Time is running out to notify the Child Benefit office if your child aged 16-19 is staying in approved education or training

You  must act now and notify the Child Benefit Office by 31 August 2022 if your child is aged 16  years or above and is staying on at school or in approved education or training.

Call the Child Benefit Office on 0300 200 3100 or report the change online

If you do this you can continue to receive Child Benefit for a child or young person aged 16-19. However, if your fail to notify the Child Benefit Office of this your Child Benefit, for any child aged 16 years or above, will stop automatically.

I have also attached a copy of a booklet we have prepared – ‘Financial support for families with children at school’ which gives details of financial support that may be available. There are hard copies of the booklet available and if you require copies, please e-mail me and I can get these sent out.

The links below also offer advice and assistance

Managing your money | North Lanarkshire Council

Cost of living help | North Lanarkshire Council

23.8.22 Financial support for families with children leaflet

As we move towards the beginning of the formal exam period on Tuesday, we know centres may have questions around public health guidance in relation to COVID-19.

This email provides advance information on the Scottish Government’s public health guidance, which is set to change in Scotland from 1 May, as well as an update on the Examination Exceptional Circumstances Consideration Service.

Public Health Guidance

For exams taking place before 1 May, the current public health guidance remains in place with PCR testing available for individuals who are symptomatic, and contact tracing and isolation guidance also remaining in place. Population wide asymptomatic testing (LFD universal offer) ended in mid-April, including in schools.

What is changing from 1 May?

From 1 May, advice to people with respiratory symptoms including COVID-19 will change in Scotland in line with the Test and Protect Transition Plan published on 15 March 2022. The general public will no longer be advised to seek a test if symptomatic.

From 1 May, people with symptoms of respiratory illness in Scotland, including COVID-19, will be asked to follow general public health guidance which will be available on 1 May. As set out on the Public Health Scotland website, this new guidance will be published on NHS Inform and will broadly align with the current UKHSA ‘Stay at Home’ Advice.

Information for parents, carers and learners

We understand that parents and carers may be anxious about the impact public health guidance may have on whether learners should attend exams if they feel unwell, and we know that many will look to you for advice. To that end we encourage you to use the following information with your networks:

Please see below a series of Construction based webinar events organised through DYW and Lanarkshire local and national businesses. The Webinars are available for all to attend and will be aimed to promote working in that sector. All sessions will also be interactive to allow feedback and a Q&A at the end of the session.

Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022 Daily Session Guide

Learning Teaching and Assessment Focus Group

We would like to invite all parents to join in our Have your say event focusing on Learning an Teaching in Taylor High school

Our Second ‘Have Your Say’ fortnight starts week commencing 7^th March with a focus on asking parents/carers on their views of the school’s approaches to Learning Teaching and Assessment. We aim to find out about the young person’s experiences within the classroom across all areas of the curriculum. It is important for young people to be aware of the reason for learning, (skills development) and what is expected of them, (success criteria) pupils should be aware of where they are in their learning (assessment) and how to improve (feedback).

We capture this information through an online survey and through an online video discussion group. The information gained from the survey, together with focus group discussions, will shape the teaching policy in Taylor High.

Online discussion forum takes place on Thursday 10^th March at 7pm

To sign up to the focus group please click here

Online survey opens today

To complete the online survey click here

In support of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022 running from 7^th March 2022 – 11^th March 2022 the Vocational Education Team are hosting a number of information sessions on Vocational Education & Foundation Apprenticeships available throughout North Lanarkshire.  This is an excellent opportunity for pupils, parents and employers to find out more about the programmes on offer.

 Each session will be tailored to specific groups to provide information on the programmes currently available, how they work, how they help young people on their career journey and how they help employers to support their future workforce needs. 

 Please see below links for people to attend these insightful sessions, we will communicate these links via the channels within the table below but have provided you with a copy to share with anyone else who may benefit from this.

Our first ‘Have Your Say’ fortnight starts next week with a focus on asking parents/carers on their views of the school’s approaches to communication. Effective engagement with parents and carers is a priority for us and we know it is important to you as well. Over the next 2 weeks, we would like to capture your feedback about how well we communicate with parents and carers. We will do this through an online survey, and also through an online video discussion group. The information gained from the survey, together with focus group discussions, will shape how both the school and the parent council communicate with our school community.

ONLINE SURVEY : Please click here to take a few minutes to share your thoughts and give us your feedback, as we’re always looking to improve.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO TAKE PART IN A DISCUSSION GROUP ON MONDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 7-8PM