Governance Today Summer 2021

Devon Education Fund The Devon Education Fund (DEF) is financed through benefits received from the Joint Venture between Devon County Council and Babcock LDP. It aims to provide £50k on an annual basis to fund ambitious and innovative ideas that will benefit learners in Devon from 0-25 years of age. This year £100k is available through the fund as no fund applications were made last year due to COVID-19. The fund opens up opportunities for schools, organisations and educational projects to generate new ideas and approaches to improve the lives of children and young people. The DEF is particularly interested in projects which focus on learning and achievement where children and young people are given opportunities to succeed and be heard, and where the workforce is skilled and well- motivated. The DEF wants to hear from schools, organisations and educational projects that exploit innovation and show a real ambition to enable children and young people in Devon to thrive and flourish. Grants of up to £20,000 for each individual project may be awarded. The project should support at least one of the following core themes: • Educational innovation and excellence • Raising standards, improving quality, extending educational opportunities • Leadership development • Student-led initiatives • Promoting community based intergenerational projects • Large-scale collaborative events • Supporting and promoting children’s social development to recover from the effects of the pandemic. Further details can be found on the LDP website: www.babcockldp.co.uk/about-us/devon-education-fund 23 Behaviour hubs The Department for Education (DfE) is funding a 3-year programme to improve pupil behaviour. The programme pairs schools and multi- academy trusts (MATs) with exemplary behaviour practices, called ‘lead schools’ or ‘lead MATs’, with partner schools or MATs who want and need to improve pupil behaviour. The programme is flexible with a tailored offer of support depending on partner schools’ circumstances but all partner schools can expect to get support with: • Diagnosing specific areas of improvement • Designing and developing new approaches to addressing poor behaviour • Developing clear, sustainable behaviour cultures for all pupils. In order to receive support through the programme partner schools must be rated ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted. Partner schools are expected to allocate around 20 to 30 days of staff time over a one year period to the programme; this time can be shared between different members of staff. A financial contribution will be made by the DfE to contribute to staff time and expenses at the end of the programme. Schools are welcome to join at any time, they do not have to wait for the start of each academic year. The core support offer includes an action planning session to identify the areas for change and how the change will be monitored, networking events and a follow up meeting at the end of the programme to review progress and identify next steps. The core offer also includes access to training on specific issues, common problems and effective approaches. In addition to the core offer there is an option for more in-depth one-to-one support to help diagnose behaviour issues through visits to the setting, develop and embed an action plan, co-deliver whole school training and provide on-going mentoring, coaching and monitoring. Further information can be found on the GOV.UK website: www.gov.uk/guidance/behaviour-hubs Training bookings On 1st September 2021 Babcock LDP will be applying an annual price increase across all its training courses. Any courses booked prior to 1st September will benefit from this year’s lower price. Summer 2021