It remains challenging times. The team at Winckworth Sherwood remain well and ready to help you in your schools and those who support schools and colleges. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.
I hope you enjoy reading our updates and welcome an opportunity to speak with you soon.
COVID Testing – Will schools act as barometers of infection?
We advised in January on the Terms & Conditions document issued jointly by the Department for Education and the Department for Health & Social Care to support the testing of secondary school staff and pupils. Click here for our detailed explanation of those Terms & Conditions. Since then the DfE have asked primary schools and early years settings to encourage staff to carry out self-administered tests at home and have provided test kits for this purpose.
School Grade Assessments
Following the cancellation of this summer’s exam series, we await Ofqual’s guidance following the consultation on how grades will be assessed this year. There will be no algorithm this year so there will be even more of a spotlight on the process that teachers follow in order to decide on appropriate grades for pupils.
Getting pupils back to school
It’s been nearly a year since the pandemic first closed the doors of schools to the majority of pupils in a way that no one could have ever imagined. Pupils, parents and teachers around the country are waiting to see when all pupils will be allowed to return to school after the latest lockdown and what has been an incredibly tough start to the spring term.
Schools HR and Staffing – When enough is enough, how to stop the rot
We are now approaching a year since the start of Covid-19 and our Schools HR helpdesk is getting busier with enquiries related to managing staff absence. Specifically, we are seeing the following frequent issues that are coming to a head and which we consider schools need to start thinking about
Brexit – Impact for Schools
With Covid-19 still dominating headlines, it is easy to forget that the UK has now officially left the EU. This will inevitably affect all businesses and sectors in a variety of ways including in relation to data protection, travel, recruitment and real estate.
We would encourage our school clients to be particularly alert to the following changes, as they apply to you.
Further information
We encourage clients to familiarise themselves with the following:
- Guidance: Qualified teacher status (QTS): qualify to teach in England
- Guidance and application forms from the TRA
- Teaching in England: guidance for international qualified teachers
- Paragraphs 149-172 of the Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance (updated 18 January 2021)
Watch out for our live Brexit Resource Hub which will be launched soon and will provide further advice and information.