Celebrating Warwickshire’s Family of Schools
Teaching School Hubs
Teaching School Hubs have been created by the DFE to provide high-quality professional development to teachers at all stages of their careers.
The DFE have designated three Teaching School Hubs that will work across Warwickshire. We are excited and honoured that we will be hosting the Central Warwickshire and Coventry Hub at Lawrence Sheriff, whilst Tudor Grange will serve South Warwickshire and John Taylor North Warwickshire.
Each will be working with all of the 250 schools in their region, whether academy or maintained.
Our experience to date has been very positive and we are delighted to be working closely with Coventry and Warwickshire LAs in this new role, as well as the Gateway Alliance and a series of primary, secondary, special and early years delivery partners across Coventry and Warwickshire. Please do not hesitate to contact us or the Hub in your area if you have programmes or skills that you would be interested in contributing to this new national initiative.
Over the coming weeks Hubs will be in contact to provide further information about:
- School based Initial Teacher Training (ITT)
- The newly developed Early Career Framework and the opportunity to access free of charge £3000 of support and materials for each teacher in their first or second years through each Hub. We will be hosting a webinar on the Early Careers Framework for those in Central Warwickshire on 29 April from 4-5 pm. The link to register for the event is
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoc-urqDgvHtBZTEfx6IweH48BWD4GPUwZ
- The revised suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) which will be available through Hubs from September
- Appropriate Body services for early career teachers
- Continuous Professional Development
How to reduce household transmission of COVID-19
How to reduce household transmission of COVID-19
As Warwickshire schools prepare to break up for the Easter holidays and the COVID-19 guidance has changed to allow up to 6 people or two households to meet outdoors, it is important to remind families about how they can stay as safe as possible over the break by reducing any potential COVID-19 transmission.
Below is an article that can be shared in your newsletters with information and tips to reduce coronavirus transmissions within and between households.
Staying safe over the Easter holidays
We’re about to start the Easter break and as COVID-19 restrictions ease we can now meet up in groups of up to 6 people or two households outdoors. As set out in the government roadmap, 12 April may also see further restrictions being eased and the opening of indoor leisure, hospitality, outdoor attractions and the long-awaited reopening of hairdressers and barbers to trim those lockdown hair styles. For full guidance, visit gov.uk/coronavirus.
With the changes to restrictions, you may decide to see and meet up with more people outside. To help keep yourself and those around you safe, remember hands, face, space and you are encouraged to get a COVID-19 test twice a week, even during the school holidays. If you do not have access to at home testing kits, you can also book an appointment at a community testing site. For more information about community testing, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/covidtesting. Students and their households are encouraged to test on Thursdays and Sundays weekly during the Easter break, especially during the final week before returning to school. For more information on testing for households of pupils and school staff, visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/covid-19-testing-warwickshire/testing-dont-covid-19-symptoms/3.
There are also steps you can take at home to reduce any potential transmission of COVID-19 in your household. Remember to regularly wash your hands and clean surfaces and allow fresh air into your homes to keep them ventilated.
If anyone in your household tests positive for COVID-19, everyone will need to self-isolate for 10 days. If someone in the household has COVID-19 symptoms (high temperature, new continuous cough, or loss of taste and smell) or tests positive for COVID-19 you can minimise spread of the virus:
- Try to keep 2 metres apart.
- Avoid using shared spaces at the same time and keep them clean.
- Sleep in a separate bed.
- Wear face coverings when you are in the same room.
- Use separate towels.
- Open windows for ventilation.
And don’t forget, when you’re out and about:
- Hands – Regularly wash your hands.
- Face - Wear a face covering if you can, when removing face coverings don’t touch your face with your hands.
- Space – Keep at least 2 metres apart from people outside your household or bubble.
If we all follow this guidance and take every opportunity to reduce transmission, we are more likely to move to the next steps of the roadmap which will see restrictions continue to lift.
For further information visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/coronavirus
Stress Awareness Month: get active with Wellbeing for Life
April is Stress Awareness Month and with a reported 65% of people feeling more stressed since the start of COVID-19*, health and care partners across Coventry and Warwickshire are marking the month by providing advice and support to help anyone suffering.
As feelings of isolation, uncertainty and loss of control remain at the forefront of people’s minds, this year’s theme for the month, co-ordinated by the Stress Management Society, is regaining connectivity, certainty and control.
Partners are encouraging people to take action against stress. It is estimated that it takes 30 days to turn positive actions into habits, and in light of this, Coventry and Warwickshire’s Wellbeing for Life initiative has produced the Active April calendar, designed to move towards positive behaviour change and build resilience for the future.
From cleaning to walking to dancing, the idea is to find time each day to do something active that is enjoyable and will relieve pressure, finding a sense of connectivity and control for Spring and beyond. The calendar encourages residents to keep active, take notice of their physical and mental health, as well as connect with others by sharing their activity each day and ultimately, have fun through the month.
The Step into Active April calendar can be downloaded from the new Wellbeing for Life website: wellbeing4life.co.uk. People can also share their Active April spring photos by using the hashtag #ActiveApril and tagging Coventry City Council or Warwickshire County Council on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
For anyone struggling, there are a range of mental health and wellbeing support services offered in a variety of ways across Coventry and Warwickshire.
*Data provided by the Stress Management Society.
The Domestic Abuse Bill 2021 - It's everyone's business to know!
Refuge has been commissioned by Warwickshire County Council to deliver a series of 20 webinars on the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill, to embed a holistic approach to domestic abuse across the county and send a message that domestic abuse is everyone’s business. These webinars will be delivered across April, May and June using Microsoft Teams.
To find out more please click here
Sustrans Big Pedal 2021
Warwickshire County Council’s Road Safety Education Team are supporting Sustrans Big Pedal, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling, walking, wheeling and scooting challenge running between 19 – 30th April.
Active travel has never been so important and has so many benefits for children, families and schools, including being great for children’s physical health and mental wellbeing and helping to reduce congestion and air pollution outside the school gate.
Warwickshire Road Safety Education Team would like Warwickshire schools to get involved! Schools will compete to see who can record the highest number of pupils, staff and parents taking active journeys to school. Pupils learning remotely can complete a physical activity at home or take another active journey with a family member. There are fantastic daily prizes to be won including accessories and equipment to help children travel actively.
The challenge is free to enter and schools can sign up to the Big Pedal 2021 by visiting www.bigpedal.org.uk and remember to contact us at roadsafetyeducationsafer@warwickshire.gov.uk to let us know how you are getting involved!
If your school is interested in promoting active travel and would like to participate in similar activities, why not sign up for our FREE Safe and Active Travel Award Programme. For more information contact Rachel at roadsafetyeducationsafer@warwickshire.gov.uk
Easter Holiday: Friday 2 – Friday 16 April 2021
During the Holiday
We have now come to the end of a very busy term, and hope that education leaders will have the opportunity to rest over the Easter holiday.
However, we are aware that there are some requirements of education settings during the holiday period and we have outlined these and the support available from Education Services. Click here.
Highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on Warwickshire residents
March 23 marked the one-year anniversary since the first national lockdown and was also the launch date for the Warwickshire County Council Director of Public Health’s annual report.
This year the report focuses on Warwickshire residents and their experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to understand how it has impacted on their health along with other challenges they have faced and where they have found support.
The current pandemic has affected everybody’s health and wellbeing. It has shone a light on the health inequalities which already existed in Warwickshire - for example, life expectancy is 8.2 years lower for men and 5.7 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Warwickshire than in the least deprived areas.
This year’s report uses a case study approach to share residents' experiences of testing positive with COVID-19 and living through lockdown. The report is a vital tool to raise awareness of the impact of the pandemic in our communities, highlighting what we must put in place to support everyone to recover from the pandemic, improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. The full report is available at warwickshire.gov.uk/publichealthannualreport
To accompany the report, COVID-19 Stories is an online gallery that shares additional stories from Warwickshire residents about their experiences through the pandemic. Photographs from across the county have been captured to illustrate the case studies. To view the gallery visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/covid19stories
An online dashboard called ‘Monitoring Health Inequalities’ is published alongside the report and considers health data over time at various geographies. The data relates to a range of themes covered in the report, including the wider determinants of health and inequalities and will continue to be added to as more data is made available. To view the dashboard visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/publichealthannualreport
Salford Priors CE Academy grows to achieve 50 pupils on roll
The team at Salford Priors are very proud to announce that they have achieved one of their dream goals in celebrating 50 pupils on roll at the end of March. This is a 34% increase in pupil numbers since they first became an academy 3 years ago.
They celebrated with the children by enjoying end-of-day cup-cakes, hand-decorated with a golden ‘50’ on them.
Their journey of growth continues and they look forward to celebrating again – hopefully under less restrictive circumstances – when they reach 60 pupils on roll!
This growth is largely thanks to the dedication of the school staff and governors, the hard work of the children and all the wonderful support that they receive from their loyal parents, church and community.
SACRE youtube channel launch
The SACRE YouTube channel has launched! This is where you can find videos made by SACRE members talking about how they have been celebrating festivals during lockdown.
Visit the youtube channel here.
They will be adding to these videos in the coming months: coming soon…Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr.
Do get in touch to let us know how you are using these videos and for general feedback: sacre@warwickshire.gov.uk
The Domestic Abuse Bill 2021 - It's everyone's business to know!
Refuge has been commissioned by Warwickshire County Council to deliver a series of 20 webinars on the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill, to embed a holistic approach to domestic abuse across the county and send a message that domestic abuse is everyone’s business. These webinars will be delivered across April, May and June using Microsoft Teams.
To find out more please click here
Championing Employability
Youth Champions course
The Warwickshire County Council ‘Let’s Do the Right Thing’ COVID – 19 Youth Champions Course is a new initiative with the purpose of establishing an additional channel of engagement with young people across the county with regard to COVID-19 prevention, correct information and messaging, and promoting vaccinations.
The course is jointly planned with Public Health, the Marketing and Communications Team, and several other partner agencies being involved in the delivery of presentations. As this is the pilot course, we are looking for young people, aged between 16-18, from across the county to complete the course, provide feedback for any improvements they feel need to be made or changes to the course and to become first COVID-19 Youth champions.
These champions will receive weekly information updates from WCC and will embark upon their own individual COVID-19 action plan.
The course has four specific aims:
1) To provide opportunities to learn how to be more active and involved - especially with reference to COVID-19 community recovery
2) To provide opportunities to learn about the impact of the pandemic locally and how to stay safe
3) Show how to help young people get information and support – to help extend protection and safety throughout the communities of Warwickshire
4) To support you to develop a personal action plan about what you can do as a COVID-19 Youth Champion.
5) To provide information and knowledge about services.
The course is free of charge. It is non-accredited, but participants receive a certificate and will be reimbursed for their time on completion, as a thank you.
We are asking Schools and colleges to become involved by means of asking if any students would be interested in helping us with the pilot course and to designate an adult lead that the young person will be able to go to for support if needed and to give consent for areas such as a display board/ posters being put up, possible talks in assemblies, items to go into newsletters etc.
If you are interested in your school/college to become involved in this exciting new project, have any questions or would like more information please could you contact:
Michelle Gravatt: 01926742946 Email: michellegravatt@warwickshire.gov.uk or Ripon Danis: 01926 742390 Email: ripondanis@warwickshire.gov.uk
Youth Community Champions Courses
Course Dates:
- Tuesday 27th April 2021
- Tuesday 4th May 2021
- Tuesday 11th May 2021
- Tuesday 18th May 2021
These are all from 4:00 – 5:30pm
Full details about these courses can be found in the flyer here.