Hello all and welcome to Heads Up.

The week has been dominated by the news that the Government will be introducing revised measures, known as Plan B, to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid.

With just a week to go of the term, this should have only limited repercussions for schools and settings.  The government guidance can be found here while local guidance can also be found here.  Essentially it will mean that schools can carry on as they have been with nativities allowed, face coverings not mandatory in classrooms but to be worn in communal areas for year 7 and above and staff in primary and early years settings. Many of the new measures being put in place are common practice in your schools and settings.  But do remember to keep your risk assessments up to date and on your websites.

With holidays on the horizon an update on the Household Support Fund seems to be in order.  Please remember that during the Christmas holidays, parents/carers of children in Warwickshire schools/settings who are eligible for benefits related Free School Meals will once again be receiving automatic financial support for food to the value of £48 per eligible child for the period of the 20th December 2021 to 4th January 2022 (which includes two weekends and a teacher training day).  

You don’t need to take any action as you have already shared pupil data with us and in November you sent letters to parents/carers of eligible children with details of both the past utilities campaign and the upcoming Christmas holiday support.  In January, we will be sharing with you details of further planned support, which includes February half term.  

Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet met earlier this week with education being very much on the agenda.  Three items were agreed although these are subject to the Council’s normal governance procedures.  The links to the agenda items and supporting documents can be found here but, in a nutshell, here are the headlines for those in Education.

Cabinet endorsed the Written Statement of Action which is the county’s response to the findings of the recent joint inspection between Ofsted and the CQC into Warwickshire’s SEND services.  It also acknowledged the progress of the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme.  These are very positive reflections of the work in place to achieve the best outcomes for young people in Warwickshire with SEND.

Cabinet also approved the Schools Sufficiency Strategy. One of the upshots of Warwickshire being a great place to live – and the quality of its schools is one of the key factors - is that more and more people are looking to make the county their home, which means that more school places are required.  There are 23,000 applications each year for school places in Reception or Year 7 of which the vast majority are offered one of their first three choices of secondary school and primary school.  But this strategy is key to achieving these high figures so it was good to see that go through.

Finally, the Outdoor Education and Learning Strategy 2022 was also considered and approved and endorsed.  This shows our commitment to outdoor education and adventure with the strategy showing the range of options that will form the outdoors offer in Warwickshire’s schools and settings.

That’s it from me.  Have a good weekend. 

Chris Baird