SPRING TERM 2021 / ISSUE 121 25/01/21 HARROW SCHOOLS’ NEWSLETTER PLEASE PASS TO ANY RELEVANT STAFF AND GOVERNORS Photograph provided by Earlsmead Primary School Section A - Staff and School News Section B - Key Dates, Meetings and Conferences Section C - Action Requested Section D - Guidance, Advice and Information Section E - CPD and Other opportunities Section F - Appendices The Harrow Schools’ Newsletter is the fortnightly, term time communication with schools produced by Harrow Local Authority. It is distributed by email to all Harrow schools and academies. It includes information from the Harrow School Standards and Effectiveness Team (HSSE). Contributions from schools, including for the front page photograph, should be sent to [email protected] by noon on Thursday for the following week’s issue. EDUCATION SERVICES SPRING TERM 2021 / ISSUE 121 25/01/21 SECTION A – STAFF AND SCHOOL NEWS 1. FRONT PAGE PHOTO Earlsmead Primary School Earlsmead Primary School has been included in 100 Top Performing and Improving Schools 2020. See exert from the editorial published nationally: The future Our journey will continue on this upward trend ensuring pupils and their learning are supported by the very best teachers. In recognition of our hard work and determination, Ofsted 2020 stated, “Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and their learning” “All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are included in all school activities” A comment from the head teacher. The road to success has not been easy. We cannot give one strategy that made all the difference. It was a combination of many factors all having to be juggled at once but with an unfaltering vision of what is best for our children. We have laughed and cried and had successes and failures like everyone else but we faced it all united, and with a shared determination to improve our outcomes. Mediocrity is not accepted at Earlsmead School as we all have agreed to our common goal of equipping our children for a happy and successful future. As Headteacher, taking the school on this fabulous journey would not have been possible without my amazing staff and the continuing support of our MAT CEO, Dr Reavley and our board of governors. From the bottom of my heart I thank them all. SECTION D – GUIDANCE, ADVICE AND INFORMATION 2. RAPID COVID TESTING Contact: Simon Hornsby; [email protected] Harrow Council has opened more Covid test centres across the borough and we’re encouraging all essential workers without symptoms to get tested twice a week. Testing is fast and free. 10 minute bookable slots are now available at https://www.harrow.gov.uk/test - results come back in 30 minutes, either texted to a mobile or emailed. It’s important to stress that these tests are for people without symptoms. 1 in 3 people with Covid feel fine but can still pass it on to others. We’ve already found 200 people in Harrow with the virus who weren’t showing any symptoms - through testing we’ve helped to stop them passing Covid on to potentially hundreds more. We’re asking everyone currently working in retail, manufacturing, transport, delivery, education and any other service in which they come into contact with people to test twice a week. Test centres are now open in St Ann’s Shopping Centre, Civic Centre, Harrow Arts Centre and Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Stanmore. We also have a mobile unit, currently in Cambridge Road car park. Anyone unable to work from home is at greater risk. We know employers take this risk very seriously and have measures in place to protect staff. We hope this service will complement your existing Covid security practises and help to support staff confidence. EDUCATION SERVICES Page 2 of 22 SPRING TERM 2021 / ISSUE 121 25/01/21 Anyone with a fever, a persistent cough, or a change in their sense of taste or smell, should not book one of these tests. They should self-isolate at home and arrange a test via www.nhs.uk or by calling 119. For further information see https://www.harrow.gov.uk/test or write to [email protected]. 3. HARROW COVID 19 DASHBOARD UPDATE Contact: Carole Furlong; [email protected] Please see Appendix A for the weekly Harrow Public Health Covid Update. Harrow Covid-19 dashboard data for the following period: • 11 January 2021 – 17 January 2021 4. NATIONAL FREE SCHOOL MEAL VOUCHER SCHEME Contact: Patrick O'Dwyer; [email protected] The national free school meal voucher scheme went live week commencing 18 January. You will be able to place orders for supermarket gift cards on behalf of the parents and carers whose children are eligible for benefits-related free school meals, to cover the period between 18 January and 12 February (4 weeks). These gift cards are worth £15 a week per eligible child. You can order eCodes to be delivered direct to parents’ or carers’ email addresses. Families will receive an eCode by email to redeem for a supermarket of their choice. Alternatively, you can arrange for the eCode to be delivered to the school email, so you can provide eGift cards by post, collection or delivery to families without internet access. Ordering from the scheme You should have received an email on Wednesday 13 or Thursday 14 January with details of how to activate your account or reset your password for the site by midday Sunday 17 January. If you have not received this email, please complete Edenred’s online change request form. If you have not yet registered, please do so as soon as possible. If the links in the email are not working for you, try copying the address directly into your browser. Once you have registered: • you will be notified whether to begin ordering on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (18-20 January). These initial order dates are being allocated in three batches to help manage demand on the site. Please note, if you EDUCATION SERVICES Page 3 of 22 SPRING TERM 2021 / ISSUE 121 25/01/21 are registering on the site after midday Sunday 17 January, your order date may be later than Wednesday but within five days of registration • please avoid attempting to log in before the ordering date you are given – you will not be able to access the website before then • you will need to prepare your order file before you can order (see page 5 of the admin guide for further details). If you’re emailing vouchers to families, you should also check that their email addresses are up to date • you can choose to order for a whole school (for eligible children), order eCodes which cover more than one week and order eCodes which cover more than one child in the same household. See page 6 of the admin guide for full details and top tips • please endeavour to place one order covering multiple families, not multiple orders for each family. This will mean your order can be processed more quickly Families will receive their 16-digit eCodes within 4 days of the order being placed. eCodes need to be redeemed into eGift cards before they are used (see our step-by-step guide for further details). Families will be able to choose from a range of supermarkets. In the first week of the scheme the ordering site is likely to be very busy so you may be placed in a queue. The ordering website will be open between 6am and 10pm Monday to Friday. The busiest time is expected to be between 8.30am and 10.30am and at lunchtime, so you may wish to choose a different time to place your order. Other free school meals provision As well as using the national voucher scheme, your school still has the option of providing food to your eligible pupils via a lunch parcel, through a caterer or food provider, or via a locally arranged solution. This could include providing vouchers for a local shop or supermarket, or sourcing vouchers through an alternative provider. For those arranging vouchers locally rather than through the national voucher scheme, more details will be available soon on how you can claim back these costs. Beyond the fact that it will need to be a valid claim based on eligible children and support provided over the specified timeframe, claims will not be subject to any additional criteria and so will be paid in full. The rates are £15 for vouchers or a £3.50 top up if you are providing lunch parcels. These amounts are per week, per eligible child. Please note that you can use a mixture of vouchers and lunch parcels if different options suit different families better. You can also read our full guidance on providing free school meals during the national lockdown. 5. OFFICIAL - IDSR RELEASE Contact: Schools Pre-Inspection Data & Insight Team; [email protected] Communication from Ofsted regarding the release of an updated inspection data summary report (IDSR), affecting all schools. EDUCATION SERVICES Page 4 of 22 SPRING TERM 2021 / ISSUE 121 25/01/21 On Friday 22 January we have re-released the inspection data summary report (IDSR) to allow schools access to the latest data. This release has been delayed from the autumn term. We have decided to release it now as we want to provide schools with access to the latest version, should you wish to review it. We understand the pressures schools are currently working under. There is no expectation for you to review this information at this time. All performance-related data within the IDSR still relates to 2019.