Advice for all headteachers: Support for children suffering ill health

The Flexible Learning Team exists to provide support to primary and secondary schools for pupils who are unable to attend school for periods of time, as a result of ill health. This covers physical illness and injury and diagnosed mental health conditions, e.g anxiety, depression, eating disorders.

For an outline of the support that is available please read the attached letter:

Flexible Learning Team - letter to all schools

The Flexible Learning Team is available to all pupils registered with a Warwickshire school.

‘Highly recommended’ Warwickshire Safe Havens - a drop in for anyone in need of mental health support

A new drop-in service has been launched in Warwickshire for anyone aged 16 and over who is feeling distressed, worried or in need of mental health support.

Warwickshire Safe Havens, a service provided by Warwickshire County Council in partnership with Mental Health Matters (MHM), has been opened in two locations - Leamington Spa and Nuneaton - and provides out of hours face-to-face and telephone support for Warwickshire residents experiencing mental distress. 

No appointment or referral is needed to visit a Safe Haven - people can walk in any time during opening hours - and carers and family members are also welcome.

The focus is on reducing immediate distress and supporting visitors to access services and opportunities available to them in the wider community. The service also offers help in creating staying well and crisis plans and users can also access a 24-hour telephone emotional support line staffed by trained counsellors. 

Read more about the launch of Safe Havens here 

Latest updates for RE subject leaders and coordinators

Please click here for the RE Autumn bulletin 2019

Half price Widget online discount for WCC schools

Did you know Warwickshire schools are entitled to a subscription for Widgit Online at 50% discount*?  

Widgit Online allows you to create, save and share symbol resources in a web browser.  Support learning and communication by creating symbol flashcards, visual timetables, vocabulary lists with no installation needed.

Documents can be shared with colleagues and pupils with a group account.  Resources can also be shared with parents by creating a link that allows them to view documents without having a Widgit Online account.

Widgit Online features speech to text, allowing reluctant or non-writers to let their voice do the talking and easily create their own documents independently. The text to speech feature then allows these non-writers to hear back what they have written.

There is also a Dual Language add-on that enables easy creation of EAL and MFL resources using the 80+ Google Translate languages. Users hear resources read out loud in both languages.

For details of account types and subscription rates go to www.widgitonline.com Register now for a 21-day free trial (any account type). 

Note: to include the free trial of the Dual Language Feature Pack, select Extras and then tick to include.

Orders can be placed by emailing: orders@widgit.com stating that you are a Warwickshire setting and including a copy of the purchase order. For official quotes, please email info@widgit.com

*Please note the one-off Dual Language add on price is not subject to discount

 

 

World Suicide Prevention Day: working together to prevent suicide

Currently one person every 90 minutes dies by suicide in the UK and approximately two thirds of these are not in contact with mental health services. 

This is why health and care partners in Coventry and Warwickshire marked World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) on Tuesday 10 September to raise awareness of resources and services that provide vital help, and to create a culture of kindness in the region. 

For the second year in a row, the theme for WSPD was ‘working together’, emphasising the importance of collaboration and recognising that everyone can make a contribution in preventing suicide.

To mark the day, a series of partnership events were held across the region hosted by the suicide and mental health services that are available to residents. The events offered residents a chance to start conversations around suicide, focusing on early warning signs, coping strategies and provided information and support on looking after your wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. 

The partnership also launched the Stay Alive app, a free suicide prevention pocket resource designed to be a lifeline for people at risk of suicide, or for those concerned about the safety of someone. It contains local mental health and suicide prevention information all in one place, as well as customisable features like the LifeBox to store photos and memories and reasons for living. Designed for everyone, this is an easily accessible and supportive app aimed to keep minds at ease. Please consider putting information about this app in your newsletters. Find out more about the Stay Alive app here: http://ow.ly/2hwM50vT4L8 

For information about a range of mental health and wellbeing services, including face to face, telephone, online and self-help resources available in Coventry and Warwickshire, please visit: warwickshire.gov.uk/mentalhealth, www.coventry.gov.uk/mentalhealth or www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk

If you are struggling to cope, please call Samaritans for free at any time, from any phone on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or visit the Samaritans website to find details of the nearest branch. Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.

Autism Voices on film

Over the past year, Warwickshire students with autism have produced and starred in two innovative films showing the difficulties they face in the classroom and challenging stereotypes often held about the condition.

The Autism Voices project, led by Act for Autism with support from Warwickshire County Council’s Flexible Learning Team and Anderson Shelter Productions, began in 2018 when 12 Warwickshire secondary school children with autism were invited to take part in a four day workshop.

The session was facilitated by Tess Morton and Jane Gurnett, founders of Act for Autism, a not-for-profit social enterprise which trains school staff to help them teach autistic pupils, often through drama.

The workshop provided a safe environment for the young people to express what they thought about their condition and as a result, the students created and starred in a ten-minute film focusing on the sensory challenges they face in their school environment. 

The film was premiered to a large audience at Warwick School in July last year and went on to receive an award at the prestigious Golden Door Film Festival in New Jersey. 

Following their successful first venture, the students have gone on to produce another film Autism Voices #2 Slashing the Sterotypes, a fun yet informative piece seeking to challenge some of the common misconceptions associated with autism and offering advice to others about ways in which they can communicate to make life a bit easier.

Many of the young people who worked on the films have felt it has given them a greater sense of self-awareness and self-acceptance, and a huge confidence boost. Teachers have also been benefiting from the project after watching the films during training and have found it has helped to facilitate many useful conversations between staff and students on the topic, and given them a greater understanding of how autism affects people in many different ways.  

Both films are available to watch on the Flexible Learning Team's website.

You can also read more about Act for Autism and the project here: https://actforautism.co.uk/info/films/

For more information contact Lynda Lowe - lyndalowe@warwickshire.gov.uk

EAL SEND training

Critical Thinking - getting more out of the most able

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