Cycle to work scheme - March 2019 
The cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme will be running throughout March 2019, to help with the cost of new bicycles and cycling equipment up to £2,000. The scheme will be open from 1st – 31st March 2019.  More information
Monday 18th February 2019 |
Herts for Learning among best in Britain for tackling anti-LGBT bullying
Stonewall, Britain’s leading lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) equality charity, has named Herts for Learning and Hertfordshire County Council as amongst the best local organisations for tackling anti-LGBT bullying and celebrating difference in its schools. Herts for Learning and Hertfordshire County Council’s joint entry ranked at third place in this year’s Education Equality Index. The Index measures local authorities’ success in supporting young LGBT people. More information
Monday 18th February 2019 |
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Herts for Learning helps schools achieve high performance for all
Following on from a highly successful session at Birchwood High School in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts for Learning have launched an all-staff INSET day to develop a home and school-wide culture to help close attainment gaps, called ‘Achieving a High Performance Culture for All’. More information
Thursday 14th February 2019 |
The Daily Mile Film Partnership - closes 25th February 2019
FOX and The Daily Mile Foundation want to encourage children across the UK to join the 'quest' to get Fit For Life, by signing up to The Daily Mile initiative. A competition is being run where-by a class of children and their teacher/s can win a chance to see the film "The Kid Who Would Be King" in Cinemas. All they need to do is take a photograph of them doing their Daily Mile, upload it to Twitter with #DailyMileQuest and they go in the draw. More information
Thursday 14th February 2019 |
EU exit: no deal preparations for schools in England
The Government has issued some guidance for schools in the event of a no deal Brexit. Further information from the DfE
Thursday 14th February 2019 |
The Exchange e-bulletin (12th February)
This week’s edition of The Exchange e-bulletin, HfL’s roundup of the latest news from local and national media sources, includes… Education Secretary sets out vision for character and resilience, Minister calls to dispel girls’ misconceptions of STEM subjects, and Herts for Learning English blog: Can you recommend a good book about the Romans? Read the latest edition here or subscribe to get the weekly e-bulletin straight to your inbox.
Wednesday 13th February 2019 |
The Herts for Learning KS2 Spelling SOS Project
The next 8-week programme for schools looking to improve their KS2 pupils’ spelling achievement will start on Monday 25th March 2019. More information
Wednesday 13th February 2019 |
Be inspired at the HfL Leadership Forum, Tuesday 12th March 2019
We are now a month away from the HfL Leadership Forum with Martin Post. This half-day event provides the perfect opportunity for headteachers, governors and school business professionals to examine the power of strong leadership. Join us for networking and relationship building and hear from expert speakers providing a national perspective, panel questions and a focussed workshop. Attendees are invited from all phases of education settings and both maintained schools and academies. This is an opportunity not to be missed, so secure your place today. More information
Monday 11th February 2019 |
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Break-ins
We have been notified of a number of break-ins at schools across Hertfordshire. Please ensure alarms are set and the school is left secure. If possible arrange for extra checks of the premises to be conducted.
Wednesday 6th February 2019 |
The Exchange e-bulletin (5th February)
This week’s edition of The Exchange e-bulletin, HfL’s roundup of the latest news from local and national media sources, includes… Ban phones in schools, says minister Nick Gibb, multiplication Tables Check: 10 things you need to know, and nominations for HfL non-executive director now open. Read the latest edition here or subscribe to get the weekly e-bulletin straight to your inbox.
Wednesday 6th February 2019 |
NJC scales for April 2019
The NJC scales for April 2019 have been added to the Grid. These include pay award information for schools and employees, salary scales and FAQs. More information
Monday 4th February 2019 |
The Armed Forces Covenant Schools Christmas Art competition
The sixth Armed Forces Covenant Schools Christmas Art competition took place at the end of 2018. This was another successful event with over 800 entries from 22 schools across Hertfordshire. Thank you to all the schools that took part, your participation is greatly appreciated. Congratulations to Annabelle from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Royston and Alfie from Garden Fields JMI School in St Albans. Full details about the competition, the prize giving assemblies with photos and the winning pictures are available on the Hertfordshire Heroes website. More information
Monday 4th February 2019 |
Election process for HfL non-executive directors: Nominations now open!
In March 2019 there will be three vacancies on the HfL Board; two for non-executive directors elected by secondary school shareholders and one for a non-executive director elected by primary school shareholders. As part of the election process, shareholding schools are invited to nominate secondary and primary school non-executive directors for the HfL Board. There will then be a voting period for shareholding schools to elect their new non-executive directors. For nomination forms please see More information
Monday 4th February 2019 |
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Phishing Emails
The Herts for Learning ICT Service Desk have had a number of reports today, regarding phishing emails being sent to schools in Hertfordshire. The emails display a blue box asking the user to click it to display the complete message, if a user clicks the button it takes them to a page pre populated with the users email address asking for a password. Under no circumstances should users enter their passwords on any screen that looks suspicious. If you do receive an email that you are unsure of please right click the email and mark it ask junk. To try and prevent users accidently entering their password HICS have blocked the address that the current mail points to, however these usually change regularly. View image here
Thursday 31st January 2019 |
Primary science assessment moderation clusters – spring 2019
These cluster meetings will give teachers an opportunity to discuss their evidence teacher assessment with other teachers and science advisers. This will be particularly useful in identifying any gaps in pupils' skills and understanding that need to be addressed before the final assessments are made. More information
Thursday 31st January 2019 |
500 Words Story Writing Competition (BBC 2)
A competition for 5-13 year olds with a category for under 9s and 10-13s. Entries must be an original piece of fiction and not an account of real events – either historical or current. However, stories can feature well known public figures from present day or from history (e.g. Wayne Rooney or Charles Darwin) take place in historical eras (e.g. the English Civil War) or use real-life experiences as a creative springboard as long as the story is FICTIONAL. More information
Wednesday 30th January 2019 |
The Exchange e-bulletin (29th January)
This week’s edition of The Exchange e-bulletin, HfL’s roundup of the latest news from local and national media sources, includes… information on the new Recruitment and retention strategy for teachers, new blog post in the Love that Book series looking at The Secret of Black Rock, and Hertfordshire to be national trailblazer in schools’ mental health support. Read the latest edition here or subscribe to get the weekly e-bulletin straight to your inbox.
Wednesday 30th January 2019 |
Hertfordshire Year 7 Maths Challenge 2019
Entries are invited for the Year 7 mathematics challenge 2019. Each school is encouraged to submit a team of four Year 7 pupils for this friendly inter-school competition. The challenge will comprise a mixture of challenge, problem-solving and fun. There are four heats scheduled across the County in March. Winners from individual heats will go forward to the final, to be held on Wednesday 24th April at the Hertfordshire Development Centre. More information
Wednesday 30th January 2019 |
Assessment moderation clusters for teachers of Years 5 and 6 – spring 2019
Bookings are open for our Year 5 and 6 assessment moderation clusters, running in local areas from 27th February to 12th March. This year, to consolidate last year’s significant revisions to the Teacher Assessment Framework (TAF) for writing, we will again be focusing solely on writing. More information
Tuesday 29th January 2019 |
Herts for Learning Primary Headteachers’ Seminars: spring 2019
We are pleased to confirm the programme for the spring term primary headteachers’ seminars. More information
Monday 28th January 2019 |
Updated guidance and forms for purchasing cards
Maintained schools are able to access a purchasing card through a central Hertfordshire County Council contract with Natwest. More information
Wednesday 23rd January 2019 |
The Exchange e-bulletin (23rd January)
This week’s edition of The Exchange e-bulletin, HfL’s roundup of the latest news from local and national media sources, includes… New Apprenticeship Campaign 'Fire It Up' launches, nationally renowned speakers announced for the HfL Secondary Mathematics Conference 2019, and Ofsted: Education inspection framework 2019: inspecting the substance of education. Read the latest edition here or subscribe to get the weekly e-bulletin straight to your inbox.
Wednesday 23rd January 2019 |
RSE News Digest update
A new monthly digest of education news for RSE for Hertfordshire schools. More information
Tuesday 22nd January 2019 |
Nationally renowned speakers announced for the HfL Secondary Mathematics Conference 2019
Herts for Learning (HfL) is excited to announce the full programme of their Secondary Mathematics conference, taking place later this term. The conference entitled Intelligent Practice to Raise Student Achievement is taking place on Monday 18th March 2019 and will include speakers from AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR, Atlas Teaching School and Advanced Mathematics Support Programme. Craig Barton, renowned mathematics educator and author, and Andrew Taylor, Head of Curriculum for Mathematics, AQA, will deliver the keynote address and set the theme for the day. More information
Thursday 17th January 2019 |
Developing Young Scientists bundle offer
‘Developing young scientists – a guide to child‑led enquiry’ and ‘Developing young scientists – a guide to supporting children in reviewing, reporting and writing in science’ are now available. A special bundle offer is available along with additional audit tools to support schools in evaluating and improving enquiries and recording in science. More information
Thursday 17th January 2019 |
The Exchange e-bulletin (16th January)
This week’s edition of The Exchange e-bulletin, HfL’s roundup of the latest news from local and national media sources, includes… Facebook backs DfE online safety lessons for pupils, having your say on Ofsted's new inspection plans, and HfL English blog: Getting more mileage out of the Y5/6 spelling list. Read the latest edition here or subscribe to get the weekly e-bulletin straight to your inbox.
Wednesday 16th January 2019 |
Consultation on the new Ofsted Framework (to take effect from September 2019)
The consultation document, online survey, and draft handbooks can be accessed from at www.gov.uk/ofsted, as well as a research overview commentary and school inspection update. Consultation closes 5th April 2019.
Wednesday 16th January 2019 |
Financial Services helpdesk
Budgets: Financial Services are planning towards the release of the maintained schools budgeting software for year 2019/20. In preparation for the addition of this the year 2017/18 will be removed from the budgeting software by Thursday 17th January. If you wish to retain information from the budget 2017/18 it is suggested that the “Hertfordshire Report Pack” report within the software is run and stored securely. If you have questions regarding this please contact the Helpline.
Monday 14th January 2019 |
Active Lives Survey for Children and Young People – data for schools
In September 2017 Sport England launched the new school-based ‘Active Lives Survey for Children and Young People’ to measure participation in sport and physical activity among children in school years 1 to 11. Replacing the Active People survey, Active Lives is the biggest of its kind and gathers data relating to pupil’s sporting behaviours and attitudes, swimming ability, wellbeing, volunteering, and even sports spectating. Completion of the survey provides participating schools with insightful data which can be used to demonstrate the impact of the Sport Premium and to underpin Ofsted reporting. Schools also receive a small amount of funding as a ‘thankyou’. The Herts Sports Partnership has been tasked with administering the survey within Hertfordshire and, has recently been issued with the list of schools and year groups for the Spring 2019 term that we are required to work with. You can find out if your school is on the current list at www.sportinherts.org.uk/pe-sport-premium/active-lives/ or by contacting Shelley Woods on 01707 285887 or at s.woods4@herts.ac.uk.
Friday 11th January 2019 |
Wellbeing in-school training and consultancy support
The Herts for Learning (HfL) Wellbeing advisers offer a wide range of in school training
sessions and consultancy support for schools, MATs, settings and parents/carers throughout
the year, with additional services added to meet demand. Contact us to discuss your specific
requirements or to make a booking by emailing: wellbeing@hertsforlearning.co.uk More information (pdf)
Friday 11th January 2019 |
Herts for Learning non-executive director nomination process for secondary school and primary school shareholders Important
In March 2019 there will be three vacancies on the HfL Board. As part of the election process, HfL’s shareholding schools are invited to nominate secondary and primary school non-executive directors for the HfL Board. Further information and nomination forms
Wednesday 9th January 2019 |
The HfL 2019 Secondary Mathematics Conference, Intelligent Practice to Raise Student Achievement with Craig Barton and Andrew Taylor - 18th March 2019.
The final programme of workshops as now been announced for the conference and will include presentations by Samantha Burns and Pietro Tozzi from Edexcel Pearson, Neil Ogden from OCR, Robert Wilne from Atlas Teaching School and Val Pritchard from Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP). More information
Wednesday 9th January 2019 |
The Exchange e-bulletin (8th January)
This week’s edition of The Exchange e-bulletin, HfL’s roundup of the latest news from local and national media sources, includes… Damian Hinds: Learning life-saving skills in school is crucial, Ofsted Curriculum research: assessing intent, implementation and impact, and a HfL Early Years blog about five simple ways to help stop coughs and sneezes in Early Years settings. Read the latest edition here or subscribe to get the weekly e-bulletin straight to your inbox.
Wednesday 9th January 2019 |
GCSE mathematics and English 2019 GCSE revision workshops
The Herts for Learning GCSE Maths and AQA GCSE English workshops are designed to motivate and challenge students in an engaging, focused and active learning environment. Subject experts provide additional tuition with one goal – to help your child perform to their full potential in the summer examinations. More information
Wednesday 9th January 2019 |
FREE Parent Workshops for secondary schools - ‘Talking about sex and relationships with your teenager’
The average teenager receives messages about sex and relationships from a wide range of sources including teachers, friends, TV and social media as well as whatever they learn at home. But with an increasing number of teenagers admitting to learning most about sex from watching online porn there are concerns that some information is inaccurate, misleading or even damaging. So it’s important young people learn not only the ‘facts of life’ but also develop the skills to evaluate risks and make healthy decisions. More information
Wednesday 9th January 2019 |
2Simple Purple Mash ‘Mash Meet’ at Hertfordshire Development Centre
If you are interested in finding out more about Purple Mash, the all-in-one, online curriculum software platform for primary schools, from 2Simple, or would like to improve your existing practice, you can attend a ‘Mash Meet’ that’s free for Hertfordshire Schools. More information
Tuesday 8th January 2019 |
Financial Services helpdesk
The Financial Services helpdesk will be closed for training on Tuesday 12th March 2019. Calls to the helpline will be taken and attended to following the training.
Thursday 3rd January 2019 |
Parental Drug and Alcohol Awareness workshops
Choices about drugs and alcohol might be made much earlier then many parents / carers realise, with some children exposed before they leave primary school. Whilst schools provide drug education for pupils, HCC builds on this by offering Parental Drug and Alcohol Awareness workshops to help families carry on learning together at home. More information
Monday 31st December 2018 |
Insurance charges
As you may have noticed you had not been charged for Engineering when all other Insurances were recharged, this is due to obtaining the breakdown from the Insurer. The Engineering recharges are now being put through via the biscuit. For some schools you may notice two recharges. One recharge for 18/19 and the other is an adjustment for 17/18. For the 17/18 adjustment you will see either a refund or recharge. More information
Friday 21st December 2018 |
New online safety news letter for spring term 2019
The new parent and teacher issue of the online safety news letter for the 2019 spring term is now available. This issue features information about digital wellbeing, online challenges and peer pressure, making sense of relationships, relationships and sex education and picture books with an online safety message by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross. More information
Wednesday 19th December 2018 |
My Big Career workshops 2019
Herts for learning has teamed up with My Big Career to provide unrivalled opportunities for disadvantaged, Post-16 leaners. These include ‘Insight Days’ at leading organisations (Vogue, Sky, Avalon and M&C Saatchi Merlin and others).
This partnership will also provide young people with the opportunity to sign up for an ‘Access to Medicine’ course, which will provide the knowledge, skills and understanding to ensure budding medics are fully equipped to complete their UCAS application and confident in their approach to the challenging interview process for medical degree courses. More information (docx)
Tuesday 18th December 2018 |
URGENT ALERT FROM HFL: Example of a phishing attempt
Herts for Learning would like to make you aware of a very convincing phishing attempt, which has affected one of our schools in Hertfordshire. Please ensure that all email users are aware that once logged into their account, they should never have to enter their password to view the content of an email, and they should never be required to enter payment details. More information
Friday 14th December 2018 |
Driving a minibus - training from HCC now available for school staff
Hertfordshire County Council is now offering practical training for school staff to enable them to add minibus (D1) entitlement to their driving licence. This is essential for any employee who wishes to drive a minibus, regardless of the weight of the vehicle. More information (pdf)
Thursday 6th December 2018 |
URGENT ALERT FROM HFL: Hacked email accounts
Herts for Learning have recently seen a rise in the number of compromised Office 365 accounts; in most cases the accounts have been accessed by the hacker simply guessing the users password. These are referred to as brute force attacks. The hacker will use a program to try thousands in an automated fashion. Once the hacker gains access to the users email sometimes they are just sending lots of junk messages to other users within the school and externally. Others are sending emails internally in the schools with fake invoices and bank account details. HfL is taking action to address but also require urgent actions from schools. More information
Thursday 6th December 2018 |
LGBT History Month, February 2019 – Sharing good practice
Hertfordshire’s LGBTQ+ children and young people working group are inviting Hertfordshire schools to help us to mark LGBT History Month, February 2019. We would like you to consider submitting a brief description and/or photographs of activities, events and/or developments in LGBTQ+ that you have been involved in over 2018 or have planned for 2019 so we can share good practice in Hertfordshire schools. More information
Thursday 6th December 2018 |
Herts for Learning launches The Great School Framework: building on The Nine Pillars of Great Schools
To support its work on school improvement, Herts for Learning (HfL) has launched The Great School Framework©, an aspirational vision of the features of a great school which focuses on the holistic outcomes for children. More information
Monday 3rd December 2018 |
Helping to remove key barriers to securing optimum outcomes
HfL research projects and programmes starting this spring to help improve spelling, phonics, comprehension, sentence structure and punctuation. More information
Monday 3rd December 2018 |
