Fully funded mathematics professional development opportunities

Origin Maths Hub are looking for enthusiastic teachers in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire to take part in programmes to become:

• Primary Teaching Maths for Mastery Specialists 
• Secondary Teaching Maths for Mastery Specialists
• NCETM Accredited Professional Development Leads

Teaching mathematics for mastery allows children to develop a deep understanding, show a positive attitude towards maths and demonstrate a growth mindset.

Find out more about the different course by clicking here.

Free, safe and anonymous digital counselling and support service for children and young people

Warwickshire County Council has commissioned Kooth, a free, safe and anonymous digital counselling and support service for children and young people. Kooth is a safe and confidential way for young people to access emotional wellbeing and early intervention mental health support.  The service is available to all young people across Warwickshire aged 11-25 years.

Kooth.com is an award winning and innovative online mental health and wellbeing support service, accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which will support and complement the existing offer operated by Rise - a family of NHS-led services providing emotional wellbeing & mental health services for young people across the county. Rise already provide a well-established 24/7 telephone service providing crisis support to young people across Warwickshire. Kooth will deliver digital self-help resources and online counselling to further extend the local offer.

Fully trained and qualified counsellors and emotional wellbeing practitioners are available from midday to 10pm, and from 6pm to 10pm at weekends, 365 days a year to provide a much needed out-of-hours service for emotional support in an accessible way. Sessions can be booked in advance or they can drop in for one-to-one instant text-based chats.

The service also encourages peer to peer support via moderated discussion forums, and self-help through reading or submitting content. Children and young people have 24/7 access to magazines with wellbeing articles, personal experiences and tips from young people and the Kooth team, as well as giving members the opportunity to write in a daily journal to track feelings or emotions and promote a positive mental health and wellbeing.

Staff can register for free to sign up to learn more about Kooth. Each session will provide an overview of the service, sign up process, features and activities available, risk management and safeguarding procedures as well as a live demo of the site and an informal Q&A session. Eventbrite Kooth Information Session (School staff-Warwickshire) 

Arty Folks offering April-July new Creative Arts on Referral programme

Arty Folks are releasing a new April to July Creative Arts on Referral programme with over 30 workshops and courses for adults with mild to moderate mental health needs in Coventry and Warwickshire. Please share with your colleagues and clients who could benefit.

New this Spring term

• Lunch&Learn workshops: QiGong, drawing landscapes, crafting drink cans, word art, yarn-bombing
• short courses Art for Relaxation at different times of day to fit around  commitments. 

• 6-week advanced Art courses include

QiGong to relax posture and improve movement of body and mind,

Passion for Plants learn drawing and painting with acrylics,

Woolly Wonderful,  each week a different project for the garden using wool.

For full course listings and to register visit:

https://arty-folks.org.uk/whats-on/calendar/  or   https://www.recoveryandwellbeing.co.uk/

Arty-Folks Creative Arts on Referral

Final call for Warwickshire residents to name HS2’s Tunnel Boring Machine

Last month, HS2 launched a competition for local residents to find a name for the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), operated by main works contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), that will start excavating under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire later this year.

North Leamington School, Warwickshire College Group, The Coleshill School and Long Itchington Scout Group have already submitted names, along with Warwickshire County Council.

Traditionally, tunnelling machines are always named after women and HS2 is asking people in Warwickshire to help choose a name based on their female role models – whether famous people or unsung heroines. The 2,000-tonne machine will be operated by BBV and will create a one-mile twin bore tunnel under Long Itchington Wood.

This is the third HS2 tunnel boring machine that will undergo public vote, with the first two machines due to start creating the tunnel under the Chilterns this year. They were named after two famous local Buckinghamshire women: Florence Nightingale - the founder of modern nursing who spent many years living in Buckinghamshire; and pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who was born in Buckinghamshire.

A competition to find a name for the moving mega-factory was launched in March and has already received over 120 suggestions. The competition portal will close on Friday 30 April, and a final shortlist of nominations will be selected and put to a public vote in May. The winner will be revealed this summer.

Dhiren Katwa, BBV Community Engagement Specialist, said: “The TBM naming competition is a great opportunity for the local community to get involved in this impressive feat of engineering, which represents a key milestone for HS2 in the Midlands. We’ve already received a great selection of names, including many women who represent the history and culture of Warwickshire. We encourage local people to submit their names before the portal closes at the end of the month.”

The tunnel will preserve the ancient woodland, with the final section forming a ‘green tunnel’ - also known as a cut and cover tunnel - where a roof above will return the land to the natural landscape. Around 170 engineers are working on the TBM during its construction and assembly, and a team will then work around the clock excavating the one-mile tunnel.

It will take five months to dig the first bore of the tunnel, and then it will be extracted at the south portal before being transported by road back to the north portal to commence the second bore.

People can submit names on the online competition portal here: https://www.hs2.org.uk/long-itchington-tunnel/

Thinking Forward: A series of webinars for senior leaders

This summer Gateway Alliance are excited to be offering a series of webinars for Senior Leaders entitled “Thinking Forward”. The aim of these sessions is to inspire you and stimulate your thinking as you consider your school development priorities for 2021-22 and beyond.

This series of five webinars features thought leaders from a range of educational settings. The 1 hour sessions are running from May until July and will be offered online using Zoom. 

The webinars are FREE for schools that subscribe to the Gateway Alliance Senior Leaders' Network. Non-subscribing schools pay £55 per live webinar or £200 for access to all 5 live events. 

For more information click here to view the full programme or visit their website to book your place NOW.

Young politicians selected to help steer county through the year ahead

Young people with a passion for politics and ambitions to have a positive influence on Warwickshire have been selected for the county’s Youth Council – and met virtually for the first time.

The 15 councillors were announced at an online event in March and will be in office for 12 months.

New members were elected for Nuneaton and Bedworth, Stratford-upon-Avon, Rugby and Warwick. They were joined by senior Warwickshire County Council members and officers for their first virtual meeting.

During their term of office, the youngsters will represent the views and interests of young people in their constituencies - both locally and nationally - by meeting councillors, MPs and other decision makers to take forward issues important to them. The Youth Council will also play a key role in county council’s Child Friendly Warwickshire initiative – which aims to work with children and young people to ensure their views are heard and make a difference across the county.

Gwilym Furn-Davis, a new youth councillor for Stratford, said: “I decided to stand for the youth council because I believe our generation deserves a say in how our lives are run and the Youth Council is a good way of getting our voice heard so that’s why I stood.

“The Youth Council is a great thing to be part of because it gives the chance to improve the lives of many young people across Warwickshire. My aims for next year are helping out with campaigns, public speaking and listening to people in our generation who want improvement in this area.”

Kezia Hine, a new youth councillor for Rugby, said: “I decided to stand for the Youth Council because I wanted a chance to make a change and it would give me a chance to express my opinions and listen to other's opinions… the Youth Council gives us a chance to make new friends and it gives us opportunities - like Youth Conference.”

New and old youth councillors would normally gather at Warwickshire County Council’s chamber in Shire Hall, Warwickshire, for their inaugural meeting – but lockdown rules have meant most activities have been online over the past year.

Members continued to hold virtual meetings every month to work on their campaign strategy for environmental issues.

Outgoing member Mawgan Stinchcombe looked back: “During my time as a youth councillor, I have really enjoyed working with councillors and the county council to improve our county, especially through speaking up for young people. Whilst COVID-19 has had an impact on our work, it hasn't been too much of a hindrance, and in fact, meeting virtually has ensured that we can stay in touch with ease, and get jobs done far more effectively. I am glad to have served four years as a youth councillor, as I have been able to listen and represent those around me, selflessly."

Throughout 2020 youth councillors promoted their work to a much wider audience, including promoting the stay at home message to young people across social media with videos during the first lock down.

Youth councillors are usually elected by votes held across Warwickshire schools, but owing to COVID-19 school closures this year they were selected through an application process.

For further information about Youth Services in Warwickshire including the Warwickshire Youth Council visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/tys 

The early career framework: changes and implications for school leaders, briefings from Tudor Grange Academies Trust

As you are aware, significant changes to the way early career teachers (formerly NQTs) are supported will commence from September 2021. This will have implications if you are employing an ECT from this point. 

The early career framework (ECF) reforms will change support for early career teachers, providing a funded entitlement to a structured 2-year package of high-quality professional development. The reforms are part of the government’s teacher recruitment and retention strategy, which aims to improve the training and development opportunities available to teachers.

The early career framework is the evidence base which underpins this new entitlement for early career teachers’ professional development. It sets out what all early career teachers should learn about and learn how to do during the first 2 years of their careers.

Teaching School Hubs are the backbone of these developments, and we are delighted that Tudor Grange Academy Solihull has been designated as a Teaching School Hub; this will allow us to build even stronger relationships between schools, Multi Academy Trusts, Local Authorities and other strategic partners and we know that working together will mean excellent support for the development of professionals at every stage of their career so that we can better serve all our children and families.

You can attend a briefing to find out more even if you have no plans at this stage to take on an ECT. These will take place on: 4th May 10.00; 5th May 8.00am; and 6th May 6.00pm.

These briefing sessions aim to:

Provide information about the new early career framework

Empower school leaders to make decisions about which pathway is right for them and their school

Enable school leaders to be aware of what their next steps are. 

To sign up to one of these events please see below the links for the three upcoming ECF meetings:

4^th May, 10:00 – 11:00 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/151806626707

5^th May, 08:00 – 09:00 – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/151808833307

6^th May, 18:00 – 19:00 - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/151926202361

Early Career Framework with Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School Hub

All new teachers starting at your school next academic year will be entitled to a 2 year fully-funded induction programme accredited by the Department for Education. The Coventry and Central Warwickshire Teaching School Hub (C+CWTSH) are pleased to be working in partnership with the University of Central London to deliver this programme to all schools in the region.

The Early Career Programme replaces previous NQT development and training and gives Early Career teachers (ECT) support through online materials and mentoring for 2 years. Accessing this programme through the C+CWTSH will mean this training is fully funded by the DfE.

Whilst each ECT will still have an in school mentor they will also have local face to face training (initially online), self directed study from high quality materials, support from a cluster of ECTs with experienced facilitators and an annual Induction Conference, all fully funded when registering with us. The DfE funding covers all aspects of the programme as well as 10% time-off timetable in Year 1 and 5% time-off timetable in Year 2 for Early Career Teachers. There is also funding for the mentor to have meeting time in school and for them to receive training of the excellent standard expected from UCL.

On 29th April, a briefing is being held via Zoom, the link to register for the event is  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwoc-urqDgvHtBZTEfx6IweH48BWD4GPUwZ.

Early Career Teachers (September 2021) Headteacher and Induction Coordinator briefing

From September 2021, it will become a statutory requirement early career teachers to undertake, a 2-year induction based on the Early Careers Framework.

In response to the DfE requirement to inform schools of the new Early Career Teacher guidance including fidelity checking, the Local Authority are offering free briefing sessions for Headteachers and Induction Coordinators.

These take place on Tuesday 4th May 2021 OR Wednesday 12th May 2021

4.00pm to 5.30pm

They are free to attend.

The briefing will include:

• the school's responsibilities
• the Appropriate Body's responsibilities  
• information required before the end of this term to facilitate registration with the TRA
• what happens to current NQTs half-way through their current one-year induction programme

The briefing will be from 4.00 to 5.00 followed by a question-and-answer session from 5.00 to 5.30.

To book a place on either Tuesday 4th May or Wednesday 12th May please CLICK THIS LINK TO BOOK

Early Career Framework Webinar hosted by John Taylor Teaching School Hub

The induction process for NQTs is changing from September 2021.

To explain these changes, we will be hosting an information webinar on the following dates and times-

Friday 30th April. 14:00 - 14:45

Tuesday 11th May. 16:00 - 16:45

Join them in this information event to find out:

- The key facts about the statutory changes

- The funded ECF training provided by the John Taylor Teaching School Hub

- An update on Appropriate Body services 

- Support for schools looking to engage with core induction or school-based induction,  including the legal requirements assessed by the Appropriate Body 

Audience:

Headteachers, senior leaders, induction tutors, system leaders and any colleagues interested in the upcoming changes

Click here to book for Friday 30th April. 14:00 - 14:45

Click here to book for Tuesday 11th May. 16:00 - 16:45

Summer Term 2021 conference for Headteachers

Save the Date! 

Summer Term 2021 Headteachers' Conference 

Wednesday 16^th June 2021 (AM – timings to be confirmed) 

To be held virtually on Microsoft Teams 

Details of the conference will follow in due course. 

RE Summer Bulletin 2021

Please find a useful resources pack at the link below that contains important dates, news and helpful links. 

It's pulled together by Warwickshire's Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE).

Click here for the full RE Summer Bulletin 2021.

OFSTED handbook updated April 2019