Norfolk Council
Norfolk Schools
  • Pupil Movements with Provision/Statements Quantified with Less Than 20hrs Teaching Assistance (TA) Time
    Due : 31/03/2010. To ensure that the Pupil Specific Funding Scheme can run efficiently, could you please notify either Steve Knowlton-Rayner 01603 224004 or Michaela Allison 01603 224021 of any pupils who's statement is quantified at less than 20hrs TA per week, that have left your school during the current academic year. This also applies to pupils with a statement for future years and will ensure an accurate record can be maintained at the centre and funding can be calculated and allocated appropriately. Please refer to the Guidance for the use of Pupil Specific Funding for further details of the scheme, accessed via the new Norfolk SENCo webpage.
  • Consultation on the Re-Tender of the School Management Information System (MIS)
    Due : 25/02/2010. Update on the procurement process and open invitation for volunteers to participate in the supplier presentations, demonstrations and site visits.
  • Election of Parent Governors to the Area Children and Young People's Partnerships
    Due : 01/04/2010. In MI Sheet 234/09 on 28 November 2009 the Norfolk Governors' Network (NGN) asked for nominations from parent governors to fill two posts as parent and carer representatives on each of the five Area Partnerships. The response has been varied and some vacancies remain.
  • Fair Funding Consultation Second Set of Proposed Changes for 2010/11
    Due : 01/03/2010. The Department of Children Schools and Families issued further advice on the management of year end balances and as a result it has been decided to undertake a second fair funding consultation for 2010/11. The consultation paper is in two parts and contains the following proposals: Part (A) School Balances Part (B) Clawback arrangements relating to Unlawful Admissions. As the consultation period will only be 4 weeks this electronic notification is being sent prior to a paper version going out to schools next week. Attached to this information sheet are the Consultation Document, and the response form. A copy of the consultative document will be sent to every Chair of Governors and Headteacher. It would be helpful if the electronic response sheet is used by each school to produce a composite SINGLE response. To do this go to www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk under ‘Finance’ and then ‘Fair Funding’ after the 1 February.
  • Mathematics Specialist Teachers in Primary Schools - COHORT 2
    Due : 26/03/2010. .
  • Statutory Consultation on Planned Admission Numbers for the 2011/12 Academic Year
    Due : 26/02/2010. Notes and guidance on action required in response to statutory consultation for planned admission numbers for 2011/12 academic year
  • Safeguarding Children on Work Placements
    Due : 28/02/2010. MI sheet clarifies current position on safeguarding on work placements
  • Termly Agenda Spring 10
    Due : 31/03/2010. Termly Agenda Spring 10
  • Primary School Improvement Partners (SIPs) - Spring Term Visit
    Due : 31/03/2010. Information needed for Spring Term visit to school by the School Improvement Partner
  • Developing Norfolk's School Clusters by Establishing Governance Arrangements for All School Clusters
    Due : 01/04/2010. Over the last few months we have been developing models to show how governance arrangements for school clusters could be developed. This is because significant amounts of funding are allocated through the current school clusters and representatives on the Schools Forum have raised some concerns that there is no proper governance of this expenditure which aggregates up to amounts in excess of £2m at present and under recent legislation will grow to considerably more than that. Clearly governance arrangements need to ensure that the governing bodies in each cluster area:- • Are aware of the funds that have been provided to the cluster each financial year; the purposes for which they are intended and the intended outcomes • Collectively approve the arrangements for using and accounting for such funds within the cluster. It is particularly important that governors satisfy themselves that proper arrangements are in place for the employment of staff financed by cluster moneys • Receive reports which satisfy them that the funds have been used and accounted for in the way agreed and that the outcomes have been achieved We have worked closely with a working group of governors from The Norfolk Governors’ Network (NGN) to develop our proposals and these have been discussed with the Chairs of the Clusters at their regular briefing meetings with the Director and myself and, at their request, briefings were given at each of this term’s Area headteacher meetings so that headteachers understand why we need such governance. Following further discussions with NGN we are now in a position to ask all clusters to go through local discussions to set up appropriate local governance arrangements. We have opted for an open and flexible approach because we know that clusters vary considerably in their make up and activity and particularly so in relation to the current practices involving meetings between governors at cluster level. The attached paper (Cluster Governance) outlines what kind of clusters we are talking about and what role we feel governance must play at cluster level. We have then provided three models for discussion. We would urge you to consider strongly the benefits of each model but we recognise that, the extent to which governors currently engage with cluster matters will shape the outcome of the discussion. Appended to the paper are draft terms of reference and proposed constitutional arrangements you can use to shape the short documents you will need for your cluster. We think that the second model (or a local variant of it) would help governors gain most benefit from cluster activity but the decision should be made locally by the governing bodies in each cluster. We are not going to lay down how governors will decide which of the three models, or any variant of them, will best allow you to develop effective cluster governance. As one Chair of Governors put it; - “Putting in place a cluster governance arrangement within your cluster is clearly quite a complicated thing to co-ordinate, not least because you will need to settle on an arrangement which is agreed by all the relevant governing bodies. It is very much up to you how you do this but a number of clusters across the county have already started on this process and where we have seen most success is where all the headteachers and chairs of governors within the cluster get together early on in the process to agree a proposed approach. This proposed approach can then go to all the governing bodies in the knowledge that is already some level of consensus. A case study, which you may find useful, for one such cluster can be found on the NGN website (www.ngn.org.uk).” We hope that in the vast majority of clusters the process will be carried out as effectively as in the two descriptions we have provided but we recognise that in a few places clusters are not well developed. We have said to Chairs of Clusters that if the cluster would like our assistance in setting up governance arrangements we would be prepared to facilitate that. When we started to look more deeply at this issue we recognised that the clusters, which have evolved over several years are highly variable in size and activity. Clusters range from student populations of as small as 1000 to over 6000 and with great variations in the number of schools and geographic area covered. Some clusters seem to have very obvious coherence and serve identifiable and fairly coherent geography. If schools in any cluster feel they are in the wrong cluster or that their cluster should be reconfigured in some way then we would like that feed back too on the attached form and we will then engage with you in a review of the make up of the cluster. We would like a response from every cluster chair outlining where they are in establishing these arrangements by the end of the Spring Term in 2010 and we will seek to resolve any changes needed to cluster membership or area by the end of the Summer Term. Thank you in anticipation for your engagement with this important piece of work, if you would like to discuss it or require some help with developing your process please contact Tim Newton on 01603 222572, Peter Simmonds on 01603 638092, Sue Platt at the Governor Services Team on 01603 433276 or myself, or one of the Norfolk Governors Network Committee members (names and contact numbers below) who have offered to act as an advisory group to help with the implementation of cluster governance. Yours sincerely Fred Corbett Deputy Director of Children’s Services Stephen Adamson stephen.adamson@ngn.org.uk 01603 623336 fax 01603 624767 Sprowston High Neil Collins neil.collins@ngn.org.uk Long Stratton High School Mike Grimble mike.grimble@ngn.org.uk 01603 456721 Avenue Junior School Lucinda Poliakoff lucinda.poliakoff@ngn.org.uk 01603-506242 Recreation Road Infant and City of Norwich School Martin Sale martin.sale@ngn.org.uk 01553 675583 Fairstead Primary (IEB) Sue Platt sue.platt@norfolk.gov.uk 01603 433276 Governor Services at NCC and Chair of Governors at Aylsham High School Attachments: 1. Cluster Governance 2. A copy of the proforma we will want only from the Chair of the Cluster confirming the decision of the cluster, that all governing bodies in the cluster have signed up to the model chosen and that you have an agreed Terms of Reference document lodged with each governing body.
  • Norfolk Harnessing Technology Grant - Commissioned Element
    Due : 28/09/2010. information regarding further opportunities for funding as part of the Norfolk Learning Content Networks

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