Heads Up 11 October 2019

HEADS UP

Ian BuddWelcome

Welcome to Heads Up this week.

Heads have been very much at the forefront of our thinking this week.  New headteachers had their induction with the County Council on Wednesday and Thursday.  Numerous council colleagues gave short presentations on the services that are available to support schools from various sections within the county ranging from payroll to health and safety. The days were a fairly relentless session of learning, in unseasonably warm conditions, and it bodes so well that the level of enthusiasm and engagement remained consistently high throughout all sessions.

All of our head teachers are invited to the upcoming Head Teachers’ Conference which takes place 22 October at Stareton Hall, Stoneleigh Park from 9-3.30pm.  The full agenda will be in next week’s Heads Up but the theme of the conference is early help where the renewed approach to early help in support of the safeguarding and wellbeing of children and young people will be relaunched.  If you haven’t yet reserved a place, there is still time to do so.  Please get in touch with stephenheight@warwickshire.gov.uk. There was a tremendous turnout in the Spring and I really hope that we have a similar showing this term.

My plans when I joined Warwickshire was to visit all schools. Obviously, I have had to reconsider that schedule, but it remains my ambition to do so.  This week, I went to Kingsbury and was made to feel immensely welcome. Thank you to everyone at the school for that.  I really look forward to seeing all schools in situ; often when I visit a school it is for a special occasion or if there is a problem.  Seeing a school going about business as usual is wonderful for me and can be very inspiring and energising.  I genuinely look forward to these visits and am finding them incredibly helpful in building a picture of what we are doing well in Warwickshire and other areas where our resources may be needed.

Finally, many of you will be aware of the county council’s ambition for 100 people with SEND to be in supported internships by April next year.  There has been some incredible work involving the special schools and colleges in Warwickshire, officers from the County Council and the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses and organisations.

Next Friday there is the third Supportive Employers Inc. forum to be held at Hereward College. These meetings, which bring the worlds of business and education together, have been tremendously well attended and have been very instrumental in helping Warwickshire to push on towards its target. The theme of next week’s interactive event will be how making reasonable adjustments can help businesses to tap into the market of people with SEND and the positive impacts this can have on businesses and workforces. Sign up here if you would like to attend.

With best wishes

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services