Governance

The Northumberland Schools Forum is currently looking to recruit additional school representatives to ensure all phases across maintained schools and academies are represented. We are particularly interested in seeking additional representatives from maintained first and primary schools, and academy primary and secondary schools, as these groups are currently under-represented on

Local authorities are required to publish schemes for financing schools, setting out the financial relationship between them and the schools they maintain. This is reviewed on an annual basis, in consultation with Schools and the Schools Forum. For the academic year 2026/27 there are no directed revisions or changes made

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 introducing a limit on the number of branded items schools can require. From 1 September 2026, state-funded schools will be required to ensure that uniform policies are compliant with this limit. Updated statutory guidance on the cost of

The Primary PE and Sport Premium will be ending at the end of this academic year. During the next academic year (2026/27), primary schools will receive a term’s allocation as a transitional payment to support moving to the new system. Further information, including allocations per school and conditions of grant,

We have been made aware that several local schools are currently being targeted by phishing emails.  These messages often appear to come from a colleague and may use subject lines such as Action Required, Scanned, or Request. These emails typically follow a pattern whereby the recipient is encouraged to open an attachment or

Effective estate management is a fundamental duty to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and protection of pupils, staff, and visitors. Fire safety must be treated as a core component of statutory compliance, supported by competent risk assessment, clear policies, and ongoing monitoring. For support with fire safety management please click here.

All local authorities have been asked to set out their plans for how they could deliver the ‘experts at hand’ model set out in the white paper. The DfE focus on ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ includes funding that will “enable local authorities and integrated care boards to establish an

All local authorities have been asked to set out their plans for how they could deliver the ‘experts at hand’ model set out in the white paper. The DfE focus on ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ includes funding that will “enable local authorities and integrated care boards to establish an

The school term dates for 2027/28 in Northumberland are now available from the following link School term and holiday dates | Northumberland County Council

Please find attached the regular monthly funding ebulletin from the Funding Investment and Assurance covering the latest external funding opportunities. You may forward this to colleagues who you think may be interested in future announcements, they can then use the ‘QR Code or link to subscribe to the Regeneration Programmes Investment Funding

The DfE have published allocations and conditions of grant for the 2026 to 2027 financial year. You can find the allocation for each school in the spreadsheet on this page.

Dear colleagues, The Department for Education (DfE) recognises and supports the importance of having a professionalised school business profession where every individual is well-qualified, working towards qualification, or suitably skilled. This includes school business professionals (SBPs) having access to high-quality training, underpinned by employers who understand and support their SBPs

Dear Colleagues,  Please find a link to our Spring 2 edition of the Safer in Education newsletter.

Some of you may have come across HeadsUp4HTs. They provide mental health and wellbeing support, leadership support, peer to peer support, coaching, and crisis support to senior leaders. James (the founder of HeadsUp) has worked with the utilities industry to provide switch4good – when your parents/community switch energy or broadband

Please see attached letter for more information. Please note the date for feedback completion is now 31 March 2026.

Following consultation with Schools Forum, please find attached a document containing the 2026/27 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) budget shares for the year from April 2026 to March 2027. The document is in the order of your 4-digit Department for Education number. A covering letter providing some background information is also