ESFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 26 April 2018
Published 26 April 2018
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2018
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-e-bulletin-26-april-2018-issue-217/esfa-e-bulletin-for-schools-colleges-local-authorities-and-other-16-to-19-providers-26-april-2018
1. Information: ESFA e-bulletin subscriptions
Along with many other organisations, we are currently reviewing the way that we send out information as we prepare to implement the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As a result of our review, we have decided to change the way in which people subscribe to the ESFA bulletin, which will take affect from 24 May 2018.
If you are a head of organisation, finance director, chair of governor at a 16 to 19 provider, a director of children’s services or an officer at a local authority, you will not need to do anything and you will continue to receive the email.
To make sure we have the most up to date contact information for you please update your contact information through the My Contact Information feature on the Information Exchange.
If you are not one of the roles listed above and you want to continue receiving an email when we have published our newsletter, then you will need to subscribe to GOV.UK alerts. This way you will find out when we have published it online for you to read.
2. Action: hospital education baseline collection
The closing date for local authorities to submit their hospital education template via the ESFA data collections portal is 27 April 2018. If local authorities are re-submitting their template, it is important that they notify us via email, otherwise the original submission may be considered as final.
All local authorities must submit a return, signed by the chief finance officer, even if they have no planned on hospital education.
We have published guidance on how to complete the template.
3. Reminder: T Level panel recruitment closing date approaching
We told you in our e bulletin on 5 April 2018 about the Department for Education recruiting for the next phase of T level panels in the 5 routes which will be delivered from 2022. We would like to remind you that the closing date for submitting an Expression of Interest is 5pm, Tuesday 8 May 2018.
4. Information: good estate management for schools manual launched
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Department for Education (DfE) have published the Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS) manual on GOV.UK which will help you deliver an effective estates strategy.
GEMS is a new online resource aimed at individuals and organisations responsible for managing and overseeing the schools estate, helping to ensure that land and buildings support educational objectives and excellent resource management. The resource sets out:
- the fundamental policies and procedures needed to manage the school estate effectively
- guidance on strategic estate management, organisational oversight, understanding your land and buildings, energy and water management and managing projects
- updated guidance on health and safety, compliance and maintenance (replacing existing guidance in Essential Schools Maintenance)
- the skills organisations need access to, links to tools and resources that can help
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about GEMS, please contact us at: GEMS.esfacapital@education.gov.uk.
5. Information: college financial benchmarking tool
We have updated the college financial benchmarking tool to include financial data for 2016 to 2017 to help colleges compare their financial performance with others in the sector.
6. Information: summer school census begins 17 May 2018
The summer school census 2018 begins on Thursday 17 May. The deadline for approved submissions is Wednesday 13 June and the database will be closed to amendments from schools and local authorities on Wednesday 4 July.
A ‘beta’ release of the 2018 summer school census live COLLECT blade is now available to you to become familiar with and will remain available until 4pm on Friday 11 May.
The school census guide for the 2017 to 2018 academic year is available on the school census website.
7. Information: school improvement monitoring and brokering grant final allocations
We’ve published updated allocations for the school improvement monitoring and brokering grant. This grant allows local authorities to continue to monitor and broker school improvement for low-performing maintained schools.
8. Information: data protection toolkit for schools
The Department for Education (DfE) has published a toolkit on data protection to help schools prepare for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force in May 2018.
GDPR requires all organisations, including schools, to have robust governance in place for handling personal data. This toolkit is designed to help schools develop their own policies and processes for managing data, and provides advice on how to comply with the new legislation.
As this is new guidance DfE is asking for feedback. Please send any comments via email by 1 June 2018, with the subject heading ‘GDPR toolkit feedback’.
9. Information: calling all users of information exchange and funding statements
We are transforming information exchange and funding statements and need your help to improve our service. Please complete our short 5 minute survey to give feedback and share your experience.
Your answers will help us to make improvements to the service. Taking part is voluntary and your details will remain anonymous.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at pds.mailbox@education.gov.uk.
10. Information: how the Office for Students will regulate providers during the period 1 April 2018 to 31 July 2019
The OfS has published a Regulatory Notice, setting out how they will regulate providers during the period 1 April 2018 to 31 July 2019. This applies to any college that is registered, or expects to register with OfS during 2017 to 2018 or 2018 to 2019.
The terms of and conditions of funding that apply to further education and sixth form colleges over this period are also available.
There is also an agreement on Institutional Designation that applies to further education and sixth form colleges. This aims to make more explicit the link between institutional accountability requirements and the automatic designation for publically subsidised student support that is given to providers receiving funding from HEFCE, and now OfS.
11. Information: school business professionals case studies
The department has published 3 case studies that highlight the impact of school business professionals on the effective use of resources in order to improve pupil outcomes.
The 3 new case studies are: