National Strategies:TeachFind

For Infromation

As colleagues will know, the DfE has stopped supporting the National Strategies website. National Strategies resources have been consigned to the National Archive, which is difficult to navigate. Teachers may be interested to know that Teachfind has rescued much of the content and makes it freely available at www.teachfind.com.

In this week's enclosures section there is a recent press release from Teachfind which explains how and why they have acted to help save National Strategy and other resources.

John Paxton
Narrowing the Gap: Secondary Lead

School Travel Plan grants of up to £800 available

For Information and Action by 11 November 2011

Schools with a valid School Travel Plan (i.e. one that is less than a year old) are invited to apply for a School travel Plan Grant. This funding is designed to support the work of your School Travel Plan in promoting walking, cycling and public transport use and therefore reduce reliance on the car for travel linked to schools.

Further details of the funding available is given in the letter that can be found in this week's enclosures section. To apply please complete the attached application form and return it to our new Road Safety Support Officer, Jeffrey Sarpong, via the details on the attached letter. The grants will be awarded on a first come first served basis so please send in your form as soon as possible and by the deadline of 11 November 2011.

Alison Sharpe
Travel Plan Coordinator

Promoting Safer and more Sustainable Travel

For Information and Action by 21 October 2011

Resources available to support pupils promoting safer and more sustainable travel - recruiting Modeshifters and JRSOs.

The Modeshifter and JRSO (Junior Road Safety Officer) projects are both designed to encourage you to recruit pupils to help you to promote safer and more sustainable travel.

The letter that can be found in this week's enclosures section, gives further details of the resources available and explains how to apply for them. The supporting resources are aimed at years 4, 5 and 6 however if your school is an infant, secondary or special school and you feel the resources would be suitable for your selected pupils please feel free to apply.

To check suitability of the resources an electronic copy of the Modeshifters resources can be found on the Barnet STP website resources page.

Electronic copies of the JRSO packs can be found on the Transport for London website.

Please send completed application forms to Jeffrey Sarpong to the details on the letter that can be found in this week's enclosures section by 21 October 2011.

Alison Sharpe
Travel Plan Coordinator

2012/13 Barnet School Funding Conference

For Information

We would like to invite you to a conference on the proposed changes to Barnet's funding formula for 2012/13 and how we expect school funding to develop in the coming years.

Date: 2 November 2011
Time: 1 - 3.30pm
Venue: Oak Room, Building 4, North London Business Park

Please complete and return the reply form, that can be found in this week's enclosures section, to book a place on the conference.

Mark Callaghan
School Resources and Support Officer

Consultation on School Funding Formula 2012/13

For Information

Today we are launching a consultation with all Barnet schools (including academies) on proposed changes to the funding formula for 2012/13. This year we need to start to simplify the formula by absorbing some of the smaller funding elements and the former Standards Funds into the main factors such as the basic entitlement and AWPU (age weighted pupil unit). Next year, depending on announcements about the national funding system, we will look at other ways of easing the transition from our current funding formula to the government's new system.

Full details of the proposed changes, the expected effects on individual schools, and how to respond to the consultation are available from the school funding and finance webpage. We will also be presenting the proposals and discussing the current landscape for school funding at our half day conference on Wednesday 2 November. Details of the conference are in this circular as well as on the website above. The consultation closes on Friday 11 November and the results will be presented to the Schools Forum in December.

We hope all schools will take this opportunity to contribute their views on the school funding process.

Carol Beckman
School Funding Manager

Narrowing the Gaps: Primary

For Information

Further to the information in last week's School Circular introducing Narrowing the Gap, the team is offering the following CPD sessions:

Making the Most of Writing Assessment at Y6
New to Y2 and End of KS1 Assessment
New to Y6 and End of KS2 Assessment
Narrowing the Gaps Between Reading and Writing
Narrowing the Gaps with Potentially High Achievers
Reasoning and Communicating in Mathematics and Reading

Further details and booking procedures can be found by following the Narrowing The Gaps link on the BPSI website.

Simon Crosby-Charles
Narrowing the Gap Adviser - Primary Lead

Updating School Admissions Module (SAM)

For Information

Please see this week's enclosures section for attachments regarding SAM.

We are working hard to ensure SAM is 100% accurate and appreciate all that schools are doing to support this. The attachment gives further guidance for updating SAM.

Please feel free to contact Douglas Shaw on 020 8359 7654 if you have any queries.

Douglas Shaw
Deputy Admissions Team Manger

Big Dance Information

For Information

Please see this week's enclosures section for information about micro grants available for dance projects through Big Dance 2012.

Micro Grants
Big Dance will be offering 100 x £1,000 grants to organisations and individuals for dance activity in London between 18 May 2012 and 15 July 2012. Applications will open for six weeks from 5 September 2011. Please support this by circulating information on the programme through your networks. The Hubs will be hosting funding information sessions and details can be found on the website: www.bigdance2012.com/micro_grants.php.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Gail Jackson on 020 8359 7760.

Gail Jackson
Principal Arts Officer

Time to care? October is Barnet Fostering Month

For Information

Can you help us raise awareness about the need for more foster carers in Barnet? Could you put up one of our posters at your school? Maybe you can recommend a newsletter or community newspaper we could advertise in; or perhaps you know someone who would make a great foster carer who you could point in our direction.

Get in touch with us by emailing fostering@barnet.gov.uk or phone 020 8359 6274.

Did you know there are over 240 children in care in Barnet? Their ages range from a couple of days old up to 16 years old. Every child has a different story to tell. Some of them can be hard to listen to, but with care and compassion our foster carers play a huge part in making their stories happier ones.

Nationally there is a shortfall of about 10,000 foster carers and things are no different here in Barnet. We need foster carers for children of all ages throughout the borough. So if you have ever thought about fostering and would like to find out more we would love to hear from you.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about becoming a foster carer for Barnet please contact us and we will send you a free information pack.

We also hold regular information sessions where you can chat one-to-one with member of our team and have your fostering questions answered. You can find a list of upcoming events on our website www.barnet.gov.uk/fostering.

Anna Chesterton
Campaigns Officer, Fostering Recruitment Team


		For Infromation As colleagues will know, the DfE has stopped supporting the National Strategies website. National Strategies resources have been consigned to the National Archive, which is difficult to navigate. Teachers may be interested to know that Teachfind has rescued much of the content and makes it freely available at www.teachfind.com. In this week's enclosures section there is a recent press release from Teachfind which explains how and why they have acted to help save National Strategy and other resources. John Paxton Narrowing the Gap: Secondary Lead


		For Information We would like to invite you to a conference on the proposed changes to Barnet's funding formula for 2012/13 and how we expect school funding to develop in the coming years. Date: 2 November 2011 Time: 1 - 3.30pm Venue: Oak Room, Building 4, North London Business Park Please complete and return the reply form, that can be found in this week's enclosures section, to book a place on the conference. Mark Callaghan School Resources and Support Officer


		For Information Today we are launching a consultation with all Barnet schools (including academies) on proposed changes to the funding formula for 2012/13. This year we need to start to simplify the formula by absorbing some of the smaller funding elements and the former Standards Funds into the main factors such as the basic entitlement and AWPU (age weighted pupil unit). Next year, depending on announcements about the national funding system, we will look at other ways of easing the transition from our current funding formula to the government's new system. Full details of the proposed changes, the expected effects on individual schools, and how to respond to the consultation are available from the school funding and finance webpage. We will also be presenting the proposals and discussing the current landscape for school funding at our half day conference on Wednesday 2 November. Details of the conference are in this circular as well as on the website above. The consultation closes on Friday 11 November and the results will be presented to the Schools Forum in December. We hope all schools will take this opportunity to contribute their views on the school funding process. Carol Beckman School Funding Manager


		For Information Further to the information in last week's School Circular introducing Narrowing the Gap, the team is offering the following CPD sessions: Making the Most of Writing Assessment at Y6 New to Y2 and End of KS1 Assessment New to Y6 and End of KS2 Assessment Narrowing the Gaps Between Reading and Writing Narrowing the Gaps with Potentially High Achievers Reasoning and Communicating in Mathematics and Reading Further details and booking procedures can be found by following the Narrowing The Gaps link on the BPSI website. Simon Crosby-Charles Narrowing the Gap Adviser - Primary Lead


		For Information Please see this week's enclosures section for attachments regarding SAM. We are working hard to ensure SAM is 100% accurate and appreciate all that schools are doing to support this. The attachment gives further guidance for updating SAM. Please feel free to contact Douglas Shaw on 020 8359 7654 if you have any queries. Douglas Shaw Deputy Admissions Team Manger


		For Information Can you help us raise awareness about the need for more foster carers in Barnet? Could you put up one of our posters at your school? Maybe you can recommend a newsletter or community newspaper we could advertise in; or perhaps you know someone who would make a great foster carer who you could point in our direction. Get in touch with us by emailing fostering@barnet.gov.uk or phone 020 8359 6274. Did you know there are over 240 children in care in Barnet? Their ages range from a couple of days old up to 16 years old. Every child has a different story to tell. Some of them can be hard to listen to, but with care and compassion our foster carers play a huge part in making their stories happier ones. Nationally there is a shortfall of about 10,000 foster carers and things are no different here in Barnet. We need foster carers for children of all ages throughout the borough. So if you have ever thought about fostering and would like to find out more we would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or would like to find out more about becoming a foster carer for Barnet please contact us and we will send you a free information pack. We also hold regular information sessions where you can chat one-to-one with member of our team and have your fostering questions answered. You can find a list of upcoming events on our website www.barnet.gov.uk/fostering. Anna Chesterton Campaigns Officer, Fostering Recruitment Team