School Management Support Initiatives

Last updated: 14 August 2024

Analyse School Performance tool

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. Schools need to complete a "SA service request form" available below:

SA service request form

ASP should be used to access you school's Ofsted Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR). Further information about the IDSR and how to use it is available below:

Ofsted Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) guidance

AnyComms Plus information

AnyComms Plus is the web based file transfer system used to send files securely between Buckinghamshire schools and the LA. Schools use the system to send files to the LA, including statutory returns (School Census, end of Key Stage results etc) and finance returns (VAT, invoices etc). Schools receive files from the LA including data analysis, admissions allocations, finance reconciliation files etc.

Each school has a number of accounts which are linked to a role type. This role type determines which files are received by the account holder, so for example reconciliation files can only be downloaded by school users who have the “Finance” role. It is therefore very important that the account details for each school are up to date and accurate so that the correct person can access the files they need.

The file linked below contains details of the current AnyComms Plus users in your school. If any changes need to be made then please download and save a copy of the file, make any changes required and then return to the School Management Support Team using the instructions included in the file.

Additional information on AnyComms Plus

Assessment Data Statutory Collections for Schools

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, Year 1 Phonics check (including Year 2 Phonics rechecks where required) and Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessment. Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessments need to be submitted via the Primary Assessment Gateway.

For 2023 collections schools are asked to send results to the School Management Support Team (SMST) by the following dates:

EYFSP Monday 19th June ⁺

Phonics Screening Check Friday 16th June *

Key Stage 1 Tuesday 20th June ⁺

* Schools need to return their phonics check results files by this date, but the LA will accept amendments for pupils who were absent during the main Phonics Check week up until 23rd June.

⁺We will accept data from schools, including any amendments to correct errors or as a result of moderation, up until 26th June. However please note that any schools submitting their initial return after 19th/20th June will not receive a data checking pack or summary results files.

Key Stage 2 (Teacher Assessments) need to be submitted on the Primary Assessment Gateway by Friday 30th June

CTF submission files

Schools will need to use Assessment Manager in SIMS, or an alternative Management Information System (MIS), in order to record and export their 2023 results and detailed guidance notes will be made available to schools by their MIS support provider. If you use another package just for assessment and tracking that produces end of key stage results (e.g. Target Tracker) then you should export the results from these packages and import the results into your MIS - this ensures that the results are held as part of the student record and can be included in CTFs when a pupil transfers between schools.

Further information on each key stage is available through the School Bulletin.

How to submit your files

Files need to be submitted to the LA using the AnyComms Plus secure file transfer system.

Once logged on (https://securetransfer.buckscc.gov.uk) select the upload files to the LA option, browse to locate the saved ctf file you created, then select either File Type EYFSP Results, Phonics check results, KS1 Results or KS2 Results and select the destination service SMST- Performance data. Click the Upload all files button. Repeat for each of the other ctf files you created.

Support

The SMST works with MIS support providers to run data collection seminars and provide guidance notes for schools. Guidance notes on the use of your MIS are available from your particular support provider, but the slides outlining requirements, key deadlines and dates, codesets etc are available at the bottom of this page.

Key contacts for each collection are available in the bulletin and are included on the slides. Alternatively please contact the School Management Support Team - primaryassessmentdata@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

At the beginning of May we ran an Assessment and Reporting Arrangement Briefing for headteachers and assessment leads. The slides from these sessions are available below.

ARA Briefing Slides

Buckinghamshire Reports on Educational Standards

The Education Standards Report is produced every year and placed before the Council Cabinet and the Children's Social Care and Learning Select Committee.

The latest report is available below:

Summary Report

Detail Report

CTF - Common Transfer File

All schools, including PRUs, should be using the Common Transfer File or CTF to transfer pupil data electronically whenever a pupil changes schools at any time during the year. This could be at the end of an academic year or phase of education and involve a whole cohort of pupils or it could be mid-phase or mid-year for a single pupil. CTFs provide schools with valuable information about new pupils which can be automatically uploaded into their management information systems (MIS).

The law requires, as specified in the Education (Pupil Information) (England) Regulations 2005, that a CTF must be sent to the receiving school no later than 15 days after the day on which a pupil ceases to be registered at the “old” school but it can also be sent in advance particularly when pupils are moving from primary to secondary schools.

Academies (including free schools) are also strongly encouraged to send CTFs when a pupil leaves to attend another school.

A CTF can be created automatically from your MIS for any pupil or group of pupils. Each CTF file contains details of the pupil(s) being transferred such as surname, forename, DOB, gender and UPN as well as other details such as ethnicity, contact details, attendance history, assessment data and if applicable SEN provision, FSM eligibility history etc. all of which need to be sent to the receiving school.

What are the benefits of sending and receiving a CTF?

When pupils move from one school to another, the CTF is a means of keeping track of them, ensuring they are not lost from the education system, and that any significant information, for example Special Educational Needs or details such as ‘In Care’ are immediately available to the new school.

Other benefits include:-

Maintaining pupil progress - if the receiving school has knowledge of the pupil’s prior attainment, they are better able to meet the individual needs of each pupil, using the data to inform their planning for the pupil’s continuing education.
School Value Added analysis - if a school does not have pupils’ previous results, this can have an impact on their future Value Added and expected progress analysis, as the school’s results are reliant on data from the previous Key Stages.
Target Setting - the transfer of attainment data enables targets to be set based on pupils’ performance histories.
Children whose parent(s) are serving with the Armed Forces - these children tend to move schools more frequently so maintaining continuity for their education by transferring up-to-date and relevant information promptly via a CTF is imperative. Service Children’s Education (MoD) has schools worldwide that have access to the s2s website and can therefore send and receive CTFs.
Pupil Premium Funding - the provision of additional funding to schools via the Pupil Premium is based on pupil’s eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM). Schools should be using the CTF process to transfer periods of eligibility so that they can build up and maintain a history of FSM eligibility in their SIMS system.

There are circumstances when it is not considered appropriate to pass on information about a pupil via a CTF. This could include a family escaping a violent partner, the family being in a witness protection programme or in the case of an adoption. Each case would need to be judged on its own merits, in consultation with relevant parties such as the school, the police, child protection or social worker, CME (children missing education) contact in the local authority etc.

How do I send a CTF file to another school?

Once a CTF has been created it should be sent to the receiving school using the secure data transfer system provided by the Department for Education (DfE) called School to School or s2s for short. Access to S2S is now through the Department’s Secure Access (SA) system:

Access School to School (S2S)

The DfE Get Information About Schools" website provides schools with the facility to find the DfE number and other details of any school that a pupil might be moving to.

Pupil data or CTFs should not be forwarded by email.

How do I know when a CTF has been sent to my school?

Your school will automatically receive an email whenever there is a CTF file waiting on the s2s website for you to collect. The email address and other details held on the Secure Access website for your school can be checked once you have accessed the system. Click on “Your account” and then click on “Edit”. Please make sure that you add or update your email address to a generic email address such as office@ or admin@ rather than an individual’s email address.

“Lost” or Missing Pupils

Where schools are notified by parents/carers that a pupil is to leave the school, every effort must be made to establish what arrangements are being made for the pupil’s continuing education. In the vast majority of cases the pupil will be transferring to another school, often one within the authority. In these cases, schools should communicate with the new school to establish the date on which the pupil is to start so the actual date of leaving the old school can be determined.

Where a pupil has left a Buckinghamshire school with no known destination, the school should carry out preliminary checks and then complete an online CME referral (and tracking sheet) after 10 days of absence. The form is found via Children Missing Education (SchoolsWeb)

The CME team can be contacted on 01296 383098 / 0 1296 382091 or by emailing childrenmissingeducation@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

If the child is on a child protection register plan and has an unknown destination, schools must make immediate contact with the child’s Social Worker and then refer to the Children Missing Education team.

The CME Officer will complete a number of further checks and will inform the school when they can remove the pupil from roll.

Removal from the admission and attendance registers must be made in line with the provisions of Register Regulations 2006, which are at statutelaw.gov.uk and apply to all schools in England, including independent schools. Further information can be found at via County Attendance Team (SchoolsWeb) and Attendance-codes (SchoolsWeb)

Only at this point should schools create a CTF file using XXXXXXX as the destination and then upload it onto the s2s secure site so that the pupil’s details can be stored in the “lost” or missing pupils’ database. This file should only hold information on one pupil.

Further guidance can also be found in the Children Missing Education Protocol, a copy of which can be found at Children-missing-education (SchoolsWeb)

If a CTF you have previously sent to a particular school has not been downloaded by a receiving school after 4 weeks then the Children Missing Education Officer (CME) needs to be informed immediately and the CTF should be uploaded onto the s2s missing pupils’ site using the XXXXXXX destination.

When a pupil moves to Scotland, overseas or an independent school then MMMMMMM should be used, this enables the CTF to be stored securely and be made available if s/he returns to a maintained school.

If a pupil moves to a Service Children’s Education (MoD) school (‘Forces school’), a file can and should be sent to the school in the normal way. The LA number of MoD is 702. The school’s DfE or Establishment number is available on Edubase for English schools and from the address list of schools for Welsh schools. If there is doubt as to which MoD school a pupil is transferring, a file can be sent to MoD using 702LLLL as the destination.

Files for both XXXXXXX and MMMMMMM, as well as MoD schools, are loaded onto s2s in the same way as files for schools – the only difference is that these files can only have the details of one pupil to enable individual pupil information to be retrieved.

Any Questions?

Guidance notes on how to create CTFs and also how to use the s2s website have been written by the ICT Schools Team and these are available to all BCC supported schools. If you do not have a copy please contact the ICT Schools Team at ictschools@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Early Education Funding for 3 and 4 year olds

Since April 2011, schools with nursery classes have been funded in the same way as providers for:

Private
Voluntary
Independent (PVI)

This is through the Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF).

Funding guidance

The Guidance to Early Education Funding and any supporting documentation can be found in the Early Years Web.

Funded entitlement information on the Early Years website

This document is a brief guide for schools which has been written to highlight some issues which have come to light as a part of the School Census. For more detailed information, Schools should consult the Guidance.

Since September 2010 the entitlement for funding is 15 hours per week over a minimum of 38 weeks (maximum 570 hours per year). Children are entitled to the free provision for the Autumn term if their third birthday is on or before 31st August, Spring term if their birthday is on or before 31st December and Summer if their birthday is on or before 31st March. Please note, pupils whose birthdays are during the Easter holiday will not be eligible until September if their birthday is after 31st March. These pupils should not be admitted to school unless the School has approval to admit pupils of this age. They cease to be eligible when they reach statutory school age which is the term after their 5th birthday at which point they should be attending school full-time. At this point, pupils must be recorded as full-time, even if they are not attending for 10 sessions a week. If a part-time timetable has been agreed with the Headteacher, the resulting absences must be recorded as Authorised.

Funding for Schools is based upon the ‘Funded Hours’ information which is reported as a part of the School Census each term. For PVI providers it is calculated from the claim forms the settings submit every term. For all settings and schools, funding is based upon participation and it is essential that the correct documentation is in place (parent Declaration Form and Parent/provider Agreement) in case of disputes between settings. Please note, Schools should only claim funding for the hours the pupil actually attends.

If schools wish to have a ‘Nursery’ class (i.e. pupils who were aged 3 as at 31st August) and have not previously admitted pupils this age, they must contact the Early Years and Childcare Team to apply to be added to the directory of providers.

Reception Aged Pupils (4 year olds as at 31st August)

All children that have turned 4 by 31st August will be offered a school place from the following September. If Parents wish to defer the place, they will need to provide evidence that they have deferred their child's place to Schools and any PVI setting the child attends. As PVI settings have to arrange staffing at the beginning of term to support the children who attend, it is a great inconvenience to them if a child leaves in the middle of term to start school. If possible, Schools are asked to offer places to Reception aged pupils to start at the beginning of term (September, January or April), but we are aware that that is not always possible. If a pupil does start after the beginning of term and Schools are aware that the pupil had been attending a PVI setting, could they either inform the setting or ask the parent to do so.

Funding for these pupils is based upon the information provided in the School Census and forms a part of the School Budget Share.

Nursery Aged Pupils (3 year olds)

Funding for pupils aged 3 attending maintained Schools and Academies is calculated using the Funded Hours information on the Census for the previous year. Termly adjustments are then made based upon pupil participation each term. Schools must submit a Claim Form Adjustment Sheet (CF4) if any changes were made after census day each term, for example–

Children leave or start
The number of hours attended changes

When schools offer a place to children they must ensure that –

They record when the place was offered, when it was accepted by parents and when the pupil is due to start

As funding is based upon participation, it is usually awarded to the setting where the pupil first attended at the beginning of term, subject to the correct documentation being in place.

If schools operate staggered starts (i.e. some children start at the beginning of term and others are phased-in during the following weeks), they must be aware that if the child does not start at the beginning of term and attends a PVI setting instead, the PVI setting will be awarded the funding for half a term. Schools must then record the child’s Funded Hours on the School Census as zero. To prevent this, schools may phase in children by offering settling in periods over the course of a maximum of three weeks, during which time the School can still claim the full amount of funding. (A settling in period is where the child attends for reduced hours initially and gradually increases them over the three weeks). If Schools wish to use a staggered start and the child had not attended a PVI setting, they will only be funded from the child’s start date, not the beginning of term.

If a parent chooses to change their child’s setting mid-term it must be explained to them that funding will not be available until the start of the next half term except in the following circumstances when authorised by the Early Years Funding Team -

If the child / parent moves house in the term
If the child’s primary carer/s changes in the term
Where the sibling moves school and the child is able to attend nearby EEF provision
Where loss of employment affects the childcare place, including maternity leave
Critical Health and safety issues
Consideration will be given to children from Forces families

Schools should be aware that if they offer a place to a child mid-term and they have already attended a PVI setting that term and they are not moving due to one of the reasons above, the funding will remain with the PVI setting for the remainder of the half term. In this situation, the school can charge the parent for the hours the pupil attends. If the move was due to one of the accepted reasons, then the first setting will be funded for the first half of term, but will be expected to try and fill the place with another child.

FFT Aspire

What is FFT Aspire?

FFT Aspire is a reporting and data tool for schools, local authorities and academy chains. It provides a range of dashboards and reports that support school evaluation and target setting. Buckinghamshire schools and academies can purchase a discounted subscription to FFT Aspire through the School Management Support Team.

FFT Aspire

FFT subscriptions are available to order on the Traded Services website (under School Management Support Team)

Buy FFT Aspire subscription

Please contact the School Management Support Team for further information.
smst@buckscc.gov.uk
01296 382640

Foundation Stage eProfiles information

eProfile - Important information – September 2016

Those schools currently using the eProfile may like to know that the software developer has updated the system to a browser-based platform. As a result, from September 2016 eProfile Standard, the standalone version of eProfile, is being discontinued but is being replaced by eProfile Cloud.

The new eProfile Cloud will run from software which needs to be installed on a user’s computer and a single site licence will cover all school staff, whether they are using eProfile Cloud in school or at home.

Existing eProfile standard users

If you have already started to add data to your existing copy of eProfile, this will continue to run until the end of December 2016. Should you wish to continue using the eProfile through the cloud version, then the new software download will include a data transfer utility that will enable you to upload your current data to eProfile Cloud.

Given the move to the cloud version of eProfile, we will no longer be able support schools in the same way that we have done previously. Schools will therefore need to contact the software supplier directly via their website to find out further details as well as purchase an eProfile licence for this year.

The cost of an eProfile Cloud licence, which covers all users in a school, is normally £65 but given that Buckinghamshire is a previous customer, all schools will receive a £20 discount bringing the price down to £45.

Further information is available on the eProfile website.

Free School Meals - complete information

Free School Meals Eligibility

Schools have two options for checking eligibility for Free School Meals:

Schools that have signed up for the Eligibility Checking Service

If your school has signed up for this service then the LA will check eligibility for Free School Meals on the schools behalf without the requirement for paper evidence of benefits. Please click the link below for details on how to use this service

Information if your school has signed up for this service

School that have NOT signed up for the Eligibility Checking Service

If your school has not signed up for the Eligibility Checking Service then the school will have to check eligibility themselves and verify it against paper evidence of benefits from the parent. This method is the traditional way to check eligibility and has been in place for a number of years.

Information if your school has NOT signed up for this service

Useful Information for all schools

Providing free school meals to families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

Free school meal eligibility for pupils transferring between schools

Contact: Please direct any queries to fsmecs@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Please note that this email address is only for use by Buckinghamshire schools. Parents or carers with queries about Free School Meals should contact their child's school in the first instance.

Free Schools Meals - Applications for signed up schools and new schools

Registered Schools

Introduction

All mainstream schools in Buckinghamshire have an obligation to provide Free School Meals to eligible children that attend full time. Parents apply directly to the school if they consider their child(ren) eligible to receive Free School Meals. Eligibility is judged against the benefits that the applying parent/carer is entitled to. Signing up for the Eligibility Checking Service means that parents do not usually have to submit paper evidence to support their claims to different benefits.

Free School Meal Application

Parents are required to complete an Application for Free Meal Provision form if they wish to be assessed for eligibility for Free School Meals as this gives the school permission to check eligibility. Once a parent has completed and returned an application form to the school they do not need to complete another form for as long as the child(ren) remains at the school. A new form is required if a child changes schools. If the child's eligibility is confirmed by the Eligibility Checking Service (ECS) then it is the school's responsibility to arrange for the provision of a free school meal. Schools should keep application forms and the end of year Free School Meal spreadsheet for audit purposes for six years after the pupil's entitlement ends.

The ECS requires that the school uses a Free School Meal spreadsheet to transfer pupil/parent data to the Local Authority. The spreadsheet was sent to each school via the AnyComms+ secure file transfer system. Full guidance on how to use the checking service can be found through the link below:

FSM ECS Guidance

Further information on eligibility and examples of situations you may encounter is available through the link below:

FSM FAQ and Examples

The link below provides a basic template for schools to use as a letter when informing parents of non-eligibility (a FALSE result on the spreadsheet)

Non-eligibility template letter

Pupil Premium

Below is a link to an example letter provided by the DfE which is designed to make parents aware of the benefits of the Pupil Premium. Schools are free to tailor this letter to their own design and send it to the parents of their pupils.

DfE Pupil Premium letter template

The link below provides further information about the Pupil Premium.

Pupil Premium Fact Sheet

Eligibility Criteria

The Eligibility Checking Service removes the need for schools to check a pupil's eligibility manually. Once the parent returns an application form, the school informs the LA of the parent's details and the LA will check the pupil's eligibility through the DfE Eligibility Checking Service (ECS) website. This website links to the following government departments and can check a parent's benefits directly.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Home Office (HO)
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

The LA will inform the school of the pupil's eligibility. If a child is not deemed eligible by the ECS then the school may wish to follow this up with the parent and check paper evidence if there are doubts over the result.

Under current regulations only children whose parents/guardians are in receipt of any of the following will be entitled to free school lunches:

Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400
Income Support (IS)
Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance (IBJSA)
An Income–related employment and support allowance (ESA)
Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
The guaranteed element of the State Pension Credit
Where they are entitled to Child Tax Credit and also Working Tax Credit during the four week period immediately after their employment ceases, or after they start to work less than 16 hours per week, their children are entitled to free school meals*

*Please note that the DfE's eligibility checking service can not take account of the four week run on period when deciding eligibility, it will return a 'FALSE' result even if the parent is eligible under this criteria. If a parent submits a Tax Decision Notice to the school which confirms they are within the four week run on period then the school may issue Free School Meals despite the 'FALSE' result. Alternatively you can contact the School Management Support Team for further advice Schools are reminded that eligibility for these parents should be re-checked once this run on period has expired.

No other entitlements (such as a NHS Tax Credit Exemption Certificate card, Foster Care allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Housing Benefit or a Certificate of Taxable Incapacity Benefit) are relevant for a claim.

The definition of “parent” is any person who has care of the child. So in a case of private fostering the child has potentially four parents – two natural ones and two foster parents, since the foster parents have care of the child. If a child is living with two parents/carers, the claim is based upon the benefits for the whole family. If parents are considered by Inland Revenue to be two separate families, then the claim is based upon the benefits of the parent who makes the claim. This is regardless of whether the other parent (even if it is the one the child lives with) is claiming working tax credit.

A parent can begin claiming free school meals from any age, but the child must be receiving education both before and after the lunchtime so, for example, nursery children attending only in the morning are not entitled to a free meal. There is nothing in the legislation to state that the education before or after the lunch period must last a particular minimum or maximum length of time. Children who attend nursery school for half a day but remain at the same school for childcare purposes the other half of the day are not entitled to receive free school meals.

Transitional Protection

Most of the current benefits that attract eligibility for Free School Meals (Income Support, Income Based Job Seekers Allowance, Income Based Employment and Support Allowance and Child Tax Credit) are being phased out by the government and replaced by Universal Credit. To stop any child instantly losing their Free School Meals solely due to their parents being moved to Universal Credit or the introduction of the income limit, the DfE have introduced the following transitional protections:

From 1 April 2018, existing free school meals claimants will continue to receive free school meals until summer 2023 (when the roll out of Universal Credit is complete) regardless of whether their benefits situation changes.
Any child gaining eligibility for free school meals after 1 April 2018 will also be protected against losing free school meals during the Universal Credit rollout period (until summer 2023).
After summer 2023 (once Universal Credit is fully rolled out), any existing claimants that no longer meet the eligibility criteria at that point (because they are earning above the threshold or are no longer a recipient of Universal Credit) will continue to receive free school meals until the end of their current phase of education (i.e. primary or secondary).
The only exception to the above is the small number of pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals due to receiving the Guarantee element of State Pension or Credit support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. These are not being replaced by Universal Credit and transitional protection will not apply to these pupils.

If schools need further information about transitional protection we have produced an FAQ document via the link below:

Transitional Protection FAQs

Proof of Benefit

Proof of benefit is only required where there is a doubt over the result given by the Eligibility Checking Service. If a school or parent disagrees with an ineligible result then the school must take steps to obtain paper evidence from the parent that proves that the child is eligible.

It is not for schools to calculate a family’s annual taxable income. The Inland Revenue will perform this income calculation and it is this figure that should be used when determining entitlement. Each time a tax credit award is calculated, the Inland Revenue will automatically issue a Tax Credit Award Notice (TC602) to the applicant. The award notice will set out the annual income and key family details. This notice includes details of all the information that is required to assess a child’s free school meal eligibility. Under the ‘child tax credit’ category’ therefore we strongly suggest that this document is used to make that assessment.

Similarly, it is strongly suggested that the Pension Credit Award Notice, issued automatically by The Pension Service to all those in receipt of Pension Credits, is used to assess a child’s free school meal eligibility under the ‘Guarantee State Pension Credit’ category.

A letter (which needs to be updated on a termly basis) from the National Asylum Support Service (Tel: 0845 602 1739) is required as proof of support under Immigration and Asylum Act (Document SAL1 is not sufficient).

For evidence showing current receipt of Income Support, the person claiming the benefit should contact 'Job Centre Plus' on 0845 6088573 quoting their national insurance number. The Job Centre will be able to provide them with a current statement of entitlement. If this is urgently required, a manual copy should be requested.

Universal Credit claimants do not receive paperwork but have a monthly online statement. Screenshots of this can be provided as evidence, but the claimant's name and the section on "What we take off (deductions)" should be visible.

Meal Provision

The following options are available to schools to supply free school meals:

Schools with their own food preparation facilities, could provide pupils with a free school meal directly.
Alternatively the school could purchase a packed lunch from an alternative provider but they would need to ensure that the lunches meet the nutritional standards and comply with relevant Health and Safety regulations.

Meal Provision for Boarders

Schools with boarding provision generally provide a free school meal to all their boarding pupils. However to record a pupil as eligible for a free school meal on their census return, schools must still confirm that the parents/guardians are in receipt of one of the benefits stated above and the pupil must be in receipt of a free meal.

Confidentiality

Information contained in the form is personal data and is therefore subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and from May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Non-Registered Schools

Introduction

If you have not signed up for the new The Eligibility Checking Service but would like further details then please contact the team by email fsmecs@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Free School Meal Application

An application form must be returned to the school by parents at the beginning of each academic year (or when they start school) together with documentary evidence to confirm the parents' entitlement. It is then the school's responsibility to arrange for the provision of a free school meal. Schools should keep application forms and evidence for audit purposes for six years after the pupil's entitlement ends.

Application Form

Further information on eligibility and examples of situations you may encounter is available through the link below:

FSM FAQ and Examples

Pupil Premium

DFE Pupil Premium letter template

The link below provides further information about the Pupil Premium.

Pupil Premium Fact Sheet

Eligibility Criteria

Under current regulations only children whose parents/guardians are in receipt of any of the following will be entitled to free school lunches:

Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7,400
Income Support (IS)
Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance (IBJSA)
An Income–related employment and support allowance (ESA)
Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than £16,190
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
The guaranteed element of the State Pension Credit
Where they are entitled to Child Tax Credit and also Working Tax Credit during the four week period immediately after their employment ceases, or after they start to work less than 16 hours per week, their children are entitled to free school meals*

Transitional Protection

From 1 April 2018, existing free school meals claimants will continue to receive free school meals until March 2022 (when the roll out of Universal Credit is complete) regardless of whether their benefits situation changes.
Any child gaining eligibility for free school meals after 1 April 2018 will also be protected against losing free school meals during the Universal Credit rollout period (until March 2022).
After March 2022 (once Universal Credit is fully rolled out), any existing claimants that no longer meet the eligibility criteria at that point (because they are earning above the threshold or are no longer a recipient of Universal Credit) will continue to receive free school meals until the end of their current phase of education (i.e. primary or secondary).
The only exception to the above is the small number of pupils who are eligible for Free School Meals due to receiving the Guarantee element of State Pension or Credit support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. These are not being replaced by Universal Credit and transitional protection will not apply to these pupils.

If schools need further information about transitional protection we have produced an FAQ document via the link below:

Transitional Protection FAQs

Proof of Benefit

Meal Provision

The following options are available to schools to supply free school meals:

Schools with their own food preparation facilities, could provide pupils with a free school meal directly.
Alternatively the school could purchase a packed lunch from an alternative provider but they would need to ensure that the lunches meet the nutritional standards and comply with relevant Health and Safety regulations.

Meal Provision for Boarders

Confidentiality

Information contained in the form is personal data and is therefore subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and from May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Free School Meals eligibility for families and transferring students

Funding for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

Providing free school meals to families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The DfE have permanently extended free school meal eligibility to children in all households with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), subject to maximum income thresholds. Schools and local authorities are not able to use the eligibility checking system (ECS) to confirm eligibility for these families as the family will not be in receipt of Universal Credit or legacy benefits.

Eligibility

The eligible groups include, but may not be limited to children of:

Zambrano carers
families who have no recourse to public funds with a right to remain in the UK on grounds of private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
families receiving support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 who are also subject to a no recourse to public funds restriction
a subset of failed asylum seekers supported under Section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Chen carers
families holding a BN(O) passport
spousal visa holders
work visa holders
student visa holders
those with no immigration status

Please see the link above for examples of the documents that can be provided as evidence of the parent’s status.

Income threshold

The maximum income threshold is dependent upon where the family lives and the number of children that the family has.

Under the permanent extension of free school meal eligibility to all NRPF groups, the annual household income thresholds for those families able to work are:

£22,700 for families outside of London with 1 child
£26,300 for families outside of London with 2 or more children
£31,200 for families within London with 1 child
£34,800 for families within London with 2 or more children

Whether or not a family will be considered within the London or the outside London threshold will be determined by the families address. If the family is living within the local authority of one of the 33 London boroughs, the London thresholds will apply. If the family does not live within one of these local authorities, the outer London thresholds will apply. The DfE have given examples of the documents the parents could provide to prove their annual income, please see the link above.

School colleagues should record eligible free school meals pupil who qualify through the NRPF criteria in the termly school census, in the same way as all other free school meals pupils. However, these pupils are not covered by the Transitional Protection and will only remain eligible for free school meals as long as the parents fulfil the eligibility criteria above.

All evidence of the application including the self-declaration and any supporting documentation should be retained securely for the usual audit purposes. The DfE have produced an application form that can be provided to parents when they apply. Please see the link above. As a parent’s situation may change over the course of the year, it is advised that schools re-check parent’s eligibility at least once a term.

Students transferring between schools

Please note that the following guidance will be valid until 31st March 2025 when the DfE has plans to cease the transitional protection.

With the advent of transitional free school meal eligibility (FSME) that came into effect in April 2018, it has become increasingly difficult for schools to identify pupils who are covered by the protection when they move between schools. Many parents reapply for free school meals at the new school and when their details are checked via the DfE online checking system they may receive a false result. As the DfE system can only identify whether a parent is in receipt of a qualifying benefit on the day the check is carried out, this does not inform the school whether the parent has ever been in receipt of one.

Initially the DfE confirmed back in 2018 that schools could accept the FSM period recorded on the CTF from the previous school as evidence of transitional protection, but following issues Academy colleagues have encountered during an ESFA audit the guidance has now changed.

If schools receive a CTF from the previous school and there is an open FSM period this is an indication that the pupil may have transitional protection, but there are a few things schools need to check before continuing the pupil’s eligibility. Information about these individual points can be seen below.

Were the parents in receipt of an old benefit that has been transferred to Universal Credit?
Was the pupil previously eligible for free school meals in England?
Did the parents actually make a claim at the previous school or has the information been recorded incorrectly?
Do the parents still want their child recorded as eligible?

For the end of phase transfer in September or if a child moves to a new school in-year, the new schools need to identify if their new pupils will have transitional protection from their previous school. To do this schools are advised to -

Ask the parent(s) / carer(s) to complete an application for free school meals. This will show that the parent wishes their child to continue with free school meals if they are eligible and will also identify any parents who applied originally with a National Asylum Seekers Number or who are 'No Recourse to Public Funds' (see guidance for parents in these situations below)
For schools who use the FSM checking service, add the parent's details to the current checking sheet as normal. If you receive a true result, the child's eligibility can continue and you can use the older start date if you receive one on the CTF from the previous school.
For schools who are not in the checking service or if a false result is received, please contact the previous school and ask them to confirm in writing that they received an application from the parent and that they had evidence to support the claim for free school meals. This response should be kept in the pupil's file in case of an audit as recording a pupil as eligible for free school meals is a claim for public funds.
If the previous school(s) cannot provide confirmation, colleagues will need to go back to the parent and ask them to provide evidence to support their claim. Schools who use the FSM checking service can send this evidence via AnyComms for help with confirming eligibility.

Many MIS's have areas where colleagues can keep notes about issues regarding free school meal eligibility issues. It would be good practice to keep a record of any communications received about eligibility (e.g. which school sent the CTF with eligibility dates, when the CTF was received, whether a parent applied using a NI number or NASS number etc), as there may be some time between a child becoming eligible and either the new school making contact to confirm eligibility or the school having an audit.

Pupils not eligible for transitional protection

Many of the old legacy benefits (e.g. Child Tax Credit) are gradually being transferred to Universal Credit and any pupils whose parents are in receipt of these benefits will be eligible under the Transitional Protection. However, not all of the legacy benefits are being transferred to Universal Credit, so school colleagues will need to check with parents to see which benefits they are/were receiving. Any parents in receipt of support under the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999 (and have applied for free school meals using a National Asylum Seekers Number instead of a National Insurance Number) or Pension Credit will not be covered by the protection and the pupils will only be eligible for free school meals as long as the parents are receiving these benefits. These parents will need to reapply for free school meals at the new school and either their details checked on the eligibility checking service or provide copies of their benefits documents to schools that are not in the service.

Eligibility for families with no recourse to public funds has changed recently so these families can now be recorded as eligible in school’s MIS and these pupils will now also be eligible for Deprivation Pupil Premium. Guidance for how to identify whether these families are eligible can be found on the DfE website. (Providing free school meals to families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). However, as the parents are not in receipt of any benefits, these pupils are not covered by the transitional protection so schools will again need to check with the parents to see if this applies to their situation and the parents should reapply at the new school, possibly using the sample application form provided by the DfE.

Parent was eligible in another Country in the UK

Transitional protection only applies to children who have been found eligible in England so any children transferring from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland will not be protected. The parents will need to reapply.

Parent did not apply for free school meals at the previous school

Errors are sometimes made in schools and we have heard from colleagues who have received an open free school meal record in the CTF but the parents have said that they have never applied for FSM at any school.

When a FSM period is recorded on the CTF, colleagues should contact the previous school to confirm whether the parent has made a claim with them. It would be helpful for the previous school to then send an email with written confirmation of the claim and this should be kept on the pupil’s file in case of an audit.

If the previous school confirms the details were recorded in error, please remove the free school meal period and make a note on the child's record about the action taken. The school that made the error must inform the DfE of the error as the Deprivation Pupil Premium records need to be updated. Any Buckinghamshire Schools should contact the School Management Support Team (fsmecs@buckinghamshire.gov.uk) for assistance with this issue.

If the previous school cannot provide confirmation of the prior claim, schools may need to ask the parents for evidence for them being in receipt of a qualifying benefit since April 2018.

Parents no longer want the meals

Occasionally, parents decide that they no longer wish their children to be recorded as eligible for free school meals and they are entitled to do so. Therefore, if schools receive free school meal information via the CTF, the parents should be informed and asked if they still wish their children to recorded. If the parents decide to stop their child’s eligibility, they must be informed that the transitional protection will also stop and if they change their mind at a later date, they will need make a new application. If the parent still wishes the FSME to cease, please add an end date to the information in your MIS. This will result in a query on the School Census, but if an explanatory note is added it should be accepted by the DfE.

After the parents have confirmed they still wish their children to be recorded as eligible and they were receiving a qualifying benefit, school colleagues are advised to record somewhere on the child’s records that their free school meal details were received from the previous school via a CTF along with the date the CTF was received. Any further evidence received from other schools or parents should also be recorded. This can be done in SIMS by opening the free school meal period and writing a comment in the notes box. Schools using a different MIS may wish to contact their support provider to see where this information can be added. This information will be useful if your school is audited as recording pupils as eligible for FSM is a claim for public funds through the School Census and evidence of your school’s claim must be kept on file.

Local Authority Management Information Strategy

The Buckinghamshire Schools - Local Authority (LA) Management Information Strategy has been updated on a number of occasions since it was first published. The Management Information Strategy's main aim was, and still is, to set out the key principles and practical steps needed in order to strengthen the use of data and the access to information needed in both schools and the Local Authority to fulfil their respective responsibilities. The revised version focuses on those areas of the Strategy that are still relevant.

Information Strategy - Updated 2013

Net Capacity Schools Schedule

Net Capacity Schedules are a DfE methodology for measuring the capacity of your school. It is essential for the authority to maintain accurate schedules of accommodation for all schools to inform decisions when planning school places and to support independent admission appeals. Each schedule contains a list of all the usable spaces in the school building (both teaching and non-teaching), which is used as a basis for assessing the capacity of each school. When divided by the number of year groups it indicates the admission number or pupils that can generally be accommodated.

A copy of your school's schedule is attached below for information. If you are aware of any changes that need to be made to it please can you inform the team so we can update our records. Please could you mark any changes on a copy of your schedule and then sign and return it to Amy Mitchell in the School Management Support Team, Buckinghamshire Council, 4th Floor, County Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks HP20 1UZ

The areas you need to check on the schedule are:

School Details
Room Names
Room Types (i.e. general or specialist)
Room Status, in particular spaces classified as classbases in primary schools or teaching spaces in secondary schools
Non school or support provision (not available to the school during the school day) such as early years and childcare, specially resourced facilities (e.g. SEN departments) and parents/community rooms. Note, these rooms need to be measured but will be excluded from the capacity assessment.

To assist you with this process, you may wish to refer to the notes of guidance by clicking on the link below:

Primary Guidance Notes

Secondary Guidance Notes

Please could you mark any changes on your schedule and then sign and return it to Amy Mitchell in the School Management Support Team, Buckinghamshire Council, 4th Floor, County Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks HP20 1UZ.

Net Capacity Documents

Accessing Performance Information for Your School

Welcome to School Performance Information on SchoolsWeb. By using the links in the sections below, you will be able to download and print any analyses provided to you by the School Management Support Team. You will also be able to view other information, such as instructions and links to external websites. If you want to know when analyses are likely to be published please refer to the Primary or Secondary Timetable on each page which details the planned release of performance and contextual data to schools (actual release dates may differ depending on availability of data).

To contact the School Management Support Team about performance information

Sarah Sewell - 01296 382640
Ellen Haywood - 01296 382159 or Viki Telfer - 01296 387875

Or smst@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

How to access school performance analysis for contextual data

Schools which have purchased the School Management Support Team’s annual buyback package will have access to results and analysis (including pupil and pupil group level analysis, school and school group level analysis, Local Authority and National level results) through the many analysis packages published by the team.

Analysis is made available to schools through the Performance area of SchoolsWeb or for pupil level information is sent through the Annycomms Plus secure file transfer facility.

If your school has not purchased the annual package, or is interested in further information, this page includes links to publically available data.

Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) Results
Results at Local Authority and National level, including results split by pupil group (ethnicity, free school meal eligibility, Special Education Needs etc) are available on the Department of Education's statistics site (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics ).

Key Stage 1 Results
Results at Local Authority and National level, including results split by pupil group (ethnicity, free school meal eligibility, Special Education Needs etc) are available on the Department of Education's statistics site (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics ).

Key Stage 2 Results
School, Local Authority and National data are available from the Department of Education, either through the "Find and Compare Schools" website (https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/) or in excel format on the Department of Education's statistics site https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics/ ).

Results at Local Authority and National level split by pupil group (ethnicity, free school meal eligibility, Special Education Needs etc) are also available on the Department of Education's statistics site (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics).

Key Stage 4 (GCSE and equivalent) Results
School, Local Authority and National data are available from the Department of Education, either through the "Find and Compare Schools" website (https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/) or in excel format on the Department of Education's statistics site(https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics). School level data includes results in individual GCSE subjects.

Key Stage 5 (A Level and equivalent) Results
School, Local Authority and National data are available from the Department of Education, either through the "Find and Compare Schools" website (https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/ ) or in excel format on the Department of Education's statistics site (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics ).

Information on School Inspections
Ofsted produce reports of all school inspections they carry out. These are available on their website (https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/).

Number of Pupils
The Department of Education publishes information on the number of pupils in schools (by school type, area etc) on their statistics site (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics ).

Information on the number of pupils attending schools within Buckinghamshire is available in the Number on Roll document.

Numbers on roll

Absence and Exclusions from School
The Department of Education publishes information on both absence and exclusions (by school type, area etc) on their statistics site (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics).

School Level Expenditure Data
The Department of Education now publish information on school expenditure from the Consistent Financial Reporting exercise at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/

Additional analysis tools for schools

Progress Matrices Templates

The School Management Support Team has been working with the Buckinghamshire Learning Trust to produce a number of tools to support schools in evaluating progress of pupils currently in the school. These tools can be downloaded from this page, and a summary of the available files is below.

Reception progress matrices: these look at progress from the ‘on-entry’ to reception assessment using the ‘Development matters’ bands and describe expected and better progress by reference to the Ofsted statements in the latest ‘Subsidiary Guidance’ (April 2014).
EY to end of Year 1 matrices: these look at progress from the end of reception (Foundation Stage Profile).
EY to KS1 matrices: these look at progress from the end of reception, and are for use with the new EY assessments (current year 1s). Please note that completed EY-KS1 matrices for your current year 2s are provided as part of the SMST annual package.
KS1 to end of Year 4 matrices: these look at the proportions making 6 points progress from the end of KS1; it is felt that this is more helpful than looking for one level of progress
(KS1 to KS2 progress matrices: please note that completed KS1-KS2 matrices for your current year 2s are provided as part of the SMST annual package)

Schools wishing to construct matrices for other year groups may use the additional matrices:

KS1 to end of term 2 Year 3 – looking at proportions making 2 points progress from KS1
KS1 to end of term 1 Year 4 – look at proportions making 4 points progress from KS1
KS1 to end of term 2 Year 5 – looking at proportions making 8 points progress from KS1
KS1 to end of term 1 Year 6 – looking at proportions making 10 points progress from KS1

All the files are set up so that schools just need to enter the results for their individual pupils – the matrices will be created automatically from the data entered.

Schools must be able to describe the proportions making expected progress and the proportions making better than expected progress in every year group for Ofsted. This could be by the use of levels of by points – but be clear what the school’s policy is about progress. The use of an evaluation using the average gain in points is no acceptable as an average ‘hides’ pupils who have not made sufficient progress under small groups of individuals who have made exception progress and is not clear about the progress of groups of pupils from their different starting points.

Please note that schools may find these tools useful to evaluate pupil progress, but do not have to use them and can use other packages and systems to provide similar information. In particular schools using the Buckinghamshire Assessment Reports (BAR) package in SIMS may wish to investigate the progress reports available to them within SIMS before using the tools on this page.

Performance Information for Your School - Senior Leadership Teams and Governors

Performance information for Senior Leadership Teams

Download analysis provided by the School Management Support Team, including School Performance Analysis (SPA), Dashboards and benchmarking information.

View performance information for senior leadership teams

To contact the School Management Support Team about performance information

Sarah Sewell - 01296 382640
Ellen Haywood - 01296 382159 or Viki Telfer - 01296 387875

Or smst@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Performance information for Governors

Includes the SPA Pack, the School Indicators System, Income and Expenditure Reports and the LA Data Dashboard where applicable.

View performance information for Governors

Governor SPA pack

The School Performance Analysis (SPA) pack has been designed in-house by the School Management Support Team. You can use the SPA to evaluate your school's performance for the current year's assessments and over the past 5 years. Your school will also have access to an interactive version of SPA, which also contains a copy of this pack. Your school will be notified whenever the SPA is updated.

To download your SPA please right click and then click on Save target as. (The SPA will not download and run if you left click). Please note that the file (Excel) may take a few minutes to download (up to 1 minute for broadband connections and up to 5 minutes for dial-up ISDN modem connections).

To use the SPA once downloaded: if asked, please click to Enable Macros and click No for updating links. To print please follow the instructions once opened.

Appendice - Performance data

See a list of documents for School Leadership Teams and Governors.

Privacy notice for pupils and staff

Schools, Academies, Local Authorities (LA), the Department for Education (DfE) and other educational bodies that process personal data about pupils and staff are required by General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) to issue a Notice to parents/pupils and staff to inform them of the purposes for which that personal data may be held and used. GDPR is effective from 25 May 2018 and introduce new mandatory procedures for data management in the UK. The updated privacy notice template is designed to help schools comply with the new regulations.

Schools and Academies must issue Privacy Notices to new pupils and staff, but this can be done at the same time as other communications that they issue. For example:

A pupil might receive the Privacy Notice as part of a school brochure or induction pack, or in a school diary, and it could be posted on the school/academy notice board.
For staff, the Privacy Notice might be included as part of a contract, induction pack, and/or posted on the staff notice board.

Please note that Schools, Academies and PRUs will need to amend the text in the appropriate places (highlighted in red) in the relevant Privacy Notice before it is issued to parents or staff. This may be to remove sections that do not apply to your school or to insert the name of your establishment.

The DfE website gives information about how they store and use pupil, child and workforce data

DfE website

A copy of the latest version of the Privacy Notice for Pupils is attached below along with a version for Staff. Please note that these templates may be subject to small changes as a result of feedback from data protection colleagues but are largely based on wording from the DfE so are considered appropriate for use.

Schools are reminded that if they choose to use these templates, it is under their own direction/ownership as separate data entities.

For any general queries relating to Privacy Notices, please contact the School Management Support Team smst@buckscc.gov.uk.

Privacy Notice for Pupils in Schools, Academies, Free Schools, UniversityTechnicalColleges and PRUs

Privacy Notice for Staff employed or otherwise engaged to work in Schools, Academies, Free Schools, University Technical Colleges and PRUs

To help schools prepare their privacy notices the DfE have produced a section by section guide plus an example privacy notice which can be accessed via the link below and is called ‘Explanation of privacy notices’:

DfE Explanation of privacy notices

The DfE have also provided a general toolkit for schools in preparation for the changes to data protection requirements. This can be found via the link below:

DfE data protection toolkit for schools

Pupil Trends

School-level pupil projections are no longer produced on a regular basis. However, we have now provided details about pupil trends for schools below. If you would like to discuss any other aspect related to future pupil numbers then please contact us at smst@buckscc.gov.uk and we would be happy to discuss further.

External bodies requesting pupil projection information should be referred to the County Council.

School trend information

This dashboard provides information on past trends in pupil numbers on roll to aid schools and governors with planning. It is only available to schools who have bought into the School Management Support Team analysis package

If you have any queries about the data provided please e-mail smst@buckscc.gov.uk

Additional Documents Regarding Pupil Trends

Currently blank

Pupil Rollcall

Pupil numbers over the years

The DfE collects information each year to help monitor what is happening in schools, and inform national policy development.

Schools are required to provide details on pupils, staff and class sizes through the School Census.

The links below give access to protected spreadsheets of all maintained schools in Buckinghamshire and their respective pupil numbers by age, as well as a summary of pupil numbers by school type and area.

If you require further information or analysis on pupil numbers please contact:

School Management Support on 01296 382887.

Pupil numbers

Record Management in Schools

The Information Management Toolkit for Schools, published by the Information and Records Management Society (IRMS), has been created to assist schools to manage their information in line with the current legislative frameworks.

Information Management Toolkit for Schools

The toolkit has been revised since the previous version (May 2012) and a number of additions and amendments have been made.

Please note that this new version refers to both “Records Management” and “Information Management” interchangeably.

The information below outlines what can be found in the updated toolkit.

Records Management Policy

Each public authority (including individual schools) should have a records management policy. The toolkit contains a model policy document which can be adopted in its entirety or adapted to reflect the different needs of individual schools.

Records Management Programme

The Records Management Toolkit aims to assist individual schools to manage records throughout their lifecycle. There is advice about managing e-mail to ensure that it becomes part of the vital record. There is information and advice about information security and how to ensure compliance under the Data Act 2018 and information about business continuity to ensure that vital records are not lost or destroyed in the event of fire, flood or theft. There is also some advice about how to conduct an information audit.

Pupil Records

Some guidelines about what should be included in the main pupil record have been included and some advice about what information should be transferred on to the next school and how this information should be transferred.

Retention Guidelines

The core part of the toolkit are the retention guidelines which list all the possible records any school, in England & Wales, might produce and the recommended retention periods. Some of these have a statutory basis, others have been agreed in consultation with schools around the country. There are also retention guidelines for Early Years Providers. There is some information about the benefits of using a retention schedule. There are also guidelines about the safe disposal of records.

This guidance does not cover which records should be sent to the County Archives Service. For information about this please contact your County Archives Service.

Closed School Guidance

There is some general guidance about needs to be done with records when a school closes or amalgamates with another school in the same area.

School Census information

The School Census is a Department for Education (DfE) data collection of school and pupil level data that all schools in England (including academies, Free Schools, UTCs, Special Schools and PRUs) are required to complete three times a year. The submission of the school census returns, including a set of named pupil records, is a statutory requirement on schools under Section 537A of the Education Act 1996.

The DfE use the data collected in the School Census to allocate funding to schools so it is essential that the School Census is completed accurately and on time.

Timeline

The School Census takes place each term:

autumn census - first Thursday in October
spring census - third Thursday in January
summer census - third Thursday in May

All maintained schools and academies should upload their return to the DfE COLLECT system which can be accessed via DfE Sign-in. It would be appreciated if Academy colleagues could also provide a copy of their census return to the Children's and Traded Services Team via AnyComms as soon as possible after census day each term to assist with our data validation.

Further details on each census will be made available in the School Bulletin so please ensure you check this regularly. More information, including guidance notes can be found on the DfE’s website by following the links below:

gov.uk census guidances

gov.uk 16 to 19 education funding guidance

Additional services for School Management Support Teams

The School Management Support Team is able to provide additional analysis for schools, above and beyond the data and analysis available to all schools and listed on our timetable. We advertised in the Services for Schools brochure that we offer additional services, which include a range of analysis that provided on request and for a small additional charge. We have had a number of queries from schools asking what sort of analysis we can provide so thought it would be useful to make schools aware of some of the most commonly requested analysis.

Descriptions of each of the current analysis available, along with the ordering process can be found below. Please note that ordering will move to the traded services web orders system during the Autumn Term, but the team will still accept orders using the forms below until the web service is fully functional.

Additional analysis available from the SMS Team

Ordering Analysis from SMS Team

SMST Order From - Analysis based on Oct 2016 School Census (Link coming soon)

SMST Order Form - Analysis based on January 2017 School Census (Link coming soon)

SMST Order Form - Analysis based on May 2017 School Census

An example of each of these analyses, together with an order form is also available below.

Examples

ACORN Analysis

Analysis (Link coming soon)

Map (Link coming soon)

Map Detail (Link coming soon)

Ward Analysis

Pupil Data (Link coming soon)

Map

Map Detail

IDACI Analysis

IDACI analysis (Link coming soon)

Pupil Data (Link coming soon)

Map (Link coming soon)

Map Detail

Catchment Analysis

Catchment Analysis (Link coming soon)

The list is not exhaustive, and schools are encouraged to contact the team if there is a specific project or area of interest that we might be able to help with. We can also customize some of the analysis shown below if required for an additional charge - again schools are encouraged to contact the team to discuss requirements.

Target Setting all Key Stage Groups

Schools and Academies will be aware that target setting is no longer a statutory requirement for schools and Local Authorities. However the Schools White Paper states that the DfE "support the idea that good schools set themselves targets, identify the strengths and weaknesses that might either help or hinder them to achieve those targets, and come up with a plan for succeeding".

Schools may also wish to note that Ofsted's latest inspection handbook states that when arriving at judgements about progress, inspectors will usually consider how well all pupils are set aspirational progress targets and that they are on track to meet or exceed these, and where possible, expected standards by the end of each key stage assessment, including test results, targets, performance descriptors or expected standards are used to ensure that all pupils make the progress their teachers expect and that more able pupils do work that deepens their knowledge and understanding.

With the changes to accountability measures and reporting requirements schools may be using a number of different methods and performance descriptors to set targets for their pupils. Therefore the LA will not be collecting targets from schools this year.

We will also not be providing the excel based target setting packs produced in previous years. This is due to the changes made by FFT, who provided the estimates used in the packs. These estimates are now available through the new FFT Aspire system, which can be used to record targets in each subject for each pupil based on national curriculum levels or GCSE grades. FFT Aspire also provides further reports aggregating the estimates and the targets set by schools. Please note that schools do not have to use FFT Aspire, and are free to use other packages or systems if they wish.

FFT Aspire

UPNs - Unique Pupil Numbers

A Unique Pupil Number (UPN) is a number that identifies each pupil in England uniquely. A UPN is allocated to each pupil according to a nationally specified formula on first entry to school (or in some cases earlier), and is intended to remain with the pupil throughout their school career regardless of any change in school or local authority (LA).

A similar compatible system has been introduced for learners in maintained schools in Wales. Independent schools are not required to issue UPNs for their learners although many have done so on a voluntary basis.

It is important to ensure that each pupil on roll at your school has a valid UPN. UPNs are generated automatically by your Management Information System (MIS) when a pupil first enters the maintained schools sector using the following template:

If a pupil has joined you from another school he or she should have been issued with a UPN which will be transferred electronically in a Common Transfer File (CTF).

Contact the pupil’s previous school and request a CTF. If you do not have the contact details then use the government website.

Please avoid issuing a temporary UPN if at all possible - check with the previous school to obtain the permanent UPN instead.

If a pupil attends two schools, the school at which they spend the majority of the time should issue a UPN.

What to do if you issue a UPN, then find that that pupil already has a UPN.

If this happens then you will need to remove the most recent UPN (the one issued by yourself) and replace it with the original UPN. The UPN assigned first should always be the one used. If you need advice on how to do this please contact your ICT MIS support provider for further guidance.

However if a UPN has been used for registering a pupil for Key Stage assessments, then that UPN should be kept for data continuity purposes. Any previous UPN will automatically be recorded as a “Former UPN”.

Allocating a UPN

UPNs should be allocated on a pupil’s first entry to a maintained school in England, including entry to a nursery school or a nursery class in an infant or primary school.

There are 3 situations which schools should consider when issuing UPN's:

Pupils who are entering school for the first time, including entry to a nursery class should be allocated a permanent UPN;
Pupils transferring to the school from another state funded school in England should already have a UPN. If the previous school:

- has passed on the pupil's UPN, then the school should adopt that UPN

However, if the UPN provided is invalid, then the school should (a) check that it has been keyed in correctly, and (b) check with the previous school (or the LA) that it has been provided correctly. If it still proves to be invalid the school should allocate a permanent UPN to the pupil instead.

- has failed to pass on the pupil's UPN, then the school should try to retrieve the UPN from the Get Information About Pupils service (see section below).

If, after a temporary UPN has been allocated, an earlier permanent UPN for the pupil is retrieved, then the school should replace the temporary one with the earlier UPN. If there is not an earlier permanent UPN available then schools should issue the pupil with a permanent UPN.
Pupils transferring to the school from a non-maintained school or from any school outside England are unlikely to have been allocated a UPN, but you can check for these on the Get Information About Pupils service. Some, however, may have been issued a UPN if their school had the means to do so, or some may have been allocated a UPN by their LA in some circumstances. Where the pupil has been allocated a UPN and the UPN is correct and valid, that UPN should be retained.

Checking for a UPN on the Get Information About Pupils service

Get Information About Pupils (GIAP) allows users to search for and download pupils’ identifiers (including UPN), end of Key Stage results data and their contextual indicators, including Pupil Premium information. GIAP allows all users to search by names and date of birth.

To access the GIAP website you need to log-on to the DfE Secure Access website (DfE Sign-in (education.gov.uk) and then select Get Information About Pupils. Each school has a super user/approver who controls access to school users, and can add these services to your log-on. Unfortunately the LA is unable to assist with log-on problems, but help resources are available by clicking on the ‘Need Help?’ button on the initial log-in pages.

Once you have located the pupil record on GIAP you can download the information in CTF format, which will import into your MIS and save you having to type the details in.

Further information about UPNs can be found on the DfE website:
DfE UPN guidance

Deletable (?) Transitions Forms - September 2022

This page contains the transition forms developed to support schools to transfer information about pupils starting in year 3 or year 7 in September 2022. Please complete the forms by 27 May 2022.

Each form contains detailed notes to assist the school with completion.

Frequently asked questions

Video Guide

If you need any help then please contact Debbie Munday at debbie.munday@buckinghamshire.gov.uk in the first instance.

Year 6 to Year 7

Buckinghamshire Transition Form Yr6-7 - This form is for any feeder primary school to feed transition information to an in-county secondary school. This can be downloaded by the primary school (or forwarded by the secondary school if out of county) and used for all Buckinghamshire secondary schools. Once completed it can be uploaded to each secondary school via AnyComms. Within the form, you can choose whether to prepopulate the form with information from the Admissions Allocation spreadsheet sent to you in March. Additional information can then be entered directly into the Pupil Data Table instead of through the individual pupil form.

This can be downloaded by the secondary school and sent to their primary out-county feeders for completion. If doing this we recommend you zip it into a Zip file before sending it to retain the internal links. When returning to the secondary school it should be sent securely if AnyComms is not used.

Year 7 Transitions Analysis - This form is for the secondary school to collate all the information received from the various feeder schools. Once complete it can be used to inform planning about the year group.

Year 2 to Year 3

Buckinghamshire Transitions Form Yr2-3 - coming soon! This form is for an infant school to complete and send to a junior/combined school – this can be downloaded by the infant school from SchoolsWeb and used for all Buckinghamshire junior/combined schools. Once completed it can be uploaded to each junior or combined school via AnyComms.

Year 3 Transitions Analysis - coming soon! This form is for the junior or Combined school to collate all the information received from the various feeder schools. Once complete it can be used to inform planning about the year group.