Recent Ofsted reports have identified poor recruitment and suitability check processes as significant factors leading to ineffective safeguarding. This automatically results in an inadequate overall judgment. Further actions have identified gaps in staff support, supervision and training for staff for both groupcare and childminder settings.
Safe recruitment practices together with ongoing staff support and supervision through regular team meetings, 1:1s, appraisals and inductions are key to ensuring highly effective and meaningful engagement between staff and managers, including childminding assistants and childminders. It also provides an essential opportunity for leaders and staff to identify training needs, prioritise staff wellbeing, discuss concerns confidentially and to offer guidance within the role.
Good staff management is vital to ensuring children are kept safe but also that their learning and development needs are met by committed, skilled and motivated staff.
The training will cover:-
- Safer recruitment procedures and policies
- Robust probationary and induction period
- Effective team meetings
- The role and format of 1:1s and ways to implement them
- Conducting an appraisal
- Having difficult conversations
- Managing expectations and balancing staff needs
- Staff wellbeing and workloads
This training will be interactive and an opportunity to share best practice and common issues.
PVIs and Childminders - managers, deputy managers and room leaders
This course is aimed at individuals that organise school trips. It provides a practical overview of what needs to be considered when planning and delivering school trips, both in the UK and abroad.
The training course covers aspects of the law relating to educational visits, risk assessments of visits and administrative requirements associated with off-site activities.
As part of their obligations, schools must have an Educational Visits Co-ordinator (EVC) in post and ensure that they have been suitably trained.
The Department for Education has published updated guidance to help schools understand their obligations when undertaking educational off-site activities and excursions. Please follow the link below to access the guidance:
Schools will:
- be compliant with legislation in relation to off-site activities
Participants will:
- have greater knowledge, confidence, and ability to act as an EVC
- have increased competence in risk assessing and managing risks associated with school trips
All school staff responsible for school visits
- consider the end of year 4 National Curriculum expectations for writing and mathematics through professional dialogue
- benchmark their pupils' work
- be able to identify any gaps in pupils' attainment or curriculum provision
- share examples and good practice with colleagues
- be enabled and supported to reach expectations appropriate to their ability and in line with similar pupils nationally
- benchmark their judgements with other schools against national standards
- be secure in their teacher assessment judgements for year 4 writing and mathematics
This meeting will support English Subject Leaders to develop and strengthen their strategic role as middle leaders in their school. It will provide up-to-date information on current research, policy and practice.
It will support Subject Leaders to explore ways of continuing to improve the quality of teaching and learning in English and provide opportunities to share effective practice.
Pupils will:
- benefit from improved teaching and learning
- have improved behaviours for learning
Subject Leaders will:
- be able to achieve outstanding or improved outcomes across their school
- be able to plan for effective and personalised interventions
Settings will:
- benefit from improved leadership, teaching, learning and assessment
Secondary and Special School Subject Leaders