Welcome

Welcome once again to Heads Up. I do hope this finds you all safe and well.

Last week, I spoke in my introduction about keeping in touch with learners as best we can and offer them the support and motivation to keep their morale up and keep them engaged with their learning.

As we look to push the distance learning available online, my thoughts have turned to parents and carers as they take on the mantle of “home teacher” alongside the other many hats they are having to wear at the moment – as well as the usual everyday chores, they are having to entertain children, keep them safe and keep them motivated, all whilst carrying on with their own jobs in many cases and keeping themselves in good spirits.

A stable family background is so critical to a young person’s learning as we have seen so many times. Happily, in Warwickshire, we do not have a high proportion of learners whose family background would give us cause for concern.  We can be confident that the home environment for the vast majority of our children and young people is safe and nurturing; that is not a position we can take for granted, never more so than now as families are spending an unprecedented amount of time together with little opportunity to get out of the house and pursue the other interests that would normally be part of the fabric of their daily lives.

Parents and carers are playing a huge role in keeping their families together and that has led me to wonder how that is being recognised. Rightly, we have acknowledged the efforts of NHS workers, care workers, education sector colleagues and other key workers. It is fabulous to see a national groundswell of appreciation for people whose dedication and commitment might otherwise go under the radar.

Amidst all of that, however, is the family whose job at the moment in keeping young people at home every day is so critical to the national endeavour to stop the spread of Covid-19.  Of course, we cannot congratulate parents on being parents, even if they are going the extra mile throughout every day.  We can let them know that we support them and signpost where they can find appropriate information and ways in which they can best encourage and develop their children. 

You’ll see that this week’s edition gives information about the support available through the county council’s Family Support Team which is stepping up its offer and offering parents guidance on concerns they might have around their children’s behaviour.

This is an invaluable resource available the same day and can be done over the phone or by email. Staff are fully trained and can offer that extra layer of support to families.  I urge you to bear this resource in mind in any contact that you might have with families, where you feel that parents would benefit – whether it be from advice and guidance or maybe just a sympathetic sounding board. The team is on standby to help. Let’s take that offer up where it is needed.

You will have had briefings from us every day on all issues relating to the Covid-19 emergency so I will leave it there other than to say take care and stay safe until the next time.

With best wishes, 

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services