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.