This week's noticeboard includes: 

• Message from Dr Sue Harrison, Strategic Director of Children and Families
• Oracle Transition for Schools Update
• EHCP Elevate Programme
• Schools Budget Payment Schedule 2024/25
• Early Education Entitlement - Working Hours Places
• Big Birmingham School Travel Survey 2024 and prize draw – last few days to enter!
• Birmingham Community Health Care Plus School Nursing Service
• Occupational Health & Safety - Training Courses
• Health & Safety - Training Course – March 2025

Message from Dr Sue Harrison, Strategic Director of Children and Families

Dear colleagues

As we approach the festive season, schools will have been bustling with a wonderful array of seasonal festivities, from Christmas plays to other joyful celebrations. It's a busy but magical time, and I hope you're all enjoying making those special memories with your children, young people and their families.

As usual, you can find the updates for the Oracle Transition programme here: Oracle transition for schools, updates, questions and answers. An important reminder to those schools who have yet to do so – please complete your Oracle Transition for Schools Self-Assessment Survey – this is crucial in helping us support you. As part of the conversion to full chequebook status, the finance team will also be hosting a series of drop-in sessions to support schools pre- and post-conversion. Please look out for the Microsoft Teams links which will be provided next week.

If you need any assistance in the meantime, please contact the team at oracleschoolsrelationship@birmingham.gov.uk. They’ll be happy to help.

I was delighted to hear that in an exciting new partnership, Birmingham Careers Service has teamed up with Transport for West Midlands (TFWM) to provide 12 months of free bus travel for all young people who are not in education, training, or employment (NEET). Fully funded by TFWM, this initiative aims to remove travel barriers and financial pressures, ensuring that young people can achieve their career goals and aspirations.

To be eligible, young people must meet the following criteria:

• Be aged 16-19 (extended to age 25 for young people with SEND)
• Live in the Birmingham area
• Be referred to Birmingham Careers Service using our standard NEET referral form
• Be recorded and verified as NEET (on the Local Authority Database) on the date the Swift Card is activated
• Engage and keep in touch with their allocated Lead Careers Adviser

To make a referral or for more information, please visit Birmingham Careers Service.

The EHCP Elevate Programme is another fantastic initiative from the SENAR team, set to significantly enhance the quality of Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs). This success is a testament to the incredible collaborative effort from everyone involved. A heartfelt thank you to our parents and carers, young people, school staff, SEND professionals, health and social care colleagues, the Birmingham Virtual School, and the Birmingham Careers Service for your magnificent contributions.

The article below provides more details and offers the opportunity to book onto drop-in sessions to address any questions schools may have about the new documentation, which is set to be fully implemented by 11 April 2025.

Thank you for your passion, hard work, and the countless ways you go above and beyond to ensure every child feels valued and empowered. I’m so incredibly proud of you all!

Wishing you a restful and well-deserved weekend!

Sue

Oracle Transition for Schools Update

The latest updates can be found here: Oracle transition for schools, updates, questions and answers.

Archived Q&A can be found here: Archived Oracle Transition Q&A.

For any queries or further information please contact the team at oracleschoolsrelationship@birmingham.gov.uk

Thank you for your ongoing support. 

EHCP Elevate Programme

SENAR is pleased to introduce the EHCP Elevate Programme, designed to enhance the quality of Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs). This initiative is the result of a remarkable collaborative effort involving over 70 partners, including parent carers, young people, school staff, SEND professionals, health and social care colleagues, the Birmingham Virtual School, and the Birmingham Careers Service.

This collaboration has established high standards and created new documentation that will significantly improve the educational experiences and outcomes for our children and young people. The new documentation can be found here: Documents - Local Offer Birmingham.

By 11 April 2025, the new documents will be fully embedded, and the old versions will be withdrawn.

For any queries regarding the new documentation or for further information, weekly drop-in sessions running between 13:00-16:00 are available to book on the following dates:

• Tuesday, 10 December 2024
• Wednesday, 18 December 2024
• Thursday, 9 January 2025
• Friday, 17 January 2025
• Monday, 20 January 2025
• Tuesday, 28 January 2025
• Wednesday, 5 February 2025
• Thursday, 13 February 2025

Simply email Helen Georgiou, Quality and Improvement Officer, at Helen.Georgiou@birmingham.gov.uk with your query, indicating which session you would like to attend, and a Microsoft Teams invite will be forwarded directly to you.

Schools Budget Payment Schedule 2024/25

Please find the new cash sheet which will be issued on a monthly basis at this link: Statement of funding and provisional school budget payment schedule 2024 to 2025.

We hope you find this useful in reconciling the monthly instalment as well as grant payments the authority has paid in a given month. 

Please note, grant payments that were made to the LA at the end of June will be paid to schools in July, and the August copy of this spreadsheet will reflect this when it is issued. 

If you have trouble accessing the file, you may need to save the spreadsheet to your personal desktop, then unblock the file by right clicking, properties, and clicking unblock and applying changes. 

Any queries should be directed to the team at FairFunding@Birmingham.gov.uk. 

Early Years

We are aware of a discrepancy in the EYMS figures and will rectify the issue in January as reflected on the cash sheet. 

December grant allocations will be paid shortly.  

Early Education Entitlement - Working Hours Places

For children to access a working hour funded place in Spring 2025 parents must have received an eligible code on or before 31st September 2025.

The local authority cannot fund codes that have a validity start date of on or after the 1st January 2025.

It is the childcare providers responsibility to check the date on the code before offering a working hours place. You must do this by entering the code on ECS and then check the validity start date of it to make sure it is eligible for the current term: https://www.cloudforedu.org.uk/oefe/birmingham/la/schools   

You must check the date before allowing the child to access any working hours for the term.

Further information about working hours and validating codes can be found on EYMIS: www.ted-birmingham.org.uk

Username: PVI2 (please note this is a capital i not the number one)
Password: PVI2year (please note this is a capital i not the number one)

If you have any queries regarding working hours extended entitlement please email earlyeducation@birmingham.gov.uk

Big Birmingham School Travel Survey 2024 and Prize Draw

Closing date: 6 December 2024

To support safer, more active, and sustainable travel for your school community, we're running the Big Birmingham School Travel Survey 2024! Here's why:

• Awareness: School travel surveys get everyone thinking about their current travel habits and preferences, helping to reduce car journeys and encourage walking, wheeling, cycling, and scooting.
• Data: You get baseline data to plan and monitor the success of your actions to promote active and sustainable travel.

Prize Draw: Complete your survey by Friday, 6 December 2024, to enter a draw for a class travel pass from National Express, offering unlimited bus travel for up to 30 children and 6 adults. We have three passes to give away!

Already completed your survey? Thank you! You're already entered into the draw.

How to complete the survey:

1. Sign in to your Modeshift STARS account.
2. Go to the 'Site' tab.
3. Copy the survey link and share it with colleagues to complete in class.
4. Ask pupils the survey questions:
   • How do you usually travel to school?
   • How would you most like to travel to school?
5. Ensure the totals for 'usual' and 'preferred' travel are equal. Save before closing the page.
6. Modeshift STARS will collate the results and produce a graph.
7. Let us know once you've completed the survey!

Need support? Email: connected@birmingham.gov.uk

Thank you for taking the time to complete your survey!

Birmingham Community Health Care Plus School Nursing Service

Through its BCHC Plus (Traded Services) School Nursing service the Birmingham Community NHS Foundation Trust can provide additional education focused services that supplement the NHS ‘core’ school nurse service.

The link between educational attainment and positive health is well documented. However, sometimes schools find that incidence of health-related needs amongst their pupils requires more clinical support. BCHC Plus offers schools the opportunity to buy additional dedicated school nurse time to address health needs that lie beyond the scope of the core service.

School health topics include:

• Curriculum input focused on health and wellbeing
• Issues arising in school that may have a link to health
• Dedicated support addressing a school’s wider health related challenges
• Liaison with GP’s Health Visitors and other professionals
• Health education and promotion activities

To find out more about how BCHC Plus (Traded Services) can benefit your school, pupils, families and staff, please contact the BCHC Plus team on 0121 466 6266 or email Bchc.bchcplus@nhs.net.

Occupational Health & Safety Training Courses 2024/2025

Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work Refresher –9th & 10th December 2024
Start Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: £164.00 per delegate
Venue:  Stirchley Baths, Bournville Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham B30 2JT
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk
Note:  Lunch or refreshments will NOT be provided 

Educational Visits Co-ordinator Revalidation Training OEAP Accredited
Date: 10th December 2024 – Start Time:  09:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Cost: £127.60 per delegate
Delivered via Microsoft Teams
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

Fire Marshal Training 17th January 2025
Start Time:  01:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Cost: £21.50 per delegate
Delivered via Microsoft Teams
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

Emergency First Aid – 20th January 2025
Start Time:  9:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m.
Cost: £100.00 per delegate
Venue:  Stirchley Baths, Bournville Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham B30 2JT
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk
Note:  Lunch or refreshments will NOT be provided 

Level 3 Award in First Aid at Work – 27th, 28th & 30th January 2025
Start Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: £194.00 per delegate
Venue:  Stirchley Baths, Bournville Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham B30 2JT
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk
Note:  Lunch or refreshments will NOT be provided 

Educational Visits Co-ordinator Revalidation Training OEAP Accredited
Date: 10th December 2024
Start Time:  12:00 p.m. to 15:30 p.m.
Cost: £127.60 per delegate
Delivered via Microsoft Teams
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

Educational Visits Co-ordinator Training OEAP Accredited
Date: 11th December 2024
Start Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: £191.40 per delegate
Delivered at Washwood Heath Academy Primary School, Burney Lane, Stechford Lane Stetchford, B8 2AS
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk
Note:  Only refreshments are provided  (No Lunch)

Educational Visits Co-ordinator Revalidation Training OEAP Accredited
Date: 21st January 2025
Start Time:  12:00 p.m. to 15:30 p.m.
Cost: £127.60 per delegate
Delivered via Microsoft Teams
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

Educational Visits Co-ordinator Training OEAP Accredited
Date: 28th January 2025
Start Time:  9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: £191.40 per delegate
Delivered at Washwood Heath Academy Primary School, Burney Lane, Stechford Lane Stetchford, B8 2AS
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk
Note:  Only refreshments are provided  (No Lunch)

School Site Safety – 11th & 13th March 2025 (Delivered Via Microsoft Teams)
Start Time:  9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: £166.10 per delegate
Schools must book on BESS Website
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

MIDAS Full Day Course
Cost: £291.50 per delegate
Learner Passes now available for purchasing – Book Theory on BESS (Online Training)
Schools must book on BESS
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

MIDAS Refresher Course
Cost: £188.10 per delegate
Learner Passes now available for purchasing – Book Theory on BESS (Online Training)
Schools must book on BESS
General Enquiries please Email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk

School Site Safety – 11th and 13th March 2025 (Delivered Via Microsoft Teams)

This course is suitable for School Caretakers/Site Managers and staff with roles which include promoting Health and Safety in the workplace and ensuring schools are safe environments.

Start Time:  9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m - Cost:  £166.10 per delegate Schools must book on the BESS Website

Covering the following key areas:

• Organising for Safety - An overview of H&S Law, Roles and responsibilities, Safety Management systems
• Risk Assessment - HSE 5 steps, different risk assessment techniques
• The Workplace - Safe access/egress, slip/trips, temperature, lighting, housekeeping, & welfare facilities
• Manual Handling - Manual Handling risk assessment, Human Body
• Working at Heights - Hierarchy of control measures, Safe use of ladders, Inspection of equipment
• COSHH - Data Sheets, COSHH risk assessments
• Fire Safety Management - Fire Protection measures, Risk assessment, Fire policies & procedures
• Management of Contractors - Selecting competent contractors, Risk assessments & method statements, Record keeping,  Permit to work systems

For general enquiries please email: schoolsafety@birmingham.gov.uk