Southwark schools bulletin
Welcome to the Southwark schools bulletin archive page.
March 2025
Hello everyone,
I hope this message finds you well. I'm Tendai Murowe, the Assistant Director for Quality Assurance and Practice Development in Children’s Services here at the council. Amongst other things, I oversee our Child Protection Conference service, the Southwark Safeguarding Children Partnership work, and quality assurance for our SEND response. I am excited to tell you about how we are improving the way we support schools with safeguarding children.
In January we launched our new Safeguarding in Schools team, including our Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Eva Simcock, Schools Safeguarding Coordinator, Apo Çağırıcı, and the newly created role of Safeguarding in Schools Lead, with Emma Geiringer. Together, they provide consultation, advice, and support, acting as a bridge between children's services and schools on safeguarding matters.
As the LADO, Eva is responsible for managing concerns and allegations about individuals who work or volunteer with children. Most concerns originate from schools, both in Southwark and nationally. The data shows that schools are well-informed about when to consult with the LADO and the necessary actions to take, to ensure a safe workforce.
Emma, our Safeguarding in Schools Lead, joined us in January after three and a half years at Place2Be, the children's mental health charity, following stints as a child protection social worker in Hackney and Manchester. In her current role, Emma serves as a liaison between schools and the council’s social care and education teams, offering advice and guidance to enhance safeguarding practices. She also represents schools in decision-making processes to improve safeguarding across Southwark.
Emma will be introducing more training opportunities and reviewing referral processes to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). You can book a safeguarding consultation with Emma to discuss general school safeguarding concerns or to explore how we can collaborate more effectively together. For individual child safeguarding concerns please continue to refer to the MASH.
Apo is the Schools Safeguarding Coordinator, dedicated to supporting Designated and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads, senior leaders, and governors across schools and educational settings. Apo ensures that effective safeguarding arrangements, policies, and procedures are in place, aligning with the expectations of the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted.
Emma also works closely with Mary Moroney, the manager of the Southwark Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) to support schools in their role within the partnership, as reiterated in the statutory legislation Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023). The partnership provides a platform for all professionals who work with children to work together, along with training and support. A priority of the SSCP is the launch of its Neglect Strategy on 3 April. More information about the launch event will be available shortly.
Tendai Murowe
Assistant Director, Quality Assurance
Key updates
>> Revised KS4 and KS5 results for 2024
Great news for our secondary school results at both KS4 and KS5. Latest available results for KS5 show, compared to 2023, improvement across all key headline measures. Our results were better than those reported at a national level, across London, as well as for our statistical neighbours on average across a breadth of KS5 measures. In KS4 results are also well above national, London and statistical neighbours. These are a tremendous set of results and it’s thanks to your everyday hard work and determination to see all pupils succeed. Thank you to all of you for the support you give to Southwark pupils.
>> Primary school closure consultations
Southwark Council has launched consultations on the closure of two primary schools. These will continue until 31 March.
>> Moderation sessions for statutory writing teacher assessment
Our fantastic assessment champions are once again offering moderation meetings for our maintained schools. Our spring sessions enable teachers to assess writing for Year 6 accurately and consistently. Each session is led by schools and are a great way to share practice and ideas with your colleagues.
During the session, teachers will work in groups to moderate collections of children's work, allowing them to identify gaps in learning, share best practice, and discuss concerns with consultants and/or council moderators.
To book your place:
We are also running writing moderation cluster meetings for Years 2, 4 and 6 for the Bridges and Michael Faraday and Rye Oak clusters.
>> Extra funding for school’s exceeding free school meals uptake of 90%
Allocations for the Mayor’s Universal Free School Meals are based on an uptake rate of 90%. Provision is again being made for schools exceeding this. Guidance can be found on the GLA’s website. Please return to schoolfood@southwark.gov.uk by 14 March.
>> Fully funded training course for school chefs – May
We are again funding the Chefs in Schools’ Chef Educator programme, a free 10-week course for school catering staff. This is now open to all schools and the council can meet the cost of chef cover. Email louis@chefsinschools.org.uk to express your interest.
>> Get a grant of up to £50,000 for green building upgrades at your school
Southwark Community Energy Fund gives grants to local schools, faith groups and community groups for green energy projects. This could be through building upgrades or green technology like solar panels or heat pumps. In our first round of funding, we provided grants to 11 projects in Southwark schools. It could also be for workshops or training to help tackle fuel poverty. The application window closes on 6 April.
>> Governor networking event and awards
On the 13 February, we celebrated National School Governors Awareness Day with a networking event and recognition awards ceremony dedicated to honouring the invaluable contributions of governors and governance professionals. The event, held at Tooley Street, saw a fantastic turnout, reflecting the community's appreciation for these dedicated individuals. You can see photos and find out more on the schools website.
>> Governor Services survey 2025
The Governor Services team are always looking to improve. We would be grateful if you would complete our survey to support the development of the service. It should take around four minutes and will close at the end of the Easter break. Please share with your boards.
>> DfE Prevent in education training for governors and trustees
The Prevent Duty requires schools to ‘have due regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism’. A governor’s role is one of oversight. This responsibility could be taken by the full board, a committee, the safeguarding link governor, or a dedicated link governor for Prevent. The DfE offer free training for school governors.
>> Free weekly food waste collections for schools
All schools in Southwark are eligible to have free weekly food waste collections. Please contact foodwaste@southwark.gov.uk to determine the number of bins and other resources your school needs.
>> Free guide and template to help with new DfE climate requirements
New DfE requirements require every school to have a climate action plan by autumn. We have created a free online guide for schools and a ready-made template with examples to make this as easy as possible. It has been made through work with educators, pupils and subject-matter experts at the council.
>> A new listening exercise with parents
A new initiative to deepen our understanding of the experiences of parents whose children have been permanently excluded, suspended or are regularly absent from school is being undertaken by the Deputy elected Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Refugees Councillor Jasmine Ali. The project aims to gather valuable insights from parents to help inform our shared ambition to always improve outcomes for our children. The initiative will create spaces for parents to share their experiences, beginning with listening conversations. Findings will be used to further inform our partnership working and support the continuous improvement of early intervention and parent support services. Cllr Ali will be mailing out to families who have experienced permanent exclusion within the next two weeks. If anyone reaches out to you regarding the project, please encourage them to contact the project team via sheeana.street@Southwark.gov.uk.
>> Attendance and inclusion support
As we all strive to enhance attendance rates and support our students' education, it is crucial that we understand and implement the DfE’s statutory guidance 'Working Together to Improve School Attendance' effectively. To support you we have collated a number of resources on our schools website.
>> Resources
Good Thinking mental health resources for young people, including free NHS-approved apps and top tips.
Anna Freud Mentally Healthy Schools – mental health lead resource hub for a whole-school or college approach
PSHE Association resources – access free membership for Southwark schools:
- Personal health and illness prevention KS5/post-16 with Meningitis Now
- Updated Drug Education resources (KS1 to KS5) – additional content on vaping, synthetic drugs and more.
What's on
>> All Headteacher’s Breakfast Forum – 12 March
8.30am to 11.00am, Tooley Street, light continental breakfast. Our headteachers briefing will include an update from the DfE, plus discussions on DfE and role of RISE, partnership working with Isos Partnership and the schools screen time alignment proposal. All are welcome to attend regardless of their school’s designation.
>> Keeping Children in Education (KCIE) event – rearranged to 30 April
1.30pm to 4.45pm, Tooley Street. Please note, our next event KCIE event has been rescheduled from 17 March to 30 April to accommodate a DfE event planned for secondary schools. The focus will be on working collaboratively with parents and carers. Following feedback, opportunities for interactive working are included. Our Eventbrite invitation will be available soon. To find out more contact kym.winup@southwark.gov.uk.
>> Empathy Week – 10 to 14 March
An annual festival of films, storytelling and events that develop the skill of empathy in students aged 5 to 18. Celebrate this year’s theme – ‘What is your spark?’. Bookings for some live in-person events are also available on the SEAL Community website.
>> Free Youth Mental Health First Aider training – 13 to 14 March and 22 to 23 May
Two-day MHFA course open to education staff in state funded Southwark schools.
>> Neurodiversity Celebration Week – 17 to 23 March
A worldwide initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. It aims to transform how neurodivergent individuals are perceived and supported.
>> Wellbeing first: Improving mental health and resilience in schools event – 28 March
9.30 am to 1.00pm, Millwall Football Club. Our event is for school staff interested in building their wellbeing and personal development practice. Learn from peers, experts and local services on whole-school approaches to promoting emotional, social and physical wellbeing. Please register to attend.
>>Southwark’s Easter of Food and Fun programme – 7 to 17 April
Southwark’s Easter of Food and Fun is provides an exciting holiday programme for children and young people aged 4 to 16, who are eligible for free school meals.
>> Governor’s Forum – 7 May
The next Governors Forum is on 7 May at 6.00pm, Tooley Street.
>> Free mental health training for school staff – 26 and 27 June
Free Mental Health First Aid and Suicide First Aid training for organisations working with children and young people, including school staff.
>> We want to help celebrate the amazing work of our schools!
Share your stories with us, tell us about the excellent work you and your pupils are doing and help us to promote awareness and share best practice across our schools and the wider borough. You can email your stories to southwarkeducationcommunications@southwark.gov.uk