Dear colleagues,

Hello and welcome once again to Heads Up.

It has been a week of uncertainty in the world of education as we have waited for Government guidance to come through about further support for schools and what may happen over the summer holiday period.

In the statement from Gavin Williamson yesterday it was welcome to see that there will be additional support for tutoring in the autumn to help schools towards making up some of the ground our children may have lost through not being in school and we look forward to processing the detail on that initiative. However, there was no reference to resources or initiatives for the summer holiday break.

My team has been thinking ahead, whilst waiting for any Government guidance regarding the summer, and beginning the planning to help facilitate and signpost activities for children and young people in Warwickshire. 

To that end, we have assumed that there will be a need for some sort of provision over the summer period and have established a task and finish group that is looking at options and ideas for a programme of activities whilst schools are having their break. Given the available timeline, this won’t be about reinventing the wheel, rather more about adjusting what has been in place and well received over recent years. We will need to ensure any programme is well organised, fit for purpose and in line with all social distancing measures and safety adjustments that will need to be made.

We are really hoping that Government will announce that there is some funding available for this so that we can increase the possibilities for our young people to have some social interaction before they return to school in the next academic year. We know that you will share this aspiration. Our children’s mental and physical wellbeing together with their learning is so important and we want to make sure that, if at all possible, an engaging and interesting range of activities are assembled and advertised for our young people. Better still if we receive government funding to enable as comprehensive an offer as possible in the time we have to plan and bring this together.

On the subject of learning, another piece of work that we have been carrying out for some time is the review of some of the available resources that are online.  There is a plethora of these, of varying standards, and the e-learning team, including much appreciated voluntary support from schools, has been assessing and quality assuring these. I’m delighted to say that the team has now assessed and approved over 80 links to excellent digital learning resources. I have been expressing my pride in recent weeks at how the various teams at the Council have been supporting you. I’m sorry to blow our trumpet but the commitment and energy to support schools that they have shown has been exemplary and I think it is important that you know how dedicated the teams are that support you in the background.

Finally, I would like to provide reassurance regarding the response to you if you have any children showing Covid-19 symptoms. At a school this week children with symptoms were able to be swiftly taken from the school and tests arranged for them and their families within hours. Public Health colleagues worked as rapidly as possible to deal with this – my thanks to them for that – and it is reassuring that a response system is being developed to effectively support the safe and wider reopening of schools.

Best wishes to those who are celebrating fathers’ day on Sunday. I hope you are able to find time to relax with your families. As always, for all of you, the message is exactly the same, please do take some time away from the laptops and phones and recharge yourself.  I know I seem to stress this each week, but it remains vitally important that you look after yourselves.

With best wishes, 

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services