February
For all Kent and Medway Governors, Trustees, Clerks and School Leaders
Welcome to our February Monthly Bulletin
Please ensure this bulletin, also published on GovernorHub and The Education People website, is a standing agenda item for both your Full Governing Board, Trustee and Committee meetings.
We are pleased to announce that our training programme for terms 5 and 6 is now available, along with both our Chairs and Governor Conferences. To book on any event please check out our Training Tab on GovernorHub
Chairs Conference - A Literacy Focus
Wednesday 1 March 2023, 9.30am-1pm at Ashford International Hotel
Colleagues from Primary and Secondary School Improvement will be presenting on phonics, fluency, sequencing and the curriculum to support the ever-increasing Ofsted focus in this area.
We will be joined by the headteacher and chair of governors from Bredhurst CEP School, who will discuss how they adapted their chosen phonics scheme to ensure impact.
A company called ‘Bookmark’ will present on the success of their volunteer reader scheme, also reflecting on the potential of available support.
The full programme is now available to view
Governor Conference - Governing in a Financial Crisis
Friday 24 March 2023, 9.30am-1pm - Virtual
This event is designed to provide you with many opportunities to look at ways in which education can be supported in the current financial crisis.
Steve Edmonds from the National Governance Association will be discussing financial oversight in challenging times.
We will also be hearing from Hugh Samuelson, Chair of Blean Primary School and Fiona Jones, School Business Manager, who will be talking about the important relationship between the board and the school finance team, and discussing the challenges they face.
Ben Ah Thew, Business Development Manager and Andy Morgan, Assistant Director Carbon & Energy Management, from LASER will be discussing the energy markets and energy efficiency/renewable energy opportunities.
Ruth Lindsay, Project Manager and Governor, Medway Foodbank will explain how foodbanks can help schools to support families, and how collaborative working with foodbanks can have a positive impact on families and children. Children North East will be explaining how their toolkits help in poverty proofing the school day.
Local Authority Governor Nominations (Maintained Schools) action required
Please check the end of terms of office for your LA Governor; we anticipate delays in processing due to the dates of the Easter Break this year.
To assist your board, early submissions for the closing date of 1 April 2023 are welcomed.
Maintained Schools - Foundation Trust Governor Appointments action required
Please note that when a vacancy for a foundation governor arises and in line with the Instrument of Government, the foundation trust is required to formally appoint to this post, it is not within the powers of the governing body to allocate a governor to foundation positions.
Please ensure that your board is in receipt of a formal letter of appoint from the trust; this should include at least the start date, and ideally the end date, for the appointment.
Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) - Science and Reading in Primary Schools action required EEF is recruiting schools to take part in trials of high-potential programmes, it is also subsidising programmes that have previously shown to have a positive impact on student attainment.
Governor Services
Primary School Pilot to Help Children Dream Big About Their Future Careers
A new £2.6 million pilot programme has been launched targeting 2,250 primary schools and 600,000 pupils, located in 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs). The goal is to encourage children from disadvantaged backgrounds to dream big about their future careers.
The CEC Governors Careers Awareness training aims to equip governors with the knowledge needed to support and challenge and to ensure that all students receive a high quality careers education. The course includes a number of reflective surveys to help embed your learning and will take approximately one hour to complete. You can leave the course and return to complete at a later time, as it will remember your progress.
Children’s Rights in Great Britain: Submission to the UN (2023)
This Equality and Human Rights Commission report looks at the state of children’s rights in Great Britain and makes recommendations for change. It covers a range of topics, including violence against children, health, and health services, standard of living, the right to education, administration of child justice.
Pre-recorded Training/Information Sessions
The sessions listed below are accessible via a request to governorservices@theeducationpeople.org
The presentation will then be sent via WeTransfer, you will then have seven days to download the presentation. Getting into Governance
Hearing Panels and the Role of the Governor School Governor Health & Safety Responsibilities
Governance in a Federation Report Writing- Monitoring and Evaluation Visits
Role of the Staff Governor School Improvement Plan
Training Opportunities in Term 4
Be Prepared and Knowledgeable for Ofsted - Wednesday 22 February 2023
County Clerks' Briefing - Thursday 2 March 2023
Pupil Premium - Thursday 2 March 2023
An Introduction to the National Plan for Music Education - Tuesday 7 March 2023
Complaints: What School Leaders need to know - Wednesday 8 March 2023
An Introduction to Supporting Trans, Non-binary and Gender Diverse Pupils and Staff - Wednesday 8 March 2023
Clerking in an Academy Governance Structure - Friday 10 March 2023
School Finance: The Role of the Governor in Maintained Schools - Tuesday 14 March 2023
Understanding Early Years & Key Stage 1 School Data - Thursday 16 March 2023
Understanding Key Stage 2 School Data - Thursday 23 March 2023
Complaints: What Governors need to know - Tuesday 28 March 2023
Department for Education
Providing Remote Education: Guidance for Schools action required
How schools can maintain their capability to provide remote education when it is not possible for some or all of their pupils to attend in person, non-statutory guidance has been updated
Free School Meals - Protections Extended Until March 2025 action required
The free school meal (FSM) protections policy was introduced in 2018 to protect those eligible for FSM from becoming ineligible while Universal Credit (UC) is being rolled out. This was originally set to last until March 2022 and was subsequently extended to March 2023.
This updated guidance explains the eligibility and the protection arrangements under Universal Credit for those already receiving free school meals.
The DfE had permanently extended free school meal eligibility to children in all households with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), subject to maximum income thresholds; schools can provide the application form to families and carers to verify their eligibility (p12).
Department for Education
Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in Schools action required
This guidance for LA Maintained and Academy schools has been updated
Working Together to Improve School Attendance action required
We have become aware from a number our sources that this currently non-statutory guidance (expected to become statutory in September 2023), may not have come to the attention of some governing boards and school leaders.
State of the Nation Reports: Children and Young People’s Wellbeing
At this link you will find a suite of reports that collate and analyse published evidence about the wellbeing of children and young people.
Mental Health Issues Affecting a Pupil's Attendance
This guidance provides a summary of responsibilities where a mental health issue is affecting attendance and examples of effective practice.
Secondary Accountability Measures (Including Progress 8 and Attainment 8)
Secondary accountability measures 2022 guidance has been updated to reflect revised data.
Inspection Data Summary Reports - Primary and Secondary
Guidance has been updated:
Primary - the main changes are revised Key Stage 2, final Key Stage 1 and final phonics data.
Secondary - minor changes to the pupil movement section of the secondary schools
Education Secretary Addresses Church of England National Education Conference
Gillian Keegan’s speech recognises the achievements of Church of England schools, and of teachers and leaders in schools across the country
National Plan for Music Education
The national plan for music education sets out the government’s vision to enable all children and young people in England to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.
The plan sets out how this vision will be achieved by 2030, emphasising the importance of partnerships between education settings, music hubs, music organisations working with young people and the music industry.
Economic Benefits of Effective Reception Classes
This DfE report looks at the association between progress in maths and English during the reception year, and earnings in later life.
Amanda Spielman, Ofsted's Chief Inspector, also reflects on the last year in early education. She explores the features of early years research reviews in her speech at the Big Conversation, 2023
2023 Key Stage 2: Assessment and Reporting Arrangements
(ARA)
Published on 10 Oct 2022 – this guidance, to be updated to reflect the changes to KS2 test dates and arrangements following the announcement of a bank holiday on Monday 8 May 2023, details arrangements that apply to maintained schools, maintained special schools, academies, free schools, Ministry of Defence (MoD) schools and participating independent schools with pupils in KS2.
We would remind governing bodies’ responsibilities the on page 18: “Governing bodies of maintained schools and proprietors of participating independent schools must carry out their functions to ensure that the KS2 national curriculum assessments are administered in their school according to this ARA” Who on your GB will be attending school to do a monitoring visit as an observer?
If you are member of GovernorHub Knowledge (Previously The Key for School Governors), there is a helpful downloadable checklist detailing for what to look.
School Food Standards: Resources for Schools
The 'School food: guidance for governors' has been updated - a link has been added from the need to 'Oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure money is well spent' to the 'Get help buying for schools' service.
What is GovernorHub Knowledge?
Up until 1 January 2023 GovernorHub Knowledge was known as The Key for School Governors. It is an information service that provides governors with instant answers to their questions on all aspects of being an effective governing body. An essential ondemand training and knowledge bank that provides support when you need it - giving you confidence in your actions and the knowledge to be truly effective.
We offer a free no obligation one-month trial including GovernorHub. If you’d like to sign up to or find out more about how GovernorHub Knowledge and GovernorHub can help your governing board and annual cost, please contact Governor Services
National Governance Association (NGA)
NGA has published new guidance on the board’s role in ensuring pupils’ access good quality relationships and sex education (RSE) for secondary school pupils, and relationships education for primary pupils.
The new guide (access for NGA members only) can be found on NGA’s Knowledge Centre as part of the curriculum collection.
A summary of the latest research Relationships and Sex Education: The Evidence. can be found at the Sex Education Forum website.
Governor Services - General Enquiries 03301 651 100
Governor Services: governorservices@theeducationpeople.org
The Clerking Service: clerkingservice@theeducationpeople.org
Training: governorservicestraining@theeducationpeople.org
Head of Governor Services
Suzanne Mayes
Email: suzanne.mayes@theeducationpeople.org
North Kent and Medway (Dartford, Gravesham, Sevenoaks, Medway)
Jude Johnson
Email: jude.johnson@theeducationpeople.org
03301 651 058
South Kent (Ashford, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe)
Tina Gimber
Email: tina.gimber@theeducationpeople.org
03301 651 057
East Kent (Canterbury, Swale, Thanet)
Lorraine Monkhouse
Email: lorraine.monkhouse@theeducationpeople.org 03301 651 061
West Kent (Maidstone, Tonbridge & Malling, Tunbridge Wells)
Julia Durcan
Email: julia.durcan@theeducationpeople.org 03301 651 055