Welcome

Welcome to the final Heads Up of the school year.  It has been a very busy year for everyone, I know, but we have made great strides embedding the Warwickshire Education Strategy and having a real direction and purpose in the work that we do.  It – the strategy - has made sure that everything we are doing has a direct benefit for all of the young people in our education system, from those in early years settings through to young people up to the age of 25 in training preparing them for the workplace.

Any strategy that makes a difference to children and young people is underpinned by partnership, skills, experience and commitment. Thank you for your commitment to partnership working and delivering the goals for children and young people in the education strategy. Everyday I get to see and hear of how you and your teams are making a difference for children and young people, aiming to secure their wellbeing and progression overcoming any challenges they face. 

I would like to thank everyone who has gone the extra yard in supporting a child this year to reach their potential. Children and young people are the future. You are supporting their development of resilience. You are giving them the opportunity to develop leadership skills and become worthy citizens for our communities. I know that you are also achieving this by building the resilience, skills and wellbeing of your team colleagues. 

It has also been a year in which we have been carrying out amazing work for our young people with SEND or inclusion needs, against a backdrop of funding pressures.  We are working to ensure that more learners are supported close to home in the interest of securing better outcomes for the young people concerned. With new resource bases and specialist school provision school we aim to continue this exciting improving trend.

The fact that we have been making such progress across the county in so many areas of education is even more impressive when taking into account that it has also been a year of considerable change in the senior management here at the county council.  But we are now looking at a period where we can get our heads down and tackle what needs to be done, hopefully without too much distraction.

While I hope you all find time in the next six weeks to take some much-needed time out to reinvigorate yourselves, rest assured that we will not be shutting down the hatches at the county council.  There is a lot of work that needs to be done in readiness for the new school year and support officers will be working behind the scenes to get everything set up for when you return. 

In the meantime, I hope that you and your colleagues have a great holiday and thank you once again for all your hard work and endeavour over the last year.

With best wishes

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services