Information and advice on

Safeguarding

Children’s Trusts:importantchanges

The revisedprimary curriculum

Summer2010

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Contents05 The revised primary curriculum

06 Safeguarding

06 Children’s Trusts: important changes

07 Accessing InfoBase

08 Notices from the schools meals team

10 Equality, diversity and cohesion scheme

12 Dates for your diary

For information and advice, or if you would like any article translated into a community language, into Braille, on audio format or put into large print please contact:

The governor support service, 10th fl oor west, Merrion House, 110 Merrion Centre, Leeds,LS2 8DT.

Phone: 0113 247 5560Email: education.governors @educationleeds.co.uk

SafeguardingSafeguarding has been a major focus for many governing bodies recently. Your school will have received a great deal of information on this matter. For up-to-date information and advice about safeguarding, please see the ‘safeguarding’section on page six.

Governor developmentEach term, a link will be provided to a training activity on InfoBase that your governing body can download and complete during your governing body meeting. These include card sort activities and quizzes. Please see the article on page seven for details about how to access InfoBase.

Outstanding school governing bodiesCongratulations to St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School, Horsforth, and Westerton Primary School governing bodies for achieving an outstanding Ofsted grade.

We would very much like to receive your feedback about this bulletin and suggestions for items that you would like to seein forthcoming editions.

Best wishes for a successful summer term,

Katy Hockridge, Sheila Speedyand Kathryn Wilkinson

Education Leeds governor support service,phone: 0113 247 5560,email: educationgovernors@educationleeds.co.uk

Editorial messageWelcome to the Summer 2010 issueof theGovernors’Bulletin

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chief executiveMessage from the

I passionately believe in what I am doing here in Leeds and I care deeply about my colleagues. This is the best job I have ever had and it will be incredibly hard to see the end of Education Leeds at the end of March 2011. Personally, I have been wrestling with the outcomes of this review for the last three months and I have been at times angry, at times sad and finally I have become resigned to the inevitable. After Wednesday, we must all work together to make this work and deliver better, more responsive, more integrated and more efficient services to children and young people and their families.

In Education Leeds, we have created a unique, award-winning organisation and together with colleagues in schools we have created an educational landscape which has done and is doing a brilliant job and every internal, external and impartial assessment and inspection carried out recently, including the latest OFSTED Inspection of Safeguarding and Looked-after Children, has recognised our success, the relationships we have built and the outcomes we have achieved for children and young people. The last nine years have been the best years of my professional life and I have been blessed to be able to work with some extraordinary colleagues; colleagues

in Education Leeds, colleagues in Children’s Services and colleagues in schools. Together we have achieved so much; we have transformed the learning landscape and the learning environment here in Leeds and achieved some incredible outcomes for our children and young people and their families and communities. Together, we have released the talent, magic and potential in so many of our children and young people, in our colleagues and in our schools… but we can never be complacent because as always there is more to do!

I know that means we must work even closer together because we now face a powerful combination of elements that will change the shape of everything we do whether we like it or not. Leeds has faced challenges before: in 2001 when Education Leeds was established; and in 2006 when the new contracting and commissioning arrangements were put in place. And each time we rewrote the storyline and re-created a culture based on trust, powerful partnerships, dynamic and creative leadership, strong performance management and the efficient and effective use of resources.

And now Leeds must change again. We are going to see a new chief executive of the council, a new director of children’s services and this review proposes a new directorate based approach to children’s services replacing

“Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said that it’d be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.” Unknown

Continued on page 4 »

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Education Leeds to build on the best of what we have created over the last nine years. The Council believes that this is the only way forward and our challenge now is to respond positively to the review and continue the work we have been doing to ensure that every child in Leeds is happier, healthier, safer, even more successful and free from the effects of poverty… whatever it takes!

These challenges will bring opportunities for all and I have agreed with Paul Rogerson that I will be here to help with the transition and to continue to work with Eleanor Brazil, Interim Director of Children’s Services and the new Director of Children’s Services, when she or he is appointed, to continue to secure the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families here in Leeds and to continue to build on the work we have been doing to place schools at the heart of a chiildren’s services world.

I know of course that this next year will be about uncertainty and change and I do understand that for many colleagues, listening to the news yesterday, their only worry will be about their jobs and paying their bills and, as someone told me yesterday, to be honest it doesn’t matter who they are working for. Many colleagues will know that they are doing a job which will be needed whatever happens to schools, to Education Leeds or to Children’s Services. Many colleagues know that change is coming through 21st Century Schools, changes to the National Strategies and all our Government funding, and whatever the Council does with all its back offi ce functions. This period of uncertainty and change will be unsettling for lots of us and I promise that I will be there to listen, to help, to coach and to support all my colleagues through the next year. We will be arranging team briefi ngs and breakfast meetings and using every possible mechanism to keep you involved, engaged and informed in building the future.

I’d like to leave you with some important messages:

• be positive;

• be optimistic;

• stay open-minded;

• keep things in perspective;

• see the opportunities;

• look after each other; and

• stay focused on the things that matter.

And fi nally as always…

Keep the faith!

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Two hundred primary and deputy headteachers gathered at Elland Road on Tuesday 2 February for an inspirational and informative day focussed around the revised primary curriculum, the outcome of the Rose report.

Pupil participationAs part of this work, children’s conferences were held in two areas of the city in the summer of 2009, which resulted in children giving us their views on:

• what they enjoy most at school;

• what helps them to learn;

• how they see their responsibilities as learners; and

• what inspires them and their hopes for the future.

The colourful publication, ‘what we want from our primary curriculum’, which resulted from the children’s conferences, was launched and well received by delegates, together with suggestions as to how schools can organise their own events to gain the views of their children about learning.

Chris Edwards, chief executive of Education Leeds, and Christine Halsall, principal adviser for primary and special school improvement, opened the day. They were followed by Brian Mayle from the Curriculum

Foundation, who provided us with a whistle-stop tour of the thinking behind the curriculum and its format. He stressed the importance of the core values and key skills on which the new curriculum is based, leaving schools to supply content that is relevant and tailored to their needs, and which will excite and inspire their children.

Keynote speaker, Richard Gerver, gave a presentation which encouraged us to “create tomorrow’s schools today.” He encouraged school leaders to take risks. This echoed Sir Ken Robinson’s challenges around creativity, which he talked about at the Education Leeds annual lecture in November. A practical example was shared by Janet Huscroft, headteacher of Hook Church of England Primary School in Goole, who provided a case study of the personalised curriculum developed over many years at the school.

After lunch, children from Bramley St. Peter’s Primary School and Betsey Whiting from ArtForms inspired us with a music workshop taught through violin. They showed how music can contribute to all children’s academic, social and emotional education when presented in the right way.

This was followed by the following high quality workshops.

• Skills for Learning and Life – Alwoodley Primary School.

• Putting SEAL at the heart of the curriculum – Jane Fisher, Hovingham Primary School.

• Working collaboratively to develop a curriculum for your school – Kirsten Finley, Tranmere Park Primary School.

• Creative learning in a real context – Education Business Partnership.

Delegates left with a plethora of information, to help them explore different ways of implementing the changes, and enthusiasm about the journey ahead as they review and develop a curriculum which will inspire and meet the needs of the children in their community.

Helen Dumville, school improvement adviser,phone: 0113 214 4048, email:helen.dumville@educationleeds.co.uk

The revised primary curriculumInformation for governors

What we want from our primary curriculumThe voice of children in Leeds: A fresh look at the primary curriculum

A group of headteachers led by Kathryn Atkins, school improvement adviser, have been working for some time to provide a framework of support for schools across the city in the implementation of the primary curriculum changes, which will be statutory from September 2011.

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Recruitment panels – safeguardingAll governing bodies should make sure that they have at least one governor who has successfully completed the safer recruitment training. Headteacher and deputy headteacher recruitment panels must have at least one governor who holds the certificate on the panel.

The safer recruitment online training and workshop is now managed by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC), rather than NCSL. Go to: http://elearningcwdcouncil.org.uk/login/index.php

The course will take two to three hours to complete. You will receive a certificate if you achieve at least 80 per cent at

the final accreditation.

If you have successfully completed the NSCL course you do not need to complete the CWDC course.

Some safeguarding queries explainedSafeguarding has been a major focus for many governing bodies recently. Your school will have received a great deal of information and advice on this matter, including a copy of Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education (DfES 2007).

We have had a number of queries regarding nurses and other health professionals who work in school. The guidance states that these individuals do not have to be included on the Single Central Register unless

they are employed directly by the school. However, the school should ask for proof of identity before they have access to children. If you would like a further copy of the guidance, it can be downloaded from InfoBase Quicklink code D198.

Child Protection policyIt is the responsibility of the governing body to make sure that the school has a child protection policy and procedures in place, and that the policy is reviewed annually. The new 2009 Education Leeds model policy, which has been updated to reflect new DCSF guidance, legislation and lessons learnt from recent serious case reviews, can be found on InfoBase Quicklink code D197.

Safeguarding

Children’s Trusts:important changesFrom April 2010 there are some changes to the Leeds Children’s Trust arrangements. These changes are required by the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act (2009).

• Each local authority must have a Children’s Trust Board in place.

• Responsibility for the Children and Young People’s Plan must be transferred from the local authority to the Children’s Trust Board.

• The Children’s Trust Board must monitor the implementation of the Children and Young People’s Plan.

• The duty to co-operate must be extended to include the Jobcentre Plus, maintained schools, non-maintained special schools, academies,

pupil referral units, FE colleges and sixth form colleges.

• The DCSF’s consultation document outlines new national developments and previously published guidance. Go to www.dcsf.gov.uk/ consultations

Leeds City Council and the director of children’s services unit is planning how these changes will be implemented and what they may look like in Leeds.

For more information contact the director of children’s services unit, Phone: 0113 395 0247, email: childrenleeds@leeds.gov.uk

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Getting your Leeds Learning Network username and passwordAll governors are able to access InfoBase through Leeds Learning Network (LLN). If you do not already have a username and password for LLN, your headteacher can request this for you by emailing the name of the school and the governor’s full name and date of birth to:llnusernames@leedslearning.net. Your headteacher should receive your username and password between one and three working days.

Your username will be your surname or the fi rst six letters of your surname, your initial and a number,for example, bloggsj01.

Your LLN email is your username followedby @leedslearning.net for example,bloggsj0@ leedslearning.net

Accessing LLNGo to: www.leedslearning.netOn the homepage click on Members’ Access.

This will then bring up the screen below. You will need to enter your username and password and click Accept.

This will then bring up the screen below. You will need to enter your username and password and click Accept.

Registering on InfoBaseHalfway down the next page on the right hand side there will be an orange box which gives a number of options. Click on InfoBase Schools to bring up the following page.

Enter your username and password and click on Register as a new school user.

From the drop down arrow, select your school then enter your email address. Now click on Set me up as a user. Your password will then be sent to your LLN email address. You will need to go back to the homepage and click on Your Email.

Accessing InfoBaseA guide for governorsInfoBase is the Education Leeds intranet system which gives EducationLeeds staff, schools and governors access to news, key documents andguidance relating to Leeds schools. Governors also have access to teampages where individual teams such as the governor support service, fi nanceand human resources publish information about team members, the serviceprovided and their current popular documents.

If you are interested in receiving InfoBase training and would like more information about this, please contact the governor support service (details on page 2).

InfoBase is the Education Leeds intranet system which gives EducationLeeds staff, schools and governors access to news, key documents andguidance relating to Leeds schools. Governors also have access to teampages where individual teams such as the governor support service, fi nanceand human resources publish information about team members, the service

Infobasetraining forgovernors

Tuesday 15 June 2010,9am to 10.30pm

Thursday 8 July 2010,2pm to 4pm

IT training room, fi rst fl ooreast, Merrion House,

Leeds, LS2 8DT

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A new drinkspolicy guidance A simple guide to help improve the quality of drinks brought into school has been developed. The guidance is aligned to the government food and drink reforms to benchmark quality, promote parity and avoid mixed messages. A healthy drinks policy encourages healthier choice such as water, milk and fl uids to promote health and wellbeing. Governors are asked to consider developing a drinks policy.

A new school meal uptake tracker toolEducation Leeds is providing schools with a different spreadsheet to count how many paid and free school meals are served each day from the summer term onwards. The tracker has been piloted, and schools have found it very useful because it also helps schools to easily monitor their free and paid school meals uptake in line with the way this is measured by the DCSF and Ofsted. Governors are encouraged to take this to their pupil support committee.

A guide to getting the best fromyour schoolmeal providerBefore renewing your service level agreement, you should meet with the provider to negotiate one that meets the needs of your school. A general guidance document has been produced to help schools with their negotiations. Governors can refer to the guide when considering their school’s self-catering meal improvement plan or when negotiating a new service level agreement.

New resource promoting free school mealsEducation Leeds worked with Leeds pupils and a community television network, The Life Channel, to create fi ve one-minute long videos to encourage more eligible children and young people to benefi t from free school meals. The fi lms are supported with PSHCE lesson plans. Governors are advised to encourage their school to utilise these resources.

All of these resources from the schools meals team are available on the Education Leeds website, go to:http://www.educationleeds.co.uk/schoolmeal

Notices from theschools meals team

Teachers’ TVnewsletter for school governors– don’t miss out!Register for free with Teachers TV and you’ll also be able to:• see recommended content for your roles and interests;

• join discussion groups;

• make comments; and

• download videos.

If you’d like this newsletter emailed directly to you, register now at: www.teachers.tv/userregister and sign up for email updates.

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Thirty governors attended this thought-provoking half-day presentation from Rosemary Campbell-Stephens in February.Rosemary was in Leeds in her capacity as diversity consultant to the National College. She has run the Investing in Diversity programme for the Institute of Education, University of London, for six years. This programme trains Black and Minority Ethnic educators who are looking to become leaders in the future.

Leadership in LeedsClaire Livingstone from Education Leeds human resources introduced the session, explaining that 26 headteacher posts were to be advertised between January and Easter this year. There are 13 Black and Minority Ethnic members of staff on leadership teams in Leeds. This is mirrored in many cities including Bradford, Sheffi eld and Wakefi eld. Education Leeds, with the Institute of Education, ran a pilot of the

Investing in Diversity programme for Leeds, and Education Leeds are part of a team developing a regional programme, inspired by Investing in Diversity for Yorkshire and Humberside. Both programmes see the diversifi cation of leadership as a central part of their succession planning strategy.

All leaders need to be culturally literate The National College believes that the strength and effectiveness of a workforce and its leadership are enhanced by drawing on the talents and experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. Many deputy headteachers are not looking to apply to be headteachers. Rosemary pointed out that we now need to be much more creative in spotting potential talent and exploring new leadership paradigms that will encourage people to consider leadership. These could include, for example, small groups, clusters or families of schools working together to identify talented staff who may be future leaders.

Rosemary cited examples of private companies, such as Tesco, catering for the needs of all their customers and in so doing demonstrating a culturally literate approach to their business. She proposed ‘servant-leadership’ as one new leadership paradigm, and asked what kind of conceptual shift is needed to embrace this leadership paradigm in cities like Leeds, so that our schools refl ect not only the needs and aspirations of all the communities they serve but prepare 21st century students for a new world order. Governors should make sure that the leaders they appoint want the same things for their pupils as they want for their own children.

Rosemary gave examples of processes and procedures in schools which deepen inequality. For example, a secondary school entering the majority of maths students for foundation level GCSE where D is the highest grade that can be achieved.

Rosemary shared a draft version of a succession planning toolkit for diversity in leadership which the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children Services are in the process of producing. Governors are encouraged to use this to inform their succession planning for leadership posts in school and to feed back to the College on its usefulness.

For a copy of this toolkit email:diversity@nationalcollege.org.uk

Your school’sleadership team and cultural diversity

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The equality, diversity and cohesion scheme sits alongside the Education Leeds strategy and annual plan, and is informed by the principles and objectives set out in Leeds City Council’s equality and diversity scheme 2008. It outlines how we will work in partnership with schools and across children’s services to address inequalities in outcomes for children and young people, and confirms what we, as an organisation, need to do to embed equalities into our practices and performance. The improvement priorities within the scheme demonstrate to schools, partners and other stakeholders how we will fulfill our commitment to eradicate discrimination and disadvantage, and promote equal opportunities.

The scheme falls into two parts. The first is structured around the Every Child Matters agenda and the needs of children and young people. The second part of the scheme is based around organisational priorities, using the strands within the Equality Framework for Local Government.

The strategic outcomes based on the ECM agenda are as follows.

Be healthyMaking sure information and guidance is differentiated to support sustained healthy lifestyles for all children and young people, so they are all well informed and empowered to make good choices.

Staying safe All schools and learning settings provide children and young people with an environment which is physically and emotionally safe including from all forms of bullying and harassment.

Enjoy and achieve The inequalities in educational outcomes will be addressed with a reduction in the achievement and attainment gaps that exist.

Making a positive contribution The principle of making sure that the voice and views of all children and young people influence all aspects of our decision-making and inform our priorities is embedded across all our practices.

Achieve economic wellbeing To contribute to developing strategies to raise the expectations of young people, families and communities to make sure that the routes and pathways selected are as ambitious as they can be.

The strategic outcomes based on the Equality Framework for Local Government are as follows.

Knowing your communityOur intelligence provides a thorough understanding of children and young people’s and community needs, informs service delivery, and supports the evaluation of impact.

Place shaping, leadership, partnership and organisational commitment Sustained confidence in the leadership role of Education Leeds by schools and partners as new collaborative models and new governance arrangements emerge.

Community engagement and satisfaction Schools, partners, and children and young people and their families, have confidence in the effectiveness of our consultation and engagement strategies.

Responsive services and customer careEducation Leeds services are provided in a way which meets the needs and expectations of all communities.

A modern and diverse workforceThe Education Leeds and school workforce, particularly at leadership levels, represents the diversity of Leeds communities.

Our equality strategy group will oversee the delivery of the scheme, its monitoring and the commissioning of additional activities to support progress.

Rehana Minhas, director of equalities and entitlement, phone: 0113 395 0009, email: rehana.minhas@educationleeds.co.uk

Education Leeds equality, diversity and cohesion scheme

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The Year 5 class of Bramley St Peter’s Church of England Primary School was invited to play for all the primary headteachers at their annual conference this year on Tuesday 2 February. They were asked to demonstrate a ‘wider opportunity’ violin lesson and to show how music making gives every pupil a voice and a creative experience. After all, creativity is at the heart of all music making!

The ‘wider opportunity’ instrumental programme arose out of the 2004 manifesto commitment to give every child in primary schools the chance to learn a musical instrument. In Leeds there are now over 60 primary schools where all the pupils in one year group have weekly instrumental music lessons. The whole class learns together with a member of the school present and participating. Over 2,000 pupils are involved including pupils in the specialist inclusive learning centres.

Instruments taught include the violin, viola, cello, trumpet, cornet, French horn, trombone, clarinet, fife, recorder, guitar, ukulele, dhol drum and percussion. In addition to learning the skills required for playing the instruments, the pupils learn general musical skills, create their own music, explore

musical sounds and use music to enrich their other studies.

These pupils are also given the opportunity to perform in concerts. There will be 12 ‘wider opportunity’ concerts throughout the city, involving 1,500 pupils. Some of these concerts will be held in the local secondary school which is a wonderful way to link the schools and the community.

A report for the Federation of Music Services called ‘Wow, it’s music next’ found that these ‘wider opportunity’ lessons have helped increase children’s self-confidence, helped them work with greater focus and increased their happiness. They have helped make music more valued in the school, provided a more supportive learning environment and improved the profile of the school.

“So often we have seen increased confidence and self-esteem.” Headteacher

“ That was so fun!” Pupil

“ Parents said that it was something on the plus side that would make them want to send their children to this school.” Headteacher

“ Arts and music have improved; other activities have started to matter. The school now wants to do more for our children.” Parent

For more information about ‘wider opportunity’ instrumental tuition and ensembles in general, as well as projects in music and the arts, go to: www.artformsleeds.co.uk or phone: 0113 230 4074.

Wider opportunity instrumental programme

Dates for your diaryPlease support your area meetings!Your chance to comment on, question and debate current issues.

Area meetings are attended by Chris Edwards, chief executive of Education Leeds, or his representative.

North WestMonday 12 July 2010 at 7.30pm St Chad’s CE Primary School, Northolme Avenue, Leeds LS16 5QR

EastMonday 12 July 2010 at 6.30pm Templenewsam Halton Primary School, Pinfold Lane, Leeds LS15 OPT (new venue)

North EastTuesday 13 July 2010 at 7.30pm Allerton High School, King Lane, Moortown, Leeds LS17 7AG

South Wednesday 14 July 2010 at 7pm (new time) St George’s Centre, St George’s Road, Middleton, Leeds LS10 4UZ

WestThursday 15 July 2010 at 7pm Swallow Hill Community College, Congress Mount, Armley, Leeds LS12 3DT

Venues and times occasionally change. You should check the venue on your invitation letter or on your latest full governors’ meeting agenda (for governors at those schools who buy into the Education Leeds clerking service).

The agendas for the meetings are always distributed to the chair, vice chair, inclusion governor and other governors on the areas’ mailing lists. Agendas and minutes are uploaded to the governor support service

page on InfoBase, Quicklink codes D2115 and D2228 respectively. Please remind your chair to circulate the agenda at governors’ meetings. All governors are welcome to attend these open meetings. Governing bodies should appoint a governor to act as area meeting representative. This person should organise at least one governor to attend each meeting. Governors are welcome to contact us to be placed on the mailing list for papers, phone: 0113 247 5560 or email: education.governors@educationleeds.co.uk

Governors’ Forum meetings The meetings are for elected members of Governors’ Forum only.

Meetings will be held at Leeds Civic Hall at 6.30pm on Tuesday 18 May and Tuesday 20 July 2010.

All governors are very welcome to raise items of concern at area meetings, which can then be referred to Governors’ Forum. All governors can contact their governor representative on Governors’ Forum via the governor support service, phone: 0113 247 5560.

Equalities and Black and Minority Ethnic governors’ network meetingsEast room, Leeds Civic Hall at 7pm Tuesday 8 June 2010: update about the recruitment of BME staff

Wednesday 10 November 2010

All governors are very welcome to attend these meetings. If you would like to be placed on the mailing list please contact the governor support service (contact details on page 2).