DfE’s Governance Update July 2022

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Dear Governors/LGB Members/Local Advisory Committee Members
 
Please note that the July 2022 edition of the DfE’s school governance update has been published.
 
Here you will find key announcements and information to support you in your governance role.
 
 
Articles include.
• Schools White Paper: Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child
• Local Authority-established multi-academy trusts (MAT)
• SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time
• Recovery Guidance
• Keeping Children Safe in Education Guidance
• Webinars for schools on attendance best practice
• Flexible working training for school leaders
• External Reviews of Governance Guidance
• View My Financial Insights (VMFI) governor training webinars
• Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment
• Improving your computer science teaching: computing hubs are here for you
• Recruitment of National Leaders of Governance (NLGs)

BESST Governor Training

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BESST Governor Training

Summer term 2021/23 and Academic Year 2022/23

Governor training is a vital element in every governing board’s effectiveness. Recognising that Governors need flexibility, we offer a comprehensive ‘pay as you go’ training programme for all governors throughout the academic year.  Delivered by expert Buckinghamshire Council teams and selected partners, the training is tailored to governors within the county.

We are planning for all training in the academic year 2022/23 to be virtually hosted on MS Teams and delivered in the evening. Each session will be delivered by a local expert and will be interactive live courses. The one-hour sessions will be focused on the needs of Buckinghamshire’s governors and will allow plenty of time for ‘what if?’ scenario discussions to ensure the training meets your needs and answers pressing questions.

You can pay for governor training sessions on a pay as you go basis or you can sign up for a package of training to receive a discounted rate. Bronze, Silver and Gold Packages will be offered for the Autumn and Spring terms initially and can be purchased on the shop

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Developing Relationships with the Senior Leadership Team

This session will give practical tips and guidance on forming effective relationships with the Senior Leadership of your school.

Online
 28.06.2022

More Information
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Building an Effective Governing Board – A Guide for Development Governors

This training session, delivered by the BASG, will provide an update on what boards need to do to support the upskilling of governors.

Online
 23.06.2022

More Information
Book Now

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Internet Safety – Keeping Children Safe in Education

This training session will support governors in understanding how schools can keep children and young people safe online.

Online
 07.07.22

More Information
Book Now

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Embedding Equality and Diversity in your school

This training session will provide Equality Governors with the most recent guidance for schools.

Online
 16.06.2022

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Health and Safety for Governors

Join us to understand the role of the Governing Board in Health and Safety. We recommend governors refresh their Health and Safety awareness training every 3 years.

Online
 29.06.2022

More Information
Book Now

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New Governors End of Year Review

An opportunity for new governors to reflect on their first academic year in post.
Online
 12.07.22

More Information
Book Now

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BESST Governor Support & Training

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Governor Support & Training

We believe that effective governance is essential to delivering school improvements. By supporting a committed network of governors, we can help to drive systematic change in schools across Buckinghamshire.

The BESST team are building a service to provide advice, information and training opportunities to schools and governing boards to enable them to work effectively and efficiently to promote high standards, fulfil their statutory responsibilities and raise achievement in schools.

Governor Training Packages for the Autumn and Spring terms

The following governor training packages are available to purchase for the Autumn and Spring terms of academic year 2022/23. These packages have been introduced with the aim of enabling governing bodies to cost-effectively plan for training needs.

Bronze Package
Access to 8 (one hour) Governor Training places over to the Autumn and Spring terms. £150 (saving of £50)

Silver Package
Access to 16 (one hour) Governor Training places over the Autumn and Spring terms. £300 (saving of £100)

Gold Package
Access to unlimited (one hour) Governor Training places over the Autumn and Spring terms. £600

Visit our shop to purchase one of these packages

Governor Training

Governor training is a vital element in every governing board’s effectiveness.  Recognising that governors need flexibility, we offer a comprehensive ‘pay as you go’ training programme for all governors throughout the academic year.  Delivered by expert Buckinghamshire Council teams and selected partners, the training is tailored to governors within the county.

Read more about this offer

NGA Membership

We are pleased to be able to offer Buckinghamshire schools a discount on membership to the National Governance Association. In 2022/2 maintained schools will receive a 50% discount on NGA standard membership.

Read More about this offer

New Governor Welcome Package

We are committed to ensuring newly appointed governors are up to speed and effective in their roles as quickly as possible. We, therefore, provide welcome support to all new governors, with two cohorts during the academic year 2022/23 – one starting in autumn term 2022, and the other starting in spring term 2023.

Read More about this offer

Bespoke HR Training for Governing Boards

The Buckinghamshire HR team can provide expert sessions for governing boards in a range of topics including safer recruitment, headteacher recruitment, capability, grievance and disciplinary action.

Please contact us for more information on these bespoke sessions.

Buckinghamshire Challenge Newsletter 2

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Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for continuing to engage with the Buckinghamshire Challenge Programme.  Your participation in this project is greatly appreciated and we understand the challenges that have been faced by schools over the last few months.

We are pleased to attach the second newsletter from Marc Rowland which contains more resources you will find useful.  We look forward to seeing you at the next conference on Friday 20th May, more information will follow shortly.

Newsletter2MR

Kind regards,

The Buckinghamshire Challenge Board

Support for Schools to Welcome Ukrainian Children and Young People – 5th May

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Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite all schools, including staff and governors, to a special TEAMs meeting on the Thursday 5th of May at 4.00pm to 5.30pm.

This session has been devised to support schools who are welcoming Ukrainian children and will feature short presentations from a number of Buckinghamshire Council departments regarding the support offered by their team, resources, links and contacts plus any issues that they feel may arise for the Ukrainian families, with plenty of time for questions and queries.  It will also be a great opportunity for schools who have already welcomed Ukrainian children to share their experiences.

The agenda is as follows:

Times Item Speaker
4.00 – 4.10 Welcome and Introductions Gareth Drawmer, Head of Achievement & Learning
4.10 – 4-20 Admissions Debbie Munday,  Admissions and Transport Manage
4.20 – 4.30 Finance Cheryl Stead,  Schools Financial Management Advisor
4.30 – 4.40 HR Anna Falek, HR Administration Officer
4.40 – 4.50 Wellbeing & SEN Tim Jones, Principal Educational Psychologist
4.50 – 5.00 PSHE, RE & EAL Carol Stottor,  Public Health PSHE Lead 
5.00 – 5.10 Trauma Informed Support Vicky Carrick-Lynch,  Assistant Head Teacher (Children with a Social Worker),The Virtual School
5.10 -5.20 Questions and Close Gareth Drawmer

 

Please do attend if appropriate and share the invite with relevant members of staff.  To book a place use this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/319364326297

 

We have set up a new SchoolsWeb page to support schools welcoming Ukrainian refugee children into their school.  It contains links to lots of sources of information and support, both from within Buckinghamshire Council and external information.  It can be accessed from the homepage of SchoolsWeb or through this link https://schoolsweb.buckscc.gov.uk/support-available-for-ukrainian-families-in-buckinghamshire/  .  Please do let us know if you find any valuable resources and support and we can add these onto the page.

 

We hope you will be able to join us on the 5th May, if not the session will be recorded.

 

Kind regards

 

The School Improvement Team

SEND – Information

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Recently a series of 7 sessions were recently completed in conjunction with Whole School SEND to further promote an inclusive SEND culture within Buckinghamshire’s schools.  Please see the  links below.

WSS Session 3 – OneDrive (sharepoint.com)

Buckinghamshire LA EGAGOS – 17.2.22

Preparing for Ofsted 10 + 1 SEND Questions 2

 

 

 

Refugee Children from Ukraine – message from Richard Nash, Interim Corporate Director, Children’s Services at the LA

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21 March 2022

 
Dear Colleagues,
 
I know that all of us have been following the war in Ukraine with horror and disbelief. It has been amazing to hear how many of you have acted positively through fundraising and supporting your pupils in understanding and processing such a complex and emotive situation. We have been advised by central government that we can expect the arrival of Ukrainian refugees across the country over the next few weeks and we should expect that the people of Buckinghamshire will be generous in taking these families in and keeping them safe in our community.
 
We know that the refugee population is overwhelmingly made up of women and children, and in order for them to feel safe and valued in this country a school place will be a key element in their support. At this point we do not have an idea of numbers, but we know that you as school leaders will be keen to support these families as soon as they arrive.
 
The Chairs of BASH and PEB, alongside the LA, have agreed some principles that will support the admission of children from Ukraine during this time:
 
· Children are admitted to their closest age appropriate school
· Siblings should stay together
· Children are admitted via the admissions team and we would ask schools to support families in processing this
· Where schools need to go over PAN this is permitted and will be managed through the fair access protocol
· The LA will support schools to admit children and to sustain their school places
· Where families have a strong preference for a particular school, we will make every effort to accommodate them
 
These overarching principles will be applied on an individual basis to children when they are looking for a school place and we would ask for your help in supporting parents through the process. We will aim to offer a place as quickly as possible to give families certainty.
 
As more information is released, we will share it with you. For the moment it may be useful to share this with your senior leadership teams and to start a low level of contingency planning for this scenario.
 
Below is a form of words that you may find useful to use with parents if you wish to start preparing them for the possibility of arrivals from Ukraine.
 
Suggested text to parents:
 
All of us have been following the war in Ukraine with horror and disbelief. It has been amazing to hear how our schools have acted positively through fundraising and supporting their pupils in understanding and processing such a complex and emotive situation. The Local Authority have been advised by central government that we can expect the arrival of Ukrainian refugees across the country over the next few weeks and we know that the people of Buckinghamshire will be generous in taking these families in and keeping them safe in our community.
 
The refugee population is overwhelmingly made up of women and children, and in order for them to feel safe and valued in this country, a school place will be a key element in their support. It is important that we all do our best to support these victims of war and welcome them into our school communities with empathy and compassion.
When we have further information on the situation for our school, we will write to you again.
 
Yours sincerely,
Richard Nash
Interim Corporate Director, Children’s Services

Side By Side Conference – 31st March 2022

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Dear Colleagues,

Please find attached details of the upcoming Side by Side conference on Structuring the STEM Curriculum, which governors are invited to attend. This conference is free to all Buckinghamshire schools and will be conducted via Teams. Book here: SbS Structuring STEM

STEM Conference March 2022

STEM Curriculum Conference Agenda

Also included below is a link to Governor Times, where you will find the latest SEND Improvement and BESST newsletters.

 

https://schoolsweb.buckscc.gov.uk/s4s/WhereILive/Council?pageId=6

Please do share these links with your governing boards.

Best Wishes,

 

Natasha How

 School Governance Support Officer

Childrens Services Directorate

Buckinghamshire Council

 

Walton Street Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 1UA

 

Please note my working hours are Monday – Thursday 11.00-15.30

NGA Behaviour Management

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Effective behaviour management is fundamental to creating supportive, safe and inclusive learning environments. School and trust leadership teams are key to the development and maintenance of successful behaviour cultures, but governing boards also have a crucial role.

Download guide to effective behaviour management (PDF)

This guide explains how boards and school leaders can work collaboratively to develop behaviour principles, policy and a culture which:

  • reflects their values and ethos
  • minimises the risk of exclusion
  • involves and supports parents and other stakeholders
  • engages all pupils in a meaningful and relevant curriculum
  • keeps all pupils safe and healthy

The guide covers:

  • establishing behaviour policy principles
  • influencing policy and practice
  • monitoring policy implementation
  • the importance of a whole school approach

Exclusions as a last resort

The governing board has a significant, strategic role in ensuring that the boundaries of acceptable behaviour are clear, and that pupils and staff are supported to model positive behaviour. By carrying out this role effectively, boards are ensuring that the decision to exclude a pupil is always a last resort.

All schools are required to have a behaviour policy that supports effective behaviour management. The policy also acts as the main point of reference for decisions to exclude a pupil.

Find out more about the governing board’s role in minimising exclusions:

Behaviour and exclusions webinar

Our behaviour and exclusions webinar further explores the role of governors and trustees in setting and monitoring behaviour policy, and the links to managing and minimising exclusions. The webinar covers:

  • the requirements of behaviour policies
  • how governance can influence policy and practice through shaping a whole school approach to inclusion
  • the importance of stakeholder engagement and effective liaison
  • the use of exclusions

Watch the webinar

Further reading