School Improvement Fund (Round 1) Update

In order to keep schools informed of the work going on as part of the Strategic School Improvement Fund (SSIF) Round 1 bid, we will be providing periodic updates via the SSIF Newsletter.  The first newsletter (see link below) includes updates on:

• Governors Conference
• Peer Coaching
• SSIF Bid Launch Event
• Secondary Leadership
• Action Research Training
• Contacts
• Key Dates

 SSIF 1 Newsletter - March 2018

The Key information for Warwickshire headteachers

Consortia Moderation - a report from Bedworth Consortium 2

Best tips for KS1 and KS2 writing assessment

Two clear summaries to help with writing assessment

All of the information you need to make your writing assessments is in the Interim Teacher Assessment Frameworks statements for this year, on the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) website or on the STA YouTube video. However....it is quite confusing! There is information / clarification / and further clarification... and there are two very clear summaries that explain this really well, that it may be worth sharing with your schools, along with some advice from Rosie Parker and Judy McDonagh, our two LA moderation leads.

The first is from RS Assessment, Hodder and Staunton: 6 things you need to know:

http://rsassessment.com/2018/02/21/6-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-2018-ks2-writing-teacher-assessment-framework-february-2018-update/

The second is from Herts For Learning and ......says ADD LOV(v)E:

https://www.hertsforlearning.co.uk/blog/10-key-updates-2018-ks2-writing-assessment

Finally, some advice and guidance from Rosie and Judy as promised:

'.....Particular Weakness...' 

We need to emphasise to teachers that the particular weaknesses are found WITHIN the statement - and are most definitely NOT the statement itself. Therefore re: weaknesses in spelling - they are particular weaknesses within the spelling statement but the qualifier must be maintained - so if it says 'Mostly correctly', then the child spells words correctly most of the time with only an occasional error. 

For example in spelling at KS1 the child might, on occasion, misspell the 'ed' suffix and write just 'd'. Or on occasion confuse 'which' and 'witch'. On occasion the child might fail to use a capital letter for the pronoun 'I' -  and need to be prompted for all these things, when writing. 

At KS2, the child might confuse the homophones 'there', 'their' and 'they’re' or it’s and it’s. Or on occasion he might mis-spell the prefix 'dis' - as in disapears or confuse the endings -tion and -sion. 

/assets/1/heads_up_article_particular_weakness_guidance_re_spelling.pdf

Specialist local services providing bereavement support

Up to 70% of schools have a bereaved pupil on their roll at any given time.

92% of young people will experience a significant bereavement before the age of 16.

We recognise it can be challenging to navigate the support that is available to help you support a child with bereavement. There are some excellent national charities that provide guidance, resources and training for teachers but we are also fortunate across Coventry and Warwickshire to have a number of charities who can provide more direct support if needed. 

Information on the local services and links to national organisations can be found on the Care And Support Towards Life’s End in Coventry and Warwickshire (CASTLE) website www.c-a-s-t-l-e.org.uk. 

Warwickshire Youth Parliament Elections results

The results evening to announce those young people who had been elected to represent Warwickshire Youth Parliament was held at Shire Hall on Thursday 15th February.  It was attended by MP Marcus Jones, Cllr Isobel Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe, David Carter Joint Managing Director, Nigel Minns Strategic Director People Group and John Coleman Interim Head of Service Children and Families.

Announcements for  Members of Youth Parliament  (MYP) and Deputies 2018

For the 2018 election we had 18 candidates and 16,397 votes for MYPs  – as a % of the Young People eligible to vote this equates to = 39.1%

This is a great achievement!

The 4 young people elected as Members of the UK Youth Parliament are:

• Jessica Yang Bourne - St Thomas More Catholic School, Nuneaton
• Thomas Thickbroom - St Thomas More Catholic School, Nuneaton
• Mawgan Stinchcombe - Ashlawn School, Rugby
• Pauli Tritter - North Leamington School

The 4 Deputy Members of the UK Youth Parliament are:

• Saheena Dhanda - Myton School, 
  Warwick
• Sophie Sturzaker - Henley in Arden School
• Samrem Reddy - Lawrence Sheriff School
• Ajay Bawa - Campion School, Leamington

A further 15 young people were elected from the five districts to represent their locality on Vox - The County Youth Panel.

Most important issues for young people

During the voting, information is also collected on issues that are most important to young people.

12,555 young people chose the issues most important to them. The top issues identified by young people county wide are:

• Mental Health – (Services should be improved with young people’s help)
• A Curriculum to prepare us for life – (Schools should cover topics like; finance, sex and relationships, education and politics)
• Protect LGBT people – (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender young people deserve to be treated the same as everyone else, discrimination needs to be challenged)
• Votes at 16 – (Give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in all elections & referendums)
• Transport – (Make public transport cheaper, better and accessible for all)
• Work Experience - (Government should create more opportunities and an online space to help young people with this)
• Support for young carers – (Government should increase funding to support young carers)
• Services for Young People – (Increase services and opportunities for young people)

Deli bag option helps maintain school lunch numbers

Primary schools wishing to maintain uptake of school meals and associated funding into the summer term may be interested to know that Educaterers ~ who have taken over delivery of school meals from Warwickshire County Council ~ offer pupils a ‘deli bag’ option as an alternative to a hot meal.

With the rise in temperatures as we move into the summer months, some schools see a drop off in the numbers of pupils wanting a ‘hot dinner’, with some students wishing instead to bring a packed lunch from home.

The Educaterers ‘deli bag’, which contains something different everyday ~ either a freshly made sandwich, wrap or baguette with fresh crunchy vegetable snacks, a dessert and a drink ~ gives pupils a lighter, cool option for their school lunch and helps maintain lunch numbers.

Knowing the content of the ‘deli bags’ is healthy and school approved also reduces the time that lunchtime staff need to spend policing pupil’s lunchboxes for unhealthy items. Parents also feel the benefit as they avoid the rush and dilemma of preparing a packed lunch every day!

The ‘deli bags’ meet the Soil Association’s Food for Life Silver Catering Mark ~ a guarantee that the food is freshly prepared. Educaterers only use free range eggs and organic yoghurts, and all meat is British Red Tractor approved. All cakes and biscuits are homemade by Educaterers’ skilled cooks, and products are temperature controlled.

Educaterers ‘deli bags’ also have great eco credentials, as all packaging used for their homemade items is compostable.

Educaterers, a Local Authority Traded Company ~ the first for Warwickshire County Council ~ delivers 125,000 meals a week across the county to 195 schools.

The company welcomes feedback from schools, which provides an active part in both the development of their future menus as well as the retention of favourite dishes and popular themes such as the recent World Book Day menu on 1 March.

For more information on Educaterers visit www.educaterers.co.uk or email contactus@educaterers.co.uk.