I want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you for your hard work over the last few weeks – including over the Easter ‘holiday’, when many schools and alternative providers remained open to look after children of key workers or the most vulnerable children. I was delighted to hear that, on the …
Message from Cath McEvoy-Carr, Executive Director of Children’s and Adult Services Read More »
Updated guidance for schools and local authorities on free school meals arrangements during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. A link to the 16 to 19 free meals in further education guidance has been added and information about Aldi joining the national voucher scheme.
Information for parents and carers about educational provision for critical workers, school closures, exams, free school meals and home schooling. This has updated sections on closures, transport, vulnerable children, critical workers and resources. It has also removed the information about the Easter holidays.
Updated statutory guidance is now available for the standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5. Guidance to the temporarily disapplied and modified certain elements of the EYFS statutory framework has now been added.
The Education Endowment Foundation has released new research findings focusing on the features of pupil engagement with remote learning. The research states that engaging with online content and supportive materials allows knowledge to be built upon and enables clear understanding, emphasising the importance of access to technology for both the learning and interaction with peers. …
Accessible resources for remote learning (from NGA Newsletter) Read More »
Please remember that we have staff available to be deployed into schools to help with provision being made for pupils. This does not have to be for the support of learners with SEN. In recent weeks, we have deployed staff into a range of settings to boost staff ratios, to assist in covering for staff …
Earlier this week, we opened the annual school governance survey for responses. It’s open to all governors, trustees and local academy committee members. Regardless of your position on the board or how long you have been governing, your views and experiences are valued and welcomed. Now in its 10th year, the findings of the survey …
There are SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) resources, activities and support available here to help parents and families during lockdown.
Following the release of DfE attendance data today, it has been confirmed that only a tiny fraction of vulnerable children in England are taking up the emergency school places kept open for them, official figures show. As you are aware, the number of vulnerable children and children with an EHCP currently in Northumberland schools is …
We have been made aware of schools and/or parents being contacted directly by companies with offers of ‘free’ IT kit for pupils either by phone, email or social media. Parents, in particular, have been targeted. If you hear about any of these offers from your parents, please let us know as we need to report …
Phone calls & emails to schools and parents re: ‘free’ IT kit Read More »
The DfE SEN Division yesterday issued a summary statement which I have reproduced below as I think that it acts as a useful catch-up on all the SEN guidance issued to date: The DfE SEN Division would like to signpost three key publications and an announcement that have taken place over the past couple of …
Industry bodies associated with Outdoor Education and Adventurous Activities have recently released a joint statement regarding the impact of COVID-19 upon school visits. This may be accessed by clicking here. The statement focuses upon current DfE, FCO and PHE guidance, school closures and provides an update on the current position regarding visit cancellations. This serves …
The Anna Freud Centre has published a range of resources to help support the mental health of children, young people, school and college staff and parents. The third toolkit in the series has just been released. You can find them here: Coronavirus: Resources for mental health and wellbeing Toolkit 1: Videos to provide practical guidance …
It was announced yesterday that Aldi has joined the other supermarkets signed up to Government’s national voucher scheme.
You may be interested in this from the NSPCC: Gaining an insight into the worries that children have shared with Childline during this pandemic can help adults think about what support needs to be put in place for young people at this time. You can download the summary here.
Guidance has been provided for schools and colleges see here how to get internet access, digital devices and support to provide remote education during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Local authorities can also get support for care leavers, and children and young people with a social worker. New details of the offer have been added, including …
Get technology support for children and schools during coronavirus (COVID-19) Read More »
Dear Subscriber, I do hope that in whatever education setting you work, you are managing to cope in these very strange times. Here at the school of education we have just embarked on our first ever ‘virtual term’ and when not writing document summaries, I have been on the steep learning curve on online delivery. …
Dear Colleagues, Last month I mentioned that there are still an encouraging number of reports coming out which are unconnected with the current crisis. All reports this month are up to date, although I will confess to including a report by the Children’s Commissioner which didn’t make it into the February summaries – a helpful …
As you will know the Early Career Framework is due to be rolled out in the north east from September. Three of the four providers have online sessions coming up which staff may wish to attend, if you are likely to have NQTs next academic year. NETSP – https://www.netsp.co.uk/ecf/webinar/ Teach First – https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/events Ambition Institute – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ambition-institute-ecf-info-session-doncaster-north-east-tickets-102696030592 …
The Brilliant Club run a programme of university-style learning for pupils from backgrounds under-represented at university. This programme, The Scholars Programme, includes two university visits and 7 small group tutorials with a PhD tutor, and in the 2019-20 academic year, we are working with four Northumberland schools. The Scholars Programme targets disadvantaged high prior attainers …
All schools are requested to confirm their service requirements via the SLA Portal by 5.00pm this Friday (24 April 2020). This is necessary to allow the respective service managers to make plans to deliver services for the forthcoming year. If you have any specific questions please direct them to the respective service managers but specific portal issues should be …
The 2 year contract in relation to the above commenced with effect from 1 January 2020. As in previous years the service will be delivered by Les Fullerton of Peak Radiation Protection Advisers. In the current circumstances it is not possible to schedule the biennial visit to Schools that is part of the contract but Les remains available for …
Radiation Protection Officer Services to Northumberland Secondary Schools Read More »
A note for all schools that are part of the NCC School Meals SLA During this current situation we just want to remind schools that the School Meals Team are all currently working. Please contact your relevant Area Catering Manager via mobile or email if you need any advice on food provision, or other matters …
To help you make the most of your Document Summary Service subscription here are last month’s highlights, our subscribers’ top three most popular downloads from the February summaries. 1) DSS 19/20 66: Study of Early Education and Development: EarlyEducation Use and Child Outcomes up to age 5 (DfE) This report from the DfE focuses on …
Document Summary Service March’s Top 3 Downloads Read More »
As you know, National Offers Day for Reception 2020 places was on Thursday 16th April with offers going ahead as normal. Normally, we would have sent out your final allocation lists a few weeks ago but the process relies on cross-coordination with other LAs and they have had some COVID19 related issues which has caused …
Advice for parents and carers looking after children with special educational needs and disabilities(SEND) can be found here.
Updated information on support for parents, online resources and vulnerable children.
Our NCC Educational Psychology Service has continued to gather and collate useful resources for schools to use when supporting their communities during the pandemic here. Categories include: Responses to specific situations (including template letters schools can use to notify different parts of the community following a death Understanding Young People’s Responses to Bereavement Helping Children …
Advice for parents and carers looking after primary school children can be found here.
The Teaching and Support Staff Insurance Supply Scheme is intended to offer a simple and cost-effective method for schools to insure against unexpected staff absence, when additional staffing cover is likely to be required. It was not intended to provide cover in the situation we are currently faced with due to Covid-19 where the majority …
Teaching and Support Staff Insurance Supply Schemes and Covid-19 Read More »
