WE2 An empowering curriculum
Wellbeing webinar for parents, carers and professionals
Warwickshire Educational Psychology Service (EPS) has developed a webinar to support emotional wellbeing in response to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The session is aimed at parents/carers, secondary aged young people, school staff and other professionals, and is being made available free of charge as part of the service's work to virtually support families and staff in Warwickshire during this time.
Based upon the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the webinar aims to be accessible to all as an introduction to the approach within the current context.
It will be delivered live on Wednesday 13 May at 9am, lasting approximately 40 minutes, it will consist of a 25 minute presentation and a 15 minute Q&A session.
The attached flyer has further information on how to register for the webinar.
Heritage & Culture offer free historical artefacts loans boxes for schools
To support teachers who are continuing to deliver lessons during lockdown, Heritage and Culture Warwickshire are currently offering a selection of their loans boxes for free to schools that remain open to the children of key workers and vulnerable children.
Schools can choose from six different topics, covering prehistory to the 20th century, to assist them with lessons and class curriculum topics.
The six boxes available are:
- Fossils: Explore Warwickshire’s Jurassic past and discover the creatures that lived here 200 million years ago. Contents include ammonites, echinoids, fossilised sea floor and tree bark, ichthyosaur vertebrae and more.
- Archaeology: Examine a range of real finds from around Warwickshire. Contents include pottery from the Roman, Medieval, post-Medieval and Victorian eras, animal bones, seeds, tiles and more.
- World War One: Explore original and replica objects from both the museum and County Record Office. Contents include trench whistle, mess tine, field dressing, postcards, miniature medals and more.
- Medicine through Time: Explore documents and objects from Egyptian to Victorian times. Contents include Roman surgical and hygiene equipment, Egyptian amulet and cosmetic bowl, herbal remedies, electric machine and more.
- Victorian Childhood: A collection of objects common in any Victorian nursery or school. Contents include writing slate, embroidery sample, skittles, baby’s gown and more.
- Kitchens through Time: A range of typical kitchen gadgets from the Victorian period to the modern day. Contents include stoneware, toasting fork, jelly mould, pie raiser, weighing scales and more.
Each box has full teacher notes, suggested activities and supporting resources. Boxes can be borrowed for two weeks.
Visit the Heritage and Culture website to find more information about the boxes available.
Please email heritageeducation@warwickshire.gov.uk to request one of the boxes.
Additional activities from Heritage and Culture
In addition to the school loans boxes, staff are developing and delivering lots of online activities that children and families can take part in at home as lockdown continues.
These include:
- ‘Warwickshire Museum in your Home’ - a taster of the events that Warwickshire Heritage & Culture would usually hold in their museums at this time of year with a different theme each week.
Warwickshire Fire Service launch interactive learning hub
Warwickshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service has launched an online education hub to enable them to deliver safety lessons to children while they are off school.
The interactive online programme is aimed at children in Key stage 1 and 2, and provides an engaging way for children to learn about what firefighters do, what they wear and the difference between safe and unsafe fires. It also features the story of Freckle and Dexter and the mischief the two dogs get up to.
Moving into Key stage 2, the programme teaches the children how to make an escape plan, how to spot potential fire hazards in the home and the dangers of making hoax calls.
The hub, which was set to launch in September 2020, was originally created to support the schools programme, which has been running in schools across Warwickshire for over 20 years. During that time, the programme has had a significant impact on change behaviour and raising a generation of young people who are fire safety aware. Therefore, the deadline for the launch has been moved, to help assist those students who may have missed out on a fire service visit in the last few weeks.
Access the education hub here
More information on WFRS education programmes
Children's Social Care receptions are open
Headteachers are reminded that all social care reception points remain open during the Covid-19 pandemic so schools and their families can access support services available at this time.
If any schools have experienced issues making referrals to Warwickshire MASH, they can use the escalation process to report this. In the first instance, contact the MASH to discuss your concern or email the MASH Operations Manager, Sally Parma at sallyparma@warwickshire.gov.uk.
You may also find the following useful:
Main contact numbers for teams within Children & Families
Information and advice for children & families
The Family Information Service can help professionals and local families with lots of guidance and advice about support services for children and their families.
Email: fis@warwickshire.gov.uk
Tel: 01926 742274
Website: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fis
FIS is also currently publishing a newsletter twice weekly to provide ongoing support and advice about Covid-19 for families across Warwickshire. View the latest newsletters and sign up to the mailing list here.
The Family Support Line & Early Help Advice
The Family Support Line which is answered by the Family Support Workers within the Early Help Team is live. Any Warwickshire parents who need parenting and behaviour management information, advice and guidance can call 01926 412412.
The line is open Monday – Friday from 9am - 4pm.
Please do share the attached poster, which provides further information about the service, with families and staff in your school.
Child abuse concerns
To report concerns about abuse contact the MASH on 01926 414144. The MASH telephone lines are open from 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday, and from 9am - 5pm on Fridays.
Out of these hours, for emergencies, contact the emergency duty team on 01926 886922.
If you think that a child is at immediate risk, contact the police immediately on 999.
Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/children-families for more information about services for children and families in Warwickshire.
Grant to help schools provide breakfast for vulnerable children and children of keyworkers
Kellogg's has extended the support it provides through it's breakfast club programme, which has helped over 3,000 breakfast clubs since 1998, and is offering grants of £1,000 to help schools that are open during Covid-19 to provide breakfast for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.
The breakfast grant can be spent on anything the school needs to be able to provide breakfast such as toasters, hotplates and food supplies.
Schools should complete the application form, providing a brief overview of who they are supporting and what breakfast provisions they want to make. The usual criteria for access to this grant will not be applied to schools that have remained open during lockdown.
You can read more and apply for a breakfast club grant here.
“Come back to care” plea for former social workers
Do you know anyone who has recently left adult social care – especially with experience as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), occupational therapist or as a registered nurse?
A new campaign called “Come Back to Care” is looking to help ease the pressure on adult social services teams in the 14 largest councils in the West Midlands – including us – during the Covid-19 outbreak.
More than 250 applications have already been received for the recruitment pool, run by WMEmployers, since the campaign began two weeks ago, but more recruits are needed.
Please pass on to anyone who you think may be interested.
More information can be found on the Come Back to Care recruitment hub.
Launch of national #YouAreNotAlone campaign
Last week Warwickshire County Council launched a national campaign called #YouAreNotAlone. This is a domestic abuse campaign, backed by the Government, to help bring awareness of this crime and its victims, during the current Covid-19 lockdown.
Like many of us, victims of domestic abuse will have now been locked in their homes for nearly two months. While the rest of the country find innovative and fun things to do to fill the time, victims and their children are left fearing for their lives at the hands of an abusive partner or family member.
Warwickshire County Council, headed up by Chief Executive, Monica Fogarty, has backed the campaign by releasing a short video message which you can watch below.
You can join us in our solidarity of victims by drawing a heart on the palm of your hand, posting a video or photo on both Twitter and Facebook and including the hashtag #YouAreNotAlone. Don't forget to tag @warwickshire_cc so we can like and share.