Diocese of Portsmouth

Department for Schools
Park Place Pastoral Centre
Winchester Road
Wickham
PO17 5HA
Tel: 01329 835363 /

9 October 2014

To all headteachers, governors and clerks

School Governance Bulletin No:14.14

This Bulletinis sent electronically to all headteachers, governors, directors and clerks for whom an email address is held in the Department for Schools’ office. No hard copies will be issued. Bulletins will be circulated as and when appropriate and will be numbered for ease of reference. The bulletin will also be available on the diocesan web-site.

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In this bulletin:

1. / Information from the diocese / 6. / DfE Statutory Framework for the early years foundation stage
2. / School websites / 7. / CES Model Application Forms
3. / Governors’ briefing / 8. / Time off to accompany a pregnant woman to antenatal appointments
4. / Governors’ handbook update / 9. / Catholic education
5. / Information from the DfE

1. Information from the Diocese

The Diocese of Portsmouth is now on Facebook and Twitter. It is a good way of getting the latest news quickly. It is advertised in the e-news every week with a link to the pages.

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2. School websites

The DfE has published a list of what should be on school websites at
It is important to explain how the school teaches pupils about democracy and respect for others as part of the curriculum.

Governors should also be aware that the new governors handbook says, “In the interests of transparency, all schools and academies should publish, including on their website, up to date details of the structure of the governing body and any committees, together with the names of their governors and their particular roles and responsibilities within that structure. They should also publish an annual statement setting out the key issues that have been faced and addressed by the governing body over the last year, including an assessment of the impact of the governing body on the school. For academies, these details of their governance arrangements must also be provided within the governance statement of their published annual accounts.” (Governors Handbook 1.7 page 18)

The Specific Duties under the Equality Act also require schools to:

  • publish information annually to demonstrate compliance with the Equality Duty
  • publish equality objectives every four years (one or more as is proportionate to the organisation).

Although this does not necessarily have to be on the school’s website: “5.25 It will be up to schools themselves to decide in what format they publish equality information. For most schools, the simplest approach may be to set up an equalities page on their website where all this information is present or links to it are available. The regulations are not prescriptive and it will be entirely up to schools to decide how they publish the information, so long as it is accessible to those members of the school community and the public who want to see it.”

  1. Governors briefing

A briefing will held on Friday 14th November at St Thomas of Canterbury School, CarisbrookeHigh Street, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 1NR - from 7pm to 9pm.

Topics to be considered include Reconstitution, the new Ofsted framework for September 2014 and Admissions. It is highly recommended that a member of the governing body attends this meeting.

Please contact Maureen Simmons at book places. Please provide names and an email address.
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  1. Governors’ handbook update

The latest edition of the Governors’ Handbook was published on 10th September 2014 which includes updated information on external reviews of governance, a more detailed explanation of what it means for governors to set and safeguard an appropriate ethos for the school in keeping with fundamental British values and guidance on ensuring prospective governors possess the requisite skills needed by a governing body. This latest version can be accessed here and contains a useful summary of the changes at the back:
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  1. Information from the DfE

i) DfE Guidance: Employer Access

The DfE has issued a user guide to accompany a service which allows schools and local authorities in England to view the record of teachers with QTS, including access to separate lists of teachers who have been prohibited from teaching, teachers who may be the subject of a current suspension or conditional order and teachers who have failed to successfully complete their induction or probationary period. The user guide can be accessed here:
ii) DfE Advice: Schools: Guide to the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice

The DfE has recently issued departmental advice for schools, academies, PRUs and independent special schools in respect of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice. The advice should be read by school governing bodies/proprietors, senior leadership teams, SENCOs and classroom staff to assist them in understanding their statutory duties and responsibilities under the reforms in the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to children in their care who have or may have special educational needs and/or a disability. The advice can be accessed here:

The DfE has also introduced a Guide for Governors in respect of SEND reforms which can be accessed on the National Governors’ Association website:

iii) DfE Advice: Implementing your school’s approach to pay

The DfE has recently updated its new advice for maintained schools and local authorities relating to the way schools’ develop and implement their approach to teachers’ and leadership pay. The advice has been published in English and Welsh and can be accessed here:

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6.DfE Statutory Framework for the early years foundation stage

The CES has drawn our attention to section 3 which relates to safeguarding and welfare requirements, specifically to paragraph 3.15 which provides: “A registered provider or a childcare worker may also be disqualified because they live in the same household as another person who is disqualified, or because they live in the same household where a disqualified person is employed”. This is not a new disqualification criterion. We are bringing it to your attention because it has become apparent from discussions at various group meetings in which CES participates that this disqualification criterion is fairly unknown amongst those involved in the provision of education. The CES has advised that we bring this issue to the attention of our schools and other potentially interested parties e.g. local authority or third party HR providers who may coordinate recruitment for our schools.

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7. CES Model Application Forms

As you will already be aware, the CES recently amended the CES model application forms for senior leadership, teachers, support staff and lay chaplains to remove the question regarding the applicant’s date of birth. The application forms previously included the question as its inclusion was supported by the DfE’s Safer Recruitment Guidance which required the applicant’s date of birth to be provided for the purposes of identification of the applicant. However, the DfE’s new replacement guidance, Keeping Children Safe, no longer requires the applicant to divulge their date of birth, the rationale being that there are an abundance of alternative methods of verifying identity. As such, the CES has amended the application forms accordingly.

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8. Time off to accompany a pregnant woman to antenatal appointments

From 1st October 2014, expectant fathers, or the partner of a pregnant woman, are entitled to take unpaid time off work to attend antenatal appointments with their partner. To assist employers in this regard, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has issued a guide for employers which includes information on who is entitled to make a request, how much time off they may take and how an employee might seek redress if a request is refused. The guide can be accessed here:

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9.Catholic education

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” Fides et Ratio Pope John Paul II

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Diocese of Portsmouth – Department for Schools

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