Hello and welcome again to Heads Up. 

Covid continues to dominate the day job for so many of us and we are well aware that schools and settings have been having challenging times over the last few weeks with the numbers of positive cases among our staff, children and young people meaning that we have had to pause on the journey back to normality. 

First of all, on behalf of everyone at the County Council, many thanks for all that you have done to keep your settings safe. Over the last week, the numbers of live cases have fallen very significantly and that is down to your own swift and decisive action. We know that it has been an added pressure on you, and that the situation has been exacerbated by the lack of clear guidance.   

We are looking for greater clarity on additional measures that you can take, if the need arises.  In the meantime, the process of testing, and isolations where necessary has been working well.  Thank you for the initiative that you have shown in keeping numbers of cases to a minimum.  Similarly, there have been good numbers around the vaccination rollout and, again, we urge you to continue to support that effort and encourage this among your young people.   

Thanks also to all of you who were able to join us for the head teachers’/Education Leaders’ briefing on Tuesday.  Our plan is to make a minor change to how we do these after half term with a weekly half hour to discuss matters relating to Covid and then once monthly extend the call to a full hour and cover ‘Any other business’ in that slot.  We know you value the calls but that your time is precious so hope that this will be an effective compromise. 

With half term on the horizon, I am pleased to share the Government has announced a new Household Support Fund made available to local authorities to support those most in need this winter, during the final stages of the economic recovery.

During October half term, parents/carers of children in Warwickshire schools/settings who are eligible for benefits related Free School Meals will once again be receiving automatic financial support for food for 7 days inclusive of the weekend (25th October to 31st October 2021) to the value of £21 per child.

We will follow the same process as we have done over the last year, and I can confirm we will not need schools to send in updated pupil data. I appreciate that this is short notice, but we only received confirmation of the criteria and funding allocation late last week.

Finally, following the head teacher induction on Tuesday, a warm welcome to all those who were there.  All staff involved took a great deal of pleasure in meeting you and outlining some of the work that the County Council does to support you. 

That’s it for now from me.  Have a good weekend and remember that there’s only one week to go before half term and a well-deserved chance to catch your breath.  Take care. 

Sarah Tregaskis

Service Manager - Education Delivery Services