We are pleased to welcome our first cohort of our Kickstart Participants joined the HEART Education Trust on 8 th March 2021. The Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new job placements for 16 to 24 year olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment.
These placements will last for six months and over this time the participants will gain work experience, develop employability skills and undertake further training and qualifications.

We are offering placements in a range of areas including:
 Graduate Teaching Interns
 Early Years Teaching Assistants
 SEND Teaching Assistants
 Learning Support Assistants
 Office Administration Trainees

We currently have 24 Kickstart participants on placements across the HEART Education Trust and will have a further 6 join during the Summer Term. Each participant has been allocated a mentor in school and will become part of the school staff for the duration of their placement to give
them high quality work experience.

Utilising the grant we receive for each participant we have devised a programme of experience, study and qualifications for these Kickstart participants which is of very high quality. We feel that young people have had a particularly tough time with the COVID-19 pandemic and that this is a
way we can give something back and improve their life chances. The HEART Education is committed to raising the aspiration of young people and enabling them to develop and grow. We felt that the Kickstart scheme fulfils our ethos and vision. We have worked in conjunction with Norfolk County Council and external providers Vision Education and First Aid at Work Norfolk to be able to offer the participants a range of nationally recognised qualifications including:
 Level 2 Supporting Teaching and Learning
 Level 3 Teaching and Leading Primary PE
 Level 3 Foundation Level School Business Administration
 Paediatric First Aid Training

Alongside these qualifications the participants will also be accessing nationally recognised CPD certificated training in a range of areas specific to their placements and interests. As part of their placement each participant will be creating a portfolio to take to prospective employers
evidencing their training, qualifications and experience.

The placements commenced with an intensive week of training which we delivered at Carrow Road. Norwich City Football Club were keen to work in partnership with us and provided the training facilities at a reduced rate. We felt that it was important to provide professional facilities and training and an external speaker commented on how professional our training programme, presentations and delivery were.

Over the course of the week we delivered training in a range of areas to ensure that the Kickstart Participants were school ready. This included training in a number of areas which underpin the roles that are participants will carry out in our schools:
 Introduction to the HEART Education Trust – vision and values
 Safeguarding Training
 Online Safety
 Prevent
 Code of Conduct and Expectations of staff
 Behaviour Policy
 Managing Challenging Behaviour
 Maths
 Phonics and Reading
 EYFS
 Supporting SEND
 Supporting Teaching and Learning

During the school Easter holiday our participants have been busy with their two day paediatric first aid training. They have also spent 4 days learning new PE skills which they are keen to implement in their classrooms during the Summer Term. This training will continue with regular take on sessions over the next six months to extend and deepen the participants knowledge.

The participants have all started in their placements schools and we have been very pleased by the standard of the participants and their levels of commitment and enthusiasm displayed so far.

We hope to recruit a second cohort of Kickstart participants to complete a six month placement starting in September 2021. If you are interested please contact Sarah Porter on kickstart@thehearteducationtrust.co.uk for further information.

“Following a thorough risk assessment and an analysis of staff available to work, The HEART Education Trust have made provision for keyworker and vulnerable children  at Henderson Green, Lingwood and Valley Primary academies to attend childcare facilities at Heartsease Primary Academy.  Transport has been provided for these pupils.  We have made alternative arrangements for the 3 families who requested keyworker childcare support during the Easter holiday.

We would like to thank Kier who have supported us to keep Heartsease open and to Norse Catering Services who have provided lunches for children attending Heartsease and for those families who requested a packed lunch under the Free School Meals Provision.

We would also like to thank our staff who have put themselves on the frontline in helping to keep our schools open and all of the staff who have prepared and photocopied packs of work for pupils and maintained a Distance Learning Service daily on line to ensure that our pupils have been able to keep up a good standard of learning.

We would also like to extend our thanks to all of our parents who have supported their children to complete work both on line and in paper forms.

Norfolk County Council Trading Standards – Scam Alert
The Department of Education are warning that parents and carers are being targeted by scammers. 

Fraudsters are targeting families, emailing parents and carers with messages such as “if your child is entitled to Free School Meals send your bank details to the school and they will help with funding while the school is closed.”

The email contains links for parents to follow if they want to reserve the funding. These links are fake. This is a scam.

The HEART Education Trust in Norfolk has launched an initiative to increase the uptake of universal infant free school meals across its four primary academies.  From 6^th January, pupils will no longer bring packed lunches to school but will instead get a free hot meal.  Trust CEO Christina Kenna said, “We have introduced this new initiative as part of our vision to give children the best possible chances in life.  Not only will they concentrate better and be ready to learn if they have had a proper hot meal at lunchtime, but they will also learn to make healthier choices about what they eat and get the right nutrition to grow up healthy.”  A 2012 pilot study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that Year 6 students in areas of universal provision made an additional two months’ progress over the course of two years relative to similar students in other areas. These significant effects were roughly equivalent to the benefits from national programmes such as the “literacy hour”.

Trust leaders cite a 2018 Education Policy Institute report, where parents were said to be saving an average of 50 minutes and £10 each week as a result of UIFSM.  “Schools receive funding specifically for the purpose of providing hot meals to children in Reception and Key Stage One” says Trust COO, Hazel Cubbage.  “It seems ridiculous for parents to struggle to plan and pay for lunches when we can provide them for free.”

The Trust says that parents of children with special dietary requirements should not be concerned by the move.  “We have worked closely with our caterers to ensure we can provide a wide menu selection that accommodates a range of dietary needs, including vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free options.  Children will have a choice between three hot meal options, a jacket potato with a selection of three different toppings and access to a salad bar.”

In its letter to parents communicating the initiative, the Trust referred to the positive difference it would make to preserving the planet for its children.  Trust COO, Hazel Cubbage, said “Everything we do is about improving the futures of our children, but what future will they have if we destroy their planet and teach them to do the same? We are incredibly conscious of our responsibility as an organisation to make sustainable choices.” 

The Trust advises that the initiative is completely in keeping with its organisational values, which include inspiring and empowering personal growth, promoting social mobility and a commitment to social responsibility.  “At The HEART Education Trust we are trailblazers.  It is our hope that other schools and academies will see what we are doing and follow suit.”

Key Stage 2 pupils, who are not entitled to free meals under the government’s UIFSM programme will continue to bring in packed lunches.