Outstanding for Blue Strawberry Kid Daycare

Congratulations to all of the staff at The Blue Strawberry Kids Daycare Ltd, Leamington Spa who recently received ‘Outstanding’ judgements across all of the four inspection areas - leadership and management; quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; and outcomes for children.

Ofsted stated:

"The management team has extremely high expectations of itself and the staff team. Managers are extremely effective in reflecting on their own practice and take swift action to improve the already exemplary quality of the provision. Currently, the manager has identified that staff could support children's natural curiosity as learners even better."

"Children's emotional well-being and inclusion are exceptionally high priorities. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are cared for by staff who are passionate and enthusiastic about the job they do. In consultation with children's parents, and following advice from other professionals, staff adapt the learning environment. They purchase new equipment to help children make the best possible progress in relation to their starting points."

"Teaching is exceptional. Staff develop close relationships with children. They work very well with parents to enhance continued learning at home. Staff have high expectations for all children to achieve the best possible outcomes. Precise assessments ensure that planning is highly focused around the skills children will need. The extensive range of exhilarating activities motivate children to learn."

"Staff are positive role models for children. They are extremely nurturing, kind and caring. Staff encourage and support children to respect each other and think about how their actions have an impact on their friends. Staff are highly attentive, and they show a real interest in what children say. Children receive high levels of praise and reassurance. This strongly supports children to thrive and excel in this exciting environment."

"The outside environment is excellent. Younger children have access to additional areas, specifically designed to ignite their imagination. An innovative construction area is highly effective in developing children's physical skills and the use of their senses. Children regularly go out on trips and visit parks in the local community."

Update on Prevent in Warwickshire

In January, we appointed Geoff Thomas as the new Prevent Officer for the County, following the departure of Helene Heath who we thank for all her hard work in post.

Many of you will already have met and had the benefit of listening to Geoff sharing his knowledge and expertise about this agenda. Geoff has been involved with Prevent for over 12 years, having led on Prevent in Dudley, Coventry and now Warwickshire. Geoff has also served as the Chair of the Dudley and Coventry Channel Panels as well as being a current member of Warwickshire Channel Panel. He brings extensive experience of partnership working in this area, supporting schools and engaging local communities.

Geoff provides a range of training support on this agenda and the current range of options is outlined in the document below: 

Prevent Update: New training opportunities

This training can be accessed by:

• booking individuals onto the corporate training programme;
• linking with the Education Safeguarding Service training courses;
• arranging on-site courses delivered by Geoff specifically for your school staff.

If you have any queries on Prevent, whether that be deciding on the right training option, booking onto a course or questions about wider Prevent issues such as risk assessments, Prevent procedures or resources then please contact Geoff Thomas on 01926 855020 or email geoffthomas@warwickshire.gov.uk

Free CPD - enhance your RE subject knowledge

Please share details of the sessions below with your RE Subject Leaders and Coordinators. The sessions are completely free to attend. For any queries please email: sacre@warwickshire.gov.uk

Funding bids are now open to help improve mental health

Warwickshire County Council is pleased to announce that funding bids are now open for community asset organisations, including schools, to make physical improvements to their buildings to make environments more mental health friendly.

Research suggests that the physical environment can both positively and negatively impact upon our mental wellbeing. Making small changes to physical environments can make a big difference to the lives of people with mental health problems and positively impact on their overall experience of support.

Examples of positive changes to the environment include the following (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Making places light and airy
• The creation of quiet, private rooms / areas away from noisy areas e.g. chill-out and refocus room (this may include equipment for people to use in these areas)
• Including use of colour – muted tones are reported to be relaxing
• Creation and display of co-produced art
• Giving areas a homely design through the use of natural finishes, tactility and texture
• The creation of sensory rooms with items such as optic lamps, bubble tubes, scenic pictures, comfortable furniture, music, aromas, flavours and sensory objects
• Creating or developing green spaces
• Improved signage at venues to create a welcoming and non-stigmatising service entrance
• Quality and improvement of the environment

Applications are open until midday on 14 October.

To find out more information about the funding and how to apply, visit https://in-tendhost.co.uk/csw-jets/aspx/ProjectManage/8218

SEND and Inclusion Quality Mark

There has already been quite a lot of interest in the SEND and Inclusion Quality Mark that was launched at the start of September.

This is an opportunity for primary and secondary settings to audit and develop their SEND provision and gain recognition from the LA.

Copies of the SEND and Inclusion Toolkit as well as guidance for primary and secondary settings can be found at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sendocs in the Training and Guidance section.

Northern Warwickshire Physical Activity Project

An exciting project is due to start this term within primary schools in northern Warwickshire, to upskill teachers, providing new ways to get their pupils active.  Research shows that 1 in 3 children are overweight by the time they leave primary schools (Public Health England). Also, that increased activity in children leads to increased academic performance, happier more motivated and confidence pupils as well as stronger school engagement.

The project aims to upskill teachers in how they can create more active lessons, specifically in maths and English, giving young people the opportunity to become more active in lesson time. Also, there will be an opportunity for pupils and teachers to attend a resilience workshop run by Youth Sport Trust Athlete Mentors with the aim of encouraging understanding of physical activity and how it relates to wellbeing. This will enthuse both staff and pupils to become more active.

The pilot project is in partnership with North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth Area Analysis Group, Youth Sport Trust and Warwickshire Education and has been funded by Think Active.

If your group of schools would like to discuss a similar opportunity or for more information, please contact Emma.Sadula@coventry.gov.uk 

Primary SENCo Network Meetings

Free to all Warwickshire schools. Interest in these meetings is already high so please confirm your place via the link below:

BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE

Click on the image for a larger version of the flyer

Secondary EAL Network Meetings

School Categorisations

As most of you will know, Warwickshire’s School Improvement team carry out regular risk assessments of all schools and academies to identify vulnerabilities.

Headteachers and Chairs of Governors will shortly be receiving the categorisation for their school for this academic year. Where appropriate, copies will also be sent to the chair of academy trust boards. 

It is vital that we have the email address of the chair of governors so that this information can be sent to the correct person. If you want to check that we have the right details, please email us at governors@warwickshire.gov.uk

Schools are categorised using a thorough risk assessment process as well as being RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rated to indicate the progress they are making within their individual category. For further information please refer to the documents below:

Categorisation criteria 

Categorisation Guidance Document

Key updates from the DfE

Apply to the Trust Capacity Fund

Application form and guidance for trusts wishing to apply to the 2019 to 2020 Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF).

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Statutory guidance: Schools causing concern

Statutory guidance on local authorities' and regional schools commissioners' responsibilities relating to schools and PRUs causing concern.

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School governance update

Important news and communications from the Department for Education (DfE) relating to governance in maintained schools and academy trusts in England.

Guidance to help schools prepare for Ofsted

James McNeillie HMI has asked us to draw attention to this guidance leaflet from Ofsted to help schools to gather the information that they will be asked to provide to inspectors during their visit.

James also advised that it would be helpful for the inspection if timetables can be made available to inspectors before they arrive onsite - this will mean that leaders and inspectors can draft an inspection schedule that fits with staff availability and the evidence that they will need to be able to consider. 

You can find more information in the 'Inspecting maintained schools and academies: a leaflet for maintained schools and academies'.

Coming soon in Your HR - The roll out of employee self service (ESS) to schools

Earlier in September, we advised you about the enhancement in Your HR to provide Employee Self Service (ESS) for school employees.

Click here to read the previous update from Your HR

Employee Self Service will enable your employees to access Your HR to view and download their payslips and P60s, set up e-Form preferences to have their payslip emailed to them each month and the ability to update their bank details. They will also be able to view their personal and basic employment details.

There are many benefits of Employee Self Service, some of which include:

• it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than paper payslips
• it removes the risk of payslips going missing therefore dramatically reducing the risk of data breaches
• employees will be able to access it 24/7 and view backdated copies of their payslips (to the Your HR live date).

There will be a piece of work to do in the autumn term to confirm employee’s email addresses and create their log-ins and we will be in touch again nearer the time to confirm the details of this.

To contact us with any suggestions, requests or feedback please email weshrandpayroll@warwickshire.gov.uk 

New Careers Support Service

The Council has introduced a free support service for secondary schools and FE colleges.

Funded by the Skills for Employment programme, the service will provide one day of expert advice and support to cover one or more requirements of the national Careers Strategy chosen by the school or college.

Alternatively, a school or college might request a 'Mocksted' assessment of its Careers programme and provision. The service will be delivered by Career Seekers Direct. 

Careers Leaders in all secondary schools and colleges were informed about the service in mid-September and they have until the end of March 2020 to engage with Career Seekers Direct and receive the support.

For further information please email: skillsforemployment@warwickshire.gov.uk

Warwickshire's Ethical Leadership model goes international

What, you might ask, is a long-serving headteacher from Warwickshire doing at a conference in Shanghai presenting a paper on ethical leadership? Well, it is a long story…

The poet John Donne famously wrote that ‘no man is an island'. In education we can extend that metaphor to say that no school or education system is an island.

When serving as President of the Association of School and College Leaders in 2014-15, I attended the Helsinki Convention of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP), the only group that aims to represent school leaders worldwide. Having gained a huge amount from the chance to compare notes with teachers and leaders across the world, I stood for election to ICP’s Executive and since then have tried to play my part in fostering these worldwide connections.

Rather foolishly, when I first stood for election I thought it would just be a matter of attending a series of video-conferences and sharing a few ideas from the UK’s rather mixed recent experiences of education. Four years on I realise there is rather more to it than that.

My current role involves overseeing the constitution and governance structure that draws together leaders from different continents, a process that is fascinating but not always straightforward. And yes, I have also had the privilege of working with the organising committee that is putting together a worldwide conference of school leaders in Shanghai from 23-25 October.

The aspect of the English system that particularly interests delegates from around the world is our current focus upon ethical leadership. As one colleague from Australia observed ‘We all agree that you need to do the right thing - the problem is, how do you know what it is?’

As part of the conference I will be leading a seminar on ethical leadership and plan to share some of the excellent work that has been done in Warwickshire. I believe that the approaches we are developing are at the cutting edge not just in the UK but also worldwide.

Perhaps instead of John Donne, a better poet to express my experience with ICP is Robert Burns, who wished that 'some power would the gift give us to see ourselves as others see us'. Despite some fuzziness and smudges, that reflection in the international mirror continues to be fascinating.

Dr Peter Kent

Headteacher, Lawrence Sheriff School and Chair of the Education Challenge Board