Southwark schools bulletin
April 2025
Hello everyone,
I hope everyone enjoyed their well-earned Easter break, feeling refreshed for the exceedingly busy summer term as you prepare your students for their exams and critical SATs. Last time I wrote to you I focussed on some of the wider work going on in the borough, so I thought I'd stick to that theme for this bulletin.
The council's new whole borough partnership strategy Southwark 2030: Creating Good Lives Together was launched at the Tate Modern last month. It sets out six big priorities for all of us to deliver in partnership over the next five years. There’s a handy summary of its ambitions for the borough in this video.
Obviously, our focus will be on priority two – ‘delivering a good start in life: ensuring that all children and young people have a great childhood that builds a very solid foundation for adult life’ – but we can’t underestimate the interconnectivity of the strategy’s priorities. Just think how much a ‘good start in life’ relies on delivering ‘decent homes for all', ‘a healthy environment’ and ‘a safer Southwark’.
The strategy celebrates the amazing achievements of our children and your schools. It also recognises that we all need to continue improving outcomes, especially for those facing the most disadvantage in our communities. Our first steps over the next 12 months are captured in the Southwark 2030 Delivery Plan 2025-26. I think the work we’ve been doing to deepen the partnership between schools and the council is really key to this. Drawing on the great ideas for improvement that are born out of the school community and your unique place in child and family life means that we can keep being ambitious for our children.
The second development I wanted to mention is intrinsically linked to the first. Last month we signed off a new constitutional approach that sees the borough redefined as ten neighbourhoods, bringing new approaches to funding, planning, community engagement and accountability. This new structure reflects how our communities see the borough and challenges us to really think afresh about the borough as a whole and our different areas and communities. As a partnership it’s an opportunity to think more about the localisation of our services, our plans, investment and engagement – something that I’m guessing you have been waiting for the council to catch up with you on for a while!
With schools at the very the heart of our communities, this is an exciting time for us to think about how we could organise differently around you. How we might develop new ways of working together, and how localisation can supercharge the way we deliver Southwark 2030's ambition of ‘creating good lives together’.
It was great to see so many schools at our Headteachers’ Breakfast Forum in March, representing the whole family of Southwark schools, strengthening relationships with each other as well as hearing directly from the DfE about government plans for education. I hope heads found it useful to have the opportunity to collaborate together and hear from our local DfE delivery leads. Our next Headteachers' Breakfast Forum will be on 7 May from 8.30am to 10.00am (virtual). Please register to attend.
Michael Crowe
Assistant Director, Transformation and Operations
Key updates
>> Important update – changes to statutory guidance
The Department for Education (DfE) has updated its Early Years and Childcare Statutory Guidance, coming into effect from 1 April. The statutory guidance sets out in legislation the duties English local authorities must follow when securing free early education childcare places in their areas. The DfE have re-emphasised putting ‘transparency’ at the heart of how the entitlements are passed on to parents, including that all costs should be clear to parents upfront and there should be a greater clarification of what are considered 'consumables’.
>> Southwark term dates 2025/2026
Southwark Council's school term and holiday dates – academic year 2025/26.
>> Southwark governor training programme, Summer 2025
Our new training brochure for the Summer 2025 training programme is now live. We have sessions for new and longstanding governors, sessions which will develop your skills and specialist knowledge, and others aimed at chairs and leading governors. Please do share with your boards. Please email selina.mcclure@southwark.gov.uk with any questions.
>> 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.
>> Fully funded training course for school chefs – final cohort May
We invite chefs to join our last intake on the Chefs in Schools’ Chef Educator programme, a free 10-week course for school catering staff. This is open to all schools and the council can meet the cost of chef cover. Email louis@chefsinschools.org.uk to express your interest.
>> New HR policies and procedures
Schools’ HR is updating, as well as creating, new policies and procedures for our partner schools. We’re excited to share these four new updates supporting safer and more compliant workplaces.
- Recruitment and Selection Toolkit: Our new toolkit is designed to support schools in managing recruitment, ensuring compliance with UK employment law and safer recruitment requirements.
- New Low-Level Concerns policy: We are pleased to introduce our new Low-Level Concerns policy. A low-level concern is any concern that an adult working in, or on behalf of, a school may have acted in a way that is inconsistent with the Staff Code of Conduct.
- Model Code of Conduct: Updated in 2024, our Code of Conduct sets clear expectations for staff behaviour, ensuring high standards and reducing the risk of misconduct.
- Model Sexual Harassment policy: Our Model Sexual Harassment Policy was updated in 2024 along with sharing a duty to prevent sexual harassment handbook, risk assessment form and template training slides. These resources support schools’ commitment to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace, supporting those affected by it, and ensuring a safe, respectful work environment.
For more information visit our Education Learning and Achievement website or email schoolshr@southwark.gov.uk.
>> 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.
>> Learn about nature recovery and map your school’s habitats
The National Education Nature Park programme empowers children and young people to make a positive difference to both their own and nature's future. The project is encouraging schools to register and map their habitats. The mapping will enable you to measure and track your nature gains as your school goes through the free programme.
>> 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.
>> Evelina School Nursing – update on The Lancaster Model survey
During the spring term, the school nursing team have been focusing on delivering the Year 6 health and wellbeing questionnaire – 446 pupils have completed the survey across nine schools. The team have been reviewing responses and arranging visits to see children who may need further support.
>> 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.
>> Please share with your parents: Become a foster carer in Southwark
We’re looking for compassionate individuals to provide loving homes for children in need. Make a lasting difference with flexible placements including part-time, essential training, and financial support.
>> Rent useful items for staff, students or friends at Library of Things
There are now three Library of Things sites in Southwark, where you can rent useful household items like drills, carpet cleaners as well as party equipment like speakers and projectors. Find your nearest site, and start borrowing instead of buying.
What's on
>> Is your school ready for the digital phone switchover? – 28 April
2.00pm. The UK’s phone lines are getting an upgrade and the retirement of the analogue phone line and sunsetting of 2G and 3G services means that not only will calls go digital, but connected devices such as payment services, CCTV and lift lines will need to be checked for digital compatibility. Join this free webinar to learn more about the programme from the telecoms industry and hear from Government officials and case studies from settings that have already made the move to help you prepare. Please register in advance. Email sarah.shepherd@techuk.org with any questions.
>> Keeping Children in Education (KCIE) event – 30 April
1.30pm to 4.45pm, Tooley Street. Our next event KCIE event 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.
>> Governors' Forum dates 2025/26
Please hold the dates for this year’s Governors' Forum in your diaries. Please register your interest.
- 7 May, Tooley Street – 6pm
- 22 September, Zoom – 6pm
- 20 January 2026, Zoom – 6 pm
- 6 May 2026, Tooley Street – 6pm
>> New Safeguarding in Schools webinar series – starts 8 May
4.00pm to 5.00pm, MS Teams. We are pleased to launch a new, free series of half-termly webinar sessions each focusing on a different safeguarding topic, providing opportunities to learn more about issues relevant to Southwark schools. The first session 'reducing parental conflict' is for staff from all school settings exploring the harmful impact of parental conflict on children and young people and develop skills to support its reduction. To join the session, use the link above. If you would like to find out more, please email emma.geiringer@southwark.gov.uk.
>> 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.
>> Reading conference 'Turning Pages, Changing Futures' – 4 July
10.00am to 4.30pm, British Library. 'Turning Pages, Changing Futures: a conference on Reading for Pleasure, Social Justice and Opportunity' focusses on supporting children who face barriers to reading for pleasure rooted in economic inequality. Professor Teresa Cremin, Joseph Coelho and Farrah Serroukh are confirmed as speakers and there will be workshops from BookTrust and the National Literacy Trust.
>> 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.