A-Z Listing

The Virtual School is a small, joint agency, countywide team of specialist staff from education and social care set up in 2001 to improve the educational achievement and experience of Buckinghamshire’s children in care. Since September 2021, following the child in need review, the government made a commitment to extend this duty to all children with a social worker (for more information see: new duty for children with a social worker). Our roles: Leadership: Emma Owen - Virtual Scho…

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. The following accessibility statement is written for the Traded services extranet. This extranet should allow any user to: Change colours, contrast levels and size of text. Modify the line height or spacing of text. Zoom in up to 200% without the text spilling off the page. Navigate most of the extranet using just a keyboard. N…

These additional presenting needs could occur as a result of some of the previous speech and language difficulties. Strategies to support difficulty with reading Difficulty learning phonics where there is a speech sound disorder. The child's inventory of sounds may be small, vowels may be distorted together with many other features. There may be difficulty marrying letters and speech sounds together. When decoding or sounding out, the child cannot blend and hear the words they are p…

Teaching regulation agency checks In addition to obtaining the DBS certificate, anyone who is appointed to carry out teaching work will require an additional check to ensure they are not prohibited from teaching – the prohibition order. A prohibition order means that the person concerned is not allowed to undertake unsupervised teaching work in schools or other settings. LA maintained schools: Prohibited from teaching for TAs are not required. LA maintained schools: For HLTAs are requi…

Applies to: MS, Acad, FS Background: The School Admissions Code applies to all schools. The Local Authority sets admission arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled schools, Voluntary Aided, Foundation and Academies determine their own arrangements. Approval: Full governing board or a committee of the governing board where the school is an admissions authority. Review frequency: Arrangements to be determined annually. Any changes must be consulted on and where no cha…

The Virtual School has launched a new advice service which goes live on 4th April 2022. There are two elements to this service. There is a new dedicated inbox for schools to contact with queries, concerns or burning issues related children with social workers in their settings. Virtual School staff will respond with advice and guidance either by email or a telephone call. adviceline.thevirtualschool@buckinghamshire.gov.uk Where there are more complex cases there will be a tria…

‘Theraplay was developed for any professional working to support healthy child /caregiver attachment. Strong attachment between the child and the important adults in their life has long been believed to be the basis of lifelong good mental health as well as the mainstay of resilience in the face of adversity. Modern brain research and the field of neuroscience have shown that attachment is the way in which children come to understand, trust and thrive in their world.’ (The Theraplay Institute)…

ASP is a web-based interactive tool developed by Ofsted and the Department for Education (DfE). It allows schools to review their performance data to support self-evaluation . It is also the main source of data for School Improvement Advisers and OfSTED Inspectors. The system is accessed through the DfE Secure Access system : DfE Secure Access system Please note that the Local Authority is unable to set up new accounts or reset passwords for users – this is managed directly by DfE. Sch…

The Annual Review of an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) is not only a meeting but a process by which the outcomes set out in the EHC Plan and the effectiveness of provision are reviewed alongside all other sections of the EHCP. EHCPs must be reviewed and the process completed by the local authority (LA) as a minimum within every 12 months. For pre-schoolers with EHCPs, this review must be within 6 months. Please send the completed Record of Annual Review document, alongside all othe…

These pages have information and advice for schools, including resources. The clear message for all children and young people should be: If you see bullying, pause before reacting, talk to a trusted adult and reach out to the person under attack For more information on the anti-bullying work in Buckinghamshire visit Bucks Safeguarding . Don't face it alone Coordinated by the Diana Award, sign up here to receive lots of resources to support children and young people, parents…

AnyComms Plus secure transfer If your organisation handles personal information about individuals, you have a number of legal obligations to protect that information. If the information you intend to share is of a personal, confidential or sensitive nature, it should only ever be sent via secure, encrypted transmission methods. To facilitate this process, a secure,web-based file transfer system (AVCO AnyComms Plus) is available to schools. The system allows files to be sent securely betwe…

On 6/7th August 2019 the AnyComms Plus system was upgraded. The below covers some of the key changes users need to be aware of. For all users, including school, early years setting and Local Authority users To improve security on the site, users are encouraged to change their password regularly. As a minimum, users will now need to change their passwords every 180 days . For most users, this will mean that you will be asked to reset your password the first time you log into the upgraded s…

Any appendices referenced in the toolkit can be downloaded below. Please download the appendices to be able to type directly onto the document (where required). This can then be saved digitally or printed. Appendices 1 to 5 Appendices 1 to 5 include screening and audit tools for whole-school early identification of pupils at risk of becoming EBSNA, identifying gaps in provision for students, and tasks to help teachers and parents support individuals. Appendix 6 Appendix 6 (EBSNA for…

Information to be given to contractors It is a requirement of the Council’s insurers, that building work involving the use of blow lamps, cutting and welding torches and other heat producing equipment should only be undertaken following completion of a Hot Work Permit certificate. The aim is to minimise the potential for a fire to occur during or following the use of such equipment. As a contractor for the Council you have the potential to be involved with ‘Hot Work’ and enclosed for your…

Walton Street Offices, Aylesbury. Call No. 91312 Method Statement for removing existing equipment within equipment room and disposal off-site. Before any work is started, any small areas of asbestos within the equipment room will be removed by Buckinghamshire Council’s approved contractor. Then the equipment will be cut up into pieces that can be carried by hand into the lift and out of the building. The following route will be taken to transport the equipment from equipment room to…

Procedures for Contractors in the Central Aylesbury Complex On Arrival Report to Security Office in Walton Street Offices (behind Reception counter), before proceeding to work area. Security will issue security passes on a daily basis. A charge of £5.00 is made for lost passes. You will then be directed to the resident maintenance engineer in the basement, to be taken through various site specific procedures, covering such things as asbestos, electrical lock-off, disabling smoke detectors…

Competence: The following are accepted definitions of competence taken from several different sources: A definition of competence paraphrased from Health and Safety Legislation and case law is: ‘The possession of sufficient knowledge, experience and skill to enable the person to know what he or she is doing and to be able to carry out a task in a manner in which a person proficient in the activity would expect it to be done and to have an appreciation of one’s own limitations.’ A co…

Section 1 – All Prosecution or Enforcement Notices The Supplier has provided details of any enforcement notices or prosecutions served on them in the last three years by the HSE or Local Authority. A prosecution or notice will not debar your business from registration but a failure to declare one will. 1.1 Health and Safety Policy and Organisation for Health and Safety The Council Standard: The supplier has a written health and safety policy. The policy statement include…

Establishing List(s) of Contractors Review values and classes of work, etc. Review application forms and form of advert. Review existing list of Contractors. Arrange the advertising of the list(s) of work. Check all details in Contractors’ submission. Ensure/obtain current Stage 1 Health and Safety compliance through CHAS, SSIP, equivalent or BC evaluation. Ensure Stage 2 compliance considering appropriate experience for the work, taking up…

Although not comprehensive, managers of premises should use the following list to indicate which of the items may need to be considered. Answer with: Acceptable or Not Acceptable or N/A Questions: Do you know the nature, scope, start date and duration of the works: Do you know the name of the contractor and any sub-contractors carrying out the work: Is there a standard specification or Code of Practice relating to the necessary health and safety requirements:…

Obtaining a Certificate of Good Conduct (CGC) is part of the safer recruitment policy operated by Buckinghamshire Council. As a DBS Check only includes offences committed within the UK, if an applicant has lived abroad for 6 months or longer in the last 5 years a CGC is also required. What is a CGC? A CGC is a police check from the country(ies) where an individual lived preceding the DBS check. Your vetting will not be complete until a CGC has been obtained and is in addition to the…

Buckinghamshire Council are no longer taking Early Career Teacher Registrations ECT Registration 2025 – 26 Please register your ECT with: Astra Teaching School Hub Appropriate Body will continue to offer Appropriate Body services to all schools in Bucks with ECTs (apart from those awarded QTS by Astra SCITT or are employed at Dr Challoner’s Grammar School) Schools will be signposted to Alban Teaching School Hub Appropriate Body who will provide Appropriate Body services for t…

The Council has carried out a selection process with organisations who have expressed an interest in becoming involved in supplying catering services to our schools. The Council has encouraged interest from small and medium enterprises, and local/national organisations that may be able to support service development and delivery including: Innovative solutions Packed lunch services Locally sourced products Vending Services - as well as traditional catering services. The…

All schools and academies are required to submit assessment data to the Local Authority (LA) for each eligible pupil for the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, and Year 1 Phonics check (including Year 2 Phonics rechecks where required). Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessments need to be submitted via the Primary Assessment Gateway . From 2025, submission of KS1 Teacher Assessments is optional. For 2025 collections, schools are asked to submit results by the following dates: EYFSP Monday 16…

A child does not need a diagnosis to access support. Most schools, colleges, and health services offer support based on need with or without a diagnosis. The Autism Toolbox and the Parent's Portal will provide advice and signpost families to support, services and resources to help support a child. It can be accessed regardless of whether the child has an autism diagnosis. The Autism Toolbox Whether or not a child has an autism diagnosis, the toolbox will: support families in a va…

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