WE1 Early Years
'Achieving Early' Quality Mark for Hillmorton Primary School
A national accolade for quality has been awarded to Hillmorton Primary School in Rugby for its work in improving the wellbeing, resilience and self-esteem of its Early Years pupils who are vulnerable to underachievement.
The ‘Achieving Early’ Quality Mark Award recognises the impressive work being done by the school to help children in the first few years of education to flourish and develop, ensuring their needs are met at every stage. The award has been developed by leading education charity Achievement for All (AfA), a leading organisation that works in partnership with schools to improve outcomes for all children and young people vulnerable to underachievement regardless of background, challenge or need.
Hillmorton Primary School has been working in partnership with Achievement for All since 2014 and was designated as a ‘Quality Lead’ School in 2016. They are the first school in Central England to be awarded this accolade, in recognition of impressive work being done by the school to improve progress in reading, writing and maths for all pupils, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.
Catherine Crisp, Head Teacher at Hillmorton Primary School, said: “We are absolutely delighted to build on our existing success as Achievement for All Quality Leads to achieve this additional accolade for Early Years. This award recognises the hard work of our talented Early Years team to provide a high level of support for children and families based on individual learner need, ensuring all children are enabled to reach their full potential. Regular conversations with parents strengthen links between home and school, breaking down barriers and providing a consistent support system for the child and clear, personalised targets.”
Warwickshire plays host to West Midlands Early Years Leads' meeting
On Tuesday 13th November Warwickshire hosted the West Midlands Local Authority Early Years Leads' meeting at Pound Lane in Leamington Spa. These termly meetings gather representatives from local authorities across the West Midlands to provide an opportunity for professional dialogue and a forum to discuss current Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) issues. This is a focused, agenda-led meeting that includes engagement with Ofsted.
The group were fortunate to be joined by Alex Magloire Senior HMI for Early Years in the West Midlands who provided an update on Ofsted developments and led a discussion on inspection outcome statistics across the region.
Schema Play presented information about their recent project work in Walsall and Sandra Bowering from Warwickshire County Council's Integrated Disability Service presented information about the Warwickshire Inclusion Kitemarking Scheme (WIncKS).
WIncKS is a kite mark that recognises high quality provision in early years settings and childminders for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The next closing date for applications is 25th March 2019. Applications should be submitted using the WIncKS Application Form 2019-20 and returned to the contact for your area (listed at the top of the application form).
WE2 An empowering curriculum
Updates from the DfE
Guidance on Mental Health and Behaviour in schools
DfE guidance for school staff to support pupils whose mental health problems manifest themselves in behaviour has been updated. This now includes:
- information about school responsibilities and how to identify behaviours that may be related to a mental health problem;
- working with other professionals and external agencies and where to find extra support.
Updated Mental Health and Behaviour in schools guidance
New assessment for year 4 pupils
All eligible year 4 pupils in maintained schools, special schools and academies will be required to take a new online multiplication tables check from the 2019/20 academic year, subject to parliamentary approval.
School-level results won't be published in the performance tables, but the DfE will report on national and local authority results.
Schools can take part in the voluntary pilot between 10 and 28 June 2019 to familiarise themselves with the check before it becomes statutory in June 2020.
Read more on the Gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/multiplication-tables-check-development-process
Second application round for Warwickshire Workload Charter
Warwickshire schools are going to be one of the first ones in the country to be able to be recognised for the positive work undertaken in managing teacher workload.
A new initiative which is owned by and developed by yourselves in partnership with the teacher trade unions will allow schools to enable its teaching staff to rate the progress of the school against the following workload areas:
- General working conditions
- Planning and marking expectations
- Data collection and communications
- School policies and access to training
Based on the results of the above survey, schools reaching a 90% threshold will be awarded the Fair Workload Charter Status. This is a kite mark that can be used in recruitment materials and general communication and promotion of the school. Given the affects the management of workload is having on schools and staff sickness absence and turnover, and the national focus on this area, this could be a very powerful recruitment and retention tool for your school or academy trust to use to tackle these challenging issues.
The Charter status will last for 24 months from when awarded. Schools not successful at the first attempt will be able to try again in 12 months. The first round has already taken place this term, and we will be re-opening the participation window in February 2019 for any schools who would like to take part next term. A nominal subscription cost to cover administration and the materials is £50 per school.
To participate or for any queries please email at the earliest opportunity: fairworkloadcharter@warwickshire.gov.uk
More information including the survey questions used is available in the Frequently Asked Questions document.
Warwickshire Closing the Gap and Headteachers Conference
We would like to thank all who attended the Closing the Gap and Headteachers Conference on Thursday 15th November. We have been pleased to hear feedback from many schools who reported the day provided excellent practice to take away to help support disadvantaged pupils.
Please see the links below to the presentations and pupil premium action planning toolkit provided by Sir John Dunford. We hope these will also be useful to those who could not attend.
Strategic School Improvement Slides - Part 1
Strategic School Improvement Slides - Part 2
Strategic School Improvement Slides - Part 3
Sir John Dunford Slides
Updates from WCC Slides
Pupil Premium Action Planning Toolkit
Training Opportunities
Community Academies Trust Teaching School
Raising Confidence 11-16 Maths Suite
Whole day courses focusing on the areas of problem solving and reasoning, providing strategies and resources to use in the classroom with secondary students. The courses are funded by the DfE and are free of charge to teachers working in state funded schools, colleges and academies. Dates: 12th December 2018 and 23rd January 2019. Venue: The Polesworth School, Tamworth.
See attached flyer for further details.
Hillmorton Teaching School Alliance
Maths Mastery - 28th November 2018
For any schools interested in the nationally recognised ‘Maths Mastery’ programme, an open morning will be held at Hillmorton Primary School on 28th November. This is an opportunity to see Maths Mastery in action and to find out more about the programme and it's impact. Cost is £50 per person for the morning.
Power of Reading
Hillmorton TSA, in partnership with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), is delighted to once again be offering the popular ‘Power of Reading’ training this academic year. There are limited places available for schools wishing to train members of staff. For further information and booking, please see the CLPE website: https://clpe.org.uk/professional-development/courses/power-reading
For further information or to book a place on either of the events mentioned above, see the Hillmorton TSA website http://www.hillmortontsa.co.uk/ or contact Bryony Harrison on mrsharrison@hillmortonprimaryschool.com
Kenilworth Teaching School
National Professional Qualification in Middle Leadership
The National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership is a recently revised, nationally accredited programme delivered by trained facilitators from Kenilworth School. This stimulating and engaging programme uses high quality learning materials, offering the opportunity to consider your leadership through discussion and debate with your peers and coach. The programme incorporates personal learning and reflection, self-study of online modular materials; a leadership challenge and support through the programme by a learning coach from your school.
A Level English Language student lecture with Professor David Crystal - 12 December 2018
Renowned writer and lecturer on the English Language, Professor David Crystal, will lead this bespoke lecture for students focusing on general language perspectives, an introduction to grammar (language structure, history, semantics and pragmatics) and child language acquisition. The lectures will target the AQA English Language A-level however they would be suitable for other exam boards. For every 10 student places booked, one free teacher place will be offered. Cost per student £15.
For more information on either of the above or to book your place please contact Deborah Talbot d.talbot@ksnadmin.ksn.org.uk
Shires Teaching School Alliance
Teacher Training
Shires Teaching School Alliance is a partnership of local schools in Warwickshire and The University of Worcester, offering you the opportunity to train to teach through a one year post graduate programme. If you would like to find out more you can visit the Welcome Centre, Coventry on Thursday 31st January 2019 between 4.30pm and 7.30pm.
Southam Teaching Alliance
Closing the Gap - CPD Event
This training event is aimed at middle leaders, disadvantaged pupil champions and/or achievement leaders at Primary and Secondary level. The purpose of the event is to share best practice and practical strategies for supporting the achievement and attainment of disadvantaged students.
Tuesday 4th December 2018, 4.15pm - 5.15pm at The Core, Southam College. Cost £25pp (non-Alliance schools) and £20pp (Alliance schools).
To book a place email STA@welearn365.com or phone 01926 812560.
Christmas concert season for Warwickshire Music
Warwickshire Music has a busy few weeks ahead as all the Christmas concerts take place across Warwickshire. The first set of concerts take place at Warwick School (Warwick Hall) on Saturday 1st December in the Winter Extravaganza! Kicking off the concert will be the Singing Playgrounds Programme and Warwickshire Children's Chorus followed by the central area music groups, and the evening finale showcasing Warwickshire's county groups.
Further concerts take place at Nicholas Chamberlaine School on 5th December, King Edward VI School on 11th December and at St Georges Church, Hillmorton on 13th December.
These events are a chance for students to show how hard they have been working over the last term and experience being part of a live performance. For more information on these events and future events go to www.warwickshiremusichub.org/events
News from School Health Service
Thank you to all schools for assisting us in getting the Health Needs Assessment questionnaires completed and for supporting the review of this process. We have commenced the analysis of the data collected so far and will be making appointments with headteachers and PSHE leads to discuss the results.
National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)
The NCMP will be starting in all primary schools from December through to the end of March. Thank you for your assistance with the smooth running of this Government initiative. In the usual way we will be contacting parents of children who have been recorded as “very over weight”. We will be suggesting that families access the Fitter Futures programmes that run throughout the county supporting children and families with weight management concerns.
Support for primary school children - Family Brief Intervention Workers
Did you know the School Health and Wellbeing Service has five Family Brief Intervention Workers? These workers can support primary school aged children and their families with a range of issues such as; child development, toileting advice, sleep, behaviour, health eating, friendships and medical conditions.
To refer to the service you can use the referral form that has been emailed to school or you can find this on the WCC website here: http://www.compass-uk.org/compass-warwickshire-schools/
Upcoming events
- Medical awareness training is taking place in localities
- Nurses will be making appointments with headteachers to discuss the results of the online year 6/9 health needs assessment
Contact details
- We have one central phone number – 03300245204, please select option 1,2 or 3 depending on where your school is located.
This Girl Can: It's time that Fit Got Real
Sport England are launching the latest phase of their This Girl Can campaign, Fit Got Real. They want to break down the stark gender gap within sport by encouraging more women of all backgrounds to get active.
Since it was launched in 2015, This Girl Can has attempted to change these attitudes by encouraging woman to get active or play sport in the way that’s right for them. The next phase will not only support the existing community but aims to connect with those who are part of groups that tend to be less active.
This includes those from low income backgrounds, black, South Asian and minority ethnic communities and teenagers.
You can help to promote the launch of the campaign by sharing their new film across your social media channels. Please use the hashtags #thisgirlcan and #fitgotreal
They’d also love any partners who want to establish local This Girl Can activities to get involved. Find out about how your school could do this here: http://www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/partners/
WE4 Employability
Success for Warwickshire’s 16 and 17 year olds
According to a recent report from the Department for Education (DfE) Warwickshire is one of the most successful local authorities in the country for ensuring 16 and 17 year olds are either in education, employment or training.
The DfE require all local authorities to collect and report information about a young person’s post 16 activity on a monthly basis so that a national scorecard can be published. The information collected includes:
- basic information about young people in their area (name and address)
- their needs and characteristics (gender, ethnic group, disability, care leaver)
- their post 16 plans (intended destination, September Guarantee offers)
- their current activity and when it was last confirmed (i.e. education, apprenticeship, employment combined with study, training).
The DfE published the 2017/18* Local Authority NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and Not Known figures on 18th October 2018 available here.
The NEETs group is made up of young people who are not participating in Education, Employment or Training but who are available to the labour market and also those young people who are not currently available to the labour market (for example because of illness, caring responsibilities, pregnancy or parenting responsibilities). The cohort size is based on residency rather than the place of education or training.
In 2017/18 Warwickshire reported a significant improvement in the reduction of the numbers of young people who were NEET, including those 16 and 17 year olds whose activity is not known.
The headline figure (see table below) represents a 2.2 percentage point improvement for Warwickshire since last year.
In 2017/18 there were slightly more males 4.3% (240) within the NEET group than females 3.4% (170).
The Skills for Employment programme has been one of the major contributory factors in this figure decreasing, with schools reporting that the activities implemented as a result of the grant funding have enabled them to reduce the number of students who are NEET. The programme has received an investment of £3 million from Warwickshire County Council over the period 2015/20 in order to improve the employability skills of young people.
2017/18 District level data
The table below details the proportion and number of young people who were NEET and EET in each district at the end of December 2017, January 2018 and February 2018.
* The 2017/18 NEET and not known Figures are an average of the number of young people who were NEET and whose activity was not known at the end of December 2017, January 2018 and February 2018. Three month averages are less prone to statistical blips and provide a more robust assessment of year on year performance.
Skills for Employment brings rewards for county businesses and young people
Three years after launching the £2.4 million ‘Skills for Employment’ programme, £600,000 of additional funding has been found to extend the programme for the period 2018-2020.
Since June, applications have been received from 35 schools for the Capability & Capacity grant worth up to £3,000 each. 22 grants have been awarded to date and we anticipate grants worth more than £100,000 will be awarded by the end of this term.
The following statistics show the value of the programme and why it has received the extension to continue the work it has already been doing:
- 74% of schools have seen an improvement in the careers advice for their students
- 54% of schools have made strong developments with businesses due to the funding
- The amount of time spent by staff to deliver careers advice has increased by 30%
- There has been a 50% increase in schools providing careers talks and work experience
- The proportion of schools employing a careers leader increased by almost a fifth due to funding
One of the county council’s key priorities is to support new and existing businesses with high growth potential, vital to the continued economic vibrancy of the region. This goes hand in hand with building an appropriately skilled workforce, as well as creating job opportunities for young people.
It sounds straightforward but in recent years The Chamber of Commerce and businesses were telling WCC they were finding it increasingly difficult to fill their job vacancies with local people and there was a shortage of suitable skills in the regional job market. They also said they didn’t have the contacts with schools and colleges that would allow them to work together to identify a mutually beneficial skills pipeline.
WCC recognised there was an urgent need to increase engagement between Warwickshire’s businesses and schools. So in 2015, Skills for Employment was born with three main aims; to align skills provision more effectively between businesses and education providers, to improve advice and information about career and employment opportunities and to improve the journey for young people as they move from education to the world of work.
"More than 30,000 careers and employability activities have been delivered"
In three years more than 600 businesses have taken part and more than 30,000 careers and employability activities have been delivered. A business skills advisor has been appointed to work alongside the skills and employment team in visiting the region’s businesses, identifying skill gaps and helping them source the appropriate training to address them. In the first 12 months the advisor helped more than 100 businesses.
There have also been new networks established in the tourism sector, a key industry for Warwickshire, supporting nearly 21,000 jobs with a business turnover in excess of £1.15 billion. Additionally boot camps have been taking place in the gaming industry, which has a £224 million turnover and accounts for 1.4% of the county’s active workforce. Both initiatives will ensure there is a steady stream of suitable workers into both of these important industries.
If you would like to know more contact glennrobinson@warwickshire.gov.uk or visit the website: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sfegrants