• A message from Sue Harrison, Director of Children and Families 
• Religious Education Autumn Term Lesson Plans
• GCSEs and Post 16 to 18 Results Collection
• Free Swimming Pass with Places Leisure
• Picture News Impact Awards 2023
• Free Resource: How to develop resilient staff
• Services for Education Training Opportunities
• George Clarke Launches City-Wide Schools Challenge to Kickstart Birmingham Housing Week! 

A Message from Sue Harrison, Director of Children and Families 

Dear colleagues

Schools will be aware of the recent news regarding Equal Pay and the financial challenges the council is currently facing.

This will have naturally created an element of concern, and so I wanted to personally write to reassure you that school budgets are ring-fenced and so remain secure. In a message to staff our Chief Executive, Deborah Cadman, advised that the council will do everything we can to protect front line services, and support those who rely on the services we provide.

She confirmed that the council has engaged with its External Auditors and has held discussions with officials at the Department of Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities. Enhanced governance has also been put in place to monitor the situation, including a panel of elected members, Chaired by the Leader of the Council, with the support of an independent expert in local government finance.

In a further update issued last week, Deborah Cadman advised that the council Leadership Team has started work on a Budget Recovery Plan, whereby mandatory spending restrictions will be implemented, and all non-essential spending ceased with immediate effect.

As the situation progresses, I will continue to keep schools fully informed.

With kind regards

Sue Harrison, Director of Children and Families 

Religious Education Autumn Term Lesson Plans

We’re pleased to confirm that the updated lesson plans for the autumn term are almost ready, and will be made available in the next 2-3 weeks, via the original BOX system used previously.

Please accept our apologies for the delay, and thank you for your patience while we continue to update and improve the new website.

If schools have any queries or require further information, please don’t hesitate to contact the team at religiouseducation@birmingham.gov.uk and they’ll be pleased to help.

Thank you once again for your continued support during this transitionary period.

GCSEs and Post 16 to 18 Results Collection

We would be grateful if secondary schools could share GCSEs/Post 16 to 18  school-level data on GCSE results day (24 August 2023) by completing a simple online form: KS4 and Post 16 to 18 Results Day Form

The online form will be available from 24 August to 8 September 2023, and your support in completing it as soon as possible after results day would be greatly appreciated.

For any queries, please contact the team at educationdata@birmingham.gov.uk and they will be pleased to help.

FREE Swimming Pass with Places Leisure

Places Leisure are offering free swimming in August for children eligible for free school meals; children can also claim a free pair of goggles (while stocks last)!

Places Leisure Venues:

• Harborne Pool and Fitness Centre, Lordswood Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9QS
• Sparkhill Pool and Fitness Centre, Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, B11 4EA.

To ensure parents/carers can access this offer, please copy and paste and send this wording by text or email to parents/carers of all eligible children:

'To activate your ‘Free Summer 2023 swimming pass’ please take this original email or text message you received from your local council or Children's Trust to your local centre and show it to a member of the Places Leisure team. Places Leisure will set you up with a membership that will allow your child to enjoy free swimming from 1st to 31st August 2023. For more information CLICK HERE.’

Picture News Impact Awards 2023

Picture News is excited to launch the 2023 Picture News Impact Awards. The awards are open to all schools, both those using Picture News and those who aren’t!

• The awards celebrate the impact that anyone in school has made following their learning about something happening in the world, e.g. fundraising or leading an assembly to inform others about an important issue.
• Applications can be sent in any format (e.g. Word Document or PowerPoint Presentation), as a combination of text, photos and video.
• Projects and action taken by either whole schools, classes or individuals will be considered.
• This year, successful entries will receive either a Bronze, Silver or Gold award, with a trophy being delivered in the post!

Entries are open until 31 December 2023 and successful schools will be notified within 10 working days if they have been successful, and which award has been allocated.

To apply, simply provide Picture News with an overview of your project and send it to help@picture-news.co.uk.

For any queries or more information please contact help@picture-news.co.uk

Free Resource: How to develop resilient staff

The Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) has compiled a list of useful resources for schools to share with staff that can aid in providing the best Care, Welfare, Safety and SecuritySM for both staff and pupils:

• A guide on Developing Resilient Staff
• Read CPI's Education Q&A Forum where experts answer questions around behaviour in the classroom
• Sign up for free weekly Behaviour Management Tips emailed directly to your inbox

To find out more about CPI’s INSET packages or train-the-trainer programmes visit webpage for education professionals, or email enquiries@crisisprevention.com

Services for Education Training Opportunities

Early Careers Framework Programme

ECTs from both the primary and secondary sector and their Mentors can now access the ECF and Mentor programmes with Services for Education. 

In partnership with Best Practice Network, who were recently awarded excellent in their OFSTED, the ECF programme provides the flexibility of face-to-face and online delivery ensuring that early career teachers and mentors can balance the demands of the programme alongside their school commitments. 

Find out more about the Early Careers Framework Programme at this link.

Safer Recruitment – Tuesday, 19 September 2023: 09.00-16.00

This full-day course, delivered by accredited Safer Recruitment Consortium trainers, enables schools to meet statutory requirements and to improve processes that help deter, reject or identify people who might abuse children or who are otherwise unsuited to working with them and identifies ways settings can create safer environments with a culture of vigilance. You can book this course by following this link

Safeguarding and Child Protection for Headteachers and Nominated Governors – Thursday, 21 September 2023: 09.00-16.00

This full-day course will equip Head Teachers/ Principles (who are not DSLs) and Governors with the information, knowledge and understanding to undertake their responsibilities in respect of safeguarding, including supporting staff members acting in the DSL/DDSL role and dealing with allegations against staff. You can book this course You can book this course by following this link

George Clarke Launches City-Wide Schools Challenge to Kickstart Birmingham Housing Week

Birmingham Housing Week, which will take place from the 2nd – 6th October 2023 across various locations in the City Centre, is a dedicated event aimed at addressing the housing challenges in the city, while highlighting the opportunities available for improvement and development.

This event is a collaborative effort between Birmingham City Council, Lovell Partnerships and MOBIE, with the main priorities being:

• To encourage young people to be passionate about housing and wonderfully designed homes.
• Raise awareness through engaging with schools and communities.
• Promote investment, showcase innovations, and create opportunities within the Birmingham housing sector.

This inaugural event will bring together stakeholders, housing and construction sectors, local residents, educational institutions, young people and industry experts, to collaborate and find innovative solutions to address the city’s housing needs.

Introducing the Birmingham Young Persons Home Design Challenge Workshops and Activities

The Birmingham Young Persons Home Design Challenge will have four age categories so children from 5 to 18 can take part as individuals or part of a group, built around the following themes:

• Eliminating waste and pollution
• Recycling materials and products
• Regenerating nature

The competition is being launched in collaboration with George Clarke’s MOBIE charity ahead of the first-ever Birmingham Housing Week. The Challenge will be launched in October with entries made by early January 2024.

Hear what George has to say by following this link.

For further information please contact BHWinfo@social.co.uk