Coordinated Admissions Process – 2018 entry

The coordinated admissions process for entry in September 2018 is ongoing. The deadline for families to submit their secondary school applications was Tuesday 31st October.

Where families have a child who is due to start school in Reception, or transfer from Year 2 at an infant school to Year 3 at a junior school, in September 2018, the application process is now in full swing and the deadline for families to apply is Monday 15^th January 2018.

Applications can be made online at: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/admissions

Please note these dates in your newsletters.

Families should contact the Admissions Service if they have any questions or concerns about their child’s school application: 01926 414143 – option 2.

Schools Forum Meeting

The next meeting of Schools Forum will be held at 1pm on Friday 01 December 2017 in Northgate House Conference Room, Northgate House, Warwick.

Papers will be uploaded to the Schools Forum webpage one week before the meeting.

Further information about Schools Forum

Members will be appointed to the Schools Forum for a 1 year period; elections are held in May each year. 

The Schools Forum will meet at least four times in an academic year.  

Any member of the Forum may ask for items to be placed on the agenda by writing to the Finance Manager (Resources and Schools).

Agendas and papers to be considered by the Forum will be sent out five working days in advance of the meeting.  Late items may be considered at the discretion of the Chair.  Draft minutes will be circulated within 10 working days of the meeting.

Substitute representatives (for any voting member) may attend meetings if the appointed representative is unable to attend. Substitutes will be able to vote on behalf of the member they are representing. However, attendance of appointed representatives is strongly encouraged.

Substitutes for ‘schools’ representatives can be another Headteacher or senior member of staff, that is a Deputy Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher, Bursar or person responsible for the financial management of a school.

Meetings of the Schools Forum will be open to members of the public who may observe but not take part.  The Forum may move into private session for confidential items, which, for example identify individuals or individual schools, at the discretion of the Chair. 

Changes to our EHCP Referral Panels

Our EHCP referral panels have been running for nearly two years now and it is timely to review our processes, building on the many successes and tweaking where we can to address any weaknesses in the system.

Overall the panel approach to decision making has been a great success.  Decisions are made jointly between representatives of the LA and schools.  This makes the decisions much more robust.  Having school representatives on the panels has also been a great way developing mutual understanding. Feedback from the Head Teachers and SENCos who have attended in this capacity has been 100% positive.

The one drawback to the system is that of time.  Warwickshire continues to have more than the national average number of referrals for assessment and indeed maintains more than the national average number of EHC Plans.  Our staffing remains slightly lower than national averages.  Understandably this leads to backlogs and delays.  We must speed up the process without adding to schools’ workload or compromising the quality of decisions.

To this end, from January 2018 the panel will follow a slightly different format.

What Stays The Same

Schools will still be expected to submit the current paperwork of:

• School referral form
• Completed Provision Matrix
• Family Conversation
• Child Young / Person’s views
• Professional reports

What Changes

SENCos invited to the join the panel in support of their referral will be expected to give an oral summary of no more than five minutes outlining:

1. the child / young person’s needs against the Code of Practice.  This should include how and when they were first recognised and what leads to the conclusion that these needs are likely to be complex, severe and requiring continued support.
2. the graduated response to the young person’s needs: what external professionals have been involved and when including any diagnoses, a summary of how their advice was put into action, monitored and evaluated and the impact this had; that is evidence of an assess-plan-do-review cycle rather than one-off assessment of need. Describe the impact of interventions and progress over time compared to their peers and ARE.
3. how have delegated funds been used, what additional support is being requested from the LA and to what end.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of the above or volunteer to represent the schools’ voice on our panels please contact me on helenkendall@warwickshire.gov.uk. 

You can find a list of Plan Co-ordinators for each area here.

Dr Helen J Kendall

SENDAR Manager and Principal Educational Psychologist

Consultation and determination process for 2019 entry

We are now entering the time of year when ALL schools must consider their admission arrangements for 2019 entry.

Key dates are set out below:

• Where changes are proposed for the 2019/20 arrangements, admission authorities are required to consult on their admission arrangements between 01 October 2017 and 31 January 2018. 
• Consultation for 2019/20 entry must last for a minimum of six weeks. Admission arrangements must then be determined by 28 February 2018.

While schools should take their own advice on the exact process to follow and the contents of their consultation document, all schools should follow the steps below where a consultation exercise is to be carried out:

1. Schools to send proposed admission arrangements electronically to Warwickshire County Council (via Amy Taylor in the Admissions Service: amytaylor@warwickshire.gov.uk). Please provide a closing date for the consultation exercise and contact details. The proposed arrangements will then be displayed on the Council’s website. Details should also be included on the school’s website and distributed to other parties as appropriate (see above).
2. After consultation the governing body / academy trust must then formally determine admission arrangements for the 2019/20 school year, taking into account any comments received. That decision should be made at a properly constituted meeting and minuted by the clerk. Arrangements must be determined by 28 February 2018 at the latest.
3. The school should then notify the local authority and all those who were consulted that the process is complete and confirm the determined admission arrangements. Schools must provide the local authority with a copy of the determined arrangements before 15 March 2018. These will then be displayed on the Council’s website and also published in the Council’s Composite Prospectus (which will be available from September 2018).
4. Parents or any other party then have until 15 May 2018 to object to the arrangements via the Schools Adjudicator.

Determination of arrangements when there are no changes

Where there are no changes to admission arrangements they must still be determined by the school’s governing body / academy trust. This must be done by 28 February 2018 with the arrangements then sent to the Local Authority before 15 March 2018.

Education and Learning e-Comms survey for schools

Thanks to all those who have responded to our e-Comms survey so far, which remains open until the end of this term:

This is your opportunity to give us feedback on the way the Education and Learning team, and the County Council more widely, communicates with schools.

'Heads Up' has been in circulation for just over a year now and has seen a significant rise in the number of subscribers during this period.  The online newsletter is now used as one of the main communication channels with schools and includes regular contributions from a wide range of County Council services, as well as from our partners including Public Health and Warwickshire Police.  One of the key aims of 'Heads Up' is to provide a more regular method for sharing information with schools as well as attempting to reduce the number of separate communications and publications.

Our @wcc_schools Twitter account is another channel of communication that we have tried to build on during the past year as we know so many of our schools and settings, students and parents are also busy tweeting!

We are always looking for ways that we can improve our communications with you, and would greatly value your feedback to help us do this.  We would therefore be grateful if you would take the time to complete a brief survey which should take no more than 5-10 minutes.

The survey is available at the link below until Friday 22 December 2017:

Education and Learning e-Communications Survey

British Science Week 2018 – Funding for Schools

British Science Week (BSW) is an annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that is coordinated by the British Science Association (BSA) and funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Schools in challenging circumstances that want to organise their own events as part of British Science Week (9 -18 March 2018) and need some funding can apply for the following:

• Grants of up to £300 for schools to run an activity
• Grants of up to £700 for schools to host a science event or activity which involves the students and the local community

For more information visit: www.britishscienceweek.org/about-us/grants

The Royal British Legion - guide for service children in school

The Royal British Legion has produced a new best practice guide focusing on Service children in school.

The guide looks at some of the big challenges facing Service children today and by sharing examples of good practice from across England (a separate Wales version will shortly be ready), recommends ways in which local authorities, schools and families themselves can improve the experience of Service children in education. Problems associated with admissions into schools and the adverse effects on a Service pupil’s wellbeing are explored, alongside information on the extra funding available to Service children through the Service Pupil Premium, Education Support Fund and more.

Key recommendations include:

• Encouraging schools to be creative with the use of funding available for Service pupils and share ideas and practice through networks of schools with Service children on the roll.
• Suggesting that local authorities facilitate collaboration between schools, local military units, and local authority staff to ensure that everyone is aware of the challenges faced by Service children and what can be done to address them.
• Encouraging Service families to make use of help available from the Ministry of Defence, Department of Education and charities and other organisations such as The Royal British Legion and the three families federations. 

Find out more on The Royal British Legion's website.

National Leaders of Further Education

Nuneaton area - Admissions outreach 21st November

The Admissions Service will be carrying out some outreach work in the Nuneaton area on Tuesday 21^st November 2017.

The aim of this event is to help families in the local area with all areas of the admissions process, but primarily with completing their application for a school place.

This is in respect of those children who are due to start  school in Reception September 2018 (ie: those who are, or will turn, 4 years old before, or on, 31^st August 2018) and those children who currently attend Year 2 at an infant school and will, therefore, need to transfer to Year 3 at a junior school, in September 2018.

Families are welcome to come and find out more, as well as speaking with officers from the Admissions Service, and have the opportunity to complete their child’s school application, at:

Hatters Space Community Centre

Upper Abbey Street

Nuneaton

CV11 5DN

Tuesday 21^st November 2017, 2pm – 7pm

We would appreciate it if ALL schools in the Nuneaton and Bedworth areas could notify families of this event and highlight it in any upcoming newsletters.

Profile of Chris Malone, Head of Education and Learning

After our recent Headteachers' Conference, we received feedback that delegates would like to hear some biographical information about our new Head of Education and Learning, Chris Malone:

Chris Malone brings a wealth of experience to Warwickshire. She was a primary headteacher in Gloucestershire, and taught in several primary schools, large and small in urban and rural Herefordshire, across the full primary age range. She has also worked as an advisory teacher for early years, NVQ assessor, principal of a Further Education Centre and a playgroup leader.

More recently, Chris spent six years in Gloucestershire and four years in Oxfordshire, in a range of local authority leadership roles. Examples include senior commissioning manager for services from birth to 25 in a joint commissioning team managed by Health, and line managing social care managers, Access and Inclusion Manager, Early Years Strategic Lead, and Strategic Lead for Education Quality. She also spent eight months working for Ofsted as an HMI for schools.

In recent years she has shared the role of Deputy Director for Education, with two colleagues, and led a genuinely 'system-led' school improvement function. Chris has a relentless focus on improving outcomes for vulnerable learners, as well as a determination to achieve cost effectiveness with reducing budgets. A resident of Warwickshire, she is married with three grown up children, one of whom teaches in the county. 

Warwickshire Headteachers' Autumn Term Conference

Talkingshop – FREE Consumer Rights, Financial Literacy and Cybercrime education

Are you interested in helping your year 12 and year 13 students prepare for life beyond school or college, either at University or in employment?

Consumer education, financial literacy and cyber-crime awareness sessions are being offered free of charge by Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards.

The educational sessions, which run under the umbrella programme ‘Talkingshop’ are delivered on-line and in real time by Trading Standards consumer, financial literacy and cyber-crime experts.

Over 5000 Warwickshire students have already participated in the Talkingshop educational programme.

The programme can be amended to fit a school or college’s particular requirements.

The programmes cover:

Financial Literacy, including:

• Opening a bank account
• Payday and other high interest loans
• Budgeting
• Moving into rented accommodation
• Credit and debt
• Buying a used car
• Contracts (for example for mobile phones)
• Store cards
• Priority loans

Consumer Rights, including:

• Your statutory consumer rights
• Returning damaged and mis-described items
• Your rights in a sale
• Shopping from home
• Buying on auction websites

Cyber Crime, including:

• Safe shopping online
• Online banking
• Social media safety
• Protecting your PC

For more information, get in touch at simoncripwell@warwickshire.gov.uk.

Educaterers - New primary school menu launched

Primary schools who use the Educaterers service, who have taken over delivery of school meals from Warwickshire County Council, will be interested to know that they launched their new primary school menu on 6^th November.

Educaterers, a Local Authority Traded Company – the first for Warwickshire County Council – delivers 125,000 meals a week across the county and will be providing pupils with new photograph menus on a three week rotation. This means that pupils can see what the meals look like before making their choices.

The menu – which now includes a deli bag option – is fully compliant with School Food Standards. Educaterers have also been awarded The Soil Association’s Silver Food for Life accreditation.  See an example menu.

New dishes on the menu include salmon pasta bake, cheesy barbecue bacon pasta and a strawberry bun made with fruit juice and strawberries, so no added sugar in the mix.

Educaterers is wholly owned by Warwickshire County Council as the sole shareholder and delivers meals to 195 schools in Warwickshire. Among the initiatives designed to encourage take up of school meals, they have launched the Nutrigang campaign to create a more engaging lunchtime experience for younger pupils.

Educaterers hope that their new menus are enjoyed by primary schools that use their service and welcome your feedback, which provides an active part in both the development of their future menus as well as the retention of favourite dishes and popular themes.

For more information go to www.educaterers.co.uk, or email contactus@educaterers.co.uk. 

Governing Board Membership Annual Update

Thank you to all clerks / colleagues who have returned their Annual Governing Board Membership document, we have begun to update the records we hold with the information provided.

We are still waiting for a number of forms to be returned and will be in touch with individual clerks to ‘chase them up’ if we haven’t received their annual return by the end of November.

We know that the autumn term brings a high volume of membership changes and many boards will also be electing or re-electing their Chairs and Vice Chairs. Please can all clerks ensure that they inform Governor Services of any changes (this especially includes any governor resignations, new appointments and reappointments) promptly so that our database can be updated with your changes? 

Training and Support

Below is a list of the training offered by Warwickshire Governor Services for the rest of the Autumn Term. Email gailevans@warwickshire.gov.uk if you would like to enquire or make a booking:

Finance (part 1) – Intro to Budget Planning & Monitoring
Thurs 23rd November 2017
Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
1900 – 2100

Effective Classroom visits
Mon 27th November 2017
Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
1900 – 2100

Health & Safety – For all Academies, Vol aided & foundation schools
Wed 29th November 2017
Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
1900 – 2100

Leading Governance in Schools
Thurs 30th November 2017
Pound Lane Learning Centre, Leamington Spa
0930 – 1630

Finance (part 2) – Budget Management – a closer look
Thurs 30th November 2017
Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
1900 – 2100

Effective governance in the Early Years & Foundation stage
Mon 4th December 2017
Stratford High School
1900 – 2100

Handling Complaints
Wed 6th December 2017
Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
1900 – 2100

Induction: the effective governance of schools
Thurs 7th December 2017
Stratford College
0930 - 1630

Governor Services can also offer in-house training - get in touch at the email above for details.

Please note that all in-house training requests must be received by 31st December 2017 (maintained schools) and 31st March 2018 (academies).

Keeping informed about local / national developments

There are many ways for you to keep updated about developments that may have an impact on your role as a governor and on your governing board.

Governor Services signed up for updates from the DfE and up until the October half term holiday were continuing to update GovernorHub with alerts received.  However, this is also duplicating the information that GovernorHub provide so from this term we will continue to update GovernorHub with statutory information and suggest that one member of your governing board sign up for weekly updates from the DfE and shares them with other governors.

You can sign up for weekly updates from the DfE using this link and for updates from the National Governors’ Association here

‘Questions for Governors’

In partnership with the International Centre for Guidance Studies at the University of Derby and with input from the NGA the Wellcome Trust has launched a “Questions for Governors” online resource.

This free resource gives governors and trustees a set of challenging strategic questions, benchmarks to compare their school with others, and links to resources and ideas for further improvement. You can access the questions by clicking here.

Supporting Mental Health in Schools

Overall, it is estimated that one in ten children and young people have a diagnosable mental disorder – the equivalent of three pupils in every classroom across the country. Therefore schools are a vital part of a wider systems approach to promoting positive mental wellbeing and preventing mental illness in children and young people (CYP).

You can click here to view the research and analysis documents “Supporting mental health in schools and colleges.”

Some questions that governing boards could consider are:

• How does our school understand their role in supporting pupils’ mental health?
• What does our school do to promote positive mental health and wellbeing among their pupils?
• How does our school identify pupils with particular mental health needs?
• What support does our school offer for pupils with identified needs?
• How does our school fund their provision?
• What plans and policies are in place to support mental health provision?
• How does our school work with external services to support pupils’ mental health?
• What challenges does our school face?

Ofsted updates for Governors

Ofsted Strategy: 2017 to 2022

Ofsted sets out its corporate strategy, with a summary of their:

• core values
• strategic approaches
• areas of work
• evaluation metrics.

This new five year strategy is based around the principle of being “a force for improvement through intelligent, responsible and focused inspection and regulation”.

Please click here to download a copy of the report.

Inspection handbooks updated

On 13 October 2017, Ofsted published an updated version of its School Inspection Handbook, and its myth busting document for schools.

School Inspection Handbook

Ofsted has also updated its handbook for short inspections

Sean Harford, Ofsted’s national director of education, referred to changes to Ofsted’s inspection handbooks in the September 2017 edition of Ofsted’s inspection newsletter. His message assures that “none of the changes means [Ofsted is] inspecting anything additional or new”.

New CIF planned for 2019

Ofsted's July 2017 school inspection update provides information on the future of the Common Inspection Framework (CIF). It says that the current CIF will now be in place until September 2019, rather than August 2017 as originally planned.

Ofsted says it plans to launch a new CIF in September 2019.

Getting Ready for your Ofsted Inspection

To help prepare for an Ofsted Inspection governors can watch a number of videos featuring Belita Scott, Ofsted’s National Lead for Governance.

In the short clips she talks about governors’ experience of the Ofsted inspection.

The videos cover:

• What questions governors might be asked by inspectors (4 mins)
• What governors can expect at inspection (1.36 mins)
• Governors in the final feedback session (1.38 mins)

To view the videos, click here

Updated Exclusion Guidance for Schools

Just a reminder that the statutory guidance ‘Exclusion from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England’ was updated in July 2017.

Please ensure you are familiar with the Governing Boards role (pages 16—26). Click here to download a copy.

Vacancies on Schools Forum

There are currently two vacancies on the Schools Forum for:

• a secondary maintained representative - open to a head teacher or governor 
• an academy representative - open to a head teacher or governor 

If you would like to be considered for either of the vacant positions please complete the nomination form and email this to helencolvin@warwickshire.gov.uk by 12 noon on Friday 17 November 2017.

Academy Nomination Form

Secondary Maintained Nomination Form

If more than one person is nominated for each position then the nominee with the highest number of votes will be elected.

The next meeting of Schools Forum will be held at 1pm on Friday 01 December 2017 in Northgate House Conference Room, Northgate House, Warwick.

Papers will be uploaded to the Schools Forum webpage one week before the meeting.

Further information about Schools Forum

Members will be appointed to the Schools Forum for a 1 year period; elections are held in May each year. 

The Schools Forum will meet at least four times in an academic year.  

Any member of the Forum may ask for items to be placed on the agenda by writing to the Finance Manager (Resources and Schools).

Agendas and papers to be considered by the Forum will be sent out five working days in advance of the meeting.  Late items may be considered at the discretion of the Chair.  Draft minutes will be circulated within 10 working days of the meeting.

Substitute representatives (for any voting member) may attend meetings if the appointed representative is unable to attend. Substitutes will be able to vote on behalf of the member they are representing. However, attendance of appointed representatives is strongly encouraged.

Substitutes for ‘schools’ representatives can be another Headteacher or senior member of staff, that is a Deputy Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher, Bursar or person responsible for the financial management of a school.

Meetings of the Schools Forum will be open to members of the public who may observe but not take part.  The Forum may move into private session for confidential items, which, for example identify individuals or individual schools, at the discretion of the Chair. 

Preventing and Tackling Bullying

The Department for Education has issued updated guidance for schools on preventing and responding to bullying. The updated guidance, ‘Preventing and Tackling Bullying’ includes additional information on how schools can support children and young people who are bullied. It can be downloaded at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying

The guidance applies to all schools.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 provides that maintained schools must have measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. These measures should be part of the school’s behaviour policy which must be communicated to all pupils, school staff and parents.

The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 provides that academy trusts ensure that bullying at the school is prevented in so far as reasonably practicable, by drawing up and implementing an effective anti-bullying strategy.

Regardless of how a school chooses to define bullying for the purposes of its own behaviour policy, it must be clearly communicated and understood by pupils, parents, and staff.

Prevent Training – Channel General Awareness

The National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT) are offering free e-learning which includes information on how ‘Channel’ links to the government’s counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST) through the Prevent strategy.

‘Channel’ is a programme whereby people who are assessed as being vulnerable to supporting violent extremism are provided with multi-agency support.

It provides guidance on how to identify people who may be vulnerable to radicalisation and how to refer them into the Channel programme. There are also case studies to help you understand the process of identifying and referring vulnerable individuals.

The training takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and a certificate can be printed off at the end to show that governors have completed the training.

You can access the e-learning by clicking on the following link: http://course.ncalt.com/channel_General_Awareness/01/index.html

NGA Learning Link Information

The NGA Learning Link replaces the GEL system that we have offered as part of an additional service to schools.

All previous GEL users should now have been migrated onto the Learning Link system if this hasn’t happened, please contact the NGA so that they can investigate and arrange for you to be added to the system.

All governors at schools who subscribe to Learning Link can sign up via the Learning Link self-registration page if they aren’t already registered.

Schools Financial Benchmarking

In September, Guidance for Governors regarding “Schools financial efficiency: the role of the school governor” was updated.  A copy of the guidance can be viewed here. 

In addition to this the DfE’s Schools financial benchmarking site has been updated and improved. The site will enable maintained schools and academies to compare their performance data and spending levels with schools that share similar characteristics such as:

• pupil numbers
• school phase/type
• proportion of pupils with special educational needs
• proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals
• proportion of pupils with English as an additional language

The site is part of the DfE’s wider Schools Financial Health and Efficiency pages and supports school governors and academy trustees in ensuring schools manage their finances efficiently.

New GCSE Webpage

The DfE has launched a new GCSE webpage which provides information for students, parents, employers and those who work in education.

For more information visit: https://newgcses.campaign.gov.uk

Developing new SEND provision

The local authority has been working with schools and colleges to develop new SEND provision within the County. This provision will better support vulnerable learners to access education in schools in their local area and to develop friendships and peer groups in their own communities and thereby support improved long term outcomes for these learners.

Three new specialist special schools have opened since 2015, creating increased in-County provision for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) & Social Emotional and Mental Health issues (SEMH):

• Discovery Academy, Nuneaton
• Quest Academy (temporarily in Nuneaton, but to move to Rugby)
• Arden Fields School, Henley

Five SEN Resourced Provision for learners with complex communication and interaction (C&I) needs have been developed at the following locations:

• Peter’s Place at Trinity High School, Leamington Spa – 8 places
• Evergreen at Water Orton Primary – 8 places
• Maple Class at Lillington Primary School, Leamington Spa – 8 places
• The Bridge at Middlemarch Junior School, Nuneaton – 8 places
• The Haven at Stockingford Primary School, Nuneaton – 8 places

We are working with other schools so that we have one secondary and two primary SEN Resourced Provisions in each area of the County. Admission to specialist settings is agreed via the County Admissions Panel for Specialist Settings.

Other developments include:

• Brooke School Partnerships at Rokeby Primary School (8 places) and Harris School (8 places)  for learners with a range of SEN
• Exhall Grange Coleshill Learning Pod – 8 places for learners with acute SEMH in Key Stages 3&4
• ‘Link’ bases at Wheelwright Lane Primary School and Stockingford primary School providing short term intervention for learners with SEMH

This has already had and will increasingly have a crucial impact in reducing High Needs Block expenditure on out-of-authority provision. It will also contribute significantly to reductions in SEN transport costs.

An interview with Jordan - Life with Asperger's

Jordan is 17 years old and runs the Life with Asperger’s website. He also works as a teaching assistant and volunteers for charity in his spare time. He won the Richard Hall Memorial Award in 2016 for his volunteering work. Here he tells us more about his website and achievements:

What made you want to start the Life with Asperger's website?

I originally wrote my first post back in 2014, as I was in a mainstream school, and a lot of the time people will make fun of autism spectrum disorders, so I wrote my initial post as a way of showing awareness with my peers of what life is like.

Then in the new year of 2016, I set myself a new year resolution which was to always be the best version of myself. I had a long and hard think about what I could do, and I thought I should dedicate more time to helping others, so I volunteered to work with ILEAP charity on their drama group for children with Asperger’s which I previously attended as a ‘pupil’. I then thought about what else I could do, and after a successful first blog post, I decided to make it more of a regular thing.

What is the Richard Hall Memorial Award and how did you get it?

The Richard Hall memorial award is named after someone who worked a lot with the Integrated Disability Services (IDS) autism team. He sadly passed away. The award is a way of remembering him and given out to people on the autism spectrum every year who make massive achievements.

What’s the best part about being a teaching assistant?

I suppose it’s being able to make a difference to people’s lives, and being able to give back some of the support I got when I was at school. It’s also nice as I see how every child differs in their needs, so although it can be a challenge it is a very rewarding job.

How did you start volunteering for charity?

As I had been with ILEAP as a ‘pupil’ for a few years, I decided to give back to what they gave me, and I contacted the charity organiser, and had an interview for the role and was successful. I then had to undergo the standard procedures of DBS checks, but once that was all completed everything was ready to go.

What's been a highlight for you so far, and why?

Passing my driving test has been a massive highlight for me, as having Asperger’s syndrome and dyspraxia made it a challenge. However, it has now given me so much more independence and freedom.

Working on the ‘Act for Autism’ project, which is a teacher training course all about autism. I enjoyed having a voice in how teachers should be trained to deal with autism in the classroom, as well as giving neurological people a more in depth understanding of what an autism spectrum disorder is like.

What are your goals for the future?

I hope to start to produce resources to be downloaded to help people with autism, such as social stories, and work booklets.

I am hoping to get to work further on the Act for Autism project and perhaps support the making of more workshops.

I also hope to expand my knowledge of other autism spectrum disorders, and write an article about how life is different for everybody.

Read Jordan’s blog and visit his website: http://lifewithaspergers.jimdo.com/

Primary SEMH Steering Group

The Primary Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Steering Group meets termly to discuss primary school SEMH provision within Warwickshire. The group, which is chaired by Pat Tate, consists of five Primary Phase Headteachers (one from each District and Borough), as well as Local Authority representatives. Meetings focus on sharing existing good practise as well as exploring ways of strengthening the SEMH provision across Warwickshire's primary schools.

A key piece of work championed by this group are the Primary School SEMH Capacity Building Bids which provide funding of up to £10000 for groups of primary schools working together to develop their SEMH capacity. Look out in future editions of Heads Up for details of the next round of bidding launch events which will be taking place in the Spring Term.

You can read a item on sharing good Primary SEMH practice from St Nicholas CofE Primary School, Alcester and Westgate Primary School, here. 

Sharing Good Practice: Primary SEMH

Many thanks to St Nicholas C of E Primary School, Alcester, and Westgate Primary School who share with us some features of their provision for pupils with SEMH needs:

St Nicholas C of E Primary School, Alcester

Current media focus has highlighted the importance of children accessing quality SEMH support quickly.

Many schools have, like St Nicholas C of E Primary School, experienced a rapid increase in the number of children requiring SEMH support. Providing this support when faced with current budgetary constraints is an area of challenge for us all.

Identifying children for early support is the key to successful outcomes for SEMH provision. This can be the difference between children accessing ‘early help’ or requiring intensive specialist mental health support later in education.

Empowering children to talk about their feelings and concerns, as well as ensuring that they understand they can ask for help, from family, staff and peers, has played a huge part in forming our current provision.

Our ‘open door’ policy enables parents to discuss concerns and allows staff to foster excellent relationships with parents who feel valued and listened to. One parent recently commented: “I feel so reassured that staff are not only great teachers but they genuinely care about the happiness of our children.”

Alongside this, all staff are vigilant ensuring that they highlight children causing concern by following clear processes. This approach is inextricably linked to our approach to safeguarding and helps senior leaders build the bigger picture.

Upon identification, children are included within our additional needs register, which ensures staff have an excellent knowledge of the range of need within their class, the support that children are receiving and the progress that they are making towards SMART targets.

A wide range of SEMH provision is accessed by our children in small groups and 1:1 sessions. These include; a nurturing focused breakfast club, forest school, drama, creative activities, LEGO therapy, yoga, mindfulness, resilience and growth mind-set sessions, and social skills.

In some cases, in order to fully support the child it is necessary to support the family through; arranging EHSAs, implementing pastoral action plans or behaviour action plans, arranging sessions with the Listening Service (counselling service) and/or involving the Parenting Project.

Through continued, regular evaluation of provision and its impact, each child’s need is assessed and their support tailored towards their next steps with the long term goal of continued progress academically and socially through outstanding universal provision.

Successful SEMH support hinges on many factors and takes time and care to embed. However, it is a key part of creating a community that is supportive, caring, tolerant and compassionate.

Laura Marshall

Inclusion Leader

St Nicholas C of E Primary School, Alcester 

Westgate Primary School

At Westgate, we often have children who exhibit significantly challenging behaviours. It can be tempting to look outside the school for the answer but, over the years, we have come to realise that we have many of the answers in school and that we really can bring about meaningful change. Here are some of the strategies we use to minimise disruption for the rest of the class, to support the teaching staff, and to help avoid permanent exclusion for the child.

For individual pupils requiring support in difficult times, our SENDCo will contact parents to discuss the issues and tie them in to a weekly update, thereby encouraging shared working. We may also ask the class TA to take on a mentoring role – daily time to talk, set up counselling from TAs trained in counselling/ listening skills or put in nurturing activities on a one-to-one basis.

For children at risk of permanent exclusion, or those returning from exclusion, we make a tight Behaviour/ Pastoral Support/ Reintegration Plan involving outside agencies and parents in its regular review. This could include paring down contact time in school, beginning with one hour a day, and gradually building up time in relation to successful engagement. We use a Boxhall Profile, which is very helpful in identifying areas for targeted interventions to support need, regardless of whether or not children access our Nurture Group. We constantly adjust and refine our approach to supporting pupils with high level behavioural needs, changing provision regularly to promote a successful outcome.

Like most schools, we find Early Help meetings extremely useful as a forum to support shared working and access wider expertise. Our actions from these meetings often involve our SENDCo in regular catch-ups with parents to help with strategies at home. We may also support the child through weekly or fortnightly interventions such as group/play therapy or counselling. Family Support Workers are invaluable in supporting change for children, as are colleagues in school health, who often attend our meetings.

We work closely with outside agencies such as the Specialist Teacher Service, the Educational Psychology Service (on initiatives such as the Friendship Project), or a member of the CAMHS team may attend one of our staff meetings to support teachers with a particular issue. Our SENDCo also oversees provision for social skills groups providing Lego therapy, therapeutic story writing or support with self-esteem. Universal strategies, used across the school, include circle time, class worry boxes and feelings journals, the latter being offered individually rather than generally.

As in so many areas of teaching and learning, a great deal of resilience is required to sustain the momentum of support for children with SEMH. It can be very frustrating and there are often setbacks, however, as front-line professionals we are the people best placed to make the difference which enables these children not merely to access their education but to thrive and grow as they should. The alternative to this, for the child and their future life chances, can be bleak indeed.

Lynne Daniels

Head Teacher

Westgate Primary School

Read about the Primary SEMH Steering Group here.

Would your school website pass the Ofsted test?

Prior to Ofsted calling desktop checks are made to ensure school websites comply with statutory guidance.  If you are a maintained school there is a compliance checklist available on the DfE site.

Academies and Free Schools need to check their funding agreements to find out what they are required to publish.

A recent audit and several school inspection reports have found gaps in relation to Special Educational Needs.

SEN and Disability Requirements

In particular, the recent audit highlighted the following statutory requirements missing from school websites:

• The admission arrangements for pupils with SEN or disabilities – linking to the WCC Admissions’ page or detailing arrangements for pupils with statements / EHCPs is not sufficient.  Schools must ensure that prospective pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including long term medical conditions are not treated less favourably or unfairly in the admissions' process.
• The steps taken to prevent pupils with SEND from being treated less favourably than other pupils.
• Details of the school’s access facilities for pupils with SEND;
• The school’s Accessibility Plan, showing how the school is planning to increase access over time for pupils with disabilities

Our recent audit found that many Access Plans had not been reviewed and updated for several years, were not resourced and did not cover the three required areas, i.e. how the school is:

• increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum;
• improving the physical environment of schools to enable those with disabilities to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided; and
• improving the availability of accessible information to those with disabilities.

For more advice and to access a Model Accessibility Plan, see our website.

School SEN Information Reports

Although our recent audit found all but one school had an SEN Information Report, very few reports met the statutory requirements.  The most common gaps were:

• not including the link to Warwickshire’s Local Offer website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send
• not explaining to parents how they can contact the SEND Information and Advice Service (formerly Parent Partnership): https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/children-families/special-educational-needs-services-children/warwickshire-parent-partnership-service/
• not including the name and contact details of the SENCo.

Hopefully these are three requirements which can be fixed really quickly.

“Guidance on Special Toileting Needs in Schools and Early Years’ Settings”

Reminder to schools and settings that the Local Authority’s guidance for those learners with toileting needs can be found on the ‘Disability equality – statutory duties for schools’ webpage.

SEND – some facts and figures

- The January 2017 school census reported that of just over 80,000 pupils attending Warwickshire state-funded primary, secondary and special schools:

• 9,655 (11.3%) were receiving SEN support
• 2,636 (3.1%) had a statement or EHC plan
• giving a total of 12,291 (14.4%) pupils with an assessed SEN at any level.

- The highest recorded primary needs for SEND (inc. SEN Support) are:

• Moderate Learning Difficulty (33%)
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health (16%)
• Speech, Language and Communication Needs (14%)

- 92% of learners with statements/EHC plans attend outstanding or good schools in Warwickshire.

- 36% of new EHC plans issued within 20 weeks, including exceptions (Sept 2017).

- There has been a 10% rise in the number of EHC plans issued in Warwickshire (2016 compared with 2015). There has been an 8% rise across England.

- Referrals for EHC plans has risen by 43% (196 received in Q1 2017)

- As of 31 October 2017, 73% of statements had been converted to EHC plans

- 8.6 % of school age learners with EHC plans are educated in independent specialist providers (Sept 2017)

- 3% of SEN pupils with a statement or EHC plan achieving a 'good level of development' at foundation stage (2015/16)

- Warwickshire recorded higher than national average scores for both Attainment 8 and Progress 8 for learners with SEND

Funding for learners with SEND

For most learners in mainstream schools, including those with special needs, money is allocated to them through the school budget.  Within this, there are two resources available to the school to meet the needs of all its pupils.

Element 1 funding

This is money provided for a school according to how many pupils there are in the school and what ages they are; this is known as the Basic Per Pupil Entitlement or the Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU). This funding is intended to pay for a Quality First, differentiated curriculum which meets the needs of all children in the school and a proportion of this should be spent on support for special educational needs (SEN). It’s from this core budget that things such as the SENCo’s salary should be paid from.  The current values are as follows:

• Primary:            £2,764.25
• Key Stage 3:     £3,708.09
• Key Stage 4:     £4,945.60

Element 2 funding

The amount a school receives in this element depends on:

• anticipated levels of social deprivation; and
• lower than expected levels of attainment in English and Maths.

The majority of support for SEN in schools comes from these two sources of funding. This funding enables schools to offer targeted support for all pupils with SEN&D, including teaching support in small groups and individual work with those pupils who need it.

These resources are available to all children with special needs in mainstream classes whether or not they have Education, Health and Care Plans or Statements of SEN.

This element is referred to as SEN Notional funding. Schools are expected to fund up to the first £6,000 of a pupil’s individual SEND provision from this funding.

The funding is not “ring fenced”; it is part of their general revenue funding.  However schools have statutory duties which require them to:

• “identify and address the SEN of the pupils they support”;
• “use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN” (6.2 Code of Practice);
• “make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage” (6.9 Code of Practice).

Element 3 funding for Children & Young People with Education, Health & Care Plans - High Needs’ Funding

There will always be a small number of children whose needs are so complex that money to support them can only be allocated on an individual basis. In these cases the school can apply for Element 3, High Needs’ funding. This funding provides for children in mainstream schools with the most complex needs.

Which children should receive this funding, how much they should receive and for how long is decided by a range of professionals with experience and expertise in SEN working together in the best interests of the child.  Head Teachers and SEN Coordinators who would like to volunteer to be on the High Needs’ Funding Panel rota should email sen@warwickshire.gov.uk. 

Before making a request, schools are asked to demonstrate how they have used their delegated resources –elements 1&2- to make appropriate, targeted provision and that they have sought  external specialist input over time to monitor that support.

The LA, in collaboration with schools and health, has published the SEND Provision Matrix, a tool to outline what schools should be providing as part of their universal and targeted offer: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sendocs

Schools are advised to use this Matrix as a prompt when reviewing their SEND Information Report, to make clear what they are providing as part of their own universal and targeted provision.  Schools are also asked to reference the Matrix, showing how they have used their own resources, before applying to the Local Authority for High Needs’ Funding.

SEND Local Offer and email news

Warwickshire SEND Local Offer website brings together a range of information regarding SEND. In the last year, we have changed a number of aspects of the Local Offer following feedback from young people and parents.

We are continuing to develop the Local Offer and hope to make it a tool that parent, young people and professionals can use together. Feedback from SENCOs is feeding into the next update of the website.

The Local Offer is also be used as a means for communication about SEND, including the use of Facebook and Twitter, email alerts and a six-monthly newsletter called SEND Voice.

We would encourage all schools to visit the Local Offer, sign up for email alerts on the ‘Keep Me Posted’ button, and publish a link on their website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send

SEND Panels

In the last 18 months a number of panels have been established to ensure that decision-making for SEND is consistent and robust.

The EHC Assessment Panel involves a SENCO and Education Psychologist to decide whether a referral should go forward for assessment. Evidence is considered against the SEN Provision Matrix. Over the period October 2014 - March 2017, 36% of referrals resulted in a decision not to assess. The most common reasons for decision not to assess are that needs can be met at SEN Support level (16%) or insufficient information (11%). School leaders play a significant role in confirming expectations that provision and the assess, plan, do, review process are implemented as they should be.  

The County Admissions Panel for Specialist Settings includes representatives of special schools to decide on whether a place in a specialist setting is required (Special School or SEND Resourced Provision). Further details of this process can be found at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/educationschool.

There is also school representation on High Needs Panel funding and Exceptional Funding Panel.

Many school leaders speak positively of being involved in this process and the robustness that these panels bring to decision-making in SEND.

If you are interested in becoming a school representative on a panel please email sen@warwickshire.gov.uk.

SEND Programme Update

The SEND Programme Board provides oversight on the implementation the reforms set out in the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

Based upon the areas of most concern and where most improvement is needed the following priorities are proposed for 2017/18:

1. Increasing the number of supported internships and work opportunities
2. Improving the percentage of EHC plans issued within 20 weeks of referral
3. Further develop and promote the Local Offer website to young people, parents and professionals
4. Embedding the voice of young people in SEND planning and processes
5. Agree education, health and social care joint working practices for children and young people with SEND
6. Improve the experience of transition through health and social care services

Across the programme we are working with parents and carers, schools and colleges, local authority services and health partners.

SENDIAS Warwickshire (formerly Parent Partnership Service)

SENDIAS provide advice, information and support on all matters relating to SEND for parents and carers.

In particular, SENDIAS provide support for parents and young people during an Education, Health & Care (EHC) assessment and support in resolving disagreement.

SENDIAS also provide advice on school based support for learners with SEND who do not have an EHC Plan, advice on SEN & disability, health & social care, and advice on exclusions.

The service provides impartial and confidential advice by telephone or email as well as through individual casework.

Please add a link to SENDIAS to your school website: www.family-action.org.uk/wias

12 Top tips to get the most out of SENDAR

1. Wherever possible encourage parents / carers who feel their child might require an EHC Plan to work with your staff rather than submit a parental referral. Parental referrals usually arrive with much less evidence than school referrals and so are frequently turned down with a request to the school for missing information.  This causes frustration for parents and delays matters.  It also means that the school is required to provide the same level of evidence and paperwork as they would if they were making the referral themselves but within a mere two weeks rather than two terms to do this.

2. If it is believed that a child might require a needs assessment to support transition between key stages these should be considered in the year before transfer year; that is Years 1, 5, 8 or 10.  Please work with parents, carers and appropriate professionals on this.

3. As far as possible avoid sending in EHC Plan referrals in the final term of the academic year and especially the final half term of the academic year.  Think of the end of March as the latest date in the academic year for a referral.  Any later than that and things risk running up against the summer exception rule that puts things on hold or means we are trying to contact schools and other professionals for advice when they are on holiday.  Once again this causes frustration and wastes time.

4. Please don’t submit batches of EHC Plan referrals.  These lead to bottlenecks in the system and once again contribute to delays.

5. If a child or young person with a Statement or EHC Plan is at risk of exclusion please remember to call a professionals meeting inviting your SENDAR Plan Coordinator and the educational professionals working with the child before any decision is made regarding permanent exclusion.

6. If you have any concerns you should talk to the LA professionals who work in your school for guidance (EPS, STS or IDS staff) and if still in doubt contact SENDAR.  Asking questions early can avoid later misunderstandings.

7. We continue to welcome volunteer Head Teachers or SENCos to attend our EHC Plan Referral Panels on Thursdays or for the County Panel which meets monthly on Monday mornings and considers requests for children and young people to move from mainstream to specialist provision.  These are excellent CPD opportunities for you and help to promote consistency across the LA.

8. When submitting EHC Plan referrals please do so electronically and use Microsoft Word not PDF.  Referral forms, Family Conversations, Child / My Views and SEND Provision Matrix are easier to manage if they come in as separate documents but all other documents can come in as one.  If you do have to make a paper submission please send documents in single-sided on unstapled A4.  This will greatly ease our administration and speed up the process.

9. Please remember that SENDAR has no budget to provide support for school beyond that provided through the EHC Plan process.

10. If a child is undergoing a transfer to an EHC Plan and a costed IEP is enclosed, please include “Costed IEP Enclosed” in the title of the email

11. Remember, SENDAR is an extremely busy service with a heavy caseload working to tight deadlines and so might have difficulty in responding immediately to questions but all SENDAR staff are dedicated to the best interests of children and young people.  Please have faith in them.  They want to work with you.

12. Schools should be providing Careers Advice and Guidance for all their students from year 9 onwards.  SENDAR’s Preparing for Adulthood team can support with Transition Planning for post 16 where needed.  Please give them plenty of notice for any reviews you want them to attend.  If any of your students are considering specialist provision beyond school it is vital that we know about this as soon as possible as there is a process for applying for high needs funding and local provision needs to be considered first.  It is envisaged that the majority of leavers will transition into mainstream provision; our team can advise about support available.

Training and specialist support

Warwickshire Education Services offer a range of training and specialist support to help schools work with vulnerable learners. Training is aligned to the SEND Provision Matrix and covers a range of needs including communication and interaction, cognition and learning, and social, emotional and mental health. Further information on training opportunities can be found at https://apps.warwickshire.gov.uk/Wes/services-pupil.

Warwickshire Parent Carer Forum

Warwickshire Parent Carer Forum (previously Family Voice Warwickshire) represent families with SEND in Warwickshire. The Forum engage with parents and carers through events and social media. Members provide invaluable insight to the local authority on how families are being supported by schools and services, and help to shape change.  

Please encourage parents to sign up to Facebook and Twitter feeds at

• @Warksparentcarerforum Facebook
• @WarksPCarerF Twitter

Warwickshire Parent Carer Forum can be contacted by email at warwickshireparentcarerforum@gmail.com. 

Warwickshire Working Together Network (WWTN)

The WWTN is a network of groups and social media pages across Warwickshire. They all support young people to have their say. The network is about making Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services better by working with young people.

Young people can have their say about SEND service decisions that are important to them through the network. Some of the groups in the network include special school councils, Children in Care Council and college SEND groups.

The network is for children and young people aged 11 – 25 living in Warwickshire county with SEND to:

• Share views at one of the network groups.
• Share views with someone you know who is part of one of the network groups (for example, a school council member).
• You must be aged 13 or older to have your say online:

www.facebook.com/WarksCoPro
www.twitter.com/WarksCoPro

For more information, email lauramusgrave@warwickshire.gov.uk.

New SEND quality award for 0-5

Parents and nurseries have been working together to create a new 0 – 5 SEND quality award.

WIncKS shows that early years schools and childminders welcome children with special educational needs and disabilities. The name WIncKS stands for Warwickshire Inclusion Kite marking Scheme. The award recognises and celebrates high quality SEND provision in Warwickshire’s pre-school settings. Nurseries or childminders need to have a good or outstanding Ofsted rating to qualify for a WIncKS award. WIncKS also aims to raise the profile of award winners with families looking for inclusive 0 - 5 settings.

Parents and professionals took part in workshops to develop WIncKS, led by Integrated Disability Services. See photos from the workshops on the Warwickshire Working Together Facebook page.

The first round of awards was at Shire Hall, Warwick in September 2017. Eighteen pre-school settings received their WIncKS inclusion awards during the celebration.

Congratulations to:
Alcester Nursery
Merrydays and Henley Montessori School
Atherstone Nursery School
Bedworth Heath Nursery School & Early Years Teaching Centre
Claverdon Village Nursery and Pre-school
Westgate Preschool
Shipston Pre-School
Stockingford Early Years Centre and Library
Little Willows, Leamington Spa
Little Crofters, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tiny Toes, Rugby
Humpty Dumpty, Rugby
KCP, Rugby
Squirrels, Rugby
Weddington Pre-School, Nuneaton
Bizzy Tots, Clifton Rd, Rugby
St. Matthews Bloxham Nursery, Rugby
Kingsbury 1st Pre-School

Free Early Years Oral Health eLearning course launched

Are you interested in FREE training and resources that will help you meet the requirements of the EYFS and Ofsted?

Warwickshire County Council Public Health have worked with a team of local and regional experts to develop a new, FREE ‘Oral Health Promotion in the Early Years’ eLearning course for ALL early years settings and practitioners.

The course takes about 35 minutes to complete, and is designed to give the learner the knowledge, skills and confidence to be able to share important oral health information with young children and their parents.

On completing the course, practitioners can access the Warwickshire Oral Health in the Early Years Resource Pack, which provides lots of creative teaching and promotional materials to help delivery short oral health campaigns in early years settings.

Course: ‘Oral Health Promotion in the early Years’

Course code: HSW WB009

Link: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Wilma 

Compass - Warwickshire Young Person’s Substance Misuse Service

Compass Warwickshire provides early help/prevention, targeted and specialist support interventions and activities for young people and vulnerable adults who are affected by their own or another person’s substance misuse. We provide services for young people who are at risk of using substances, are experimenting with substances or who are using them regularly. Through our consistent, reliable, solution-focused working, we see high levels of engagement with young people we work with. By showing value, care and commitment to improving the holistic outcomes of each individual, we are able to provide a service which empowers young people to build resilience and take control of issues affecting their lives whilst promoting healthier lifestyles.

We work collaboratively with a range of organisations such as Social Care, Youth Justice, Housing, Hospitals, Education, Mental Health and Targeted Youth Support amongst others. We work closely with these specialist agencies, alongside our whole family approach, to enhance the outcomes for young people and their families, maximizing the use of resources and minimizing duplication of activity. All services provided are outreach and can be facilitated in schools.

As well as directly helping young people, Compass Warwickshire has developed a bespoke programme of support for the wider children and vulnerable adults’workforce, including training and professional consultation for schools. The package of support includes localized training programmes and materials, as well as liaison work, advocacy and one-to-one support for fellow professionals

Services and Interventions available to be delivered in schools

• Early help & Prevention - Individual and Group Work
• Targeted and Specialist Substance Misuse Interventions
• Smoking Cessation Service
• Hidden Harm Interventions
• Chathealth & Parentline - messaging service for confidential advice and support about child health related issues for Parents/Carers & young people (aged 11-19 years)
• Professional Consultation

Compass is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

If you need to refer someone to the Young Person's Substance Misuse Service, please complete this form and return it via secure E-mail to compass.warksypsduty@nhs.net. 

New Cyber-bullying leaflet for parents

This week (13th-17th November) is Anti-Bullying Week.

Compass School Health and Wellbeing Service's Healthy Lifestyle Co-ordinator and Warwickshire’s Cyber-crime Advisor have produced this new leaflet on Cyber-bullying, which is now one of the most common forms of bullying.

The leaflet is aimed at children and parents, of junior school age, especially those children who are having a mobile phone for the first time or children who regularly use social media.

To help keep parents better informed and your pupils safer, we hope that you will disseminate this leaflet to your families.

Year 9 pupils complete Health Assessment

Across Warwickshire year 9 pupils are completing online health questionnaires facilitated by Warwickshire School Health and Wellbeing Service.

Each school will be given a Public Health Plan as a result of your pupil’s responses. This will enable both schools and Warwickshire School Health and Wellbeing Service to offer interventions and support to pupils. Any individual health needs will be addressed confidentially by a school nurse.

If you have not yet spoken to your school nurse to arrange a date for year 9 to complete the health assessment please do so before November 17^th on 03300 245 204 – choosing your local hub. Thank you.

Flu vaccination campaign and infection guidance

Flu vaccination campaign

Public Health would like to ask for your support with this year's flu campaign - please find a factsheet for frontline staff, which we would be grateful if you might share as widely as possible. 

Please find all of our poster/campaign resources here: 
warwickshire.gov.uk/flu 
coventry.gov.uk/flujab

You can also find information about our targets here.

New Infection Control Guidance

Please also see here for newly published infection control guidance for schools and childcare facilities.

With winter looming, and the winter vomiting bug "Norovirus" starting to circulate, may we recommend Chapters 3,4, 6, 9 and Appendix 3 in particular.

Studley High School awarded grant

Apprenticeship information for schools

In April 2017, the way apprenticeships are funded changed as part of a series of wider reforms to the apprenticeship system in England. Employers with a pay bill of more than £3m are now required to pay into the apprenticeship levy, funds which are then made available to recoup by investing in apprenticeship training for employees.

Available funding can be used to meet the cost of apprenticeship training and assessment against an approved apprenticeship framework or standard, delivered by an apprenticeship training provider. This can be for both existing employees as well as new starters. The training provider must be on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP), and for schools who pay into the overall Warwickshire County Council levy contributions, they must also be a contracted provider with the Council.

What types of apprenticeship can be used by schools?

There are numerous types of apprenticeship already available to use for roles in schools, these include:

• Teaching Assistant
• PE in School Sports
• Early Years Educator
• Business Administration
• Leadership & Management
• IT
• Team Leader
• Facilities Management
• Customer Service
• Marketing

New school specific apprenticeship standards are also currently being created, such as a degree level QTS Teaching Apprenticeship and School Business Management. It is anticipated that these standards will be available for delivery in 2018, though that is yet to be confirmed.

Which training providers are contracted to deliver for WCC schools?

Following a recent and ongoing tendering process, Warwickshire County Council is contracted with several apprenticeship training providers. Those that are able to deliver schools apprenticeships include:

Aspire Sports - https://www.aspire-sports.co.uk/employ-apprentice

Aurelia Training - http://aureliatraining.com/apprenticeships.html

Coventry City College - http://www.coventrycollege.ac.uk/apprenticeships-2/

Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber Training - http://www.cw-chambertraining.co.uk/apprenticeships/

Heart of England Training - https://www.hoet.co.uk/apprenticeships/

Intec Business Colleges - https://www.getoncourse.net/employers/qualifications.aspx

National Schools Training - https://www.nationalschoolstraining.co.uk/

North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College - http://www.nwhc.ac.uk/apprenticeships/

SCCU - http://www.sccu.uk.com/apprenticeships/

Warwickshire College - https://www.wcg.ac.uk/page/153/apprenticeships

If you are a WCC maintained school and you are approached by a training provider that is not contracted to deliver apprenticeships for WCC, that doesn’t mean you cannot work with them – get the provider to speak to the Apprenticeship Hub and they will enable them to go through the contracting process and join WCC’s list of contracted providers.

Schools/academies that are not part of WCC are free to engage with any training provider to deliver apprenticeships for them, providing they are on the RoATP. If you are unsure whether a provider is on the RoATP or not, you can check that on the Government website: https://roatp.apprenticeships.sfa.bis.gov.uk/download

How do I pay levy funds to my chosen training provider?

All apprenticeship levy funds are paid through the Digital Apprenticeship Service (DAS). The process is very simple for WCC maintained schools; inform the Apprenticeship Hub! The Hub manages the WCC levy account through the DAS and will set up payments for apprenticeships to the training provider on your behalf. We will simply need a few details about the apprentice in order to do this, which can either be provided by the school or the provider.

Currently there is no cap on how much levy funding WCC maintained schools can spend – that may change in the future, depending on demand, but for now you can spend more than you pay in. WCC wishes to maximise levy funds as much as possible and encourage schools to recoup what they have paid to the levy and benefit from apprenticeships.

Schools/academies that are not part of WCC but are levy payers will need to register on the DAS in order to pay for apprenticeship training. Non-levy paying schools will pay for apprenticeships through a different funding system called co-investment, where the government pays 90% of the training costs to the training provider and the employer pays the remaining 10%. Training providers will support any school with the co-investment process where required.

Can I spend levy funds on non-apprenticeship training?

No. Levy funds cannot be spent on anything but apprenticeship training and assessment costs, the training delivered must be as part of an accredited apprenticeship framework/standard delivered by a training provider on the RoATP. New apprenticeship standards include an end point assessment that the apprentice must pass to complete their apprenticeship, and 20% of the cost of the apprenticeship is held back for that to be delivered by an End Point Assessment Organisation.

Levy funds cannot be used for apprentice’s salary costs, travel costs or costs associated with recruiting and/or managing the apprentice. You will receive a reimbursement of £1,000 however if you recruit an apprentice aged 16 – 18, or a 19 – 24 year old who has a Local Authority Education and Healthcare Plan. There is also additional government funding available for additional learning support and English and Maths training if the apprentice requires this.

Further help, advice and support

The Apprenticeship Hub at Warwickshire County Council will be happy to support you and your school with advice and information about apprenticeships and the apprenticeship levy. We can help you to choose a training provider, promote your apprenticeship vacancies, and for those schools that are part of the WCC levy, enable you to pay for apprenticeship training through the Digital Apprenticeship Service.

To contact the Apprenticeship Hub, call 01926 418040 or email apprentice@warwickshire.gov.uk.

Quarterly Labour Market report available

The fourth Quarterly Labour Market report from the Economy and Skills Group at Warwickshire County Council is now available to read online.

The bulletin considers themes such as the latest employment and unemployment data, economic activity and real-time demand in the labour market for the July-September 2017 quarter (Q3). It also contains a summary of the latest business news from Warwickshire and the wider Coventry and Warwickshire LEP area. 

This quarterly piece is aimed at giving partners, businesses and other interested stakeholders important labour market information to provide greater transparency on local economic fluctuations. In each edition, we shall present up-to-date figures with the addition of other relevant annual data. This issue will include: Industry Performance, which compares the latest business and employment trends by sector across Warwickshire.

NEW to this bulletin is our 'Special Article'. This section will focus on how the north and south of Warwickshire are working together to create sustainable economic growth and a stronger labour market.

Please visit the following link which will take you straight to the website:

http://labourmarketbulletin-warks.tfemagazine.co.uk/november-2017/

We always welcome any feedback or ideas to improve future publications and ensure that we can continue to capture interesting news. Please could you also pass this on to other colleagues that you think may find this interesting/useful, and we are happy to add people to future distribution lists.  Alternatively, if you do want to receive future editions, please also let us know by email at nataliemaposa@warwickshire.gov.uk.

Skills Conference 2018

Our 4th annual conference for Headteachers and business leaders will take place on 7th March 2018, 8-10am, at the National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre, Stoneleigh.

The main theme will be how business can work more closely with education providers to meet the Skills challenges Brexit will bring. The event will also celebrate the success achieved by schools, colleges and young people funded by Skills for Employment grants.

More detail and information on how to book will appear in the next edition of Heads Up.

Free Employability Game

Unlock Employability was developed by Totem Learning with a grant from Skills for Employment. It’s a serious, 3D game suitable for use with pupils from years 8 -13 as there are different levels of achievement. Set on a mysterious tropical island, learners must work together in teams of 4 to solve puzzles and be selected for their dream job. Players identify their strengths and weaknesses in key employability areas such as communication, teamwork, professionalism, leadership, problem-solving and drive and determination.

6 schools can play it for free from November until April 2018 with no obligation to buy a licence thereafter.  For more information contact skillsforemployment@warwickshire.gov.uk

'Back to basics' essentials training for all teachers

The Shires Teaching School Alliance are offering training in the essentials, useful for all teachers, from NQT to SLT:

Download this flyer.

'How to achieve a grade 5 or above in English and Maths'

Please see the information below on this course, provided by the Southam Teaching Alliance.  You can download this flyer here.

The ASCL NPQ for Executive Leadership

Please find here a flyer for the ASCL's new National Professional Qualification for Executive Leadership (NPQEL), for which Lawrence Sheriff School is a partner.

Designed for those leading more than one school or college, or those interested in taking on such a role, either as an executive headteacher or as chief executive of a trust in any phase of education, our new executive leadership programme offers an exceptional opportunity to prepare you for the challenges of running a group of schools/colleges, enhance your leadership skills, hone your practice and achieve formal recognition with the latest qualification from the NPQ suite.

For more information,  call 0116 299 1122 or email NPQEL@ascl.org.uk. 

Holocaust Education Networking Hub: Unpacking the Holocaust

The Polesworth School is a designated UCL Beacon School in Holocaust Education.

Aimed at sharing good practice and outstanding teaching materials in respect of Holocaust education, we invite you to join us as we work together and support each other. Whether you teach the Holocaust in History, RE, English or another curriculum subject this hub is for you!

A FREE full day delivered by University College London (UCL), introduces the key issues in Holocaust education and is relevant to all teachers including the following interactive workshops:

• Who were the six million?
• What was the Holocaust? An interactive timeline
• Being human?

Funded by DfE and Pears Foundation, this is a free event and includes lunch and materials.

WHERE: The George Hotel, 12-14 Bird Street, Lichfield WS13 6PR

WHEN: Thursday 8 February 2018, 08:30–16:30

For more information see this flyer.

To book contact: m.borders@thepolesworthschool.com 

Maths leaders event: 'Problem solving in the secondary maths classroom'

The Community Academies Trust Teaching School is offering the following event for free to all maths practitioners:

'Problem solving in the secondary maths classroom'

North Warwickshire/South East Staffordshire Maths Leaders' Networking Hub

Join the Maths Networking Hub and Fiona Kitchen from the Future Maths Support Programme in the first of our termly “TeachMeet” style networking events. These events provide a valuable opportunity to network with other local colleagues with a focus on improving the progress of all our students.

Fiona Kitchen is the Area Co-ordinator for the national Future Maths Support Programme (FMSP). The FMSP supports the development of Higher Level Problem Solving skills including support for teachers helping students prepare for STEP, AEA and MAT examinations

This free event is open to all maths practitioners.

WHEN: Wednesday 22nd November 2017, 4.00 pm

WHERE: The Polesworth School, Dordon Road, Polesworth, B78 1QT

See this flyer for more information.

If you wish to book or contribute to this or future networking events, please contact The Community Academies Trust Teaching School at m.borders@thepolesworthschool.

The Outstanding Teacher Programme

Please click here for details and dates for the Outstanding Teacher Programme, offered by the Community Academies Trust Teaching School.

Designed by OLEVI and facilitated by our experienced school leaders and teachers at Higham Lane School and The Polesworth School, the Outstanding Teacher Programme (OTP) gives good and outstanding teachers a set of high level skills and strategies that enable them to become consistently and sustainably outstanding. Utilised in the London and City Challenge Projects and endorsed by the National College, the OTP has gained a national reputation for raising standards in teaching and learning.

The course started on 2nd November 2017, and runs until to the 13th February 2018.

Prices are from £350 + VAT per delegate.

There is still availability on the course, and there are discounts available for multiple bookings.

Email s.tocker@thepolesworthschool.com for more information and to book.

Free TSST courses in Maths and Physics

The CATTS Alliance is working in partnership with Birmingham City University and the University of Plymouth to offer specific training for non-specialist teachers of Maths and Physics and to former teachers who are returning to the teaching profession.

Teacher Subject Specialism Training (TSST) courses are available free of charge to participants.

The purpose of this accredited training is twofold: to improve subject knowledge and to demonstrate teaching methods.

Who should do these courses?

• Existing teachers
• Non Subject Specialist Teachers
• NQTs
• Ex teachers who want to return to the profession

See this flyer for more detail and how to book, or contact Michelle Borders at m.borders@thepolesworthschool.com. 

Shires TSA - NPQs for Senior and Middle Leaders

Please see the following flyers for details of National Professional Qualifications in Senior and Middle Leadership, offered by the Shires Teaching School Alliance:

Download the above flyer for the NPQML Course.

Download the above flyer for the NPQSL Course.

Teacher Training in Warwickshire - New event

Griffin Teaching School Alliance - NPQs for Headship and Middle Leaders

The Griffin Teaching School Alliance would like to highlight the following training opportunities:

For more information on both of these courses and to book your place please contact:

christine.blay@lawrencesheriffschool.com

01788 843789

National Professional Qualification for Headship

The National Professional Qualification for Headship is a nationally accredited programme delivered by trained facilitators from Lawrence Sheriff School. The newly reformed NPQH qualification is for those who are, or are aspiring to become, a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school. 

See this flyer for more details.

Sessions will be held at: Lawrence Sheriff School, Clifton Road, CV21 3AG and local partner schools.

The course costs £1,800 (including externally verified assessment)

National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership

The National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership is a nationally accredited programme, delivered by trained facilitators from Finham Park 2 and Lawrence Sheriff Schools. The newly reformed NPQML will help you to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence that you need to lead a high performing team in a school and improve classroom practice.  The course is for those who are, or are aspiring to become a middle leader with responsibility for leading a team.

See this flyer for more details.

Sessions will be held at Finham Park School 2, Leigh Court, Torrington Avenue, Coventry, CV4 9XZ  The course started on Thursday 2nd November.

The course costs £750 (including externally verified final assessment)

Vulnerable Learner Services Training

You are invited to attend a launch event for the Primary SEMH Steering Group 2018/19 round of bids to support capacity building for SEMH in primary schools. This is an exciting opportunity for primary schools to work in partnership to develop an action plan to bid for up to £10000 of funding. Previous successful bids have focused on the development of a wide variety of provision including the introduction of nurture groups and nurture support networks, reference libraries and training to promote work with families. Launch events are taking place during January:

Wednesday 23rd January 2018, 2.30pm - 4.00pm
Pound Lane Learning Centre
Pound Lane, Leamington Spa CV32 7RT

Thursday 15th February 2018, 2.30pm - 4.00pm
King’s House, Bedworth, CV12 8LL

To book a place please click here

Please contact Tammy Mason (tammymason@warwickshire.gov.uk) / 01926
742990) if you require any additional information

To view the information flyer please click here