Hello and welcome to Heads Up.
Another week, and the emergence of the new Omicron strain of Covid, has brought updated guidance from the Government. Schools and settings are being asked to adapt their working patterns and environments to play a part in stopping the spread of the virus.
You will, undoubtedly, have a lot of the measures in place from earlier in the term, but the guidance in relation to face coverings has changed. Public Health colleagues’ interpretation of this guidance is a return to face coverings in communal areas for pupils in year 7 and above, and staff and visitors in all settings including primary, and early years, unless exempt.
The work on the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme is picking up pace. On 14 December, Warwickshire County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group are hosting a webinar where there will be a discussion on the plans for services and support around Autism. Parents and carers from across the county are encouraged to attend and take part in the discussion.
This comes in response to our recent Ofsted/CQC inspection and the views of parents and carers in a recent survey by Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice. The speakers from Warwickshire County Council will include Matt Gilks, Director of Commissioning (CCG), Heather Kelly, Senior Transformation Manager, CCG, and Ali Cole, Senior Joint Commissioner Disabilities and Autism, WCC and CCG. Questions can be submitted in advance to sendchange@warwickshire.gov.uk. Click here to attend the meeting.
On the subject of SEND, the second edition of Warwickshire SEND was published on 1st December and you can sign-up to the mailing list here. It’s a dedicated monthly newsletter for Special Educational Needs and Disability news in Warwickshire and we are working closely with Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice to feed their input into its creation and content. Please do take the time to read it, share with your networks and submit your ideas for future articles to sendchange@warwickshire.gov.uk. Schools and settings are integral to the work of the SEND Change and Inclusion Programme and we want to be sure that you have as much information, and opportunity to input your views and experience as possible.
Finally, some great news to round off the week. Fantastic news for Warwickshire College known as WCG, which is one of five colleges to have won a Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education 2020/22. More information can be found here .
Warwickshire College won its prize for being a “leading provider of engineering apprenticeships in the Midlands,” which is absolutely brilliant for the county as well as the college, with engineering being a key sector in the local economy.
That’s it from me. Have a good weekend.
Chris Baird