Dear colleagues, 

Hello everyone and welcome once more to Heads Up. 

This week I had the pleasure of being in touch with more of you than ever with a record-breaking number joining the Tuesday lunchtime teams call for education leaders in Warwickshire. Thanks to everyone who was able to find time and join us on the call.  To me, the collective approach and solidarity will be critical in the coming weeks if we are to continue to support each other as best we can. We have always said that we are in this together and that clearly remains the case, even more so indeed, eight months on. 

In the spirit of solidarity and tapping into our education support networks, I am going to ask a favour.  We are recruiting to the post of Commissioning Manager for Education and Early Years Services. This is a key senior management role on our leadership team that is vital to how we manage the Council’s education offer and it is imperative that we recruit the right candidate. Please share the advert in the link among your professional contacts whom you feel may be suited to the role and broaden our reach. 

We have been covering this role amongst the team for a while, as we go through the recruitment process.  At the risk of blowing the trumpet of my own team, the willingness of our officers to step up and absorb the extra work has been incredible. I am so proud of them and feel that we owe it to them as well to engage the right calibre of candidate so they can hand the reins over to a safe pair of hands. 

There are some COVID-19 training sessions being held later today by colleagues in Public Health to go through the latest Coronavirus response toolkit and FAQs.  You will have received an email inviting you to the session most appropriate to your setting. I’m hoping that as many of you as possible can join these sessions so that you can be clear how to use it correctly. Consistency of reporting and uniform action among all our settings will go a long way to reduce the risk of transmission but might also help to minimise disruption and manage the numbers of children having to miss school. 

In terms of providing you with clear information, I hope that you will have seen some of the changes to the webpage, specifically around Coronavirus, aimed at early years, schools and education leaders. This has had the task of providing a one stop resource for a huge amount of guidance since the onset of the pandemic.   

Understandably, given the volume of information, this became somewhat unwieldy; the feedback that you gave was a request to streamline it and make it more easily navigable for you.  This is ongoing work, but I hope that the new page offers you clearer signposting to all of the most current guidance that you need. 

The allocation of more funding for free school meals that was announced this week was welcomed.  We are still awaiting the detail but that will be invaluable in enabling us to provide for some of our more vulnerable children. 

And we have been reassured by our colleagues that our local suppliers can support us in providing PPE to schools and settings.  Again, in the light of the changing guidance around the wearing if face coverings, this was welcome news. 

There has been considerable optimism in the media this week around the potential vaccine. As you know, it will be important to see evidence.  So, whilst I am excited by the prospect, until I see it being approved and rolled out, my message remains one of vigilance, staying alert and ensuring that you and your pupils follow the basics – hands, face, space – to manage the spread of the virus. 

So, with the weekend upon us after another long and challenging week, I hope you all get to have some time out, rest and recovery to recharge the batteries.  

Some messages really don’t change much, do they? 

Best wishes 

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services