Securing the Best Start to Life
A short message from Chris Baird
Dear colleagues,
A short but important message from me to end the term. Thank you for all you have done for children and young people in Warwickshire over this year and for the leadership and support you have provided to staff and to your local communities. I am sure all are looking forward to the holiday period and hope that everyone finds what they are looking for, rest, rejuvenation and something to bring cheer during the festive season.
I know colleagues in Education Services and in the wider council put great store by the constructive and positive working relationships they have with schools and settings. These have been all the more important during the COVID19 age and will continue in the New Year.
Best wishes and happy holidays when you get there.
Chris Baird
Interim Assistant Director for Education Services.
Safeguarding and child protection
Safeguarding is always at the forefront of our work with children and young people. However, recent tragic events leading to the deaths of two young children remind us of the crucial need for vigilance. The NSPCC offer some useful insight into risks to children’s safety created by the pandemic
A message from John Coleman, Assistant Director Children and Families
Dear colleagues,
I received this from John Coleman, Assistant Director Children and Families and thought it would be useful to share with you. I echo his observations and reflections and thank you for your continued support and curiosity in working with children and young people to promote their safety.
Chris Baird,
Interim Assistant Director Education Services
"Hello all,
I know you will all be as sad and touched by the awful abuse experienced by Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in Solihull and Star Hobson in Bradford at the hands of their parents and step parents. These situations have led to extensive comments about social work and considerable blaming in the media. Our local MP for Stratford and the Secretary of State for Education Nadhim Zahawi were very clear that individual social workers being abused will not be tolerated.
More balanced and helpful commentary focusses on systemic issues in society about poverty and the pandemic, which make is harder to keep children safe, particularly with the small number of parents who abuse their children and do everything possible to mask this. Particularly through the pandemic when the usual structures to support practitioners from all agencies to get close to children were eroded.
When children get killed like this, we have to keep our heads. Stay proportionate and not enter the anxiety reaction that can follow. This can lead to making the situation worse if our service becomes overloaded. We also have to remember the majority of parents, want to change to support and care for their children. A very small number of parents, do not and we have to stay curious and open to the possibility of worse scenarios. Through curiosity, strengths-based approaches, good supervision and manageable caseloads we manage risk and we protect children.
Social Workers and other agencies still save children every day. We need to remind ourselves of all the good things we do every day that keep children safe and help families make meaningful change.
John Coleman,
Assistant Director Children and Families"
‘How to’ Use CO₂monitors in education and childcare settings
This guide sets out how education and childcare settings can use CO₂ monitors most effectively to help identify poor ventilation.
Read more here.
Warwickshire Libraries are open with plenty of activities for everyone to enjoy this festive season
From 20 – 24 December, our libraries will be hosting a number of fun educational events and activities for pre-school and school aged children. These range from Rhyme Time, Lego Club, and Story Stomps, to magical Christmas crafts and stories with Kate's Storytree to help us glide gracefully into Christmas. To find out which activities are happening at your local library and how to book, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/childrensactivities.
The start of this month also saw the launch of The Reading Agency's online Winter Mini Challenge, available from 1 December 2021 – 16 January 2022. Warwickshire children can join the Wild World Heroes characters as they embark on an Arctic adventure. During the story children can find out about creatures that live in the arctic and the environmental issues facing this precious ecosystem - they might even spot a narwhal or two! The challenge follows the success of The Summer Reading Challenge from earlier this year, which saw thousands of children reading and exploring nature and action for the environment. To get involved in this online reading challenge, visit
www.wintermini.org.uk
For younger children there is the opportunity to get involved in the free Warwickshire Book Bears scheme. Children under five collect a stamp every time they visit the library, and after six stamps they earn a certificate. If they collect all ten certificates then they will receive a soft Library Book Bear toy as a reward for completion. To find out more you can ask about the Books Bears scheme at your local library.
Warwickshire Libraries will be sharing details about all of their upcoming events and activities on social media, including Facebook @warwickshirelibraries, where they are currently hosting a fun, festive Christmas Quiz, and Twitter @warklibraries
Celebrating Warwickshire’s Family of Schools
WCC Outdoor Education and Learning Strategy Approved
As mentioned in last week’s Heads Up, the new WCC Outdoor Education and Learning Strategy has just been approved, which will help Warwickshire schools to deliver high quality outdoor education and learning. There’s no doubt that outdoor learning experiences have a positive impact on children and young people’s development, contributing to personal growth and social awareness as well as developing skills for life and the world of work.
Once the Strategy is fully launched in early Summer 2022, schools will be able to access services such as an online directory of outdoor venues and activity providers and additional resources to help plan and coordinate outdoor education activities. We’ll also be facilitating the sharing of best practice between schools, to increase the amount of regular, enjoyable and challenging opportunities to learn outdoors.
Simon Ashbell, Outdoor Learning Lead at the Revel C of E Primary School in Rugby, was one of those professionals who provided feedback to contribute to the strategy. He commented:
“Our children love outdoor learning in all its forms. It’s highly engaging and enriches our school. At the Revel Primary School, we have committed to outdoor learning over the past five years, providing curriculum-based outdoor learning days and lessons, Forest Schools and Environmental Education to all year groups (from Nursery to year 6) all year round.
“We find that it cultivates curiosity, resilience and creates context for a lot of our core subjects. Outdoor learning and Forest School amplifies our children’s development by allowing risks to be taken, adventures to explore and deep learning experiences to be had. It also gives the whole school community a sense of connection to ourselves, others and the environment. We love it so much that we have begun helping other schools integrate outdoor learning into their settings with training and consultations. We are really excited that Warwickshire County Council is helping to create connections for all schools so we can all begin to cross-pollenate our practices.”
Portfolio holder for Children, Families and Education, Cllr Jeff Morgan, said “We’re delighted to launch this new strategy, which shows our commitment to supporting and enabling schools and other education settings to plan and deliver outdoor education and adventure. Outdoor education brings lots of benefits to children, developing problem-solving adaptability skills, as well as making connections with our natural world and environment. I’m particularly grateful to all those teachers and educational professionals who took the time to share their experiences and challenges with us as part of the process in developing our plans and I’m looking forward to seeing outdoor education thrive in Warwickshire”.
Further updates on the new Strategy and access to planned services will follow in Spring 2022.
EEF’s ‘A Tiered Approach’ Primary Programme for Spring 2022
Following the presentation by EEF on their Tiered Approach the summer term headteacher conference we have worked with Staffordshire Research School and EEF to develope the attached programme. We are inviting senior leaders from two schools per primary consortia group to a short modular course focusing on:
-
- The EEF’s Tiered Approach to School Planning (Updated Oct 2021)
- Disadvantaged and Post-Covid gaps
- The Updated EEF toolkit (Updated Sept 2021)
- ‘Putting Evidence to Work’ and effective implementation
The course is being fully funded by the LA with support for cover costs included. Represented schools will be asked to cascade the key programme content within consortia meetings.
Please find further details here with information on how to sign up.
National Professional Qualifications - apply now for February start
Did you know that the newly revised suite of NPQs are now fully funded by the DfE for all state schools?
Courses available:
- National Professional Qualification for Headship
- National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership
- National Professional Qualification for Leading Teacher Development
- National Professional Qualification for Leading Teaching
- National Professional Qualification for Leading Behaviour and Culture
Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School Hub are proud to be working with UCL to deliver these courses – more information is on their website.
To apply for a course with us please click here and select UCL as your provider.
Primary & Early Years Newsletter December 2021
Please find here the Primary & Early Years Newsletter December 2021!
FREE Opportunity for Secondary Mathematics Teachers
These Work Groups are a fantastic opportunity to work together to analyse, deconstruct and trace through the curriculum of a selected key topic area, developing insight into effective teaching approaches, and considering the implications for longer term curriculum design.
Workshops will provide opportunities for teachers to identify and analyse a key topic area, to work collaboratively to develop pedagogical approaches to it, and to evaluate and discuss after teaching.
Find here more information.
|
FREE: A Level Mathematics Pedagogy Opportunity
This programme provides support for the effective development of pedagogy in the teaching of A level Mathematics to support Covid recovery.
It will enhance the quality of teaching and the conceptual understanding of students, and the development of participants as leaders of A level teaching professional development in their own school or college.
Find more here.
FREE CPD for Maths GCSE Resit
Origin Maths Hub are offering teachers from schools and colleges in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire the opportunity to participate in this free Work Group.
Read the newsletter here.
Free Opportunity - Mathematical Thinking for GCSE
Free mathematics professional development opportunity for schools and teachers of GCSE in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire.
Find more here.
A Trauma Informed Approach to Christmas
"During the Christmas period some children and young people can feel anxious and vulnerable, as well as excited. This will particularly apply to our vulnerable students including those who are spending Christmas away from their families.
For some children Christmas may be a very lonely time, with very few presents or even none. Some children will experience Christmas as a time when adults are anxious, drinking more heavily and short of money.
Christmas can also be a time when family arguments and instances of domestic violence increase. For those children in care who have experienced neglect and abuse it can be difficult to let go of unhappy memories and ‘get into the Christmas spirit.’"
Download here an article written by Dr Adele Thacker in order to help schools alleviate stress for our children in care during the Christmas festivities
Fully Funded NPQs & Fully Funded EEF Twilights
This new offer of two free online sessions, will support schools to purposefully identify key development priorities for their setting in the wake of the pandemic. It will give guidance on using evidence to identify potential solutions to challenges schools are facing, and provide tools and worked examples of putting new initiatives into practice.
The content explores current challenges, and models how to utilise EEF evidence, before clarifying how school leaders can engage further, with RSN and EEF activity. These twilights will include:
- Twilight 1 is a 90-minute remote session – ‘Exploring the challenges’. It has a focus on exploring the challenges of educational recovery, recognising school efforts, whilst signposting our relevant evidence and resources.
- Twilight 2 is a 90-minute remote session – ‘Preparing and planning for recovery’. It has a focus on restating the value of the tiered model as a central lens to explore challenges and evidence-led approaches, with the twilight offering a more sustained exploration into how we ‘ensure curriculum access’ via reading and a stronger awareness of language challenges.
Schools in the West Midlands can sign up now here to attend these after-school online 90 minute sessions, which will run monthly from January 2022.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe-3gEsz0fn5llcqZjO-6nfodhn0fQUep8snuwznx3tOSAPRw/viewform
Avon Valley Gymnasts Succeed in Competition; Two AVS students win medals at gymnastics event
Two students from The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College have recently won medals at a gymnastics event held in Newcastle.
Year 9 students, Lina Tounsi and Daniella Hurwood, who both train and compete for Rugby Gymnastics Club, travelled north to Newcastle upon Tyne for their first competitive gymnastics competition since before the first lockdown.
Lina, who has been involved in gymnastics since she was 4 years old, won a gold medal after coming first on the vault, third on floor and being placed first overall. Her classmate Daniella, who’s taken gym classes since she was 2 years old, came third on the bars and vault and was placed third overall.
The duo spend a lot of time training and attend the gymnastics club five times per week, with sessions lasting four hours. After their success in Newcastle the pair, who one day hope to compete at the Olympic Games, have qualified for British Gymnastics’ National One Competition which will be held in Cannock in the New Year.
Alison Davies, Headteacher, said, “It’s always great to hear about our students’ successes, whether they are in or out of school. I am very impressed to hear about Lina and Daniella’s success, both are wonderful students, who always work hard at school and obviously apply the same level of focus when training and competing in gymnastics. I wish them both all the best for the next competition and look forward to hearing about how they do.”
Upcoming CPD, Preparing for Ofsted - SEND The Deep Dive, Metacognition and SEND through the Curriculum
Preparing for Ofsted – the SEND Deep Dive
Date Tuesday 11th January 2022
Time 13.00 – 16.00
Location John Taylor Teaching School Hub
Facilitator Beccie Hawes
Cost £65 per delegate
This session will explore:
- How to explore and develop the quality of SEND provision through every subject;
- Ensuring that your SEND vision is clearly communicated and comes to life in every subject;
- Using your own school information to develop your own lines of SEND specific enquiry to develop policy, procedures and practice;
- Effective pupil and parental engagement;
- What an OFSTED inspector may explore.
Metacognition
Date Tuesday 18th January 2022
Time 13.00 – 16.00
Location John Taylor Teaching School Hub
Facilitator Beccie Hawes
Description £65 per delegate
This session will explore:
· What metacognition is and how we can use it to enhance teaching and learning
· What cognitive load is and the impact it can have upon learning
· How our memories work and how we can effectively support memory from learning
· Supportive quality first teaching and intervention approaches
· Transferring learning
·
SEND through the Curriculum
Date Wednesday 26th January 2022
Time 13.00 – 16.00
Location John Taylor Teaching School Hub
Facilitator Beccie Hawes
Description £65 per delegate
This session will explore:
· Ensuring that the curriculum intent, implementation and impact for each subject is appropriate in meeting the needs of learners with SEND;
· Ensuring that your SEND vision is clearly communicated and comes to life in every subject;
· SEND friendly knowledge organisers and concept maps;
· Effective teaching for recall strategies;
· Subject specific teaching tweaks and non-negotiables to make every subject accessible for learners with SEND to maximise engagement and progress.
Planning for school places across Warwickshire – 2021 Update
The WCC School Organisation and Planning team has recently published the Annual Education Sufficiency Update, which provides the current context for the delivery of the WCC Education Sufficiency Strategy 2018 - 2023.
School leaders may find the pupil forecasts useful in understanding the future need for school places in their local planning areas.
The 2021 Sufficiency Update is available in the 'Education policies and strategies' section of the WCC website, towards the bottom of the webpage.
This update provides pupil number forecasts in each planning area in the County from September 2021 and outlines any pressures expected during that period. Pupil forecasts include the impact of all currently approved housing developments at the time of publication. Details of how any expected pressures will be met, including current planned capital schemes, are outlined in each section.
To meet demand for school places in specific areas across the County, numerous temporary and permanent school expansions and several new schools have been delivered in recent years - or are in progress. The details for all of these projects are provided in the Sufficiency Update and on our website.
In areas where falling school age populations have resulted in surplus school places, some schools have responded by reducing capacity; changing their Published Admissions Number (PAN) either temporarily or permanently, thus mitigating the risk of financial strain due to under-capacity classes.
Information is also provided regarding Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and post-16 capacity planning and projects. This includes the opening of four new SEND resourced provisions and specialist partnerships in 2021/22 as well as The Warwickshire Academy, a new special school scheduled to open in early 2022.
Please download here the Annual Education Sufficiency Update
Don’t miss your opportunity for DfE grant funded ‘Senior Mental Health Lead Training’
The Warwickshire Educational Psychology Service (EPS) are delighted to be supporting the Department for Education (DfE) Senior Mental Health Lead training programme. The training developed by the EPS focuses in detail on how schools and colleges ethos, teaching and learning can promote wellbeing and mental health. The Warwickshire EPS course is currently one of 68 national courses to be quality assured by Leeds Beckett University and listed on the DfE register of approved courses. Book your place today!
The DfE is offering £1200 funding to every state funded school to help further train and embed a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. Drawing upon the 8 principles within the Public Health England (PHE) and DfE guidance 2021, Senior Leads are encouraged to sign up to the grant to access training which supports their settings needs. Check your eligibility Conditions of Grant
Dawn Preece and Gemma Gough, Warwickshire’s Specialist Senior EPs for SEMH, will launch the course to the first cohort of settings in the Spring Term 2022. Having supported a diverse range of Warwickshire settings, Gemma and Dawn are thrilled to be running a training course with a national reach. Senior Leads will network and collaboratively share experiences of best practice within two key principle areas.
Gemma and Dawn shared “We are aware from supporting our schools that they are experienced in many of the PHE 8 principles, especially around supporting pupils, families and colleagues. So, we decided to produce a training course which addressed two of the principles that can be more challenging to prioritise and change in settings. By providing Senior Leads the opportunity for in-depth look at their ethos and mental health/wellbeing curriculum, we hope to support longer lasting change, a key expectation of the DfE . Leads on our course will create an Action Plan and receive trainer feedback to help further embed their whole school/college’s approach to mental health”.
The Warwickshire EPS course is competitively priced at £250. Senior Leads will have grant funds remaining to spend on additional training/resources to support the development of their Senior Mental Health Lead role.
For further information and course details please click here.
Does your school need advice or support on how to stock and organise your library?
Warwickshire Schools Library Service are holding their next FREE virtual Primary Network Meeting on Monday 24
th January at 3.30pm. This is open to all schools and is particularly suitable for library staff/teachers with responsibility for reading within schools. To find out more, please visit our website at https://bit.ly/3yu5wkn or email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk 
The session will give staff the opportunity to ask questions, network and share ideas/experiences with other teachers and librarians. We will also share lots of useful links, book recommendations, resources, training and CPD opportunities.
We will also be welcoming author Katie Sahota, who will be sharing her new book, 'Little Glow', with us. This is a beautifully illustrated picture book about a diverse, multicultural community, and the different festivals of light it celebrates throughout the year, including Chinese New Year, Ramadan, Hannukah and Christmas.
Warwickshire Holiday Activities and Food (HAF)
The Department for Education (DfE) has made funding available for families whose children are in receipt of benefits tested free school meals. The funding means that these children can access up to 4 activities over the 2-week period.
Activity providers who are taking part in the HAF programme are identified by 'HAF' after their title.
Families of all eligible children will receive information detailing how they can access these activities at no cost. They may access up to 4 activities across the 2 weeks for each eligible child.
To find out what sort of activities are on offer please have a look at this webpage here
Additionally, there is a small selection of family days out available to book in place of attending an activity. Details can be found by following the December HAF Activity link on the HAF webpage.
If children do not receive free school meals but their family or child has any of the below support in place:
- Allocated Family Support Worker
- Allocated Social Worker
- Early Help Plan
- Child in Need Plan
- Child Protection Plan
- Open to Youth Justice Team
- Child in care
- Young carer
Please, contact hafprogramme@warwickshire.gov.uk to see who is eligible for a HAF code.