Black Lives Matter

Responding to Racism resource for schools

We have kindly been given permission to share this Responding to Racism resource with all Warwickshire education settings which has been adapted for non-church schools from a document originally created by Coventry Diocesan Board of Education (DBE).

It contains guidance on:

• what staff can do as educators
• what schools can do
• what to teach pupils
• what families can do

There is also a useful audit tool to help settings evaluate what their response might be to the Black Lives Matter movement.

View the Responding to Racism resource (pdf, 1.18MB) 

Changes to RISE - Mental health support for young people

The contact number for the RISE Children and Young People Crisis Team has changed.

For urgent calls for children and young people who are experiencing a mental health crisis contact the Rise Crisis Team between 8am - 8pm on 02476 641799 or call 0300 200 0011 outside of these hours. 

If someone you know is struggling and needs help now, help is available.

For more information please see the CW Rise website: https://cwrise.com/need-help-now

New subject knowledge enhancement for RE teachers

Warwickshire Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) were pleased to be awarded some money from the Westhill Foundation to plan and implement a programme of RE subject knowledge enhancement for teachers in Warwickshire and Coventry.

Live RE subject knowledge CPD sessions

The programme includes a 'live event' for each of the main religious traditions in the Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus. Teachers are invited to attend a CPD session at the place of worship, which involves a tour and talk from a representative of that faith, all designed to boost their knowledge about each religion.

This project is ongoing, with the Sikhism and Islam sessions having already been completed and the Judaism session planned next, though delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic. Coventry has been fortunate to be successful with ongoing funding so that the other principle traditions of Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism, can also be covered. There is also planning in place for sharing Humanism with teachers in a similar way. SACRE will be in contact with RE Leaders with booking details once the project resumes.

RE Subject Knowledge Films

This project is also supported by a series of RE subject knowledge films based on each religion which are created in conjunction with each live session and made available afterwards. These are designed for CPD purposes, with a view to them being used at staff meetings to enhance the RE subject knowledge of all teachers in a school, or for individual study.

Accompanying each film is a ‘Road Map’ with suggestions for resources and approaches to use in the classroom to ensure effective teaching of each tradition. These materials are designed for use by teachers to enhance subject knowledge and not as teaching tools.

You will also find a useful document explaining how the films and road maps might be used for CPD in schools, and some additional guidance on how this might be done during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sikhism and Islam films are available now, along with the resources listed below, on the Warwickshire SACRE website.

The resources you will find are*:

• Sikhism subject knowledge video
• Islam subject knowledge video
• Using the SACRE RE subject knowledge enhancement films for CPD
• Using the SACRE RE subject knowledge enhancement films for CPD during the coronavirus pandemic
• RE Islam road map
• RE Sikhism road map
• Islam session image bank
• Sikhism session image bank

Additional films and resources will be produced and shared with teachers as more live sessions are held in 2020-21.

*All of the above resources can only be accessed with a password which can be requested by completing this form. Only Warwickshire and Coventry schools will be supplied with the password.

Summer Reading Challenge 2020 - now online!

The Summer Reading Challenge has taken place in libraries across the UK for 20 years, giving children the chance to continue their reading for pleasure over the long summer holidays. Free incentives help them achieve the goal of reading any six books of their choosing and enjoy fun activities related to the year’s theme in their local libraries along the way.

With the current closure of public libraries, The Reading Agency has re-designed the challenge this year to work online, with a special website where families can securely join their 4-11 year olds and children can download the activities that will keep them going.

The welcome theme of 'fun and humorous books' was chosen long before the pandemic and the characters that help the children through are:

• Bamboozle the panda
• Izzie the octopus
• Lily the frog
• Merry the giraffe
• Snook the penguin

Helping to promote the challenge are many high profile children's authors including much-loved Jacqueline Wilson who said:

"I feel the Summer Reading Challenge is extra important this year! How sensible to have a Silly theme.  We've all had to deal with serious and scary issues, so it's time for a bit of fun. There are so many comical and crazy children's books to cheer us all up. Let's get reading and get happy!"

Warwickshire public libraries want to help you to encourage your pupils who are now in school and those still learning at home.

Please have a look at the further information attached below. To help schools to communicate with parents, Warwickshire Libraries have provided a letter explaining all about the challenge that you can download below:

Summer Reading Challenge Frequently Asked Questions

Letter to send out to parents

If you would like any further information please contact libraryevents@warwickshire.gov.uk

Young black men (YBM) and black parents sought for new project

Coventry and Warwickshire Mind has received funding to develop a Young Black Men’s mental health project.

The Young Black Men’s project will target Mind's services to young people between the ages of 11 and 30 years old who live across Coventry and Warwickshire and identify as being a young black man growing up in today’s society.

Mind is looking for a group of young men to participate, to help shape the project and help them to understand what impacts on building better futures with the aim of bringing about positive change. They are also looking for black parents to get involved so they can understand from a parent's perspective what support would help young black boys and men with their mental health.

Find out more about the Young Black Men's project on CWMind's website here.

Railways anti-trespassing competition for 11-18 yr olds

There are many statistics associated with lockdown. One that has worried many is this – in the first month of lockdown, trespassing on Britain’s railways increased by 25%.

With the prospect of a long summer ahead the Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs), who work with communities across the UK and rail industry to promote railway safety messages to everyone, have launched a competition to help raise awareness amongst young people of the dangers of trespassing on our railways. 

The competition is open to all 11-18 year olds across the UK. There are six categories and entrants are asked to share the anti-trespassing message by either:

• making a video
• writing a song/rap
• producing a storyboard / writing a script 

The competition is backed by the rail industry and prizes are up for grabs for each category, including a GoPro Hero8 bundle.

There are two key elements that entrants must remember – the video must be made from the young person’s home or garden (not at a railway or railway station) and must not show any violence.

Karen said:

We want young people to show off their creativity to get the message across to their peers that being on the tracks in potentially deadly. And in order to spread the message to as many young people as possible, we are suggesting that young people (over 13 years old) share their video or song on social media and we have a category for the entry with the greatest social media impact!

The deadline for competition entries is 30 September 2020.

View the full Anti-Trespassing competition details here

View resources and key facts about trespass on the railways here

WCC looks to reduce isolation for those with a learning disability

Warwickshire County Council is supporting Learning Disability Week, in order to raise awareness of feelings of isolation and loneliness for those residents with a learning disability.

The theme for Learning Disability is the importance of friendship during lockdown. The issue of isolation has been an important issue for the council to combat, which as seen it introduce virtual alternatives to many of its front facing services.

Isolation may be particularly hard for someone with a learning disability. With this in mind the council will be joining forces with its partners, to showcase a range of online resources and some of the services that are available for people to access. 

Read the full story here