Birmingham and Central Midlands computing hub

The Birmingham and Central Computing Hub, though the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) offers: 

• support to access primary and secondary professional development opportunities, including a development programme designed to support teachers who want to improve their knowledge of computer science to confidently teach it at GCSE level 
• access to free, quality-assured resources aligned to the computing curriculum at key stages 1 to 4 
• training and resources for A level teachers and students through the Isaac Computer Science programme 
• local level school-to-school support 
• teachers can share expertise, resources and best practice through Computing at School (CAS) networks.  

The support offered to schools by computing hubs is free of charge for eligible teachers, or at reduced cost, and is funded by the Department for Education. All resources and online CPD are available at no cost to any teacher.  Bursaries are available for eligible primary and secondary teachers to support participation in CPD. 

 Find below related resources: 

• Summer term CSA courses v4 (1)
• Summer term Primary courses V2
• West Midlands Primary Computing Conference 27.6.22
• West Midlands Secondary Computing Conference 27.6.22

Further details can be found www.bctsa.org/computing-hub, via our Twitter page (@BCComputingHub) or email  teachcomputing@bishopchalloner.bham.sch.uk.

Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School ECF briefings

From Sept 2021, all Early Career Teachers (ECTs) are entitled to a funded two year induction programme -please see this gov.uk page for more
information.

In preparation for the next academic year Teaching School Hub are hosting an ECF information webinar for schools to share information about the ECF programme run by Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School Hub, in conjunction with UCL.

You can find more information about the programme here.

There is a choice of two sessions for schools who are currently have an ECT with Teaching School Hub , and a choice of two for schools who aren't yet working with Teaching School Hub for ECF. 

Download the ECF year 1 flyer here. 

Download the ECF year 2 flyer here.

Working together to improve attendance

Guidance to help schools, academy trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities maintain high levels of school attendance including roles and responsibilities

From September 2022, this will replace all previous guidance on school attendance except for statutory guidance for parental responsibility measures.  The Secretary of State has committed to it becoming statutory when parliamentary time allows (this will be no sooner than September 2023). 

This is the first in a series highlighting different sections of the guidance.  Each section sets of the guidance sets out expectations and then breaks each down into more detail. 

Expectations of Schools (pages 9 – 20 of the guidance)

All schools have a continuing responsibility to proactively manage and improve attendance across their school community.  Attendance is the essential foundation to positive outcomes for all pupils and should therefore be seen as everyone’s responsibility in school. 

To manage and improve attendance effectively, all schools are expected to: 

• Develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance.  
• Have a clear school attendance policy which all staff, pupils and parents understand.  
• Accurately complete admission and attendance registers and have effective day to day processes in place to follow-up absence.  
• Regularly monitor and analyse attendance and absence data to identify pupils or cohorts that require support with their attendance and put effective strategies in place.  
• Build strong relationships with families, listen to and understand barriers to attendance and work with families to remove them.  
• Share information and work collaboratively with other schools in the area, local authorities, and other partners when absence is at risk of becoming persistent or severe

Webinars

In order to support the transition to the new ways of working, the DfE is holding a series of webinars. 

Webinar theme 

19 May 2022 (16:00-16:45)

• Sign up for a webinar hosted by the DFEon what the new attendance guidance means for schools 

09 June 2022 (16:00-16:45)

• Sign up for a webinar hosted by Jayne Lowe, DFE attendance adviser, on having a clear school attendance policy. 

16 June 2022 (16:00-17:00)

• Sign up for a webinar hosted by Star Academies Truston attendance coding practice and day-to-day processes 

23 June 2022 (16:00-17:00)

• Sign up for a webinar hosted by Sapientia Education Truston working with families, local authorities, and other partners effectively 

30 June 2022 (16:00-17:00)

• Sign up for a webinar hosted by Unity Schools Partnershipon analysing absence and attendance data 

TBC

• Effective governance to appropriately challenge leaders on attendance. 

Previous Webinars can be found at the following Link:

• Improving attendance: good practice for schools and multi-academy trusts - Case study - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

‘Working together to improve attendance can be found at the following link.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

There will be significant change to the way attendance is addressed nationally and we are at an early stage of planning a new attendance model.  We plan to provide regular updates as developments progress.

If you wish to discuss this further, please feel free to contact the Warwickshire Attendance Service.

was@warwickshire.gov.uk

Join a Schools White Paper: Opportunity for all webinar

The Schools White Paper: Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child was published on 28 March 2022. The white paper demonstrates how our education system can deliver on the government’s priority to level up across the country. The economic benefits of meeting the white paper’s ambitions, and the case for a fully trust led system, are also set out.

These webinars are open to local authority maintained schools and provide the opportunity to hear more from your Regional Schools Commissioner about the white paper and what it could mean for you.

• Lancashire and West Yorkshire: Schools White Paper Webinar, 26 May, 10.30am
• South West England: Schools White Paper Webinar, 25 May, 1.30pm
• West Midlands: Schools White Paper Webinar, 25 May, 3.30pm
• East Midlands and the Humber: Schools White Paper Webinar, 8 June, 10am
• North West London South Central England: Schools White Paper Webinar, 8 June, 10.30am
• North of England: Schools White Paper Webinar, 9 June, 4pm
• South East England and South London: Schools White Paper Webinar, 16 June, 2.30pm
• East of England and North East London: Schools White Paper Webinar, 23 June, 3.30pm

Although events are organised regionally, they are virtual and will cover the same material, so you are welcome to attend the time that suits you best. Please register using the links above.

North Warwickshire Primary Science Curriculum Development Programme

The attached Primary Science Curriculum CPD, from the Science learning Partnership Curriculum Hub, is offered to all Primary Schools in North Warwickshire and Nuneaton & Bedworth (Coventry too).

Schools can access £150 of Teacher Release Payments too, and Park Lane Primary in Nuneaton have kindly offered to host this training for ease of access for local schools. 

Safe and Active Schools Travel Programme 2022/23 - Express Your Interest today!

Warwickshire County Council’s Road Safety Education and Active Travel Team are delighted to announce that we will be continuing to run our successful Safe and Active Travel Programme for the academic year 2022-2023.

Our Safe and Active Travel programme, which is free for schools with primary aged children, combines tailored, age-appropriate road safety education sessions for all year groups with new active travel activities, resources, and advice to encourage and support children to travel more actively on their school journeys.

Safe and Active Travel Schools receive priority booking for free Bikeability cycle training provided by our new provider Outspoken and can also book a free security bike marking session in partnership with BikeRegister.

Due to limited spaces on this programme, we are inviting all Warwickshire primary schools to express their interest in becoming a member by completing the below form:

https://forms.office.com/r/NvTAkdFiae

If you have any questions or queries about the Safe and Active Travel Programme, please contact: roadsafetyeducation@warwickshire.gov.uk

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 Huggg 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 

Welcome to Warwickshire events

Warwickshire County Council Library and Information Service is teaming up with Warwick District Council, Rugby Borough Council and partners to hold Welcome to Warwickshire events to families of all nationalities new to the county.

The events aim is to ensure that all are welcomed to Warwickshire with the opportunity to access to lots of information and advice. Families or individuals participating will have the chance to:

· Visit information stands for friendly advice from a range of agencies and services including Warwickshire Police, Fire and Rescue, Citizens Advice, Family Information Service and Health Service plus helpful information to take away

· Find out about the wonderful range of services provided by libraries, including an amazing range of books, e-books and magazines, digital services, computer access, events, information and learning for children and young adults, reading groups and music and drama collections

· Join the library and become a member

· Listen to a Welcome to Warwickshire Poem – written by Warwickshire Libraries’ Young Poet Laureate Daniel Wale

· Attend activities including Lego Club, Story Time, Rhymes and Let’s Make for little ones in our children’s areas in the libraries as well as craft activities

· Enjoy tea, coffee and refreshments

· Engage with cultural entertainment and displays

New Classroom Resources on Terrorism and Extremism: Let’s Discuss

The Department for Education's Educate Against Hate campaign has released four resource packs to help teachers with difficult classroom conversations about topics such as extreme rightwing terrorism, Islamist extremism, fundamental British values and left-wing, anarchist and single issue extremism.

Each resource pack provides teachers with a short film, lesson plan, classroom task and PowerPoint presentation to help them facilitate classroom conversations and build their students' resilience to extremist ideologies.

Download Let's Discuss supporter pack

Virtual School Attachment Aware Trauma Informed Schools Project 2022-23

Awareness Session Thursday 9^th June

This project will help you to support all children, but with a particular focus on children who are looked after, previously looked after or have a social worker

Come along to one of our sessions to find out if this is right for you.  We are looking for schools who can commit to a 12-18 month project, with training and support provided by the Warwickshire Virtual School.

All training and facilitation sessions are bespoke but with the focus on whole school improvement and development via understanding childhood trauma and attachment related behaviours.

The session will cover how to get involved, what this looks like in practice and sound bites of many of the varied CPD opportunities, which you can participate in independently or via involvement in the project.

Designated teachers, SENDCOs, HTs, DHTs and other school leaders are welcome, on their own or with colleagues.  Start and end dates are determined by school, with no expectation to coincide with an academic year.

You are welcome to attend one of these sessions to find out more, no booking required.

Thursday 9^th June

9am -11am: (coffee from 8:30am)

Bulkington Community & Conference Centre, School Road, Bulkington, Warwickshire, CV12 9JB

Room: Weston Room

OR

1pm – 3pm: (coffee from 12:30pm)

St Michael's Church Centre, Church Lane, Budbrooke, Warwick, CV35 8QL

Room: Budbrooke Room

Check our website for further CPD opportunities for designated teachers. Places still available on courses running after half term.

Bring The Power School Festival day

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is inviting all schools across England to bring their pupils closer to the excitement of the Games, by taking part in our Bring the Power Schools Festival and creating a Bring the Power Festival Day in their setting.

Bring the Power is our Youth Engagement programme which aims to bring children and young people aged 5-25 closer to this celebration of thrilling, fast paced sport, and exhilarating culture.

To support all schools to participate, from the 18 May 2022, all schools can sign up to the Bring the Power website to access digital and downloadable resources to support them in planning their exciting day. There are separate resources for primary and secondary schools. To maximise flexibility, your activity can take place on any day that suits your setting between the 18 May and the end of the summer term. This is an opportunity for pupils and teachers to decide what ‘Bring the Power’ means for their school community and host their own events and/or whole school activities.

We recommend that the day is co-designed by your pupils and can take any form, such as an introductory assembly, sports day, creative activities, literacy, or music exploration. Youth Voice is a key focus of Bring the Power, so we recommend activity which celebrates children and young people as agents of change.

We encourage schools to incorporate this activity into any of their existing planned schools’ events, such as British Council activities, Sport England’s School Games and Sport Relief events.

By signing up to the website, teachers will have access to download the FREE Bring the Power Festival Pack with opportunities to win amazing prizes to help you and your pupils deliver an exciting day for your school community.

We look forward to receiving entries from schools across the country.

For more information about the Bring the Power Festival, visit: https://www.birmingham2022.com/power

Apply for a grant to train a senior mental health lead

This financial year, a further two-thirds of all eligible institutions in England will have the opportunity to benefit from quality assured senior mental health lead training, backed by an additional £7 million in training grants.

We have published guidance on how to access and apply for your grant.

For more information about the grant, read the senior mental health training lead guidance.

Still time to apply to the Warwickshire County Council Councillors’ Grant Fund

There is still time for community and voluntary organisations to apply for funding from the Warwickshire County Council Councillors’ Grant Fund.

The Councillors’ Grant Fund provides each of Warwickshire County Council’s 57 Councillors with an allocated fund of £8,000 to support small-scale projects.

These projects should demonstrate commitment to creating a sustainable future; keeping communities and individuals safe, healthy and independent; and supporting a thriving economy.

All applications should aim to build community capacity and improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Warwickshire, addressing one or more of the following key priority areas:

• Improve community assets and their sustainability  
• Improve access to services  
• Improve financial capability  
• Reduce loneliness and isolation  
• Improve physical and/or mental health and wellbeing  
• Promote equalities and inclusivity  
• Improve the physical environment or reduce the environmental impact

More information about the Councillor Grant Fund in Warwickshire can be found on the Warwickshire Website: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/cllrgrants 

For further information about grants specific to areas, please contact the locality team as follows:

• Stratford: you can contact Dominika Stockham, on 07825856808 or email dominikastockham@warwickshire.gov.uk
• Warwick: you can contact Alistair Rigby on 07881 920605 or email alistairrigby@warwickshire.gov.uk
• Rugby: you can contact Jennifer McCabe on 07887 650641 or email jennifermccabe@warwickshire.gov.uk
• Nuneaton and Bedworth: you can contact Chris Florance on 07887 737315 or email chrisflorance@warwickshire.gov.uk
• North Warwickshire: you can contact Cheryl Jones on 074433 45610 or email cheryljones@warwickshire.gov.uk

Commonwealth Games 2022 Small Grants Fund

Think Active have been awarded National Lottery funding to support clubs, groups, and organisations from across Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire to help people get active in their local community, streets, and parks.  The funding has been awarded through Sport England as part of a legacy from this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Grants of between £100 - £2,500 available, closing date is Monday 6th June 2022,

For further information and to apply please visit: 

https://www.thinkactive.org/funding-2/commonwealth-games-small-grants-fund/

 

Registration for the 11+ test is now open

Parents of year 5 children who want to apply for a grammar school place for entry in 2023 need to register their child to sit the 11+ test now. The tests will be held this September for those that register by the deadline of 30 June. Further information for parents is available at: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/grammar-schools-11-test.