Dear Colleague

I wrote to all Shropshire schools and academies on 6 January 2014 with a pro-forma detailing all the support services available for your school to purchase from Shropshire Council for the financial year 2014-15, which included details on the various options and charges (noting there was a separate pro-forma for property services). Further details on the service specifications can be found by selecting this link

The initial deadline for the return of completed pro-formas is Friday 28 February 2014. Thank you to those schools who have already returned their forms, as well as to those who are planning to return their forms by this date. A number of schools have reported that the governor meeting to approve the pro-formas falls after this date. If this is the case for your school, could you please contact Sarah Jones or Rachel Lawson in the CPD team on 01743 254458 or 01743 254437 to advise them of when your governors are meeting and when you will be able to return your pro-formas.

It will be possible to return part completed pro-formas by 28 February in the event that there are only a small number of SLAs requiring governor approval, for example, where some market testing has been carried out. The final completed pro-forma can be submitted after governors have met and made a decision on the remaining services. This would be particularly helpful in informing service managers as early as possible on buy-back levels so that they can properly plan their staffing for April. In this case could you please clearly mark the pro-forma as ‘Part completed’ and subsequently ‘Final’.

Karen Bradshaw emailed all schools and academies on 23 January 2014 to inform them of the Shropshire Council Cabinet decision to create a ‘Inspire to Learn’ team, transferring education support services into the Council’s wholly owned company ip&e (Inspiring Partnerships & Enterprise). Following this email there have been briefings for headteachers and governors outlining the aims and principles of the new company and affirming of the commitment to continue supporting Shropshire schools and developing, in partnership, the best services possible to meet your needs. 

The briefings highlighted the importance of this round of SLAs and the need for schools to buy in to the vision for the transformation of education support services by a wholly owned Shropshire company working with and for Shropshire schools during the 2014-15 financial year, both figuratively and literally. The SLAs you are purchasing will be fully honoured in the next twelve months as services transition into the new company. You will receive no reduction in service and may even, in certain service areas, see significant improvement as planned developments begin to work through. The company is totally committed to redesign and improve services for Shropshire schools. Some swift improvements will be made. Others may take a little longer. Schools are asked to make this commitment to the continued investment in an organisation that is working with you and for you in delivering the best educational outcomes for the young people and communities of Shropshire.

Thank you in advance for your co-operation with these pro-formas. If you have any queries of do not hesitate to contact me – service specific queries should be directed to the individual service managers.

Yours sincerely
Phil Wilson
Service Delivery Manager – Business Support
Learning & Skills Group
phil.wilson@shropshire.gov.uk
Tel: 01743 254344
Fax: 01743 254538