Heads Up 15 May 2020

WE1 Early Years

Outstanding result for Milby Nursery and Kids Club

Congratulations to all the staff at Milby Nursery and Kids Club, Nuneaton who recently received ‘Outstanding’ judgements across all of the four inspection areas - leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for children.

Ofsted stated:

The manager and staff are dedicated and passionate about providing the best possible outcomes for children in their care. They use their own creativity to provide inviting areas for children to explore, develop their skills and solve problems. Staff constantly reflect on their practice. They are eager to put new ideas into practice, gathered from training or research, which will have a significant impact on outcomes for children.

The manager ensures all staff receive regular supervisions to help develop their practice. She takes into consideration staff workload and their own well-being. During these meetings, staff discuss children's progress with the manager, and together they identify any improvements to be made, for example in the curriculum.

Staff teach children strategies to help them cope with different emotions and manage their behaviour. For example, children talk about how they feel when they are angry or sad.

Children's physical and emotional well-being is supported extremely well. Children enjoy following an obstacle course outside. They run in and out of cones, throw bean bags into hoops and kick a ball. Children talk about the effects of exercise on their bodies and make suggestions about drinking water and resting following exercise to slow their heartbeat down.

Staff complete a comprehensive baseline assessment with support from parents when children start. They use this information to identify children's next steps in learning. Staff act swiftly to help children who require additional support. They provide small-group work to target specific areas of learning. Where required, outside agencies are involved to deliver specialised support.

Children are confident and motivated to learn. They are developing key skills for their future learning. Children learn to become increasingly independent.

Staff share very good relationships with parents. They are continuously sharing information about children's progress and how to support their children's next steps in learning at home.

Children learn about the wider world from visitors to the nursery and trips into the local community. They enjoy forest school activities and older children go on visits to develop their knowledge through real-life experiences, for example to a farm.

You can read the full report on Ofsted's website here.

WE2 An empowering curriculum

Celebrating kindness: resources for schools for Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May)

The Mental Health Foundation is encouraging everyone to think about their mental wellbeing during Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May), with a particular focus on kindness. Why kindness? Well, MHF explains that they chose this theme because ‘kindness strengthens relationships, develops community and deepens solidarity’, and with everything going on in the world right now, what better time to shine a light on the power of kindness and the impact that it can have on our state of mind and wellbeing.

It’s not just being on the receiving end of kindness that can be good for us; helping others is also proven to be good for our own mental health and can help reduce stress and give our emotional wellbeing a positive boost.

CWRISE Rainbow

‘Be Kind’ activities from CWRISE

With that in mind, the Mental Health in Schools team at CWRise has produced five activity sheets, one for each day of the week, with creative ways that young people can get involved and think about how they could ‘Be Kind’. You’ll find all five activity sheets below which can be shared on your websites, in your newsletters or used with pupils who are in school. We’d love to see what schools and young people in Warwickshire get up to next week, so please share your photos on Twitter and don’t forget to tag @wcc_schools and @CWRISE.

The following will download as a Word document:

Day 1 Pavement Positivity

Day 2 Bake a yummy dessert

Day 3 Learn a phrase in a new language

Day 4 Galaxy jars

Day 5 Create a masterpiece

Celebrating kindness with Virtual Kindness Cups

Place2Be is looking to celebrate the many acts of kindness that happen across school communities and has launched the ‘Virtual Kindness Cup’, inviting schools and individuals to award these during Mental Health Awareness Week. It’s an ideal opportunity to recognise the children, teachers, parents/carers and other individuals who have made a positive difference through their kindness at this challenging time.

Place2Be has provided lots of resources to make it as easy as possible for schools to take part, with certificate templates, trophy graphics to use on your social media, or to create your own materials, and activity ideas to help pupils make and award their own Kindness Cups.

Find out more about the ‘Virtual Kindness Cups’ on the Place2Be website here.

Time to Change Sleep

Time to Change focuses on the benefits of sleep to our mental health

For some activities that you might want to try or share with staff in your school, then take a look at this activity pack for workplaces from Time to Change.

This year they are encouraging people to consider how they can raise an understanding of the links between sleep and mental health.

Time to Change Mental Health and Sleep Activity Pack for Workplaces

Online Mental Health Aware training

Lifespace, a charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, is offering introductory sessions to raise awareness of mental health that have been specially adapted to be delivered online over Zoom.

Everyone who completes the training will receive a certificate from Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England to recognise that they are Mental Health Aware, as well as an MHFA manual to keep and refer to whenever they need to.

There are two courses on offer; one for understanding adult mental health and another aimed at supporting young people with their mental health. Anyone from age 16 upwards can book onto either of the courses, which are run by quality insured instructors.

Please see the two flyers below for full details of each course:

Adult Mental Health Aware Training

Youth Mental Health Aware Training

Helpline to support children and young people in mental health crisis

The NHS-led children and young people's specialist mental health service, Rise, is continuing to support children and young people during the current Covid-19 crisis with the usual referral routes still operating, as well as a new 24/7 helpline for anyone in need of urgent support and a wealth of online resources.

New referrals into Rise

New referrals into Rise services will follow the same process as usual. Referrals should be made to the Navigation Hub on 0300 200 2021, which operates Monday to Friday, between 8am and 6pm.

Urgent referrals

The Rise Crisis team is operating a 24/7 helpline to run alongside the usual entry point for new referrals (the Navigation Hub), for children and young people who are experiencing a mental health crisis and in need of urgent support. They can be contacted on:

02476 641799 if the young person is based in Warwickshire, or
02476 938000 if the young person is based in Coventry

This service is available 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, with an advice-only service outside the core hours of 8am - 8pm.

Support available online at cwrise.com

If you are concerned about a child or young person’s emotional wellbeing, you can also recommend the Dimensions Tool available online here. Based upon completion of a questionnaire, this offers immediate support and guidance tailored to the child’s needs.

There is also a comprehensive section on the website with resources from local and national organisations, as well as new videos created by Rise and fact sheets which are constantly being updated - these can be accessed here: https://cwrise.com/

Community-based events, professional training and consultations

In line with Government advice, to limit the spread of Covid-19, coffee mornings, workshops and drop-in events are no longer taking place. However, mental health professionals are still available for telephone consultations with schools, parents/carers and social care etc.

If the child or young person lives in Coventry call 02476 961476

If the child or young person lives in Warwickshire call 07917504682 or email risecommunityoffer@covwarkpt.nhs.uk

Appointment at Rise Clinics

To keep young people, families and staff as safe as possible during the development of the Covid-19 outbreak, as per national guidance, the majority of appointments will take place by telephone. A member of the team at the Navigation Hub will be in contact to confirm details of any appointments.

Parenting support available during Covid-19

Early Help Family Support Workers in each district operate a parenting helpline for parents, carers and practitioners, offering same day consultation, advice, guidance and support around behaviour and any parenting concerns relating to children and young people aged 0-19 years.

Once contact is made, further support can be accessed via text message, email or WhatsApp facetime calls.

Contact the helpline on 01926 412412, from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Early Help FSWs are also working in collaboration with Children with Disabilities and Targeted Youth Workers and for more complex issues, support, advice and guidance can be sought from those teams also.

Family Support Drop in sessions will be reinstated once lockdown is lifted and these can be managed safely.

In addition to the above, there is a wealth of online support available for parents. They are able to access guidance online to help them to feel more confident in dealing with a whole range of issues and there are short courses also available via the Family Information Service website.

Warwickshire County Council - Guides for Parents

Message from the Flexible Learning Team

Warwickshire's Flexible Learning Team would like to share this video with all of the young people and families they support to let them know they are thinking of them all, to 'Stay home and stay safe' and that they look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

All of the team have got involved in making the video, from the admin support staff, to the teachers, to pass on their rainbows - to say 'thank you' to the NHS and key workers helping to keep everyone safe and well, but also to represent the idea of hope that all the young people they support will find a way forward and see the light at the end of their learning journey.

Unicorns also make a special appearance...see how many you can spot throughout the video!

Find out more about the Flexible Learning Team here.

Summer Reading Challenge: free resources for digitally-isolated pupils

Summer Reading Challenge 2020

With the disruption caused by Covid-19 and the impact of social distancing on schools and public libraries, the Summer Reading Challenge will return for 2020 with a new website, where children aged 4 – 11 can take part in the Challenge and a "Let's Get Silly" virtual launch event that the whole family can enjoy.

The Challenge will launch earlier than usual to keep children reading over the summer and support parents and carers with children already at home. This year it will be running from June to September 2020. Although library buildings are closed, libraries will also continue to deliver the Challenge through virtual services and e-lending platforms.

While the online platform offers a great way for all to engage whether reading e-books or downloading activities, it is not helpful for those families where there is limited or no access to the digital world.

Here in Warwickshire, we would like to engage primary age children who might find themselves digitally isolated, by offering them the chance to join up through schools.

To do this, we are able to supply some physical materials for those pupils who would benefit, including collector wallets and stickers, as well as certificates for completing the challenge.

If you would like to take part and receive a small supply of these resources free of charge, please get in touch with stellathebridge@warwickshire.gov.uk no later than Friday 22 May, with the following information:

Contact email, name of school and contact at the school we can liaise with
Estimate of the number of children across the school in this category, and if possible, the number in each year group.

As we have a limited supply of resources these will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis however where a school requests a significantly high number we may look at reducing this to give other schools the chance to receive some supplies.

We are unfortunately unable to send out resources in bulk but can provide supplies based on the estimated numbers you provide. We expect those families with internet access to join children online at home and to download their own resources.

If your school is allocated the materials, we will get back to you with full details of how to run the Challenge this year.

The Queen's Commonwealth essay competition

Queens Essay Competition At this time of closed schools and remote learning, it is more important than ever to encourage young people to develop an empathetic and global worldview.

This year's Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition - the world's oldest international schools' writing competition - is inviting young writers across the UK to consider how the Commonwealth can address global challenges and work to create a better future for all its citizens. The theme for this year's competition, which was launched by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall in New Zealand, is Climate Action and the Commonwealth, drawing on the increasing youth movement across the Commonwealth and the ongoing climate crisis.

Young people are called upon to use any form of creative writing to consider their position and power in bringing about change, and how the Commonwealth can be used as a tool for positive action.

The Competition is valuable not only in promoting the value of the Commonwealth, it is also a unique chance for young people to develop creative writing and written English skills and share their views and experiences with a global audience. It has the full support of its Patron, Her Majesty the Queen, who is represented by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall at the annual awards ceremony celebrating the Winners’ achievements.

Entries will be accepted through the online platform until 30 June 2020.

Further information, including a promotional flyer, is available on The Royal Commonwealth Society's website here.

Booktrust Care Packages

Booktrust who operate Bookstart are putting together a limited amount of care packages and offering these out in phases to selected LAs across the country. Each care package will contain 20 random books and will be aimed at one of 3 categories – Early Years, Primary & Secondary.

They are looking to offer these directly to outreach contacts with an opportunity for them to be able to request packages via an online form for direct shipment to the them.

If you think you might be interested in receiving these packages please contact Deborah Hateley : deborahhateley@warwickshire.gov.uk

WE3 Family of schools

Schools continue to be creative during Covid-19 lockdown

We are continuing to shine a spotlight on how our schools are keeping in touch with their pupils during the coronavirus lockdown and the activities they're coming up with to keep everyone motivated through this challenging time.

If you missed the last two features, you'll find them at the links below:

If you would like to be featured in a future edition of Heads Up, please email us at headsup@warwickshire.gov.uk

Also, don't forget to follow @wcc_schools on twitter and tag us in your videos and messages so we can share them far and wide!

Staff at Briar Hill Infant School and St Margaret’s Junior School, who are joined in a federation, sent these videos to let their children know how much they are missing them and to remind them of their vision to: ‘Flourish as a family, love to learn, make memories, shine!’

They’ve also been keeping in touch with their children and families with regular phone calls, through year group emails and weekly home learning videos and tasks on their website.

Watch the Briar Hill Infant video ‘Shine!’ on Facebook here.

Watch the St Margaret’s Junior School video ‘We’re all in this together’ here.

Southam College Sunflower Challenge

With the sun shining, lots of people have taken to enjoying more time in the garden during the coronavirus pandemic, so it's great to see Southam College encouraging more of us to get green-fingered with their Sunflower Challenge.

Packets of giant sunflower seeds were left on the front fence of the school entrance inviting people to plant these and watch them grow at home. They will be keeping everyone updated with the flowers they've planted in school and invited anyone who planted some seeds to email in their pictures, to see who has the most impressive blooms!

WE4 Employability

Warwick Scholars programme open for applications

The University of Warwick has opened up applications to its Warwick Scholars programme, available to current Year 12 students who are thinking of applying to the University.

The programme is an opportunity for students to enhance their post-16 studies and access a range of activities and support that includes one-to-one tutoring for one of their chosen A level subjects, mentoring from a current Warwick student and A level revision support.

Applications are open until 31 May 2020.

Find out more and apply to the Warwick Scholars programme here

Warwickshire Adult and Community Learning free courses

Warwickshire Adult and Community Learning provide a wide range of learning opportunities for adults (19+) across the county.

Whilst face-to-face classes are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they are now offering a range of online activities and classes free of charge.

Courses range from an introduction to using spreadsheets through to drawing and painting classes.

View the courses available on the Adult & Community Learning Eventbrite page here.