Dear Colleagues,

This week a number of colleagues, including health commissioners, met with the DfE to review progress on Warwickshire's written statement of action. The feedback was positive, recognising the work that has been done and is planned, the engagement from schools and the pilot work taking place in Rugby. DfE were also impressed with the pace and the involvement of Parent Carer Forum: https://warwickshireparentcarervoice.org/.   

We know that this will be a concerted programme of development over the short and medium term, but it is always good to look back down the mountain as we continue to climb.  More details on what is taking place can be found in the regular updates of Warwickshire SEND newsletter  

And to finish off a bit of good news worth sharing. I received a letter from parents praising the work of Goodyear's Primary End. It was a fantastic read and illustrative of so much that does take place across schools in Warwickshire. 

In other news:

Update on the Household Support Fund administered by Warwickshire’s Local Welfare Scheme: 

- As you will be aware, between October 2021 and March 2022 Warwickshire’s Local Welfare Scheme distributed one off grant funding of £3.4 million to vulnerable families and individuals to help with the cost of food, energy, water bills and other essentials as the country continues its recovery from the pandemic.  

- Through the Household Support Fund, the Local Welfare Scheme will once again be distributing automatic support towards fuel and food costs to parents/carers of children in Warwickshire schools/settings who are eligible for benefits related FSM  

- They will be receiving the following in the form of automatic voucher payments:  

• For the May half term school holiday, an automatic Hugg supermarket voucher will be issued to parents/carers to the value of £15 per eligible child for the 5 days.
• In June, we will once again support benefits related FSM eligible households with an automatic PayPoint cash voucher to be used towards energy costs.   
• We will follow the same process as previously and will send out letters to you this week to share with parents/carers.   
• We can confirm that we will not need schools to send in updated pupil data.  If you do have any queries, please email the Local Welfare Scheme Mailbox at localwelfarescheme@warwickshire.gov.uk 

Chris Baird

Interim Assistant Director for Education Services.