Last chance to apply to become an Early Years SLE

The Warwickshire Teaching School Alliance is pleased to announce a new recruitment round for early years Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs).  

The SLE role is about developing the capacity and capability of other leaders so that they have the skills to lead their own teams and improve practice in their own schools.

Applicants need to have been in a leadership role for at least two years.  

The application window opened on Monday 4 November and closes on Monday 25 November.  Interviews will take place on Monday 9 December.

For further information please contact the Teaching School Coordinator, Michelle Hutton via email on Hutton.m2@welearn365.com or phone 01926 853394.

Childcare and early years providers survey: 2019

The DfE has published a summary following their survey of UK childcare and early years providers in 2019.  It includes information on the main characteristics of childcare and early years provision, including:

• provider characteristics
• number of places
• number of children attending
• staff characteristics and qualifications
• fees

Read the summary here

Outstanding result for Nic Nac Pre-School

Congratulations to staff at Nic Nac Pre-School in Nuneaton who recently received ‘Outstanding’ judgements across all of the four inspection areas - quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management.

Ofsted stated:

Children flourish in this exceptional pre-school. They receive the highest levels of support from staff, who are passionate about their role and want all children to achieve the very best they can.

Children at the setting receive excellent support to settle. They separate well from their parents and carers and feel secure.

Children's emotional well-being and care are high priorities. They receive exceptionally high levels of praise and reassurance.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive excellent support. They excel in this highly supportive environment.

Children are resilient and learn to cooperate. They use their imagination as they work together to build a shop and consider what they need to sell.

Children's pre-writing skills develop as they make lists. They draw maps and think about what country they are in.

Children talk about money and what it is used for. During a game about Santa, the children understand they will need five pounds to buy presents.

The interests of children are key to the pre-school's success. Children make decisions about their own play and staff are highly skilled at following children's leads. Staff know how and when to intervene to extend children's learning.

Language is uppermost in helping children to move forward. A wealth of resources and the exceptional interactions with staff support children to learn new words.

You can read the full report on Ofsted's website here.

Schools Forum update: SEND and Inclusion recommendations

The Schools' Forum met on the 17 October and endorsed a number of recommendations put forward by the High Needs Task and Finish Group.  A summary of the recommendations agreed is below:

• To encourage schools to pilot the Inclusion Quality Mark, building on the success of the early years Warwickshire Inclusion Kite mark Scheme (WIncKs) model;
• To support the revision of the SEND Provision Matrix as an authority wide statement of expectations of inclusive practice through which parents and partners can hold schools and settings to account;
• To continue to develop further “mainstream plus” options e.g. specialist resource provisions and partnerships with special schools;
• To ensure the whole SEND system has sufficient SEND Specialist Leaders in Education (SLE) to support strategic audits and promote best practice; 
• To reduce spend on independent and non-maintained specialist provision through improving the capacity within our own local provision;
• To continue to invest in the workforce to ensure Warwickshire has confident and skilled practitioners in schools and settings to meet the needs of learners with Autism and Social Emotional and Mental Health Needs;
• For the Task & Finish Group to support the Delivery Plan to implement the recommendations above.

We have recently launched a review of our SEND Provision Matrix and meetings will be taking place with a wide range of stakeholders including parents, schools, health and other professionals to co-produce an online interactive version ready for next academic year.

Does your school currently arrange residential trips for outdoor education/learning?

Did you know Warwickshire has its own residential centre for Outdoor Learning, Marle Hall, located on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park in North Wales?

Marle Hall offers a range of residential outdoor learning programmes to primary and secondary schools in Warwickshire. All the courses are tailor-made in partnership with schools and are designed to meet each school’s specific learning outcomes.

Complete the survey now

Please complete the survey until the 29th November and if you have any question please contact: Sarah Tregaskis - Service Manager - Education Service Delivery via email: sarahtregaskis@warwickshire.gov.uk

Thank you!

Why teach careers in primary school?

Did you know that careers-related learning is referenced four times in the Ofsted framework?

And did you know that primary schools/children are referenced seven times in the 2017 DfE Careers Strategy?

The Careers and Enterprise Company states:

Careers stereotypes are harmful to children

Between the ages of 6 to 8 years, most children start to develop gendered ideas about careers. These stereotypes follow them into the world of work, affecting the rest of their lives.

By the time they’re age 10, they’ve typically begun assigning social value-based ideas about social class and intelligence. They internalise long-lasting assumptions about what opportunities are available to them and start to abandon fantasy careers, becoming more aware of potential constraints on their futures.

This is where Careers-Related Learning (CRL) comes in.

CRL could include activities that:

• Develop pupils' knowledge about work
• Develop pupils' skills for work life
• Challenge stereotypes formed about careers and the world of work
• Enable pupils to make the link between what they are learning and the world of work

A report published by The Careers and Enterprise Company in December 2018, ‘What works? Careers-related learning in primary Schools’, states that:

A future career seems a long way off for most primary age children. Making a connection between what they learn in primary school and the jobs they might one day pursue is not easy, particularly for those from challenging backgrounds, where local unemployment is high, and horizons may be set low.

Research also suggests that career-related learning provides pupils with the opportunity to explore and practice non-academic skills demanded during working life and in the transition to secondary education. Non-academic skills are distinct from academic knowledge and can include empathy, communication, and resilience. These skills are associated with improved educational, work, health and wellbeing outcomes, such as higher academic attainment, employability and good physical and mental health.

The Careers and Enterprise Company has produced a free toolkit to support primary schools to deliver careers-related learning, which includes questions to assess the current careers-based learning at your school and resources to help implement careers learning.

Whilst this is good practice for all of our primary children, it is essential that our children looked after (CLA) and previously looked after (CPLA) have specific CRL to improve their life chances.

Statutory guidance for designated teachers of CLA and CPLA requires that thought is given to the future, careers advice and guidance ... further and higher education, training and employment.

A culture should be promoted where CLA and CPLA believe they can succeed and aspire to further and higher education or highly skilled jobs (DfE 2018).

For more information on CLA and CPLA please contact Deena Moorey deenamoorey@warwickshire.gov.uk 

RE Subject Leader Twilight Sessions 2019/20

Warwickshire SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education) is running additional subject leader sessions in 2019-20 to help teachers to develop their RE Curriculum and RE subject knowledge, in line with the expectations outlined in the new Ofsted Framework.

Please see details of each session and booking links below.

For any queries please email sacre@warwickshire.gov.uk

Training to support pupils with additional needs

A number of Warwickshire's traded education services provide training and development to help schools to build capacity and skills to better support pupils with additional needs.

Please see a list below of upcoming courses provided by the Specialist Teaching Service (STS) and Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS).

For details of all training provided by WES traded services you can visit their website: https://apps.warwickshire.gov.uk/Wes/

Free online guides for parents-to-be, mums, dads, grandparents and carers

Lots of parents worry about whether they are doing things right, from pregnancy throughout the different stages of childhood. The Solihull Approach FREE online guides, which are part of an evidenced-based programme, will support parents to feel more confident and help with the development of positive and responsive relationships between parents or carers and their baby, infant, children and young people.

Designed by NHS experts and parents, the guides offer the flexibility to complete at your own pace and time. Each of the guides’ modules take around 15-20 minutes to complete. With a brand-new guide that has just been added, ‘Understanding your teenager’s brain’, there are now four online guides which can be accessed.

The free, online parenting guides are available to all residents in the County, including staff. They can be accessed via WCC webpages, www.warwickshire.gov.uk/parentguides. By using the access code BEAR on registration, all four guides will be available.  

Social Emotional and Mental Health Conference

On 20^th November, more than 90 school governors and trustees, together with colleagues from WCC and partner organisations, Coventry and Warwickshire MIND and Compass (the School Health & Wellbeing Service and Children and Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Services), came together to hear about Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) wellbeing in our schools and academies.

The event, which was jointly funded by the Warwickshire Improving SEMH and SEND in Schools Project (WISSSP) and Governor Services, sought to make governors aware of the national and local data regarding mental health for children, young people and adults. The event also explained the SEMH audit that takes place in all schools and gave an overview of services available to schools from Compass and partner organisations. The conference saw colleagues from Education Services and Health, Wellbeing and Self Care collaborate to put together an agenda that covered the SEMH issues for all people involved within schools and gave governors ideas that they could take back to their own governing boards, whilst also outlining the support mechanisms that are available.

The delegates, who represented more than 60 LA maintained schools and academies in primary, secondary and special settings, heard from a current headteacher about the support his governing board have provided him with access to, from MIND about a Whole School Approach to Mental Health that is being piloted in four schools across Coventry and Warwickshire, and from WCC Health, Safety and Wellbeing Service about Wellbeing Awareness in Schools. These presentations were particularly well received by delegates and featured heavily in the positive feedback about the event. Comments included “Very informative, variety of sessions aimed at all involved with schools”, and “Very useful, thought-provoking and challenging – thank you to everyone”.

We would like to thank everyone who attended and contributed to make it such a positive event and we will act on the feedback received, as WCC continues its work to support schools with the challenges they are facing around SEMH issues.

Key updates from the DfE

School and college security 

Apply to the Trust Capacity Fund

The submission deadline for applications to the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) is 31 December 2019. Trusts submitting a TCaF application also need to have a growth application approved by 31 January 2020.

The funding, £17 million in total, will be awarded to support trust growth and development across England.

Find out more and apply to the Trust Capacity Fund here

School Governance Update - November 2019

Grant funding for capital projects to support young people under 25 years

Applications are being invited from organisations in the region for up to £250,000 for capital projects that help young people under the age of 25 years and that have a primary focus on training, education, personal development or rehabilitation.

The Warwickshire and West Midlands-based Norton Foundation is seeking proposals from local organisations in Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, who are planning capital projects to help young people under the age of 25 years.  Successful organisations will be given up to £250,000 contribution for their prospective project.

There are no application forms. Submissions, limited to one side of A4 paper, should include:

• an overview of the organisation
• details of the proposed project and its benefits
• an estimation of the total cost
• how the name of The Norton Foundation will be commemorated

Bids must be received before 14 February 2020 by post to The Correspondent, The Norton Foundation, The Paddock, Bwlch-Y-Gwynt Road, Llysfaen, Colwyn Bay, LL29 8DQ

From these bids a short list will be selected and invited to submit detailed proposals and out of these a selection will be made of organisations to present in person to the Norton Foundation Trustees.

For further details, see the Norton Foundation website.        

Career guidance for young people

The Careers and Enterprise Company has a number of useful resources and training courses available to help schools to meet their statutory requirements on providing career guidance. 

If you are a careers lead, link governor for careers or just interested in careers leadership you can register for the introduction to careers leadership online course, a 2-4 hour online course developed in partnership with Teach First. It provides an introduction to the essential knowledge and skills a Careers Leader requires to plan to improve career guidance in their school or college, deliver against the Gatsby Benchmarks, and fulfil the core requirements of their role. 

All secondary schools are also eligible for face-to-face training for careers leaders.