Dear colleagues, 

Hello and welcome to this week’s Heads Up.

Firstly, can I thank all of you who attended our first virtual Head Teachers’ conference on Wednesday. It was an amazing turnout with over 200 joining us for this unique event. I say ‘unique’; virtual conferences are part of the new normal, but it was very different from any Head Teacher conference that I can recall. I hope that, despite its unusual setting, you got as much from it as you usually would.  I know I felt just as inspired with the experience being online.

Part of the reason for this was our guest speaker, Dame Christine Lenehan DBE. I had mentioned that she was a totally inspirational figure with her passion for supporting children and young people with SEND and she absolutely lived up to that billing.

Dame Christine was not alone in that commitment and passion.  The County Council launched its SEND and Inclusion Change programme and the dedication of our staff towards improving outcomes for all young people shone through. This is a critical piece of work for the council, over the next few years, if we are to address the difficult balance between a growing number of children and young people with an EHCP and the gap in funding.

As the programme advances, we will continue to keep you informed of projects that come on stream and progress being made. Your support and engagement will be critical to the team as they take it forward and I thank you, in advance and in anticipation, for that.

Later in this issue you will see that we have started planning for the Annual Safeguarding Audit. Again, this is a critical and cornerstone exercise which supports and informs our work to protect and include our children and young people. Please, look out for details on arrangements and the call for representatives in future editions of Heads Up and in the Safeguarding Bulletin just sent to DSLs.

Speaking of future editions of Heads Up, there will not be one next week during half-term. The same applies to the Monday Briefing which will restart on 2 November. I hope that you will take the opportunity to have a break.

But as half-term offers a break from school; it does not, sadly, offer us a break from COVID-19 and it is absolutely critical that our children follow the latest guidance on social distancing and mixing in large groups or with other households.  We are at a critical point in controlling the transmission and spread of the virus and we need to continue to reinforce messages to our children that they need to be aware of the guidance and follow it, so that they can safely return to school after the holiday. In short, they need to carry on doing what they have been doing in school.

Despite the measures put in place to make our settings safe, it was inevitable that there would be children and staff sent home from schools and that, eventually, it would lead to some schools having to close their doors in the short term.

Please don’t be too disheartened if this has happened at your school. Remember that we are in the grip of a global pandemic and whilst we all want our children in school, their safety and that of the local community, have to be our priority. If you have to send groups of staff and children home, or even close your doors temporarily, it doesn’t mean that you haven’t been doing the right thing.  In acting swiftly and decisively to endeavour to control the spread of the virus amongst your staff and children, it’s further evidence that you are doing right by them and the community.

I would much rather focus on the outstanding level of attendance that we have enjoyed in Warwickshire since the start of term. We have enjoyed levels of pupil attendance well over 90% and over 95% for our staff, which is in keeping with the highest of national averages.  I know senior management at the county council, along with our members, are very appreciative and recognise that this excellent performance has come about through all the hard work and planning that you all did from the start of the pandemic and continue to do.

Have a good break.  Please, do get some rest and respite and I look forward to being in touch again after the half-term holiday.

Best wishes

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services