Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Nursery Box

Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service are pleased to announce that our Fire Safety Education Box, aka the nursery box, has been refreshed, updated and is now ready to go out on loan!

This is a fantastic resource which is available to all pre-school settings and is an introduction to learning about fire safety, road safety and healthy eating from a young age. We have 8 complete boxes available which contain a real variety of interactive and age-appropriate resources for nursery staff and childminders to use to introduce this important topic. A guidance booklet is included, along with links to useful sites for further exploration of fire safety ideas and advice.

Contents include but are not limited to:

• Role play pack containing laminated cards and 4 mini firefighter uniforms for dressing up;
• Fire safety pack containing Ellie the Fire Dog book, DVD, activity books and posters;
• Blaze the Bear pack containing Blaze, our very own mascot, a hazard spotting card and a diary for the children to record their adventures with Blaze;
• A touch and feel book;
• Fire and rescue play set;
• Superwheelz fire engine;
• Healthy food pack containing laminated place settings and magnetic food pieces;
• Road safety pack - working closely with the Road Safety Partnership to provide a road layout jigsaw and accessories, Warwick the Bear book, song sheet and more;
• Snap cards; and
• Photo flip pack

We are fortunate enough to be supported in this initiative with help from 2 wonderful volunteers. They donate their time to assist in delivery, collection and cleaning of the nursery boxes, for which we are extremely grateful.

Bookings can be made via the following link:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=BqqwiCdZu0uok4nMJxOsgv4e4SM8dhJEsMtXMAgDJcFUNlZaSDJQNEUyUUM5VTFSNlc1M1JPTzFVMS4u

In order to deal with demand, we offer delivery of a box during the first week of the month, with collection in the third week. This then enables a turnaround time of one week to ensure thorough cleaning and checking of items can take place. We will endeavor to provide the box for the month requested, but obviously this will depend upon demand!

We ask that before collection the box is checked against a list of contents so that we can be advised of any items which are missing or need replacing. We understand that this can easily happen, and it is not a problem - we just need to know!

There is also a list of all Warwickshire Fire & Rescue stations with contact numbers. We would love to encourage pre-school providers to engage with their local station should they wish to arrange a site visit.

We hope that all pre-school establishments will utilize this resource - previous feedback confirms that children love to learn about fire safety through play.  It is the start of their fire safety education provided by WFRS which continues in Years 1 & 5, building upon existing knowledge and expanding to cover topics such as hazard spotting in the home, hoax calls and escape plans.

If you require any further information, please contact Sara Beirne, Community Fire Safety Officer - School Lead, by email: sara.beirne@warwickshire.gov.uk.

 

Warwickshire Outdoor Education Network

Please find below information about Warwickshire Outdoor Education Network's first training event for teachers.  

Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School Hub CPD brochure

Please find a copy here of Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School Hub CPD brochure. The brochure has details for upcoming courses and training opportunities that you might find helpful.

Council launches You Can Online initiative to support online inclusion in an increasingly digital world

Warwickshire County Council has launched You Can Online, a brand-new initiative delivered through Warwickshire Libraries. The initiative provides support and access to digital tablet devices for individuals, families, and local communities in order to help with the development and learning of key digital skills. The tablets are available to borrow from Warwickshire Libraries to enable people to feel safer, more confident, and included in the online space.

The You Can Online digital Lenovo M10 tablets, which are pre-loaded with a selection of apps and come with internet data included, are available for library members to borrow for up to six weeks at a time, completely free of charge. During this time, library members will receive regular support from Warwickshire Libraries’ IT team to learn and develop the digital skills they need. If you are not a library member and would like to borrow a tablet, then you can join your local library for free. Ask a member of staff at your local library or visit the website.  

Read more here. 

To find out more about You Can Online, email youcanonline@warwickshire.gov.uk, leave a message by phone on 01926414926, or visit You can online.  

Secondary School Application Deadline

This is a reminder that the deadline for the parents and carers of Year 6 children to apply for their secondary school place is the Monday following half-term (31 October). On the morning of Monday 31 October, please do check the lists on SAM to identify those who have yet to apply and contact them straight away to ask them to complete the application form – they have until 11.59pm that day to do so. If they miss this deadline, they won’t get any school place offer until all the others have been made and they are much less likely to get an offer for one of their preferred schools.

Applications should be made online at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/applying-secondary-school-place.

Earlier this week we held a webinar for schools to discuss the secondary school application process and how you can best support parents and carers. If you missed it, you can watch the recording back here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBYwHCxKqSo

Free Opportunity for Teachers of Years 5 - 8

Origin Maths Hub are offering primary and secondary schools in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire the opportunity to participate in these free, cross-phase Work Groups.

Free wellbeing support for school leaders

School leaders can access free wellbeing support through Education Support. The DfE funded scheme provides free one-to-one supervision, peer support and counselling to assistant headteachers, deputy headteachers and above. 

School leaders can apply here, even if they have access to an employee assistance programme in their school.

Household Support Fund

The Government recently announced that a new Household Support Fund grant will be made available to local authorities in England to support those most in need this winter to help with the significantly rising cost of living. Distribution of the grant will continue to be through the Warwickshire Local Welfare Scheme and there will be targeted support for families/carers of children eligible for benefits related free school meals.

Whilst this cohort has previously received vouchers during school holidays, this round of support will not coincide with those dates and instead, to offer more flexibility, there will be two automatic cost of living payments in the form of vouchers. 

Eligible families will be sent the first vouchers by 8th November, which will have a minimum value of £105 (equivalent to £30 per eligible child for food support and £75 per household for utilities support). 

We will follow the same process as we have done with previous support, and letters have been sent to you this week to share with parents/carers. 

We would like to reassure you that we will not need you to send in updated pupil data. 

If you have any queries, please contact the Local Welfare Scheme Mailbox at localwelfarescheme@warwickshire.gov.uk  

Thank you for your ongoing support with this.

Cost-of-living support package for residents

Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet has agreed a package of measures to relieve the financial burden on residents who may be struggling with rising living costs.

Due to a range of factors including increasing inflation and the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the country are finding it difficult to keep on top of their household bills such as food and energy. The Government recently introduced a support package, and Warwickshire County Council has announced additional local measures to provide further help to residents and local businesses.

Warwickshire County Council support includes:

• Allocation of the Government-funded Household Support Fund via the Local Welfare Scheme, which provides £3.47m support for the most vulnerable residents
• Creation of an online Cost of Living Hub, a website offering practical and financial advice from County, District and Borough Councils and other partners
• Accelerating the laptop lending programme, as part of digital inclusion work
• Establishing and extending partnerships with supermarkets and mobile apps that sell unwanted supermarket stock
• Promotion of existing spaces, such as libraries and museums, as warm spaces
• Increasing the scope of the countywide partnership working to improve access to financial support for people in need 
• Expanding criteria for the Warwickshire Recovery and Investment Fund to allow for investments in business activities that reduce energy use
• A communications campaign to promote available support

Up to £1 million of additional County Council funding has been proposed, which would go towards additional initiatives, such as the creation of a network of warm spaces, extension and support for community supermarkets and food banks, and providing more activities in libraries.

These measures are in addition to the support already available. More information can be found on the Warwickshire Cost of Living pages.

Cost of Living Drop-in event for families in Rugby

A Cost of Living Drop-in event will showcase the range of support available to families in Rugby. It takes place at Claremont Children & Family Centre in Claremont Road, Rugby, CV21 3LU, on Thursday 27^th October from 1pm to 4pm and will feature a range of organisations offering help with finances and debt, support for families, mental health and wellbeing, employment and much more.

Those booked to attend include Citizen’s Advice, Family Information Service, NCT Parents in Mind, Warwickshire Welfare Scheme, Act on Energy, Rugby Job Centre, Rugby Credit Union, Severn Trent, Christians Against Poverty, Coventry & Warwickshire MIND, Warwickshire CAVA and many more. There will be free activities for children provided by Rugby Children & Family Centres.

This event is open to everyone but has a particular focus on help for families, and no booking is required, just call in. Visit www.facebook.com/costoflivingrugby

 

Visit Warwickshire Libraries, Country Parks, and St John’s House Museum this half-term for a jam-packed week of spooktacular activities

Families across Warwickshire have an exciting and action-packed programme of events to look forward to at Warwickshire Libraries, Country Parks, and St John’s House Museum this half-term.

Kooth training for schools and colleges

Kooth training is being offered to schools and colleges at the beginning of November.

Kooth is a free online mental and emotional health digital platform for children and young people aged 11-25. The training will take place on the following dates:

Tuesday 1 November, 9am - Please click here for booking link

Wednesday 2 November, 3:30pm - Please click here for booking link

Achieve Equity Conference 13th December - Trevor Sutcliffe, Challenging Education

Following the key note speech from Trevor Sutcliffe at this week’s Headteacher conference please find details of Challenging Education’s forthcoming conference in the flyer attached below. Please note there is a charge of £75 for this conference.

Achieve Equity Conference Details.pdf