At the end of last term the Department sent out a brochure and CD-Rom to all primary schools to introduce Sing Up, the Music Manifesto’s National Singing Programme, which is part of the Government’s £332m investment in music education. It is hoped that you found it interesting and useful.

This is simply a reminder that the DCSF can help develop singing in your school, by providing FREE materials, training and on-the-ground support. The ultimate aim is to support all schools in England in becoming singing schools, so if your school isn’t one of the 10,000 already registered, simply visit the website below, click the login button and follow the instructions.

DCSF Exclusion guidance has been updated and will come into effect from the September term 2008. Changes will include: alterations in the provision of suitable full-time education from ex-BIP schools; provision now need not be made until the sixth day of exclusion (rather than the first day); updates to reflect the introduction of statutory management committees in PRUs; and LAs should now carry out a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) after a permanent exclusion if it has not been done already.

EduBase is changing, and Version 2 of the service will go live on 1 September 2008. The look and feel of the system will change, but it will be easier to use, and over the next 6 months, further enhancements will be made to the system to allow schools greater freedom to record their details (such as split sites and delivery addresses). Contact email addresses and phone numbers will remain unchanged.

If you have a link from your school website to your latest inspection report on the Ofsted website, you may need to check and re-instate the link, following planned upgrades to the Ofsted site.

Links to Ofsted's home page and their reports search engine (www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports) will NOT be affected. But links straight to a particular report probably will.

The planned improvements to Ofsted's site include faster performance, better searches, and a switch to user-friendly page addresses (Uniform Resource Locators, or URL). The URL changes will be a long-term improvement, but have led to the need to check and refresh certain links from other sites.

Ofsted apologises for any inconvenience this may cause.

The work permit scheme will be replaced in November 2008 by a new points-based system. Schools and LAs bringing non EEA/Swiss teachers (overseas teachers) to the UK will be required to hold a Home Office sponsor licence before they can apply to bring overseas teachers to the UK.

Instead of applying for work permits, licensed sponsors will issue a certificate of sponsorship to each overseas teacher allowing them to apply for entry to the UK. The Home Office announced that employers wishing to issue certificates of sponsorship when the new scheme opens in late November should apply to the UK Border Agency for a sponsor licence as soon as possible and no later than 1 October 2008.

This is a reminder to schools and governors to respond to the School Admissions Consultation 2008. The consultation outlines proposed changes to the admissions process for parents to make it as fair, transparent and straightforward as possible. The DCSF would welcome your views on the proposals by the closing date of 2 October 2008. The full consultation and supporting documents can be accessed from the consultations website below.

As part of the transition to the new Vetting and Barring Scheme (starting October 2009), the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) now advises the Secretary of State on barring (List 99, PoCA, PoVA). In the next stage of transition, from winter 2008 (subject to Parliamentary approval), employers must send new referrals under these lists to the ISA, who will take all barring decisions, and where the ISA investigates, organisations will have to provide information on request.

The ISA recommends you to act by October to cascade this message within your sector(s) so employers are aware and can act in good time, and to remind employers to fulfil existing pre-employment responsibilities, e.g. taking up references and conducting checks.

This draft guidance which is being consulted upon will replace the current guidance on 'Children involved in Prostitution', issued in 2000. It will be supplementary guidance to 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' (HMG 2006).

The guidance is aimed at Local Safeguarding Children Board partners, practitioners and other professionals working with children and young people. It aims to provide information about different forms of sexual exploitation to help local agencies develop local prevention strategies; identify those at risk of sexual exploitation; take action to safeguard and promote the welfare of particular children and young people who may be sexually exploited; and take action against those intent on abusing and exploiting children and young people in this way.

Please note that the consultation runs from the 18 July until 10 October.

International Education Week (IEW) is an excellent opportunity to show the world how an international dimension has benefited your school, college or organisation. The Department encourages everyone at all levels of education across England to join in the celebrations.

You don't have to do anything extra, but if you are planning any events related to your international activities for the Autumn, then consider holding them between 17-21 November so the whole country can celebrate together. Email iew.england@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk with details of any international events your school is holding this Autumn.