Dear colleagues, 

Welcome again to the weekly Heads Up

After last week’s rather downbeat news around Warwickshire going into tier three after the end of the national lockdown, there is a slightly more optimistic feel to this week.

The emerging news of signs of a roll out of a vaccine is welcome but we remain aware that there is still much that will happen in that respect and you will have seen me say on numerous occasions that I am guided by evidence; it’s in my DNA. So, we should proceed in a careful way informed by evidence and guidance.

This week, the numbers of children missing their schooling because of having to self-isolate has come down from the last couple of weeks.  That’s not to say the virus is any less prevalent in our communities but that the response in schools has been measured and appropriate, marrying a need to keep communities – both the school community and the broader locale – safe with a need to enable children to access their entitlement to an education.  It is reassuring that the local notification system and the IMT meetings, that I mentioned last week, are working effectively as evidenced by the data.

With regard to national news around education, I was delighted to see that funding to help towards supply teacher costs will not only be available but will be backdated to 1 November.  I know how much that potential financial pressure has been weighing on some of you, so it is hoped that that news will have brought you some relief.

The Secretary of State announced yesterday that Ofsted will not be introducing inspections in the spring term and it seems a timely moment to remind you that we will be joined at our lunchtime Teams call for education leaders next Tuesday 8 December by Wayne Simner HMI (W. Mids), who will be sharing the most recent findings of the current series of Ofsted monitoring visits. We will be summarising key points from Wayne’s presentation and an outline of Ofsted’s intended programme of activity for the new year in next week’s Heads Up.

Primary school colleagues are currently submitting their phonics results. This data is even more critical than ever as we look to see what impact the absence from school settings will have had on the early development of children’s reading and writing. In terms of tests, the Government has now announced that Key Stage 1 tests are not happening in summer 2021 but Key Stage 2 tests are going ahead. We are also told that there are no plans to publish related national performance tables in 2021, as would usually be the case.

Wednesday saw the last meeting in 2020 of the Education Challenge Board. Our thanks go to its chair, Dr Peter Kent for his leadership over the course of the year and the representatives and members who attend and support its work. Thanks also go out to two other Board members – Joy Mitchell and Helen Redican. Joy will be retiring from her role as head teacher of North Leamington School at Christmas while Helen will now be taking her retirement from her role in Warwickshire’s School Improvement Service. I would like to thank both for their unstinting hard work and commitment to ‘all things educational’ over the years.

That is probably enough from me for now. You probably know what’s coming next; enjoy the weekend and do endeavour to get a break from the pressures that you face every day. This is so important that it bears repeating frequently and a heartfelt thank you for all that you are doing.

Best wishes

Ian