Road Safety Resource for Road Safety Week, 16 – 22 November 2020
Warwickshire Road Safety Education and Warwickshire Police are helping to spread road safety messages to Warwickshire Primary Schools as part of National Road Safety Week.
This Road Safety Week will see the launch of a brand-new virtual learning resource free for all Warwickshire primary schools to access.
Warwickshire Road Safety Education Team and Safer Neighbourhood Teams from Warwickshire Police have worked in partnership to develop a virtual assembly to raise awareness about travelling safely and actively. Key, age appropriate and timely messages include the benefits of travelling actively and how to do this safely by following the Road Safety Code and remembering to wear light, bright and reflective clothing. Warwickshire Police share a further message to raise awareness of the importance of safe, considerate and legal parking on the school run. This resource has been designed to be used flexibly within schools.
For information about how to access this whole school resource please contact roadsafetyeducation@warwickshire.gov.uk.
Free Training for Mental Health Leads in all state funded schools
IF YOU HAVE MISSED YOUR CONSORTIUM DATES FOR TRAINING YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR OTHER DATES THAT SUIT YOU.
This training is funded by DfE and aims to support staff to support children and young peoples' well-being and mental health.
Please note that this training is additional to that which will eventually be provided for Mental Health Leads in Trailblazer schools and therefore Trailblazer schools should also sign up.
Delegates who have attended so far have made the following comments:
"Thought provoking content and it will be useful to refer back to in the coming weeks"
"Very appropriate in terms of content and the time it was delivered - ie after having the children in school for half a term and getting to know their issues/needs in terms of MH"
"time to reflect and think about how we are able to move forwards with this area in school and to recognise what we are already doing"
"found it very helpful and interesting, and was pleased to get opportunities to share my own experiences"
"Excellent!"
"Content was thorough and has helped to shape our Recovery Curriculum in school"
"Great training, the slide and models were great"
Register Now
For further information or queries please contact margotbrown@warwickshire.gov.uk
Our mailing address is: lio-admin@warwickshire.gov.uk
New Educaterers ‘hot box’ meal option now available
A new ‘hot box’ meal choice from school caterers, Educaterers, is already proving popular with primary schools in Warwickshire that are offering the lunch option to pupils, with an average of 10,000 ‘hot box’ meals a week being delivered this month.
The ‘hot boxes’ are a traditional hot school lunch presented in a box that keeps the food warm and can be eaten out of by primary school pupils who are unable to have their lunch in the dining room due to Covid safety measures.
Since the start of term, Educaterers have been offering hot and cold ‘deli bags’ to all primary schools, which have proved very popular. But as the weather gets colder, the need to once again provide a ‘hot dinner’ menu with meals from the usual Educaterers menu was recognised.
The ‘hot box’ option started last week (w/c 2nd November) with 17 Warwickshire primary schools so far offering it as a choice, with more schools set to do the same later this month.
Everyday there is a ‘red’ option and a ‘green’ option, with some schools offering jacket potatoes.
To cover the costs of the ‘hot box’ packaging, the cost of the school meals is £2.34 each. Some schools are choosing to pass the slight increase in cost on to paying parents and carers, while others have chosen to absorb the additional cost.
Leanne Harris, Business Manager at St Marie’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery in Rugby, said:
“The school were dubious about starting hot meals again in the current climate. However, working with Educaterers, we were able to devise a plan that has so far worked well with the school.
“Feedback from the staff and the children has been very complimentary. Previously the children were eating from deli bags in classrooms, this created an environment which was not enjoyable for staff or pupils.
“It has been wonderful to see the children being able to eat a warm nutritious meal, especially as we are now going into the winter months, and it is allowing staff to take much needed breaks away from the classroom.
“Overall, we at St Marie’s are very happy with the transition back to hot meals and are hopeful this will be a positive step forward in a difficult climate for all staff and pupils.”
Matthew Brown, Headteacher at St Paul’s C of E Primary School in Leamington, said:
“As a Headteacher, leading a school in the current climate is challenging. One of the greatest challenges has been with regards to proving school meals.
“Thanks to Educaterers, we were able to offer deli bags quickly during lockdown to our keyworker and vulnerable children.
“On our return in September, it was clear that lunches and lunch times would need to be managed very differently, therefore keeping the deli bags going was a sensible and easy option.
“However, we were very conscious that our children were not getting a hot nutritious meal in school and were also aware that this may be the most important meal of the day for some of our children.
“Through working with the brilliant team at Educaterers, we manged to work out a system in which we could provide hot meals directly to children into the classroom. We now provide a choice of hot meals to all of our children in a safe way, that is environmentally friendly and manageable.
“Thank you to everyone at Educaterers who have risen to the challenge of helping the children at St. Paul's Church of England Primary School to keep healthy.”
To find out more about the Educaterers ‘hot boxes’, please contact Lisa Martin, email lisamartin@educaterers.co.uk.
Views sought on Warwickshire’s £1 Million Green Shoots Fund
Warwickshire County Council is seeking the views of community and voluntary groups around the county to help shape its £1 Million Green Shoots Fund
In October, Warwickshire County Council Cabinet approved the creation of a new £1 million community fund to help address the climate change emergency. This new fund will support initiatives from the voluntary and community sector, parish and town councils, schools and other organisations to deliver local climate change projects.
Projects that will be eligible for the fund are those that should reduce our carbon emissions and so lessen our impact on the environment and help adapt our local environment to ensure it is able to withstand the impacts of climate change. The fund offers a new approach which will embrace social value so that communities can deliver their own local solutions to climate change.
Any community group or voluntary organisation will be able to apply for money from the scheme for projects that meet set criteria. The Fund will run alongside the already established Community and Councillor Grant Schemes.
With approval given for this high-value and high-impact challenge fund, Warwickshire County Council is now seeking the views of groups or individuals that may be eligible for the monies from the fund to help shape various aspects of how it will operate as part of a special 2-week public engagement exercise.
Anyone interested is invited to complete an online questionnaire to share their views on the types of projects that need funding, the levels of financial support required and the process for applying for funding.
Since it declared a Climate Change Emergency in 2019, tackling climate change has been central to everything that Warwickshire County Council does and this has not been forgotten as the Council looks to future recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Council’s key Recovery Plan (2020-21) makes it clear that sustainability and tackling climate change are central to its recovery so that we lay the foundations for a sustainable long-term future in Warwickshire.
Anyone wishing to respond to this engagement exercise, should visit: https://ask.warwickshire.gov.uk/insights-service/green-shoots
The online survey will be available from Monday 16 November 2020 until Monday 30 November. After the survey closes, responses will be used to help shape the launch of the fund application process which is planned for early 2021.
Cllr Heather Timms, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio holder for Environment and Heritage & Culture, said: “The Warwickshire Green Shoots Fund is an important step forward in our response to the Climate Change Emergency that this Council declared in 2019.
“There is already lots of fantastic work going on within Warwickshire County Council and our communities across the County to help reduce carbon footprints and minimise the effects we all have on our fast-changing climate.
“There can be few better demonstrations of our commitment to address this emergency than the sizeable sum of money made available to our communities as part of the Warwickshire Green Shoots Fund. I hope to see as many community groups as possible responding to this engagement exercise so that, together we can make Warwickshire the best it can be, sustainable now and for the future.”
For more information about how Warwickshire County Council is facing the challenges of the climate change emergency, visit: www.Warwickshire.gov.uk/theclimateemergency