Local Lockdown: Warwickshire is in Tier 3 - Meeting in large groups

There are exceptions where people can continue to gather indoors or in private gardens, or in groups larger than 6, in outdoor public places.  

This includes:

• for registered childcare, education, or training – meaning education related to a formal curriculum or training that relates to work or obtaining work

• for supervised activities provided for children and those who were under 18 on 31 August 2020, including wraparound care (before and after-school childcare), children’s groups, activities for under-18s, and children’s playgroups

• for parent and toddler groups – up to a maximum of 15 people. Under-5s do not count towards this limit. These cannot take place in private dwellings.

For full details of the rules please see:  www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-3-very-high-alert

New! Warwickshire Covid-19 Webpages Early Years and Childcare Tab.

We are very pleased to tell you that we now have a dedicated Early Years and Childcare tab on: schools.warwickshire.gov.uk/coronavirus .

Here you will be able to find information about EY funding, Covid-19, FAQs etc.

We are gradually adding to the pages so please bear with us.  

If there is anything you would like to see on the pages, please let us know. 

Duchess of Cambridge - 5 Big questions

Siren Films - Early Years Clip Library

FINAL OPPORTUNITY: DFE funded Free Training for Mental Health Leads in all state funded schools.

FINAL OPPORTUNITY - Click here to register now

If you have missed this valuable training opportunity to strengthen your school's support for the mental health of young people we are providing a final pair of remote twilight sessions on:

January 14th and January 21st 2021 - 3.30pm - 5.30pm: Booking available soon

• This training is funded by DfE and aims to support staff to support children and young peoples' well-being and mental health.
• The course was developed by the Anna Freud Centre and has been adapted for local needs.
• Participants are provided with useful resources, including those relevant to support available in Warwickshire

Please note that this training is additional to that which will eventually be provided for Mental Health Leads in Trailblazer schools and therefore Trailblazer schools should also sign up.

Delegates who have attended so far have made the following comments:

"Thought provoking content and it will be useful to refer back to in the coming weeks"

"Very appropriate in terms of content and the time it was delivered - ie after having the children in school for half a term and getting to know their issues/needs in terms of MH"

"time to reflect and think about how we are able to move forwards with this area in school and to recognise what we are already doing"

"found it very helpful and interesting, and was pleased to get opportunities to share my own experiences"

"Content was thorough and has helped to shape our Recovery Curriculum in school"

"Great training, the slide and models were great"

"Brilliantly delivered, very easy to follow and refer to. great verbal information to support slides."

"Really engaging and pacey sessions - I look forward to looking into all of the links and resources … well-paced, interesting, ran to time and full of practical ideas to accompany the content"

Warwickshire Virtual School Training Spring Term 2021

Blended Learning Update

In his press release today, Gavin Williamson confirmed that after Christmas although full, graded inspections will not resume, ‘OFSTED will …continue to have the power to inspect a school, further education or early years provider, if they have serious concerns, including about safeguarding and remote education.

To support primary schools with this area, some reminders ….

Training from ICTDS SAS is available for all primary schools (see here for PowerPoints and meeting recordings if you have missed these)

Consortium Expert Users have completed their training and are now in a position to provide your school and staff with remote support for:

· Remote/Bended learning options

· Microsoft Teams training

· Google Classroom training

· Purple Mash training

To read the full article please click here.

Click here for Examples of Good Practice

There are a wider range of supporting evidence and reports written by different people including Ofsted Inspectors and other local authorities that you might find useful to read.  The link to these can be found here: Further Support Information

Help raise awareness of support to people facing hardship this winter

Support is available for Warwickshire families and individuals facing hardship this winter.

Warwickshire County Council’s Local Welfare Scheme is responsible for the administration of the government’s one-off COVID Winter Grant to be allocated between December 2020 and March 2021. The grant will provide some financial support for food, household essentials and utilities to help vulnerable residents experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, poverty during the pandemic.

Families with children eligible for benefits related free school meals who are at school are automatically eligible for support and have been contacted. Other families with children under 19 years old who are struggling can apply for financial support during the Christmas school holidays and they are asked to contact the Local Welfare Scheme if they wish to receive this.

You may know local people for whom this funding, and wider food and financial support, will be invaluable. Please let them know about the support available by sharing this leaflet and telling them about the Local Welfare Scheme so they can seek help if they need it.

The council’s Local Welfare Scheme supports our most vulnerable residents at times of unavoidable crisis when they have no other means of help and can provide financial support and advice for people who need aid to access food and utilities. The scheme also signposts to further support available from other public, community and voluntary services around the county.

Upon contacting the scheme people will be connected to an advisor will discuss their circumstances with them and provide appropriate help to address their situation.

Warwickshire Local Welfare Scheme

01926 359182 or 0800 408 1448 www.warwickshire.gov.uk/localwelfarescheme

For information about wider support from the council and other services, go to: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/facinghardship

The leaflet about help with food access and money management is available at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/winterhardship

More information about the COVID Winter Grant is online at www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-winter-grant-scheme

Share your views on Warwickshire’s Health and Wellbeing strategy

People who live and work in Warwickshire are invited to share their views on the county’s priorities to tackle health inequality and improve the overall health and wellbeing of residents.  Health and wellbeing partners across Warwickshire work together to improve access to services and health outcomes for local people and need people’s views on the approach they take to do this. This approach is outlined in the county’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The strategy has been created by Warwickshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board which is made up of leaders from the county, borough and district councils across Warwickshire as well as Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (WCAVA), Healthwatch Warwickshire, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), NHS trusts, Warwickshire Fire Service and the Police & Crime Commissioner. These partners in Warwickshire have an ambition to improve health and reduce inequalities due to lifestyle and make it easier for residents to get support.

To share your views on the Health and Wellbeing Strategy please use the following link - Share Your Views Here

Browse this link to find and take part in other consultations and engagement activities that interest you; you can also search current and past activities by keyword, postcode and interest.

Children and Young People's digital participation survey

The Midlands Clinical Network and Young Minds need your help, they are trying to find out the views of young people on how digital/remote mental health support is or is not working.

With national lockdown many young people are having to move to this way of receiving their mental health care rather than face to face. So we want to hear about the things that help you to receive mental health care in this way (from those having digital mental health appointments or support) as well as identifying barriers from those not wishing to use remote mental health support.

So we want to hear from all young people and would appreciate you filling out this short survey. Midlands Clinical Network Digital Mental Health Support

This will take a few minutes to complete (it is confidential, but there is some monitoring information so we can see the diverse groups the survey has reached). We would like all responses in by the 11^th December or sooner.

The plan is to develop some local Guiding Principles for children and young people’s Mental Health Service professionals to help them deliver digital mental health care that is right for young people in the Midlands. Thank you for your time and support.

New premises for Schools Library Service

I am delighted to confirm the long-awaited move of the Schools Library Service (SLS) into Hawkes Point.

All our book stock is ready on the new shelves - we are just sorting out the incredible amount of other bits and pieces that help us get our books out to you all in your schools each term!

Our address is now:
Schools Library Service, Unit 4 WCC Hawkes Point, 1 Hawkes Drive,
Heathcote Industrial Estate, Warwick, CV34 6LX

The email and phone number remain the same: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk and 01926 413461

We still hope some kind of welcome session can be arranged in the New Year for you to see the premises, if Covid restrictions are eased. We are very pleased that we have a lovely space as our new training room and are really hoping to get physical courses and meetings back up and running as soon as possible too.

In the meantime, we are starting to put together the boxes for the Spring Term and collecting at the end of this term as planned.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries about using SLS.

Stella Thebridge 
Principal Librarian
Warwickshire Library Service and
Warwickshire Schools Library Service

RSHE - Relationships and Health Education Train the Trainer Programmes for Primary and Secondary Schools

Please see the attached documents for details of the free teacher training to support schools in preparing for the statutory changes to the RSHE curriculum from September 2020.

RSHE Primary School Details

RSHE Secondary School Details

Free CPD opportunity from The Midland Academies Trust

Join Kurt Engelmann, President of the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI), for the informative and interactive webinar—Origins and Critical Elements of Authentic Direct Instruction.

This free 90-minute interactive session will detail how Siegfried Engelmann developed and refined Authentic Direct Instruction, the most comprehensive and effective system for teaching the widest range of learners.

The features and purpose of the component parts of Authentic DI will be explored in detail. Participants will gain insight into how these features are the basis for Rosenshine’s 10 Principles of Instruction as well as distinct differences. Some of these differences include:

• field-tested programs, revised on the basis of field-test results
• faultless communication via scripts
• student materials that match teacher scripts
• procedures for placing students at their skill level
• in-program assessments to confirm mastery of skills

NIFDI is based in Eugene, Oregon (USA), and has worked with hundreds of schools around the world. NIFDI is currently partnering with the Midlands Academies Trust and the United Learning Trust to implement Authentic Direct Instruction as well as build internal training capacity in the UK.

Click Here for Booking Details

Date: December 9, 2020 Time: 5:00pm

Origin Maths Hub: CPD opportunities for Primary and Secondary Schools

FREE Secondary and Post 16 Work Group Opportunities

Origin Maths Hub is looking to recruit primary schools in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire to participate in these exciting and innovating Work Groups.

Click here for the full newsletter

• Secondary Opportunities
• Supporting Students with Maths Anxiety Work Group
• Supporting Students with SEND Work Group
• Challenging Topics at GCSE Work Groups
• Mathematical Thinking for GCSE Work Groups
• Year 5 - 8 Continuity Work Groups
• Post 16 Opportunities
• Developing Core Maths Pedagogy
• Supporting Post 16 GCSE Resit Work Group
• Developing A Level Pedagogy

Covid recovery
The school year 2020/21 will be substantially affected by the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak and the knock-on effects to schools cannot be predicted with any certainty. As a result, Maths Hubs work will be flexible and will adapt to changing realities. It is likely that there will be more live online collaboration, for example by including use of video and online Work Group sessions.