BDES Newsletter April 2022
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A Message from Canon Jonathan
Firstly, thank you to all those in schools for the way you have continued to lead your communities during such challenging times. As the period of Lent falls in springtime, it is also the Spring time of the soul. As we see creation coming into life, it leads us to ask what God is doing with us through this time. With Christ at the heart of everything we do, it is our responsibility to announce the good news of Jesus to everyone and we can only do this through journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem and all that followed. As we approach Easter, may we be touched by the wonder of Jesus’ love for us. |
On behalf of all at the BDES, we wish you a very happy and Holy Easter
DES Team News
Basman Zora, Julia Hale and Ruth Kennedy joined the DES team in January and are settling into their new roles well. Contact details for all DES team are available at https://www.bdes.org.uk/the-des-team.html
Thank You Painsley Multi Academy Company!
We are very pleased that Justine Lomas will be remaining with the DES leadership team as a Deputy Director on a permanent basis. We are so thankful for the generosity from the Painsley MAC board of directors for releasing Justine to support the work of the DES.
Award of Ubi Caritas to Adam Hardy
The former Director of Education at the Diocesan Education Service, Adam Hardy, was presented the Ubi Caritas award by Archbishop Bernard Longley at the mass held on 5th April for his long and committed service to education in the archdiocese both as a headteacher and in leadership of the DES.
The recruitment process for the new Director of Education will commence next week. Please look out for further information on the Archdiocese and BDES websites.
Website
Please take time to have a look at the BDES website www.bdes.org.uk where you can find lots of useful information.
Please consider clicking on the cookies link when looking at the website. This helps us keep a count of the numbers of people visiting the website and the pages people like to look at and helps us improve our website for your future use.
If you have any good news stories, pictures or artwork that you would like published on our website then please send them to bdesadmin@bdes.org.uk
Diocesan Updates
Response to the Ukraine Crisis
The Archdiocese is working with other agencies, in particular Father Hudson’s, to formulate a combined response to the situation in Ukraine. Further information can be found on the Diocese website: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/pages/category/ukraine
Links are being made with local Ukrainian communities in Stoke, Coventry and Wolverhampton to support the response. If you, or someone you know, is able to speak Russian or Ukrainian and can offer support with Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK, please get in touch via with the Diocese.
For those who wish to donate to this cause, it is advised that monetary gifts are given as it is costly to transport goods overseas to those in need. If you would like to give financially, please do so via the CAFOD website: https://cafod.org.uk/News/Emergencies-news/Ukraine-crisis
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Thank You!
Livesimply: The response to this initiative by schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham has been phenomenal. 95% of schools have now signed up to show their interest. Don’t forget that the timescale for creating and implementing your plan is in your hands. This is a great opportunity to respond to the call of Laudato Si and to ensure that our school communities are ‘living simply, sustainably with creation and in solidarity with people in poverty.’ Please do remember to involve all members of the community including directors and governors.
CAFOD, in collaboration with the DES, are providing online CPD for both Primary and Secondary Schools on Tuesday 3 May 3:45-4:45 to support you with ideas for your action plan.
Book your place here https://web.pro-forms.co.uk/onlineForms/entry.phtml?code=15xnb4u2j
Synodal Pathway
Many thanks to all those schools who submitted responses to the Synodal Pathway. 72 responses were received but, as this included submissions from MACs the number of schools who participated is much greater. The Catholic Education Team were kindly invited to take part in the second stage of the proves which was one of discernment. It was a privilege to read the heartfelt responses of children and young people and the ways that they spoke about the Church, their place within it and their dreams for the future.
Prayer & Liturgy Directory
Many thanks to all those who responded to the consultation on this directory. Over 600 responses were submitted nationally with the responses fairly evenly split between 1/3 agreeing, 1/3 disagreeing and a 1/3 in the middle. What the consultation process has revealed is that a redrafting of this document is critical in order that it sets the right pastoral tone and reflects the reality of the pupil and staff populations in schools. Any updates or new information will be shared with schools as it emerges.
RECD (Religious Education Curriculum Directory)
The draft for the model curriculum part of this directory is now out for consultation. The closing date for this is Friday 20 May 2022. All schools have been sent the draft and a video PowerPoint which explains the structure. Points for consideration will be shared after the Easter break.
CSI (Catholic Schools Inspectorate) Update
Virtual briefings about CSI for schools will be taking place in the summer term. You can book on via the Training and Events (bdes.org.uk). You will receive an email confirming your booking from no-reply@zoom.us but please do check that it hasn’t been diverted into your spam/junk email folder.
Wednesday 22 June, 10:00-11:00
Friday 1 July, 13:30-14:30
BUILDINGS AND FINANCE
The Diocesan Response to the Climate Emergency
A climate action group was set up in September last year, more details can be found on the Diocesan website: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/Listing/Category/environment
Heat decarbonisation plans for schools in the Archdiocese are being completed in order to support the Diocesan response.
To support schools with their Livesimply plans; please find more information about how The Woodlands Trust is offering free trees to schools: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/schools-and-communities/
Statutory Compliance & Health & Safety
Schools are reminded to review and monitor their statutory health and safety requirements and ensure all tests and checks are up to date.
Occupancy Document
A new building occupancy document will be issued by trustees to all schools after the Easter holiday which sets out occupancy requirements.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Diocesan Directives issued by the Diocesan Bishop for the General Regulation of all Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham pursuant to canon 806.
This is the first time the Diocesan Directives have been presented in one document. The Directives will be published after Easter and will come into force one month later, following which the Directives will be shared with the DfE and Charity Commission and will become binding in Canon and Civil Law. Many of the Directives are good practice that schools have been adhering to for some time.
There are a total of thirty-two Directives which will include information about Admissions, Staffing, Governance, Curriculum & Religious Education, Ecclesiastical Property and Census and Data Sharing. It is expected that the vast majority of schools/academies will be compliant with the Directives and the BDES will request simple confirmation of compliance via a proforma that will be circulated to schools/academies. However, schools/academies that are not compliant with the Directives will be required to work with the DES to develop an action plan with a clear timescale for becoming fully compliant. Further information will follow. In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact Justine Lomas for further information.
LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
**Leadership Conference 2022: Friday, 24 June 2022
While it was quite a challenge during Covid, we did manage to hold a hybrid version of the leadership conference last June at the ICC together with a live broadcast (see https://www.bdes.org.uk/leadership-conference.html) – we had the highest ever number of people engaging on the day, whether in person or virtually online. While we were not in a position to hold the same style of event this year, we know just how valuable our leaders and governors find coming together across the Archdiocese as one community of faith. We aim to organise a virtual (or potentially hybrid) event on Friday, 24 June 2022. Further details will be available next term. If you have any queries or feedback in this respect, please do contact Yvonne Salter Wright (email: y.salterwright@bdes.org.uk).
Senior Leader Engagement
Last week we had over 80% of our schools represented at the Headteacher and CSEL briefings. There has also been two meetings of the CSEL Network and active engagement in development of the aims of our vision and multi academy strategy.
Governor and Director Engagement
Thank you to all governors and directors for your continued support and engagement this term. We have had many engage in the MAC Board Chairs and Vice Chairs Network, over 60 governors attending all or part of the virtual governor induction sessions, a significant number of directors attending a great number of bespoke briefings and meetings in relation to the vision and multi academy strategy, and over 200 governors and directors attending the virtual governor and director briefings held last week. It was also wonderful to have so many governors and directors joining us in person or online at the Governor and Director Mass at St Chad’s with His Grace on 5 April 2022. If for whatever reason you were not able to attend, a recording of it is available online at: https://www.mcnmedia.tv/Cameras/Player/37423 Also, if you haven’t already, do register for the governor and director briefings to be held in the summer term on 27 and 28 June 2022.
Leadership and Governance Updates and Events
On the DES website, there are now two specific pages where key events and updates will be published.
One for senior leaders: https://www.bdes.org.uk/leadership-update--events.html
One for governors and directors: https://www.bdes.org.uk/governance-updates--events.html
Admissions and Appeals
Thank you to all schools for submitting their 2023/2024 admissions policies to the DES. Please can we remind all schools that their admissions policy for 2023/2024 should now be published on the school’s website, along with the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 polices and the 2022 appeals timetable.
We have had a number of enquiries regarding admission requests for Ukranian children. Please be aware that these applications need to be dealt with strictly in line with your school’s admissions policy as you would any other in year application. As there is no automatic right for families from Ukraine to be admitted to any individual school, it’s essential that places are offered following your school’s policy, compliant with the School Admissions Code. Further guidance will be issued on this when it is available, but if you have any queries, please contact Rebecca Tonks (r.tonks@bdes.org.uk) to discuss.
Also, if your school has an admission appeal request submitted, do contact Rebecca for the current guidance documents and lists of panel members and clerks so that you can arrange an independent appeal hearing.
Model Complaints Policies Updated
Following changes in statutory requirements, the Diocesan model complaints policies for voluntary aided schools and for academy schools have been reviewed and updated. We will be circulating these at the start of next term in time for the new policies to be considered at the next opportunity to ensure compliance.
The Diocesan Vision for Education and Multi Academy Strategy
We wished also to thank all those who have engaged in such constructive dialogue in recent months in relation to progressing the Archdiocesan vision and multi academy strategy. Across the Archdiocese we have 143 of 234 schools under the Trust Deed that are within 16 MACs across 13 Local Authorities; with over 54k of 81.7k children taught within an academy setting (66%). Of the 91 schools yet to join a multi academy family, 2 have already confirmed timetables for joining and 45 are actively engaged in progressing this journey.
Following much dialogue and consideration of feedback from a range of stakeholders in our schools and multi academies, on 17 March 2022, a communication was circulated to all schools and multi academies from Canon Jonathan Veasey and Eric Kirwan setting out again our Diocesan Vision and Multi Academy Strategy, in particular rearticulating its alignment with the Archdiocesan Vision and the mission of the Church. This communication together with supporting information can be found on the DES website: https://www.bdes.org.uk/academies1.html. Together with the current multi academy families (https://www.bdes.org.uk/our-families-of-schools.html) and VA Schools, the website now also provides the future vision (https://www.bdes.org.uk/vision-for-our-families-of-schools.html) to aid dialogue between schools who will form part of the future multi academy family and, where appropriate, the relevant Multi Academy.
Shortly following the diocesan communications and publications, the long-awaited education White Paper was published on 28 March 2022 - Opportunities for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opportunity-for-all-strong-schools-with-great-teachers-for-your-child ), followed by the SEND Green paper (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ambitious-reform-for-children-and-young-people-with-send). A number of the key themes in the White Paper together with the evidence within the companion document The case for a fully trust-led system, supports the diocesan vision and strategy, including an expectation that all schools will be in the process of joining a strong multi academy by 2030. In the light of the further articulation of what a strong multi academy looks like, we will be developing the key characteristics of a strong, Catholic multi academy trust in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, fully aligned to our mission, vision and aims. We look forward to working co-responsibly with all partners to achieve this vision and strategy.
Please keep the DES up to date with any changes to contact details and positions by emailing bdesadmin@bdes.org.uk.
Basman Zora, Julia Hale and Ruth Kennedy joined the DES team in January and are settling into their new roles well. Contact details for all DES team are available at https://www.bdes.org.uk/the-des-team.html
Thank You Painsley Multi Academy Company!
We are very pleased that Justine Lomas will be remaining with the DES leadership team as a Deputy Director on a permanent basis. We are so thankful for the generosity from the Painsley MAC board of directors for releasing Justine to support the work of the DES.
Award of Ubi Caritas to Adam Hardy
The former Director of Education at the Diocesan Education Service, Adam Hardy, was presented the Ubi Caritas award by Archbishop Bernard Longley at the mass held on 5th April for his long and committed service to education in the archdiocese both as a headteacher and in leadership of the DES.
The recruitment process for the new Director of Education will commence next week. Please look out for further information on the Archdiocese and BDES websites.
Website
Please take time to have a look at the BDES website www.bdes.org.uk where you can find lots of useful information.
Please consider clicking on the cookies link when looking at the website. This helps us keep a count of the numbers of people visiting the website and the pages people like to look at and helps us improve our website for your future use.
If you have any good news stories, pictures or artwork that you would like published on our website then please send them to bdesadmin@bdes.org.uk
Diocesan Updates
Response to the Ukraine Crisis
The Archdiocese is working with other agencies, in particular Father Hudson’s, to formulate a combined response to the situation in Ukraine. Further information can be found on the Diocese website: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/pages/category/ukraine
Links are being made with local Ukrainian communities in Stoke, Coventry and Wolverhampton to support the response. If you, or someone you know, is able to speak Russian or Ukrainian and can offer support with Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK, please get in touch via with the Diocese.
For those who wish to donate to this cause, it is advised that monetary gifts are given as it is costly to transport goods overseas to those in need. If you would like to give financially, please do so via the CAFOD website: https://cafod.org.uk/News/Emergencies-news/Ukraine-crisis
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Thank You!
Livesimply: The response to this initiative by schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham has been phenomenal. 95% of schools have now signed up to show their interest. Don’t forget that the timescale for creating and implementing your plan is in your hands. This is a great opportunity to respond to the call of Laudato Si and to ensure that our school communities are ‘living simply, sustainably with creation and in solidarity with people in poverty.’ Please do remember to involve all members of the community including directors and governors.
CAFOD, in collaboration with the DES, are providing online CPD for both Primary and Secondary Schools on Tuesday 3 May 3:45-4:45 to support you with ideas for your action plan.
Book your place here https://web.pro-forms.co.uk/onlineForms/entry.phtml?code=15xnb4u2j
Synodal Pathway
Many thanks to all those schools who submitted responses to the Synodal Pathway. 72 responses were received but, as this included submissions from MACs the number of schools who participated is much greater. The Catholic Education Team were kindly invited to take part in the second stage of the proves which was one of discernment. It was a privilege to read the heartfelt responses of children and young people and the ways that they spoke about the Church, their place within it and their dreams for the future.
Prayer & Liturgy Directory
Many thanks to all those who responded to the consultation on this directory. Over 600 responses were submitted nationally with the responses fairly evenly split between 1/3 agreeing, 1/3 disagreeing and a 1/3 in the middle. What the consultation process has revealed is that a redrafting of this document is critical in order that it sets the right pastoral tone and reflects the reality of the pupil and staff populations in schools. Any updates or new information will be shared with schools as it emerges.
RECD (Religious Education Curriculum Directory)
The draft for the model curriculum part of this directory is now out for consultation. The closing date for this is Friday 20 May 2022. All schools have been sent the draft and a video PowerPoint which explains the structure. Points for consideration will be shared after the Easter break.
CSI (Catholic Schools Inspectorate) Update
Virtual briefings about CSI for schools will be taking place in the summer term. You can book on via the Training and Events (bdes.org.uk). You will receive an email confirming your booking from no-reply@zoom.us but please do check that it hasn’t been diverted into your spam/junk email folder.
Wednesday 22 June, 10:00-11:00
Friday 1 July, 13:30-14:30
BUILDINGS AND FINANCE
The Diocesan Response to the Climate Emergency
A climate action group was set up in September last year, more details can be found on the Diocesan website: https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/Listing/Category/environment
Heat decarbonisation plans for schools in the Archdiocese are being completed in order to support the Diocesan response.
To support schools with their Livesimply plans; please find more information about how The Woodlands Trust is offering free trees to schools: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/schools-and-communities/
Statutory Compliance & Health & Safety
Schools are reminded to review and monitor their statutory health and safety requirements and ensure all tests and checks are up to date.
Occupancy Document
A new building occupancy document will be issued by trustees to all schools after the Easter holiday which sets out occupancy requirements.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Diocesan Directives issued by the Diocesan Bishop for the General Regulation of all Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham pursuant to canon 806.
This is the first time the Diocesan Directives have been presented in one document. The Directives will be published after Easter and will come into force one month later, following which the Directives will be shared with the DfE and Charity Commission and will become binding in Canon and Civil Law. Many of the Directives are good practice that schools have been adhering to for some time.
There are a total of thirty-two Directives which will include information about Admissions, Staffing, Governance, Curriculum & Religious Education, Ecclesiastical Property and Census and Data Sharing. It is expected that the vast majority of schools/academies will be compliant with the Directives and the BDES will request simple confirmation of compliance via a proforma that will be circulated to schools/academies. However, schools/academies that are not compliant with the Directives will be required to work with the DES to develop an action plan with a clear timescale for becoming fully compliant. Further information will follow. In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact Justine Lomas for further information.
LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE
**Leadership Conference 2022: Friday, 24 June 2022
While it was quite a challenge during Covid, we did manage to hold a hybrid version of the leadership conference last June at the ICC together with a live broadcast (see https://www.bdes.org.uk/leadership-conference.html) – we had the highest ever number of people engaging on the day, whether in person or virtually online. While we were not in a position to hold the same style of event this year, we know just how valuable our leaders and governors find coming together across the Archdiocese as one community of faith. We aim to organise a virtual (or potentially hybrid) event on Friday, 24 June 2022. Further details will be available next term. If you have any queries or feedback in this respect, please do contact Yvonne Salter Wright (email: y.salterwright@bdes.org.uk).
Senior Leader Engagement
Last week we had over 80% of our schools represented at the Headteacher and CSEL briefings. There has also been two meetings of the CSEL Network and active engagement in development of the aims of our vision and multi academy strategy.
Governor and Director Engagement
Thank you to all governors and directors for your continued support and engagement this term. We have had many engage in the MAC Board Chairs and Vice Chairs Network, over 60 governors attending all or part of the virtual governor induction sessions, a significant number of directors attending a great number of bespoke briefings and meetings in relation to the vision and multi academy strategy, and over 200 governors and directors attending the virtual governor and director briefings held last week. It was also wonderful to have so many governors and directors joining us in person or online at the Governor and Director Mass at St Chad’s with His Grace on 5 April 2022. If for whatever reason you were not able to attend, a recording of it is available online at: https://www.mcnmedia.tv/Cameras/Player/37423 Also, if you haven’t already, do register for the governor and director briefings to be held in the summer term on 27 and 28 June 2022.
Leadership and Governance Updates and Events
On the DES website, there are now two specific pages where key events and updates will be published.
One for senior leaders: https://www.bdes.org.uk/leadership-update--events.html
One for governors and directors: https://www.bdes.org.uk/governance-updates--events.html
Admissions and Appeals
Thank you to all schools for submitting their 2023/2024 admissions policies to the DES. Please can we remind all schools that their admissions policy for 2023/2024 should now be published on the school’s website, along with the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 polices and the 2022 appeals timetable.
We have had a number of enquiries regarding admission requests for Ukranian children. Please be aware that these applications need to be dealt with strictly in line with your school’s admissions policy as you would any other in year application. As there is no automatic right for families from Ukraine to be admitted to any individual school, it’s essential that places are offered following your school’s policy, compliant with the School Admissions Code. Further guidance will be issued on this when it is available, but if you have any queries, please contact Rebecca Tonks (r.tonks@bdes.org.uk) to discuss.
Also, if your school has an admission appeal request submitted, do contact Rebecca for the current guidance documents and lists of panel members and clerks so that you can arrange an independent appeal hearing.
Model Complaints Policies Updated
Following changes in statutory requirements, the Diocesan model complaints policies for voluntary aided schools and for academy schools have been reviewed and updated. We will be circulating these at the start of next term in time for the new policies to be considered at the next opportunity to ensure compliance.
The Diocesan Vision for Education and Multi Academy Strategy
We wished also to thank all those who have engaged in such constructive dialogue in recent months in relation to progressing the Archdiocesan vision and multi academy strategy. Across the Archdiocese we have 143 of 234 schools under the Trust Deed that are within 16 MACs across 13 Local Authorities; with over 54k of 81.7k children taught within an academy setting (66%). Of the 91 schools yet to join a multi academy family, 2 have already confirmed timetables for joining and 45 are actively engaged in progressing this journey.
Following much dialogue and consideration of feedback from a range of stakeholders in our schools and multi academies, on 17 March 2022, a communication was circulated to all schools and multi academies from Canon Jonathan Veasey and Eric Kirwan setting out again our Diocesan Vision and Multi Academy Strategy, in particular rearticulating its alignment with the Archdiocesan Vision and the mission of the Church. This communication together with supporting information can be found on the DES website: https://www.bdes.org.uk/academies1.html. Together with the current multi academy families (https://www.bdes.org.uk/our-families-of-schools.html) and VA Schools, the website now also provides the future vision (https://www.bdes.org.uk/vision-for-our-families-of-schools.html) to aid dialogue between schools who will form part of the future multi academy family and, where appropriate, the relevant Multi Academy.
Shortly following the diocesan communications and publications, the long-awaited education White Paper was published on 28 March 2022 - Opportunities for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/opportunity-for-all-strong-schools-with-great-teachers-for-your-child ), followed by the SEND Green paper (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ambitious-reform-for-children-and-young-people-with-send). A number of the key themes in the White Paper together with the evidence within the companion document The case for a fully trust-led system, supports the diocesan vision and strategy, including an expectation that all schools will be in the process of joining a strong multi academy by 2030. In the light of the further articulation of what a strong multi academy looks like, we will be developing the key characteristics of a strong, Catholic multi academy trust in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, fully aligned to our mission, vision and aims. We look forward to working co-responsibly with all partners to achieve this vision and strategy.
Please keep the DES up to date with any changes to contact details and positions by emailing bdesadmin@bdes.org.uk.
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