Message from the Director of Education re COVID19 and Other Matters - 05.02.2021
FAO: All Headteachers
Dear Headteacher/Principal
I hope you have had a good week as we move towards finishing the fifth week of lockdown. The prime minister has announced that on the 22nd February we should hear the detail about schools opening to more/all pupils from the 8th March. I am aware that the DfE is already scenario planning for this and it would be sensible for us to start this too. You may recall that in September, there was a considerable amount of good practice that Enfield schools put in place to support the return for staff and pupils. This includes a staggered return for classes and year groups many of whom have had very disrupted education since last March.
I also would like to highlight that on Monday the Enfield Learning Excellence Partnership Board’s second meeting will take place. This has 11 headteacher representatives as well as diocesan representatives and other key stakeholders including the lead member and shadow lead member for education. At this meeting we will be agreeing KPIs for Enfield education, discussing data sharing agreements & data profiles for schools, specific projects to address underachievement of disadvantaged pupils and also Black Caribbean pupils and further the potential redesign of the School & Early Years Improvement service to better meet schools’ needs. A key part of the rationale of the board is to work in partnership with all schools in Enfield to improve the quality of education and improve outcomes. I will ensure that you all receive the minutes from this meeting and key documentation.
i) COVID dashboard - I have attached the latest COVID dashboard which continues to provide positive news with a decline in the number of cases of COVID to around 250 per 100,000. The Dugdale Centre is now open for vaccinations so we should see the numbers receiving the vaccination rise considerably.
ii) Vaccination Board – Public Health Enfield have set up a vaccination board which has education representation (Lucy Nutt). Some special school staff have already received vaccinations due to the nature of their work with children. The priority for the vaccination board based on government guidance is of course the most vulnerable groups based on age and vulnerability factors. There is much debate as to when teaching staff will be prioritised but there is no guidance on this at the moment from government.
iii) St Bart’s Hospital & Teachers – Warning! - Some teaching staff in some schools have received information erroneously allowing them to book vaccinations through St Bart’s Hospital. This has been reported in the national media. Apart from being wrong, there is a huge reputational risk for schools if staff do this – the St Bart’s vaccination booking website requires a password and is for health service staff and not for teaching staff and should not be used by school staff. Our public health team have written to the St Bart’s Chief Medical Officer to inform him of this breach.
iv) BAME staff and families - Please see attached information for a service called BOLOH, a free Covid-19 helpline and webchat for Black, Asian and minority ethnic families.The BOLOH helpline is a service, which was launched on 1st October 2020 by Barnardo's with funding from the National Emergencies Trust. It was set up in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities who have been disproportionately affected. The service is aimed at children, young people and their families from these communities. Helpline advisors can provide a service in English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Amharic, Tigrinya and Mirpuri. Therapeutic sessions can be provided in English, Bengali, Hindi, French, Punjabi and Greek.
v) Half-term FSM food vouchers - Enfield Council will be funding February half-term food vouchers from the COVID Winter Grant Scheme for pupils who are eligible for FSM.
From Monday 8th February you will be able to order food vouchers to the value of £15 per eligible pupil for the week commencing 15th February from the new LBE Edenred account. The nominated Edenred user for your site (the same person as your national account) should have received a username and password from Edenred later this week.
If your school is not using Edenred, funds will be sent directly to your school to cover the cost for the February Half Term. Please note we will calculate the amount based on the FSM numbers you submitted last week.
More information can be found here:
https://traded.enfield.gov.uk/news/2021/feb/february-half-term-food-vouchers
vi) Headteacher Briefing – 24th February – the next planned briefing is due to take place on the 24th February from 1:30pm to 3pm. This is after the prime minister’s planned announcement so this date may change as needed.
vii) COVID funding – Please ensure that you check out the DfE website for further information regarding funding schools can access to compensate for COVID related expenditure. I am now using Schools Week which I am sure many of you are familiar with which highlights key changes in advice from government. This is the link to the DfE page on this (although it does need a bit of trawling through - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools
I hope you are able to have a good weekend and enjoy the rugby, cricket or football if that is your thing. Winter is due to return on Sunday with snow and I do actually have a sledge which I would love to try out ( I believe this is called discovering your inner-child!!!). I am also now onto about my 40th Seinfeld show which many of you have probably already seen.
Best wishes,
Peter Nathan
Director of Education
People Department
Enfield Council
Direct line: 020 83795492
Mob: 07813995030