically hit themselves, which could be perceived as physical abuse.
Often emotional abuse has been used as a category for domestic abuse, if you look at the narrative of the category this does not appear to reflect the risks and impact of domestic abuse. Often the neglect category combines the risks and impact of failure to protect from harm, including risk of being hurt. Therefore, what is the impact for the child and what is the greatest risk? This should then determine the category.
I have attached the guidance on the different categories and ‘thresholds’ for your reference.
Domestic Abuse for perpetrators
A useful website from the domestic abuse support service working within Halton: https://www.mycwa.org.uk/people-who-harm
| PEOPLE WHO HARM | My CWA, Cheshire |
Healthy Schools Mental Health Offer
Please see the attached PDFs for the offer for 22/23.
This is part of the healthy schools offer, so you would initially need a ‘healthy schools sign up meeting’ with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Team – please email maria.mcnulty@halton.gov.uk to organise or find out more!
Changes to CSOG
Moving forwards, if a pupil linked to your school is due to be discussed at the ‘Contextual Safeguarding Operational Group’ (CSOG) due to them being graded as high risk for potential criminal or sexual exploitation, you will now be invited to attend the meeting at the allocated timeslot in order to share information and be involved in agreeing an action plan for next steps. Historically, I would always attend on behalf of education, but this way you are more directly involved and can link in directly as the people who know these young people best.
Safeguarding Partnership Induction Booklet and Section 175
The partnership are currently updating the induction booklet for new staff. As soon as this is released (with details of the new referral process and new levels of need document, etc), I will share this with you all.
In the next week, you should also all receive an email from PHEW! This is the new website on which the Section 175 audits will be updated. As soon as I receive further details from the partnership around this, I will be in touch.
Partnership Training – Book via the Portal or email safeguarding.training@halton.gov.uk
All DSL’s and Deputy DSL’s must refresh their ‘Working Together’ Level 3 training once every 2 years (with regular updates during this time, such as the DSL workshops).
‘Working Together’ training is delivered by the safeguarding partnership & spaces can be reserved via the new Safeguarding Partnership Training Portal.
All partnership training is expected to be delivered via Teams and will presented by the most relevant agency.
- Working Together Full Course (For new DSLs) (9:30 -16:30) 20 September 202216 November 202217 January 202323 March 2023
- Working Together Refresher (To be repeated every 2 years) (9:30 – 15:00)
11 October 2022
14 December 2022
23 February 2023
- LADO Training (9:30 – 12:00) 14 September 20221 December 20223 March 2023
- Sexual Violence Awareness (9:30 – 12:00) 7 September 202213 December 20221 March 2023
- ICON Lunchtime Briefing (12:15 – 13:00)
9 September 2022
19 January 2023
- Domestic Abuse (9:30 – 12:30)
6 November 2022
6 February 2023
- Mental Disorder and Parental Capacity (9:30 – 13:00)
6 December 2022
- Bruising in non-mobile children (12:00 – 13:00)
9 November 2022
- FII (12pm-1pm) 5 October 2022
As all the courses above are delivered as a multi-agency offer, the spaces can be booked via the partnerships training portal: https://halton.accessplanit.com/accessplan/LMSPortal/UI/Page/Authentication/Login/Default.aspx
Or, if you can’t access the portal, please email safeguarding.training@halton.gov.uk
Safeguarding in Education Training
All the courses below are offered exclusively for education settings. Spaces on any of the courses below can be reserved by emailing Benjamin.holmes@halton.gov.uk
Unless stated otherwise, all advertised courses will be delivered via Teams. (In the autumn term, courses will move to a blend of face to face and remote delivery to try to cater to all preferences)
- DSL Workshop for ALL DSL’s. These are the main DSL updates and workshops. It is best practice for all DSLs & DDSLs to try and attend these meetings each term. (The agenda will be sent out prior to the meeting)
Autumn date TBC
- Safer Recruitment for Headteachers, Senior Leaders, Business Managers and Governors
27 September @ 9am – 4:30pm
- Safer Recruitment Refresher for Headteachers, Senior Leaders, Business Managers and Governors. (SR is valid for a maximum of 5 years) (A certificate from the full course must be seen before a place can be reserved on this course)
29 September 2022 – 9:30am – 12:30pm
- New to the role of DSL (Or infrequent user) This essential course is in addition to ‘Working Together L3 Safeguarding Training’ (which is delivered by the safeguarding partnership) and focusses on the role of DSL within a school setting – including managing referrals, specific areas of safeguarding and recording & reporting concerns.
Future dates TBC
- Designated Governor for Safeguarding Training. This course is aimed at any governor who has a specific safeguarding responsibility as part of their role. It will provide them with a clear understanding of suitable processes and procedures to enable them to carry out their duties effectively.
20 October 2022 – 9:30 – 4pm (Venue TBC – Face to face)
- Governor Safeguarding Training It is a statutory requirement that all governors should receive safeguarding training in line with all members of staff and volunteers who “should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training (including online safety).” Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022 states that the training should be regularly updated, at least annually, to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively.
This can be delivered using the whole school training materials. However, if preferred, Governors can attend this course which looks at safeguarding in schools from a Governor perspective. (They will still need to ensure that they understand the school’s specific processes and procedures)
19 September 2022 – 9:30am – 12:30pm
- Single Central Record (For Headteachers, Business Managers and anyone responsible for the SCR and personnel files)This new briefing will go through each column expected on the single central record, pre-employment checks and the management of personnel files. There will also be an extended Q&A with an opportunity to ask questions.
10 November 2022 @ 9:30 – 11:30
Places on all courses can be reserved by emailing Benjamin.holmes@halton.gov.uk
SEND Services to Schools Briefing
Tuesday 28th November 2022
@DCBL Stadium The Bridge Suite 9am
This meeting is aimed at giving both Headteachers and SENDCo’s and overview of various SEND teams that are available to schools to support SEND pupils. This has been requested by a number of schools during recent SEND Outcome meetings.
Each service will give an overview of what they do, support available and how referrals will be made. This is an opportunity to meet new members of the Halton team and network within this area.
Please register below. For further information contact: mike.stapleton-chambers@halton.gov.uk
Office 365
1 School Email Migration Project
In order to enhance the services available to schools and enable future technologies, HBC have been introducing and upgrading its technology to provide you with the best solutions for all your SLA needs. As part of this project we proposed to migrate all halton.gov.uk email accounts in use by schools to a more suitable address. These new email addresses will be held within the Council ICT infrastructure and continue to provide you with the same secure email facility as previously provided, with the benefit of providing you with a full Office 365 account.
We have spent the last couple of months replacing all Admin SLA PC’s and providing each SLA user with an Office 365 account. We are now ready to begin the next stage and activate the new email accounts for use.
We propose to complete this work in stages, beginning with advising your contacts of your new address. This can take time, so we are hoping to use the summer break to minimize the amount of disruption to yourselves whilst maximizing the number of contacts informed. Following this stage we plan to export the emails in your @halton.gov.uk account to the new address, including all archived emails. Once this stage is complete we will begin disabling your halton.gov.uk email account. We will provide all users with updates throughout this process.
All schools have been provided with their new account details and a guide on how to setup and access these accounts. If you are having any difficulty setting up your new accounts or have any queries please contact the SIMS IT helpdesk on Sims.Helpdesk@halton.gov.uk
2 SIMS Next Gen Pilots
Over the last couple of months the SIMS Team have been working closely with EES with their SIMS Next Gen solutions Team. Our Halton supported school Weston Primary volunteered to be one of the first Primary Schools in the country to trial and provide feedback on one of their new products – SIMS Next Gen Take Register. Take Register is a web-based product, that enables teachers to take the register on any web enabled device, with the data synchronised back to SIMS within 5 minutes. The pilot was very successful and Weston and Neil from our SIMS Team have taken part in marketing for EES to promote this product. As the pilot was so successful EES have given us permission to roll this product out to all schools who take our SIMS SLA, so Halton will be one of the first SIMS Support Units to provide this solution to all its customers.
In the future we hope to provide you all with the opportunity to take part in SIMS Next Gen Pilots so you have the opportunity to help shape the future of SIMS Next Gen.
3 New SIMS Server
We are in the process of moving all schools to our new SIMS MIS Server. A number of schools have already been moved and we hope to move the remaining schools during the summer.
4 SIMS Summer Product Update Videos
ESS SIMS have produced some videos showcasing what is new in the Summer release, please circulate accordingly Spring 2022 playlist.
- Personal Pronoun(s) in SIMS for Person records
- This Summer based on a high volume of customer feedback we are introducing a new optional and fully customisable piece of functionality in SIMS for personal pronouns. This will be available to record personal pronouns for Staff, Students, Applicants, Contacts and Agents.
- Reporting on Pronoun(s) in SIMS
- Further to the new optional feature we are introducing to record personal pronouns, we are also starting to introduce this within the reporting areas of SIMS.
- Reporting on the Emergency Alert function
- Within the Summer release we have introduced new data fields within the Design Report area of SIMS to allow users to report on the Emergency alert function. This will allow people to understand the usage patterns such as who uses it most or which classes is it most frequently used in.
- Updating the ‘Private’ / ‘Public’ Status on Custom Reports
- In the Summer release we have tackled the user experience around managing the ‘Private’ / ‘Public’ status of custom reports. Previously wherein it was not possible to change the status once a report was saved, we have introduced a new quick way to adjust the audience a report is intended for.
- Reporting on the Assessment Result Owner
- Another addition in the reporting dictionary for the Summer release includes the newly added “Result Owner” field within the Assessment Results area. This will now allow users to see which member of staff recorded the result alongside the rest of the result information.
Energy Projects Plus – August News
Please see attached affordable warmth information.
Governor Training
Governor Training – Understanding Data, Understanding the role of SEND
See link below for more information