I hope many of you have been able to enjoy the relative quiet of the half term break. I certainly have enjoyed a couple of days off and lots of glorious sunshine. As we continue through this busy time of year, no doubt you are continuing to work hard to navigate your way through the various hurdles and issues faced to deliver superb ‘in person’ meetings for your authorities.
I would like to echo John Austin’s words from last week, I have been hugely impressed with the way in which Democratic Services staff have risen to this challenge and have enjoyed watching a huge variety of ways in which meetings have been delivered across the Country. It truly does reflect our resilience and determination, as a sector. Keep going, we are moving ever closer to the August recess, at which point, hopefully, we can all take a well-earned breather.
Equality and Diversity Action Plan
Just over a week ago, marked the one year anniversary since the unlawful killing of George Floyd. I know many councils marked the day in various ways and are continuing to work to combat inequality in a variety of ways. At ADSO, we have been working to put in place an Equality & Diversity Action Plan which will contribute towards ensuring that we as a Board are inclusive in our practices and inclusion is central to everything we do.
Remote School Admission Appeal Hearings
I was pleased to see that the DfE are consulting our colleagues at NASAC (National Association of School Appeal Clerks), on the benefits and drawbacks of continuing with remote school admission appeal hearings. I appreciate many of you will be knee-deep in appeals, but if you are able to spare a little time, please do respond as it will shape the way in which appeals are heard in the coming years and ensure that we get the best possible format.
ADSO Autumn Webinars – School Admission Appeals
I am pleased to announce that in response to your requests, we will be delivering two webinars this autumn relating to school admission appeals. The first will be ‘School admission appeals, what are they?’ (September) and the second: ‘School admission appeals: best practice’ (November). Please look out for the dates for these webinars on the website if you are interested in attending, we will be confirming dates in the upcoming weeks.
ADSO Awards 2021
What a year we have had as a sector, please take a moment to recognise the phenomenal work of colleagues. It has been such an extraordinary year for us, with so many demands and challenges thrown at us. At ADSO, we are keen to celebrate the successes of colleagues and the excellence we know exists in the service.
Please give some thought to who you would like to recognise for going above and beyond to deliver excellence in the categories listed below. We have published on the website the details, criteria and application forms for the awards for Rookie of the Year and Learner of the Year plus our new Distinguished Service award. We hope to receive a record number of entries this year, so do get those entries in.
ADSO Members’ Forum
As ever, I have been pleased to see the forum continuing to be very active and a great place to share experiences and raise your questions and queries. Do visit and contribute to the forum by clicking on the link in the section below.
My Best Wishes, have a great week all.
Priya Patel, Company Secretary (Joint)