Julia Morris

It is with such a great deal of sadness that we let you know that Julia Morris passed away on New Year's Day after spending Christmas surrounded by her family.

Julia was a much loved and respected head teacher of Kineton High School from 2002 to 2014. She was an inspiration to all who knew her within the school community and so many were touched by her friendship, humour and generosity of spirit.

Julia made a huge contribution to school improvement more widely across Warwickshire - since her retirement she acted as an associate adviser for Warwickshire Local Authority, providing support to a number of schools. Julia's sound advice and supportive approach were very much appreciated by many head teachers.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her family at this very sad time.

School Admissions Service Consultation on Admission Arrangements for entry in September 2018

The consultation period for the Warwickshire County Council Admission Arrangements, for entry in September 2018, has now ended. Any comments will now be looked at and considered and the final, determined, arrangements will be published by the required deadline of 28^th February 2017.

Where a school is its own admission authority, and currently still going through a consultation period, you are reminded that this must be completed by 31^st January. All schools must then publish their determined arrangements for 2018 entry – whether these have been consulted on or not – by the deadline as set out in the Code of 28^th February 2017.

Determined arrangements should be clearly visible on both the school’s own website and on the relevant WCC website pages.

Accident / incident reporting changes (for schools where WCC is the employer)

For all community & voluntary controlled schools, community special schools & maintained nursery schools

Please note that the way that you report accidents, incidents and near misses to the Local Authority has now changed. The WCC online recording system is now available and must now be used. This replaces the paper-based report forms that were previously used.

How do I access the online recording system?

Prior to the Christmas break, a system generated email was sent to all registered users in school. This included a link to the online recording system. 

How do I use the system...?

In order to assist schools, a specific Accident/Incident Recording System User Guide has been produced. This can be downloaded from the WCC schools health and safety document library at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/schoolhsdocs (use normal password to open). Please refer to this document for further information and guidance.

What types of accidents / incidents need to be recorded?

All non-minor accidents, incidents and near misses affecting employees, pupils, parents, visitors, contractors, members of the public and others which relate to school activities (on or off the school premises, including educational visits). 

This includes work-related ill health and violent incidents (verbal and physical) and road traffic incidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences; including outbreak of fire, environmental incidents and security/vandalism/property/equipment damage that has the potential risk of harm to people on-site.

Please refer to the Local authority accident/incident/near miss reporting procedure for schools 

Further queries?

Please contact the WCC Corporate Health, Safety & Wellbeing Service email accidentreport@warwickshire.gov.uk telephone 01926 476803.

Key partnership links with police and local schools

Youth Engagement Officers

Youth Engagement Officers are allocated to different areas across Warwickshire. Their role is to proactively engage with primary and secondary schools and young people through educational packages delivered in the form of presentations, workshops and assemblies.

They are able to deliver a number of key subject areas, safety messages and guidance including Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Drugs/Alcohol, Hate and Knife Crime, Gangs, Sexting, Prevent Radicalisation and much more. For a full list and further details on what can be delivered please see the portfolio at the end of this article.

Youth Engagement Officers are not able to deal with crimes or incidents that have occurred in school because of the size of the geographical area they cover. However, the advice to schools is to continue to use 101 in non emergencies or 999 in an emergency and to report other incidents such as safeguarding incidents through normal procedures.

Youth Engagement Officers in your area:

North Warwickshire (covers Nuneaton, Bedworth, Rugby, Atherstone, Coleshill, Kingsbury and Polesworth) -  PC Lee Marston and PCSO Carly Davis.

South Warwickshire - PC Darren Lund, PSCO Sarah Louise Lighgow and PCSO Robbie Williams

 Alongside this role, these officers are also the Cadet Leaders for their area being responsible for the learning and development of Police Cadets over a two year cadetship. Each year the scheme recruits 14 new cadets. Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police Cadets is a volunteer scheme for young people who wish to gain a practical understanding of policing and develop their spirit of adventure and good citizenship.

If you would like more information about the cadets click here. Cadets are recruiting now- please click here for more information

 

Safer School PCSOs

PC Lee Marston and PCSO Carly Davis have been in post since May 2016 and with support from Safer-School officers they have delivered topics to a total of 6850 young people to date. Currently there are three Safer School PCSOs for North Warwickshire who are:

• PCSO Joanne Jackson covering Rugby
• PCSO Leigh Chapman covering Bedworth and Nuneaton
• PCSO Jessica Eales covering Hartshill, Atherstone, Polesworth and Coleshill

In 2017, Warwickshire Police are looking to recruit an additional 2 Safer School PCSOs. All the Safer Schools PCSOs work very closely with Youth Engagement and can also deliver educational packages delivered in the form of presentations, workshops and assemblies.

Officers within the Safer Schools and Youth Engagement Team in North Warwickshire have developed some key partnership links within local education organisations. With these key partnerships, they have a vision of developing links and partnerships with all the secondary schools within North Warwickshire and building links with feeder schools and other youth organisations. The aim of these partnerships is to develop better relationships with young people and break down barriers and stereotypes. This is done with a view of assisting schools and organisations in delivering key safety and prevention messages and advice in a safe learning environment. Subjects can be adapted for all age groups from primary school to secondary schools and colleges.

It should not be regarded by any school, teacher, parent or pupil, that engagement with the team is due to a failing school, troublesome school, or a school that has more issues than any other. The scheme is a partnership and there to build relationships, break down barriers and assist with the delivery of key messages.

The team are able to deliver a number of key subject areas, safety messages and guidance as below. Other areas can be delivered on request.

• Alcohol
• Anti-social behaviour
• Bonfire and Halloween
• Bullying
• Careers
• Courts
• Crimes
• Child sexual exploitation (CSE)
• Cyber crime and internet safety
• Domestic abuse
• Drugs
• Female genital mutilation (FGM)
• Gangs
• Hate crime
• Knife crime
• Law and police processes
• Personal safety
• Prison, me no way
• Protective behaviours
• Road safety
• Sexting
• Smoking
• Stop, Think, Act, Reflect (S.T.A.R)
• Prevent radicalisation

Working in partnership with Ofsted, Warwickshire County Council, PSHE Association, Department for Education.

 

Skills for Employment grants worth £430,000

13 business and education partnerships have been awarded a major grant to tackle skills challenges.

Two of the projects funded are for the Hospitality and Visitor sector. One is led by Shakespeare’s England which with its partners Q Hotels, Stratfordward BID, Stratford-upon-Avon College and Birmingham International Airport will work with schools across the county to increase awareness and understanding of the wide range of employment opportunities available at different levels in the sector.

The Warwickshire College Group was awarded a grant to tackle similar challenges in the construction sector. Two other grants will fund new businesses being set up in schools.

Kineton High School was awarded £30,000 to buy cutting edge technology and set up a student-run, on-site professional services hub. The students will provide creative digital services to the school’s partner businesses, including the British Motor Museum and Ettington Chase Hotel.

Woodlands all-age community school in Coleshill has received almost £40,000 to set up Laser Blazer, an on-line laser cutting micro-business to provide students with the skills and experience to enable them to go on and gain paid employment. Supported by job coaches, students will run their own laser cutting business, trading online as well as at craft fairs and local events.

These awards take the total grant funding awarded by the Skills for Employment programme to over £1m. For more information about the projects awarded grants contact Glenn Robinson (glennrobinson@warwickshire.gov.uk or 01926 418027)

Launch of Heart Shield in Warwickshire Schools

The pilot project aims to ensure that young people in secondary schools in Warwickshire are provided with training in Emergency Life Support, including vital Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).  The sessions have been to designed to help improve bystander CPR rates and increase knowledge of how to prevent cardiovascular disease.  

The delivered learning will incorporate:

• Practical CPR Training for all students
• Knowledge of what to do if students encounter someone who has had a cardiac arrest
• Practical training on how to use an AED
• Learning how to put someone in the recovery position
• Key heart health promotion and prevention messages
• Learning objectives from the PSHE - Personal Safety/Risk unit
• Evaluations completed by all students to monitor learning outcomes

Key information:

• The sessions are offered to year 8 students.  
• Each session is 1 hour long and delivered to groups of 30.  
• The learning is a combination of a whole group presentation, a short film, instructional DVD and a hands on practical session in smaller groups.
• The session content has been designed in collaboration with PSHE teaching staff from Warwickshire schools, Public Health Warwickshire, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue (WFRS) and other partners.  
• The sessions are currently delivered by fully trained WFRS staff and volunteers from Jaguar Land Rover’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department.
• Heart Shield has already been delivered to 4 secondary schools in Warwickshire with a further 2 schools booked.  This will equate over 1600 year 8 pupils being taught key life saving skills.
• Feedback from staff and students has been excellent.

If you would like to be part of this exciting project please contact Niky Moultrie - Project Manager & Partnership Liaison Officer, Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service Office: 02476 314376 ext 2133                            

Mobile: 07870 180305  

Email: nikymoultrie@warwickshire.gov.uk