Warwickshire news
SSIF 1 Update for SSIF Schools
Please look out for a SSIF Summer Update email coming soon containing important information about:
- Peer Review
- Data Collection
- Autumn Term Conference (Thursday 15th November 2018) - participation of all SSIF 1 schools is expected, more detail to follow
- Action Research
Meanwhile please note that the first hub meetings will be taking place as follows:
Central/South Area Peer review hub meeting - Tuesday 11th September at Stratford upon Avon School, 4pm - 5pm
Northern Area hub meeting - Thursday 13th September at Birchwood Primary School, 4pm - 5pm.
It is expected that all schools will be taking part in this strand of SSIF work unless they can evidence participation in alternative quality review process with demonstrable impact. If you haven't been able to take part in the training sessions so far, look out for the SSIF Summer Update email for details of how you can catch up.
Summer Term Headteachers' Meeting
Thank you to everyone who attended the Headteachers' Meeting on 28th June at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth.
On the day there were just over 100 attendees with all phases of education represented (early years, primary, secondary, special and colleges), as well as representatives from the Unions and Coventry Diocese.
We are pleased that so many of you found Sir John Timpson's keynote speech 'inspirational' (a recurring term used in the evaluation forms); his extraordinarily honest speech encouraged headteachers to refocus on their core purpose and left people with a clear message linked to improving leadership and provision for all pupils.
Perspective Lite
Various updates were shared at the meeting, including a brief demonstration and explanation of the new web-portal recently implemented by the Council to offer a more joined up and transparent service for schools. Further information about the system and how schools will benefit can be found in the
article in this issue.
*** Please remember to look out for the email in September with your log in details for Perspective Lite - this will be sent directly to the headteacher's email address***
New Teaching School designation for St John's Primary
Following the recent round of applications, we are delighted to share the news that St. John's Primary School and Nursery in Kenilworth have been successful in achieving Teaching School status. St. John's is now the third primary Teaching School in Warwickshire, joining Birchwood Primary School and Hillmorton Teaching School Alliance. They are very much looking forward to working with the other Teaching Schools in the county. Well done to the staff at the school for all of their hard work.
Congratulations to Darren Barrow, headteacher at St John's Primary, who is also now recognised as a National Leader of Education (NLE).
Teaching Schools in Warwickshire
St John's Primary and Nursery School's designation brings the total number of Teaching Schools in Warwickshire up to 11.
Teaching Schools are good or outstanding schools that play an important role in a school-led system, working with others to provide high-quality training and support for school improvement in their local area. Launched in 2011, there are now more than 800 Teaching Schools across the country and their role includes:
- co-ordinating and delivering high-quality, school-based initial teacher training (ITT)
- spreading excellent practice by supporting other schools, particularly those that need it the most
- providing professional and leadership development for teachers and leaders across their network
To become a Teaching School, a school must be judged at least good in their most recent Ofsted inspection, and have a proven track record of delivering initial teacher training and supporting other schools.
Harmful Practices web pages are now live
A new resource has been launched on the Safe in Warwickshire website to provide information and advice for professionals to help tackle three categories of crime which can cause great harm to women and girls.
The Harmful Practices section of the website has a wealth of information, national resources, e-learning modules and details of local support services for:-
- Female Genital Mutilation (FGM);
- Honour Based Violence (HBV);
- Forced Marriage.
To access the pages, visit www.safeinwarwickshire.com/harmfulpractices
It has been designed to allow professionals working in the community to understand the issues, spot the signs and know what to do if they have concerns about an individual.
To help promote the new resource, posters have been produced for display in offices and other work spaces, which can be downloaded directly from the site. In addition, hard copies of the posters are available for anyone who is unable to download and print their own. These can be requested by emailing vawg@warwickshire.gov.uk
Please promote these pages widely to your colleagues and partners.
For any further feedback or information, please contact the Community Safety Project Team at Warwickshire County Council by email at communitysafety@warwickshire.gov.uk
Have your say on health needs in your area
A survey has launched to find out more about the unique health and wellbeing needs of Warwickshire’s various local communities, including children, young people and parents.
WCC and its partners recognise that the needs of different communities throughout the county will differ greatly depending on a range of factors such as population demographics, infrastructure, community safety and many more.
As part of a larger project to gain more insight into life in Warwickshire’s communities, a survey has opened for staff and partners to let the county council know what, in their opinion, the current health and wellbeing needs of areas they are familiar with are and any ideas they have for improvement.
The responses to this survey will form part of the 2018-2020 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and will help inform service delivery and development.
The JSNA is a review undertaken every few years by partners including WCC, Warwickshire Health & Wellbeing Board, the five District and Borough councils, local Clinical Commissioning Groups, third sector organisations and council-commissioned services. Working with partners to look at the current offer for different Warwickshire areas will help to reduce duplication and strengthen the evaluation of initiatives through use of a common evidence base.
The JSNA is a really useful tool which is accessed both by teams within WCC and other stakeholders to inform commissioning decisions and promote innovation and a solution-focused approach, ensuring services are well-placed to help the people who need them most.
Data from the JSNA can also be used by a range of agencies across sectors to support specific activity such as funding bids and tender applications.
The survey takes about ten minutes to complete. To have your say, go to http://bit.ly/JSNAProfessionals
Please note, if you are a resident of Warwickshire and wish to comment from that perspective, please use http://bit.ly/JSNAResidents
Schools encouraged to go for Food For Life Award
Educaterers are encouraging schools to enrol before the end of the academic year if they want support to achieve the Soil Association’s Food for Life Award. The independent award scheme is designed to engage, motivate and involve everyone and is a brilliant way to embed food education in everyday learning.
A Food for Life Schools Award demonstrates that your school is doing fantastic work to provide healthy school meals, great lunchtimes and food education that has a positive impact on both pupils and the wider community in terms of engagement, attainment and well-being through engaging them in growing food, cooking from scratch, connecting with local farms and putting food at the centre of the curriculum.
Educaterers hold the Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) Silver Catering Mark in recognition of the fact that their school catering teams serve local, fresh and honest food made with quality ingredients which is prepared and served in a setting that takes school pupils’ health and well-being seriously. This means that any school catered for by Educaterers has already achieved 13 out of the 27 criteria for the Bronze School Award.
Food for Life in Warwickshire is in the final year of its current commission and Public Health are keen to continue funding the programme; but with challenging financial targets this could be the last chance for some schools to enrol and get one-to-one support, resources and training to achieve their Food For Life Award for free.
The Food for Life scheme started in schools – and over 10,000 schools now serve food to FFLSH standards – but you will also find Food for Life meals served in many other places including universities, colleges, early years settings, hospitals and care homes. Over 1.7 million Food for Life meals are served a day all around the UK.
Holding the Award shows that you are making positive contributions to the health, wellbeing and education of your pupils through the following four sections:
Food Quality lets your staff, pupils and parents know that the majority of food served in your school is freshly prepared, free from undesirable trans fats, sweeteners and additives, is cooked by trained catering staff, and uses ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources.
Food Leadership empowers pupils, staff and parents to develop a positive food culture in school.
Food Education gets pupils growing food, cooking from scratch and learning where their food comes from.
Community & Partnerships supports schools to share their learning, engage with their local communities and encourage parents to get involved
In addition, Educaterers can support individual schools to achieve the Food For Life Gold Standard by serving a Gold menu upon request. For more information and to enrol, contact Valerie Meehan, Warwickshire Local Programme Manager for Soil Association Food for Life, email vmeehan@soilassociation.org
Nominate a champion storyteller
The Year of Wellbeing campaign is looking for people with a story to tell about something they’ve done to improve health and wellbeing – for themselves, their team, their customers or their communities.
We want to bring to life real local stories about the day-to-day positive change that people create.
The short stories and films produced will support the public campaign for the Coventry and Warwickshire Year of Wellbeing 2019 and will be shared widely including online.
Our 'champion' story-tellers can be anyone, in any role, at any level in an organisation or outside it! They do not need to be aspiring actors, just have a passion for what they do that makes a difference and be happy to share it.
Not sure who to nominate? Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking:
- Someone who works in a different way and has changed their workplace to improve health and wellbeing.
- Someone who encourages fitness or healthy eating and actively gets others involved.
- Someone with lived experience who has used that experience to help themselves and others feel better.
- Someone who provides health and wellbeing help and support to others over and above their role.
- You! If you have a story to tell, you can put yourself forward.
Nominees will be invited to a workshop where they will learn skills for telling stories and using personal technology to film themselves.
Nominations need to be in by Thursday 12 July. To nominate, simply email Jane Coates (janecoates@warwickshire.gov.uk) with the name and contact details. And don't forget to ask the person you are nominating first!