Religious Education support for schools

During the spring and summer terms, Warwickshire SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) will be conducting Religious Education monitoring visits.

SACRE will use Ofsted and SIAMS (Church school) reports to offer support to schools where Religious Education (RE) or SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural) development has been highlighted as an area for improvement.

SACRE would also like to offer schools the opportunity to request an RE monitoring visit. This might be particularly useful to provide an external view in the following circumstances:

• Schools expecting an Ofsted inspection soon
• Schools expecting a SIAMS inspection soon
• RE is on the school development plan
• Schools with no one currently leading on RE

To request a visit, please email Jennifer Jenkins (RE Facilitator for Coventry and Warwickshire) at jenniferjenkins@warwickshire.gov.uk

This previous Heads Up article has more information about SACRE's monitoring policy.

Police warning after Fortnite pens concealing knives found in West Midlands

This is a warning from the police and the community safety team, after pupils in some Birmingham and Coventry schools have been spotted with ‘fortnite’ pens which look harmless but once unscrewed reveal a knife/blade inside the body of the pen.

There have been cases of a number of pupils in the West Midlands area being found in possession of these pens. There is some concern that pupils in Warwickshire may be able to access these pens, especially considering the current craze with the video game ‘fortnite’.

Below is an example of one of the pens in circulation.

You can read more in this article from the Birmingham Mail. 

Annual Music Conference for Warwickshire Schools

Thursday March 7th 2019, 9.30am - 3.30pm at Bulkington Village Centre

Last year Warwickshire Music ran its first Schools’ Conference for colleagues from all key stages and it was a remarkable success with increased delegate numbers – so we are doing it again.

Why should you allow your music specialist to attend?

• Free attendance
• £200 to pay for a cover teacher
• Free gift for all delegates
• The priceless opportunity to meet, to play, to talk and to learn with musically minded colleagues

The Warwickshire Music Annual Schools’ Conference is for everyone working in education who values music: classroom teachers; music teachers; music co-ordinators; secondary music teachers and head teachers.

There was a strong request from last year’s delegates for more practical workshops and more information about the amazing range of music opportunities that Warwickshire Music supports.

This year we will also focus on supporting schools for the Music Mark Award and Artsmark awards.

There are limited spaces so book now using the online form to guarantee your place:

Book my place at the Warwickshire Music Annual Schools' Conference

Please feel free to forward this invitation to colleagues in your school or setting. Come along and find out how Warwickshire Music can contribute to a broad and balanced curriculum for your school.

Jeremy Dibb
Director Warwickshire Music

Show your support for Self Harm Awareness Day - 1 March

Many young people self-harm at some point in their lives, but stigma and misconceptions can make it hard to reach out for support. Friday 1st March marks international Self Harm Awareness Day which aims to tackle stigma and ensure people get the support they need.

Partners across Coventry and Warwickshire are working together to review the support available for young people who are self-harming as well as their parents, carers and professionals that they are in contact with.

We encourage schools to consider raising awareness around the day to help support students that may be experiencing emotional distress that leads to self-harming.

The Young Minds project: No Harm Done, provides an informative toolkit which includes videos and guides about recognising self harm, seeking help and coming out the other side. Resources are available for young people, parents and professionals. 

Rise is Coventry and Warwickshire’s emotional well-being and mental health service for children and young people. The service has a community offer for both young people who self-harm and their parents. Further information can be found via their website:

https://www.cwrise.com/for-young-people
https://www.cwrise.com/for-parents

For any further information please contact: Public Health Admin, Warwickshire County Council: phadmin@warwickshire.gov.uk

Maths Expert Event - Mike Askew

Velo Birmingham & Midlands - is your school up for the challenge?

To gear up for Vélo Birmingham on May 12, Vélo Birmingham & Midlands is launching the first ever Vélo Schools 100 Challenge. Taking place in April 2019, the challenge offers school children from across the Midlands the opportunity to take on a 100-mile challenge of their own. The challenge involves pupils collectively cycling 100-miles in a week of the school’s choice in April. 

All children are invited to take part and each participant can cycle their preferred distance: every little bit of cycling will help the school complete the challenge!

The challenge is free to join and, with this year being Coventry and Warwickshire’s Year of Wellbeing, this is a great way to encourage local children to get active and enjoy cycling.

Once signed up, each school will receive a resources pack which includes more information on the challenge, printable Vélo Schools 100 Challenge certificates and a Vélo 100 route map and mileage tracker to help your school track those miles.

For more information, and to sign your school up, visit https://www.velobirmingham.com/event-info/schools-challenge/