Warwickshire news
Leaders of Education for Warwickshire appointed
In March, the Teaching School Alliances from across Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire ran a campaign to appoint Leaders of Education (CSWLE) to work across the region to increase the leadership capacity within other schools to help raise standards.
The Teaching School Alliances are pleased to share that following interviews across the sub-region 16 head teachers have now been appointed as CSWLEs and will be added to the sub-regional directory to support schools across the area.
Leaders will be attending orientation training in May where they will confirm which Alliance they will be aligned with.
Updates from the training will be shared on the CSW Teaching School Alliances Facebook and Twitter pages
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Warwickshire
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1. James Higham
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Henry Hinde Infant School
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2. Andrew Simms
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Bidford on Avon Primary School
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3. Andrew Edwards
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The Revel C of E (Aided) Primary School and Early Birds Nursery
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4. Darren Barrow
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St John’s Primary School
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5. Neil Wallace
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Stratfor-upon-Avon School
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6. Leah Adams
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Northlands Primary School
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Solihull
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7. Colette Hatton
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Tudor Grange Academy
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8. Emma Collins
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Tudor Grange Academy
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Coventry
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9. Tammy McCarthy
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Holbrook Primary School
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10. Darren Clews
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Grangehurst Primary School
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11. Karen Ferguson
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Stivichall Primary School
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12. Ann Dudgeon
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Caludon Castle School
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13. Jayne Ellis
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Coundon Primary School
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14. Allison Underhill
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St Andrew's C of E Infant School
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15. Sarah Malam
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Courthouse Green Primary School
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16. Paul Tuffin
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Southfields Primary School
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Skills challenge grant funding opportunities
Grant-funding worth between £20,000 & £40,000 is available from Warwickshire County Council to businesses and other organisations
who take up the Skills Challenge.
The Council is inviting expressions of Interest (EOI) from companies and other groups who can deliver a project to address a proven skills shortage or gap in Warwickshire. Education or training providers may partner business organisations submitting bids e.g. lead on writing the bid and manage delivery of the project if it is successful.
Skills Challenge projects can be occupation or sector-specific, or in a particular geographic area. For example, the challenge may be to train computer programmers, increase the number of applicants for jobs in the construction industry or provide more apprentices (of various types) to work in Rugby town-centre.
EOIs must demonstrate the Skills Challenge with relevant research, data or other information.
EOIs are welcome from businesses or organisations representing businesses such as sector bodies, trade associations and town-centre management groups. This is to ensure the Skills Challenge identified is based on high-priority, current business-need.
EOIs may be submitted at any time until 30 September and will receive a response from the council within 15 working days. For further details please see the following website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/skillsforemployment
Launch of the new Warwickshire Agreed RE Syllabus
We are pleased to inform schools that we will be launching the new Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in July, in time for implementation in schools for September 2017.
After considering a number of options, Coventry and Warwickshire SACREs (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) agreed to purchase a five-year licence for the RE Today Model Agreed Syllabus for all schools that follow the local syllabus - this includes primary, secondary and special maintained schools and academies.
Additional units will be written to accompany the model syllabus to ensure it reflects the local context of both Coventry and Warwickshire authorities. These units along with the syllabus itself will be available free of charge to those schools mentioned above.
Launch Events - July 2017
The syllabus will officially be launched at three events to be held in July:
Mon 3 July at The Welcome Centre, Coventry
Mon 10 July at The Christian Centre, Bedworth
Tue 11 July at Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse
To book your place on one of these events please follow one of the links at the bottom of this page.
The events will be a one-day conference, led by RE Today, to introduce teachers to the new Agreed Syllabus. It will focus on practical classroom ideas and strategies, enabling teachers to get to grips with the new syllabus and how to apply it in their schools.
On the day, schools will receive a hard copy of the syllabus. Copies of all resources used on the day will be available to take away. A wide range of resources will be available to purchase or order on the day including a full set of scheme of work to support this syllabus.
Who are the events for?
The launch events are aimed at teachers of RE from primary and secondary schools, including subject leaders, Heads of RE, HLTAs and headteachers.
How do I book?
There are limited places at each of the events so please book to confirm your place. You may attend any one of the locations regardless of your local authority area. Please click on one of the links below to register your details and confirm your place:
New Intranet / website for staff, partners, practitioners and teachers
Our current Intranet has been around for a while now, so the time has come to replace it with a brand new website for staff, partners, practitioners and teachers. This will be a one stop shop for useful information to help you to do your job.
We want you to find information on it as quickly as possible, so we need your help!
This exercise will allow you to sort the pages from the current 'School and Teachers' section of the site into groups that you think fit well together and then name these groups. We will then use this feedback to structure the new site.
You can complete as much of each exercise as you want and then submit it (although you can't save your progress).
Please feel free to forward this request onto another member of staff who may access these pages on a more regular basis.
Schools celebrating success
Three Warwickshire secondary schools have been recognised for their achievements based on 2016 Key Stage 4 results. The following schools received a congratulatory letter from the Minister of State for School Standards Nick Gibb:
Southam College and Stratford Girls' Grammar School both achieved a Progress 8 score of well above the national average.
The Polesworth School was recognised for being one of the top non-selective state-funded schools showing the highest percentage of pupils entering the English Baccalaureate.
For more information about the criteria and a full list of schools receiving letters click here:
Congratulations also go to Alcester Academy who were successful in being granted National Support School Status in March, and to headteacher, Paul Hyde who is now recognised as a National Leader of Education (NLE).
NLEs are outstanding headteachers or principals who, together with the staff in the National Support School use their expertise and professionalism to provide support to schools in challenging circumstances.
Making a REAL difference to children in Warwickshire
Thirteen large projects in Warwickshire have been awarded funding from the Smart Start programme to improve school readiness in Warwickshire. One project ‘Making it REAL in Warwickshire’ set out to work with families and children from 2-5 years to improve literacy and language.
Colleagues from children’s centres, libraries, nurseries, schools and health visitors attended training from National Children’s Bureau in REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy).
Over the last year these trained professionals, ‘Family Learning tutors’, delivered the five week course to 345 families in the most deprived localities, with over 400 children attending. The tutors made home visits, took families to local libraries to become members and attend story sessions, took families on environmental print walks and held session in venues to support early writing skills and oral language.
The outcomes exceeded both the projects team’s expectations and the national results of REAL. Some of the highlights to date are:
• 92% of families have noticed an increase in their children mark making, with 72% of children saying what it represents
• 98% of families reported that the course had given them ideas of activities to do at home
• 91% have noticed an increase in their child enjoying and joining in with stories
• 92% have noticed an increase in their child singing rhymes
• 81% of families are now library members
• 78% of adults intend to do more Family Learning or other Adult Education courses.
Some of the families that took part in the REAL courses explain what they achieved:
“I have learnt how to play with my child in different ways”
“I have gained a stronger bonding experience with my child”
“My granddaughter had a great time and it was fun to do. I have also taken up reading again which is brilliant.”
“Got library membership, more confidence, and good friends.”
Jan Lennon, Family Learning Programme Manager explains “We were delighted to have received a Smart Start grant which has enabled us to deliver the REAL programme. In April we will undertake training in REAM (Raising Early Achievement in Maths) which will enhance our family learning offer to families across Warwickshire.”
Helen King, Deputy Director of Public Health at Warwickshire County Council said “The results from the ‘Making it REAL’ programme have surpassed initial expectations and are making a real difference to families in Warwickshire. It is great to see our Smart Start programme helping local projects to play their part in improving school readiness in Warwickshire.”
For more information about the Smart Start projects or the Smart Start programme visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/smartstart
Book your place for the Women's Tour
Schools across Warwickshire have been sent a school pack as the county prepares itself for the OVO energy Women's Cycling Tour coming to Warwickshire on Friday 9 June.
Warwickshire is hosting the third leg of the tour which first came to the county last year and was viewed by an estimated 75,000 spectators who lined the roads and braved the elements to cheer the cyclists on.
This year, the cyclists will start at Atherstone and cycle 160km along Warwickshire's roads before finishing on The Parade in Royal Leamington Spa.
The riders from 2016 have spoken about the experience of riding through Warwickshire last year and what they identified as the highlight was the 'wall of noise' that greeted them as they rode.
This came largely from Warwickshire school children. It may come as little surprise to those who teach them that our children created a cacophony of sound that is still living in the memories of those that heard it.
And the riders have said that a repeat performance this year would be perfect so the partners involved in the tour have created the school pack to ensure that schools take the chance to get involved in the tour, plan their spot from which to cheer the riders on and look at activities that the children can do that are related to cycling.
(Top: Gemma, winner of the 2016 Women's Tour Start Flag Design Competition, opening the race. Bottom: Matthew, winner of the Stage Winner Trophy Design Competition)
The pack gives schools the chance to become part of the race with children in the north being invited to design the start flag which will be used to get the cyclists moving in Atherstone. Children in the south of the county are being invited to design the stage trophy that will be awarded to the winner of the Warwickshire stage of the Tour.
Race organisers are looking for schools to also use their influence on social media to increase awareness of the Tour. Schools can follow #WT2017 or #ThisGirlCan on twitter. Or, if schools would like to post messages and share with facebook friends, these can be supplied. Email haydenwright@warwickshire.gov.uk to be included on a database of recipients for Facebook ready messages.
Are you ready for a summer of creative computing and some risky robots?
Run by Warwickshire's ICT Service, our three day summer school for 8 - 14 year olds is a brilliant way of getting into the exciting world of drones and robotics whilst having great fun! Over the three days you will program drones, build and race LEGO creations, interact with NAO the humanoid robot, make music and produce your own movie! Making the most of new technologies and working out of our fantastic Apple Regional Training Centre in Leamington Spa, (Pound Lane, Leamington Spa, CV32 7RT) your three days will be jam packed with lots of hands-on activities and challenges.
Whether you are a beginner or a computing expert there will be something for you:
- Interact with the NAO humanoid robots
- Work with experienced trainers to build and program robots with LEGO Education WeDo 2 and Mindstorms EV3
- Program air and ground drones to complete a range of challenges
- Rock it with the Risky Robots Garage Band!
- Make your own B Movie!!
The sessions are all about getting hands-on and creative with robotics, coding and some great apps. All the activities will encourage problem solving, teamwork, collaboration and experimentation. For the provisional session outline, please click here, but note that all sessions are subject to final confirmation.
This is our second year running a summer school. If you attended last year, it would be great to see you again for even more fun, and new challenges!
IMPORTANT
- The summer school is open to children aged between 8 and 14 years of age at a cost of £119/delegate.
- Refreshments will be provided BUT attendees must bring their own lunch
- Each day will start at 10am (attendees can be dropped off from 9.30am) and will finish at 3pm (staff will be available until 3.30pm)
DATE AND TIME
Mon, 21 Aug 2017 - Wed, 23 Aug 2017 - 10:00 – 15:00
LOCATION
Pound Lane Learning Centre
Pound Lane
Leamington Spa
CV32 7RT
Warwickshire ICT Development Service is part of Warwickshire County Council.
To register please visit the event page link below:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-summer-of-creative-computing-risky-robots-3-days-tickets-33206769341
For further information, please call our Service Desk on 01926 414100 or email ictdsservicedesk@warwickshire.gov.uk