Important Pastoral Letter from Fr Jonathan Veasey

Safeguarding Guidance from Leora Cruddas, CEO 
Confederation of School Trusts

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In response to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, and the impact it is having on all of our schools across the diocese, the DES has set up a designated support page on our website.

We hope to be able to provide pastoral support to schools during these challenging times.
In addition to the latest government advice and the Public Health guidelines, we will be providing general diocesan information as well as practical support to our schools.
Although Don Bosco House is closed until further notice, DES officers will continue to be available and accessible by phone and email.

However please note:

• All DES training events in schools and at Don Bosco House have been cancelled until the start of the new academic year. If possible, these will be rescheduled in the future and details will be provided when appropriate.
• All DES scheduled meetings both at Don Bosco House and in schools have been cancelled until the start of the new academic year. When possible and if necessary these may be rescheduled in the future.

Prayers during a time of flu and illness

Please click on the image below for prayers during a time of flu and illness.

Prayers from Kenelm Youth Trust

Two prayers have been shared by Kenelm Youth Trust.
​Click on the images to download. 
Updated 29/4/2020

Prayer with Pope Francis

Message from the Rt Rev Marcus Stock

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Government Advice

​Covid-19: Guidance for Educational Settings 30/6/2020

Free School Meals Guidance 30/6/2020

Get help with technology for remote education during coronavirus 29/6/2020

Changes to the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to coronavirus 29/6/2020

Reducing burdens on educational settings 26/6/2020

Financial Support for Schools 24/6/2020

Early Years and Childcare Closures 23/6/2020

Actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak 3/6/2020

Implementing Social Distancing in Education and Childcare Settings 1/6/2020

Attendance Recording 28/5/2020

Financial support for education 27/5/2020

Remote education during coronavirus 22/5/2020

Safeguarding and remote education during coronavirus 21/5/2020

Safeguarding in Schools, Colleges and Other Providers 20/5/2020

Managing school premises during the coronavirus outbreak 18/5/2020

Guidance on vulnerable children and young people 15/5/2020

Induction for Newly Qualified Teachers 1/5/2020

Guidance for schools about temporary closing 28/4/2020

Direction issued to the Chief Regulator of Ofqual 9/4/2020

Extra support for schools and parents to help cope with coronavirus 7/4/2020

Further details on exams and grades 20/3/2020

Health Advice

Please click here for health advice by the NHS

Public Health 

Schools can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in scenarios where they have staff whose wages are funded by commercial activities such as lettings or catering income rather than public funds.  The Department for Education have published advice. The relevant guidance can be accessed by clicking here.

Accessing Mass in Parish Churches

Please click here to find some of the parishes in the Diocese which live stream their Masses, so you can still access a Mass even if not in person. ​

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Live Streaming available at St Chad's Cathedral
​Monday to Friday – 12.15pm
Saturday and Sunday – 11am

Liturgy and Sacramental Preparation (The Sacraments of First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation) and The Celebration of the Sacraments in School 

The advice from our Bishops is that 'these celebrations should be postponed until a time that allows for families and friends to gather safely within our churches.' 

Catholic Bishops Conference

Press Communication

The HR department is led by Gerry Dryden, Human Resources & Communications Director:
​Email: Gerry.dryden@rc-birmingham.org
0121 230 6224
​Caroline Bletso and Faye Fawcett are the Press and Media Relations Officers for the Archdiocese: 
​caroline.bletso@rc-birmingham.org
faye.fawcett@rc-birmingham.org

Ofsted and Section 48

Ofsted: coronavirus (COVID-19) rolling update 
Ofsted have published a new page to set out guidance and information relating to coronavirus (COVID-19) for schools, early years, children's social care and further education and skills providers. It is being updated regularly.
Press release: Routine Ofsted inspections suspended in response to coronavirus 
​The Secretary of State has allowed Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) to suspend all routine inspections of schools, further education, early years and social care providers.
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Section 48 Inspection guidance:
In light of the COVID-19 crisis, the Diocesan Education Service is suspending the Section 48 inspection schedule until further notice. This means that any school anticipating their inspection imminently will not be inspected until further notice.
Section 48 Monitoring Visits will also be suspended until further notice. 

School Appointments for Senior and Protected Posts

Updated Interim Guidance on managing the Recruitment and Appointment process for Protected Posts. 6/4/2020

Archdiocesan News

Please click here for the latest news from the Archdiocese.

Buildings

Building maintenance during the coronavirus outbreak 20/4/2020

Religious Education

Please click here for teaching resources for schools. 

Cancellation of GCSEs, AS and A Levels in 2020 1/5/2020

GCSEs, AS and A Level Awarding: Summer 2020 21/4/2020

How GCSEs, AS and A Levels will be awarded in Summer 2020 3/4/2020

The Exams Office Update 23/03/20

Pastoral Support Through Times of Bereavement and Separation 

If you would like information on the Rainbows project, please contact:
Primary
Rebecca Brolly r.brolly@bdes.org.uk
David Harris d.harris@bdes.org.uk
Secondary
Richard Smith r.smith@bdes.org.uk

Governance

School Governance 15/4/2020

Decision making resources for Boards of Academy Trusts 1/3/2020

National Governance Association 

NGA Governor Advice on Business Continuity and Virtual Meetings March 2020

Admissions Update 23/3/2020

Admission Appeals Update 14/4/2020

CES Guidance - School Admission Appeals During Coronavirus

BDES Admissions Page

CES Updates

5/5/2020
DfE Coronavirus Research
We have been asked by the DfE to alert dioceses to research that they are undertaking in connection with the impact of remote teaching and learning during this period of school closures, in order to understand the education challenges created by coronavirus.  This research will make clear the challenges schools, teachers, families and young people are facing and be used to quickly inform the right government advice to ensure learning can continue.
 
The Department is keen to speak urgently with head teachers, class teachers, early years professionals, and parents of nursery/school-age children.  Several upcoming research sessions are planned over the next few weeks, with the first slots of research beginning on Tuesday 5th May 2020. The session will last for approximately 45 minutes and will be led by a Department for Education user researcher.
Those who are interested may register via this link.  Register here
1/5/2020
Funding Questions
As we stated in our previous updates, we have been asked by Dioceses for guidance about what schools should be doing in relation to paying their contractors.  We have been informed by the Department this week that there is no further guidance being published for schools in relation to PPN 02/20 at this stage and schools are advised to contact PPN0220.QUESTIONS@education.gov.uk if they have queries about the operation of PPN02/20 in specific circumstances.  We would be interested to hear from any schools that receive responses to enquiries sent to this mailbox so that we can collate the advice given and circulate it where appropriate.
Recruitment
The Department has now issued guidance in relation to recruitment as part of its general Covid-19 advice which covers the points we made in our last update, including in relation to notice periods.  The advice can be accessed by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures?utm_source=e2370cff-637a-4f13-8694-04ca86c2aed8&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Following on from our communication earlier in the week in relation to virtual recruitment, Nancy Walbank from the Diocese of Lancaster has also put together a useful document which has been uploaded to the DSC Teams Site.
Arrangements in relation to Newly Qualified Teachers
The government has issued guidance in relation to NQTs and the impact of the Coronavirus to support the implementation of The Education (School Teachers’ Qualifications and Induction Arrangements) (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 which come into force on 21 May 2020.  NQTs who are currently completing their statutory induction period will be able to complete it this academic year as expected provided that they meet the Teachers’ Standards.  The guidance can be found by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-induction-for-newly-qualified-teachers/covid-19-induction-for-newly-qualified-teachers-guidance
EHCP Revised Timescales
Guidance has been issued to support The Special Educational Needs and Disability (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 which come into force today.  These regulations allow for temporary changes to some aspects of the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans to enable local authorities, health commissioning bodies and education settings to contribute to those processes more flexibly in response to the issues that have arisen during the Coronavirus pandemic.  The guidance can be found by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-law-on-education-health-and-care-needs-assessments-and-plans-due-to-coronavirus/education-health-and-care-needs-assessments-and-plans-guidance-on-temporary-legislative-changes-relating-to-coronavirus-covid-19
Admission Appeals
Please click here for advice in relation to school admission appeals during Coronavirus which takes into account the regulations referred to in our last update.
Governors’ Terms of Office
The Department has not issued any further advice in this regard at this stage and we will ask about this again during our meeting with the Department next week.
Temporary Pupils Guidance 
The Department has made an amendment to the School Attendance Guidance for Schools to make it clear that pupils attending schools on a temporary basis remain on the roll at their original school.  The guidance can be accessed by following this link: ​https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-attendance?utm_source=deb0ca87-2a2e-45a3-bf8e-f9900890bcef&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

24/4/2020
Funding Questions
As we have stated in our previous two updates, we have been asked by Dioceses for guidance about what schools should be doing in relation to paying their contractors.  We are continuing to seek clarity in relation to PPN 02/20 and its applicability to schools from the Department and await further information.  We have pointed out to the department the conflicting advice that is currently available and have asked that conclusive advice be provided for schools as a matter of urgency.  The Department assured us yesterday that work on guidance is ongoing and that further information will be issued as soon as possible.
ESFA Update
The ESFA has issued an update which includes information on the data and returns that schools will not be required to submit in order to ease the administrative burden during the Covid-19 crisis.  Included in this update is a letter from ESFA chief executive, Eileen Milner, to accounting officers at academy trusts. This letter includes important information about arrangements for academy trust financial management and reporting during the pandemic.  The update and the letter can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-22-april-2020?utm_source=2a3714ba-ed58-4c6b-bee8-c30370f4cf38&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Recruitment 
The Department confirmed yesterday that guidance is about to be issued in relation to recruitment.  As soon as that guidance is published we will provide further information.  On the question of notice periods, we were told that the Department has taken the view that it should not interfere in schools’ contractual arrangements with their employees and that schools should co-operate with each other when it comes to having discussions about accepting shorter periods of notice from staff if this becomes necessary.
Admission Appeals
The relevant regulations came into force today and follow the guidance issued by the department and summarised in Commissioners’ Letter 84.20.   Further guidance was published by the department at 5pm today and can be accessed by following these links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/admission-appeals-for-school-places?utm_source=4c8a1b54-c97d-47fd-8ffb-c8f766b75c6e&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-admissions-appeals-code?utm_source=e8dbfaaf-225b-44d4-99ea-0ce4a9e47bcb&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Governors’ Terms of Office
​We have been asked by Dioceses what they should do where they have governors whose terms of office are coming to an end, but they are unable to obtain the relevant paperwork to re-appoint them, due to the current restrictions.  Our advice is that Dioceses should contact those governors informing them that it is their intention to appoint them for a further term and asking them to remain in post until such time as the paperwork can be completed.  We would not recommend appointing governors for interim terms, for example of 1 year, as this is likely to be in breach of the relevant regulations and/or the articles of association.  We are expecting further guidance on this point as we have raised the issue with the Department.  One piece of advice provided by the Department was to try, if possible, to ensure that decisions that were likely to be challenged were made by those governors whose terms of office had not expired as this should limit the exposure to the challenge of those decisions on the basis that they were taken by governors whose terms of office had expired.
Managing School Premises Guidance
Guidance has been issued for schools in relation to the management of school premises during periods of partial or total closure and in preparation for re-opening.  The guidance can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-school-premises-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak?utm_source=c51bac38-4a28-4136-b096-4d23f07da6f4&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Temporary Pupils Guidance
We were informed yesterday that the department will be issuing guidance on temporary pupils which will confirm that pupils attending hub schools will remain on the role of their current school and will not transfer to the role of the school that they are attending due to the current crisis.  The guidance has not been published as yet and we will provide a link to it as soon as it is made available.

Letter from Minister Vicky Ford MP to families of SEND pupils and those who support them

Following the Prime Minister's statement on the partial closures of educational settings, the following information and guidance is now available on Gov.Uk. To note, the Guidance for Schools, Colleges and Local Authorities contains details of those deemed critical workers. 
​Guidance for Schools, Colleges and Local Authorities on Maintaining Education Provision 19/3/2020
​FAQ for Parents and Carers 23/4/2020