Last week I shared we would be raising the following items with the LA and beyond. Below is the feedback on each of these items.

• Inclusion expectations for September 

A training session on trauma informed practice is being planned for the autumn term.

Vicky Setters from the inclusion team is there to support with inclusion.

Guidance has been released on supporting vulnerable pupils returning to school

Resources can be found on the EPSS part of the website.

https://www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk/coronavirus/transition-after-pandemic

https://www.norfolkepss.org.uk/explaining-the-coronavirus-resources-for-children/

• Staff and student wellbeing – managing this as things move forward in September.

Staff well-being: Carol Human (HR business partner- schools)

https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/helping-your-staff/school-leaders-wellbeing-pilot-service

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/

For pupil well-being please contact Vicky Setters Senior Advisor (Inclusion)

[email protected] Inclusion Helpline Telephone 01603 307736

Vicky has taken over the role from Andy Tovell who is now the assistant Director for Inclusion and Opportunity.

• H & S audits

1 weeks prior notice will be received, they are there to be supportive, if you find this not to be the case please let us know or if you would like any further advice in advance of them attending please speak to your LA advisor.

• Cleaning - expectations from September and help with the additional cost. 

Unfortunately no additional money has been announced for ongoing additional expenditure. 

LA correspondence – timing and volume

The LA will try to limit the release of information to working hours where possible and it has been limited to a maximum of twice a week.

• RA – When will we have the new one? Before the end of term? Or will we annotate the existing RA?

The Risk Assessment has been released, we continue to work with the LA to further improve and amend it based on feedback from yourselves.

• Catch up plan using Govt money (want to talk about when we meet in Sept)

No detail has been released on this yet, if information is released over the summer we will update our website on https://www.educatenorfolk.co.uk/covid-19-catch-up-programme so that you have the information to discuss in September.

• Are whole school bubbles acceptable for small schools?

There is no limit on bubble sizes, the NAHT has some helpful information on this.

https://www.naht.org.uk/advice-and-support/coronavirus-news-and-guidance-for-school-leaders/the-full-opening-of-schools-members-questions/

• If we use staggered starts in September can the time not in school be made up through home learning or does it have to be on site?            

The expectation is that all schools should be open full time from September, all students have to have 190 days offered in school. The only exception to this is the usual adaptions for reception and in the case of emergency closures, although emergency closures are not allowed to be planned for don't count but you can't plan for students to have less than 190 days.

• Norse contracts 

Concerns that were brought to us regarding Norse charging the full amount for both catering and swimming contracts whilst service delivery has been significantly reduced or stopped. This has been raised and is being looked into by the LA.

Additional information

• Aspiration to continue the cluster support model with the leads beyond September.
• No assessment data to be requested by the LA- some support will be in place to support formative assessment in the autumn term.

Our newly commissioned online counselling service for 11 – 25 yr olds in Norfolk & Waveney is called Kooth, (www.kooth.com).  Since it was launched in May, an increasing amount of young people have accessed the service, with very positive feedback so far. Please ssare this with your school communities. 

Kooth’s offer includes:

• A free, confidential, anonymous and safe way to receive support online.
• Out of hours’ availability. Counsellors are available from 12noon to 10pm on weekdays and 6pm to 10 pm at weekends, every day of the year on a drop in basis.
• Online Counselling from a professional team of BACP qualified counsellors is available via 1-1 chat sessions or messaging on a drop in basis or via booked sessions.
• Discussion Boards which are all pre-moderated allow young people to access peer to peer support.
• Online Magazine full of moderated articles many of which are submitted by young people offering advice and guidance on a huge range of topics.
• No referral required.  Young people can register for Kooth independently at www.kooth.com

To use the service or find out more visit www.Kooth.com, or view a short video about the service by following this link: Kooth Video                                                 

Please do email by return and we’ll ensure you have access to downloadable resources.  Kooth are also running a zoom webinar for professionals in the next few weeks.  We’re particularly keen for colleagues in schools and colleges to attend, but all are welcome:

We have also created a template letter you could email to all parents or place on your website.

 Transformation Progress

Phase 1 of CYPMH Transformation began in October 2019, with a focus on:

1. Establishing a different way of accessing mental health support
2. Establishing a different way of working for mental health providers
3. Exploring opportunities for wider integration and Early Adoption ideas

Despite some impact from COVID, we’re still on target to achieve Phase 1 goals by the Autumn, and have actually been able to bring forward some of the plans and principles for Transformation, including:

• A single webpage summarising contact information, resources and tools available to support 0 – 25’s mental health http://www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/mentalhealth
  
  
• A different way of accessing advice, help and support via phone, email, text and online, with no referrals required.

In the meantime, we’re still working on a dedicated web platform for the Autumn, key procedures so that mental health providers work differently, e.g. a joint assessment tool and triaging process, and redesigning support for looked after children.  We’re also starting to plan for Phase 2, which will start to implement more of the clinical model created last year, and explore further opportunities for integrated working across the system.  Keep an eye out for more details on progress and further engagement opportunities in coming months.

Simon Paylor

CYPMHS Transformation

Programme Manager 

Children's Services 

[email protected]

This week the EEF hosted an hour-long webinar for 350 school leaders, ‘Using evidence to support schools close the Covid-19 disadvantage gap’. The webinar also included a Q&A session on the National Tutoring Programme. A link to the ppt used is can be found here and a link to the recording of the webinar can be found here if you would like to watch it back.  

Norwich Research School is designated by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to provide school-led support for evidence-based practice. As a hub for the Research Schools Network, we provide Communication, Training and Innovation opportunities. We have recently finalised our programme for 2020-21, which will combine remote and in-person sessions.

We are beginning the year with a FREE Quick Start Webinar twilight series, to support you to welcome back students who have not attended school in person for several months. With reference to the most recent and robust research evidence, we will cover topics ranging from how to effectively implement new or updated strategies, to supporting your students’ social and emotional learning.

Sessions (all run 4-5pm):

• Implementation, with Roger Higgins (Norwich Research School) – 16 September
• Behaviour, with Iggy Rhodes (EEF) – 30 September
• Social and Emotional Learning, with Kirsten Mould (EEF) – 7 October
• Self-Regulation, with Niki Kaiser (EEF and Norwich Research School) – 11 November
• ECF - getting ready for September 2021, with Niki Kaiser and a representative from Ambition Institute – 18 November

To book, and to find out more about our CPD programme (beginning January 2021), please have a look at the attached brochure or visit our website: https://researchschool.org.uk/norwich/events/

The coronavirus outbreak continues to present unprecedented challenges for us all, across all aspects of our lives. Thank you for your continuing support of our education system, over the last few months when education establishments have been under immense pressure. We are keen to hear from all Norfolk governors and trustees about your experience of governance over the last few months and what support you think is needed going forward.

Below is the link to "The Governance of Norfolk Schools" survey which is being carried out jointly by Norfolk County Council and Norfolk Governance Network. We would appreciate your feedback to the questions and your responses will help us plan support for governance and service provision across Norfolk moving forward.

The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete and will close on the 21st July 2020. 

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/NorfolkGovernorsurvey/

Please share with governor colleagues and members of your board to reach as many Norfolk governors as possible.

Many thanks for your help and hopefully see you soon, take care and best wishes

Helen

Helen Wardale – Governance Intervention Lead Officer

Education Quality Assurance & Intervention Service

Usually at our last Leadership Update of the year, secondary leaders would agree what they are sharing with the local press in terms of results. This year Educate Norfolk would like to suggest that we do not share any information with the press regarding results. As there will be no performance league tables this year there would seem to be little benefit from doing so.