A new vodcast on Ofsted inspections

Vodcast on Ofsted inspections and the new EYFS Foundation Years is pleased to share a new vodcast on Ofsted inspections under the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Gill Holden, Principal Officer at the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), speaks to Phil Minns HMI and Wendy Ratcliff HMI about Ofsted’s approach to inspection and what settings can expect.

Gill then speaks to Katrina Rose from Little Acorns Nursery and Natalie Willcock from Corby Glen Community Primary School about their recent experiences of Ofsted inspection, from the initial notification of inspection, the inspectors’ focus on the day and their top tips for other settings.

Find the video here. 

"Get Sensory Packs’ to support disabled children.

Celebrate World Autism Acceptance Week: 28th March to 3rd April

Meeting the Needs of Children with English as Additional Language in the Early Year May

To Book a place, please use this link.  

Warwickshire Written Statement of Action Update - March 2022

There’s lots going on to improve SEND services in Warwickshire as part of our Written Statement of Action and this work is broken down into five areas of focus. Here’s the latest update: 

Area 1: Autism waiting times and support for families:  

Additional staff are being recruited to neurodevelopmental posts and the length of time referrals are waiting to be triaged has reduced. A new model of assessment is being developed to improve the process of assessment and diagnosis. Work is underway to improve the self-help offer to improve awareness of services and support via an online portal for information and advice, including an e-booklet and webpage to be launched at the autism conference on 2nd April. A webinar in December outlined autism support and answered questions from parent carers – to find out more visit here: autism webinar 

The Together with Autism Conference on 2nd April at Myton School, Warwick will include speakers, workshops and stalls for parent carers of autistic adults and children and professionals wanting to better understand autism. To join this free event please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-person-together-with-autism-conference-tickets-266911879617  

Community support services are being redesigned to provide better support for children and young people with SEND and their families. A workshop to review speech and language services was held in February ws led by I Can with health, education, social care and other partners. A skills audit of children and young people mental health services will start in April.  

Area 2: Communication and engagement with parent carers:  

Aswell as the revamped local offer webpages which provide a one stop shop of information on SEND services in Warwickshire, there’s a wide programme of communications and events including: 

• Webinars on topics such as Education, Health and Care Plans, Autism support  and the Graduated Approach. The last webinar on 25th March was on Transitions.  
• The local offer webpages now include a ‘You Said We Did’ section and recordings of webinars and events: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/get-involved-say  
• Warwickshire SEND newsletter:  https://mailchi.mp/warwickshire/warwickshire-send-feb22  

• New Local Offer Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WarksLocalOffer   

The new Parent Carer Forum - Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice (WPCV), launched last year, ensures parent carers are involved in designing services for our children/young people and their families. WPCV is an independent, parent carer led organisation for everyone with a child or children with SEND aged 0 -25. A coproduction and engagement hub meets every other Friday to help shape improvements in SEND, and WPCV members sit on all key working groups and boards. Parents are encouraged to add their voice and Join WPCV. To find out more please email the chair, Elaine Lambe:  warwickshireparentcarervoice@gmail.com  

Over 100 SEND staff have been trained in ‘Restorative Practice’ to help create and maintain respectful and trusting relationships with families, in our schools and settings. Free training is also available to schools. Events are running from April to July, to register please visit: 

Primary Schools: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scc-cs565-an-introduction-to-restorative-and-relational-practice-primary-registration-162435572169 

Secondary Schools: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scc-cs566-introduction-to-restorative-and-relational-practice-secondary-registration-162437822901 

A forum to capture the voice of children and young people with SEND is also being set up. Young people can register their interest here:  www.warwickshire.gov.uk/ypvoice 

Area 3: Inclusion in schools:  

Thank-you to the 17 schools in Rugby who are trialling a new approach to help meet needs of children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools. Staff have had training and are carrying out SEND reviews with peer-to-peer support, to be followed by further training and support. The learning from this trial will be used to roll out an inclusion framework across all mainstream schools with the support of 'change champions'. To nominate a change champion or get involved please contact schoolimprovement@warwickshire.gov.uk. 

Area 4: Workforce development:  

Four Head Teachers have joined a Working Group with partners from education, social care, health and parent carers to develop a programme of support to improve the knowledge, skills and understanding of staff in schools. The aim is to increase the confidence of staff in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND, which will in turn increase the confidence of parent carers and improve outcomes. We’re working with the Whole School SEND team from NASEN (the National Association for Special Educational Needs that supports and champions those working with, and for, children and young people with SEND and learning differences). There is free training and resources online - please visit: https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/ 

Free Autism training is also available via the Autism Education Trust (AET), a not-for-profit organisation supported by the Department of Education.  Warwickshire County Council is a training partner with AET and delivers quality assured training to make a difference to autistic pupils in our schools.  Making Sense of Autism training takes around 1.5 hours.  Once staff have completed this training, they can then access the Good Autism Practice module, providing guidance on processes and tools to support autistic pupils. We can now also offer an Anxiety Module, to help schools support autistic pupils to reduce and manage their anxiety, and an Exclusions Module to support the prevention of exclusions.  There are lots of free resources on the AET website to support with peer awareness, working with parents, evaluating practice to name just a few.  Go to the website at https://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk  to have a look.  For more information and to book training in for your school please contact evegodwin@warwickshire.gov.uk  

Area 5: Local Offer webpages:  

The new improved local offer webpages were launched last October and provide information about local services and support available across education, health and social care for families with children and young people aged 0 to 25 with SEND. To find out more please visit: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send. Briefing sessions are available to professionals and our communities – please email fis@warwickshire@gov.uk for more information.  

For more information about any areas of the Written Statement of Action please email Rachel Barnes, Change Delivery Manager at WCC at sendchange@warwickshire.gov.uk. We would love to hear your feedback, thank-you. 

Primary & Early Years Newsletter March 2022

Find here the Primary & Early Years Newsletter. 

Secondary & Post 16 Newsletter March 2022

Check here the latest MathsHubs' Newsletter 

Ofsted webinars

Ofsted has announced a new series of webinars to discuss various aspects of how it inspects schools.  

The webinars are as follows:

• Monday 28 March 2022: EIF inspections in primary schools
• Monday 9 May 2022: Inspections and the covid-19 pandemic
• Monday 13 June 2022: Inspections and teacher workload.
  
  

Details of the series and how to sign up can be found here

Support from the School Improvement Team for new Headteachers in Warwickshire

We are currently seeing a high volume of headteacher changes in the County. Please find below a reminder of the support in place for colleagues new to headship or new to Warwickshire or both!

• Aspiring Headteacher Course

A programme aimed to support senior and middle leaders who aspire to headship in a Warwickshire school. For school leaders with a minimum of 2 years senior leadership experience and are considering applying for a headship in Warwickshire in the next 2 years. The course is run over 5 sessions, primarily twilight, hosted by the LA School Improvement team and organised by Gateway. It is run over two terms with a range of guest speakers inputting into the sessions, including local headteachers, key colleagues from LA services as well as some national speakers. For further information please email schoolimprovement@warwickshire.gov.uk, the next course will start in the Autumn.

• Governor Service’s New Headteacher Induction Course

The programme is designed to support those new to headship and recently appointed headteachers who are new to Warwickshire by providing key updates and introducing them to colleagues within WCC who will be able to support them and their schools. It runs over 6 sessions (4 full days and 2 half days), with a combination of face to face and virtual delivery.  The cost of the programme is £545 which includes presentations, venue cost, lunch (on full day, face to face sessions) and refreshments (at face to face sessions).  Sessions are led by the LA School Improvement Team and organised by Governor Services.

The sessions cover the following:

Ø  Introduction to Warwickshire

Ø  Managing the Organisation including (but not limited to) Finance, Legal, Managing the Media, Emergency Planning, HR and Payroll, Early Career Framework teachers, Health and Safety

Ø  Ethical Leadership and Vulnerable Learners

Ø  School Improvement

Ø  Experiences of headteachers who have been in post for 1 - 2 years

Ø  Feedback from Ofsted Inspections within Warwickshire

Ø  Healthy Schools and Staff & Headteacher wellbeing.

For more information please email governors@warwickshire.gov.uk . The next course will start in Autumn 2022

• Consortia Chairs

• LA will assign a Peer Coach to all new headteachers with a visit per term 

Following the successful peer coaching training for system leaders and the development of the peer coaching directory,  Coach/Mentors will be assigned to new headteachers. Coaches will arrange half- termly visits for the next 12 months. This is a free service for maintained schools or can be purchased by non-maintained schools. For further information please email schoolimprovement@warwicskhire.gov.uk

• Recruitment support for LA maintained schools

Coordinated through Governor Services support is provided to LA maintained schools for the recruitment of new headteachers. For non-maintained schools support can be purchased through WES via their HR and Payroll Service. For further information please email governors@warwickshire.gov.uk or telephone WES for buy as you need services on 01926 418614.

• The School Improvement Team

The School Improvement Team are also available on an informal basis for contact with schools. Please email schoolimprovement@warwicskhire.gov.uk

Schools Forum Elections

Warwickshire Schools Forum is in the process of re-electing its membership.  A mixture of Headteachers (or senior leadership representatives) and Governors are required to be School Forum members, as detailed below: 

• 6 vacancies for primary maintained schools 
• 1 vacancy for secondary maintained schools 
• 3 vacancies for primary academies 
• 7 vacancies for secondary academies. 
• 1 vacancy for special schools maintained 
• 1 vacancy for special schools academy 
• 1 vacancy for maintained nursery school 

School members should be broadly a 50:50 split between Headteachers (or their representatives) and Governors where this is possible.  As a minimum, there must be at least one representative of headteachers and one representative of governors among the schools members. 

The role of The Schools Forum is to act as a consultative body with regard to a range of funding decisions as listed in the Warwickshire Schools Forum Terms of Reference and the Education and Skills Funding Agency publication 'Schools Forum Powers and Responsibilities'.  

This is a great opportunity for you to make a difference in Warwickshire schools. 

If you are elected to Schools Forum you will be required to serve for a period of two years with the first meeting being at 2pm on Thursday 23 June, using Microsoft Teams.  

Meetings are generally held on Thursdays, usually between 2pm and 4pm.  It is likely these meetings will continue to be held virtually for the foreseeable future. 

Future meetings dates 

• 23 June 2022 
• 29 September 2022 
• November 2022 Extraordinary meeting (if required) 
• 12 January 2023 
• 23 March 2023

Further information and nomination papers please see below:

• Schools Forum Terms of Reference
• Schools forum powers and responsibilities
• Warwickshire Schools Forum Membership 2022 – 2024- Governor Self-Nomination Information and Election Details
• Warwickshire Schools Forum Membership 2022 – 2024 - Headteachers Self-Nomination Information and Election Details
• Academy Governor - Self nomination form for membership 2022 - 2024
• Academy Headteacher - Self nomination form for membership 2022 - 2024
• Maintained School Governor - Self nomination form for membership 2022-2024
• Maintained School Headteacher - Self nomination form for membership 2022-2024

Deadline for nominations to be submitted is Friday 13 May 2022. 

For any queries, please email schoolfunding@warwickshire.gov.uk 

Warwickshire Junior Book Award

Warwickshire Schools Library Service are delighted to launch the 2022 Junior Book Award for primary pupils in Years 5 and 6, which takes place in the summer term. Our experienced team have carefully selected the shortlist.

Pupils get to read four of the most exciting books published during 2021 and then vote for their favourite at the beginning of July 2022. The winner must simply be ‘a good read.’ Participating schools are invited to the final award ceremony where we announce the winner on July 12th, 2022.

We will also invite the shortlisted authors! For more information and to take part, click here. 

You can also email schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk. Please sign-up by Friday 1st April 2022. 

Warwickshire Schools Libraries Service announces primary school winners of the Year 4 Reading Celebration 2022

Eight primary schools across the county have won Warwickshire Schools Libraries Service’s (WSLS) Year 4 Reading Celebration 2022, a spring term initiative created to encourage more reading within schools and inspire children to explore their local libraries and enjoy more reading for pleasure. A further eight schools have also been awarded as WSLS Creative Response winners for their inventive approaches to tackle the initiative’s reading challenges.

Across the county more than 30 primary and junior schools took part in the Year 4 Reading Celebration, which runs from January to March each year. Year 4 students are asked to borrow and read any four books from their local library and record their thoughts in a specially designed reading log. Participating Year 4 classes also get involved in a creative challenge in response to their reading, and each school selects a team of four pupils to attend the final celebration events in March of each year.

The final week of the initiative saw eight events hosted in Warwickshire County Council run libraries across the county, including Atherstone, Bedworth, Lillington, Nuneaton, Rugby, and Stratford libraries. Year 4 teams shared the outcomes of the creative challenge work completed by their classes, and took part in book-related quizzes in a fun atmosphere whilst competing against other schools in the county.

Continue reading here. 

Calling all Warwickshire 11 - 17 year olds!

There’s still time for your pupils to grab their spot at Warwickshire’s Youth Conference: Future Ready, held on Thursday 21 April between 11am – 4pm. 

Organised by young people, for young people, the Future Ready conference will offer a friendly and empowering environment where young people (aged between 11 and 17) and local organisations will come together to amplify the voices of tomorrow to help shape the county. 

To find out more and to sign up, visit: https://www.childfriendlywarwickshire.co.uk/youthconference 

Child friendly Easter activities for Warwickshire children and young people

Eligible children aged 5 to 16 can join a free activity programme in Warwickshire this Easter.  

Children and young people can attend up to four activities over the Easter break as part of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme supported by Warwickshire County Council (WCC). 

The local HAF scheme is part of the nationwide government initiative aimed at children in reception through to year 11 inclusive who receive benefits-related free school meals. Over 17,000 eligible families across the county have already been sent a HAF Code to enable them to book activities directly with providers. 

WCC is working with over 70 providers across all areas of Warwickshire which are all offering a range of inclusive activities including multi sports, dance, gymnastics, arts, crafts, equestrian and drama to name just a few. Each session is at least four hours long and includes a meal to help children learn about nutritious food and the preparation of healthy meals. All providers offer accessible activities so if a child needs additional support to attend, this can be discussed with individual providers.  

Priority support from the Local Welfare Scheme is also being offered to families with children eligible for benefits related free school meals during school holidays as it is recognised that some families who are struggling financially have difficulty covering these periods.  

Details of the HAF Easter activities can be found here https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/directory/46/haf-easter-activities 

For more information about the HAF programme in Warwickshire visit 

https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fis 

Anyone who thinks they may be eligible to book free HAF activities but hasn’t received a code can email hafprogramme@warwickshire.gov.uk.  

For more information on the Local Welfare Scheme visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/localwelfarescheme  

To find out more about Child Friendly Warwickshire visit: https://www.childfriendlywarwickshire.co.uk/