School Attendance Update

Update for schools on recording attendance (DfE - 21^st February 2022)

School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. It continues to be a priority to ensure that as many children as possible are regularly attending school.

The position on recording school attendance in the register has not changed. Where a pupil is following advice to self-isolate prior to a confirmed case of COVID-19 they should be recorded as code X (not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus). Where a pupil has a confirmed case of COVID-19 they should be recorded as code I (illness).

Webinars for schools on attendance best practice

The DfE has announced a series of best practice webinars which focusses on how a range of schools across the country, have maintained or improved their attendance levels, and the approach they have taken.

Details on our upcoming webinars and how to register are below:

·        Thursday 3 March at 4pm – Wheelers Lane Technology College, a local authority maintained secondary school in Birmingham ·        Wednesday 9 March at 4pm – Studio West, an 11 to 19 studio school in Newcastle upon Tyne ·        Thursday 17 March at 4pm – St Giles School, a community special school in Nottinghamshire ·        Wednesday 23 March at 4pm – Brook House Primary School, a primary free school which is part of the Lion Academy Trust in Haringey ·        Thursday 31 March at 4pm – Abbey School, an academy special school which is part of the Nexus multi-academy trust in Rotherham

All webinars will be recorded and shared through the improving attendance good practice for schools and multi-academy trusts web page. This page will also be updated with recent attendance best practice blogs and links to the work of the Behavioural Insights Team.

 

COVID-19 Attendance Advice

If you have any specific questions about COVID-19 related absence, please feel free to email the Warwickshire Attendance Service:

was@warwickshire.gov.uk

COVID-19: Moving towards recovery for schools, colleges and universities

The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it has made necessary have had a significant impact on the education, health and social development of our children and young people.

Throughout the pandemic, UKHSA has worked closely with the Department for Education, Directors of Public Health and Local Authorities, delivering scientific evidence and advice on COVID-19 control measures to help minimise disruption for our children and young people in education settings.

Schools, colleges and universities have undertaken huge efforts to respond to the pandemic, implementing measures such as mass routine asymptomatic testing at pace.

Since the education testing programme began in January 2021, over 116 million LFD tests have been reported - making educational settings the most tested of all ‘low-risk’ settings. Testing has been crucial in enabling the education of our children and young people to continue safely and has taken the much-needed support of staff, students, and families.

Fortunately, we now have a strong body of evidence to show that the risks of COVID-19 to children and young people are low. This is due to the fantastic response of the public, including our young people, in taking up the offer of vaccination, which provides high levels of protection from infection and illness.

Our data has also shown that Omicron is less clinically severe than previous variants of COVID-19. As a result, it is sensible to now focus testing and resources towards people more at risk of becoming seriously unwell and people in high-risk settings such as hospitals and care homes.

This means that it is now time to end twice-weekly routine testing in mainstream education settings,  bringing education in line with the rest of society and other low-risk environments. Twice-weekly routine testing will continue in certain education settings that may be considered at higher risk, such as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools and in children’s social care.

Local Directors of Public Health and Health Protection Teams will continue to support schools, college and universities that have an identified COVID-19 outbreak which is impacting on the schools ability to run.

If staff are concerned, they should contact their local director of public health or health protection team, who will give advice on whether to implement any measures outlined in the Contingency Framework to help manage transmission. These measures could include the reintroduction of asymptomatic testing or face coverings for short periods of time.

Important mitigations, such as good ventilation and hand hygiene, will continue to help reduce the risk of transmission and maintain face-to-face learning.

In line with the general population, staff and students will be able to access testing for specific circumstances via the online portal or their local pharmacy. Education establishments that have stocks of tests can continue to distribute them if they wish.

Vaccines remain our best form of defence against severe disease. We continue to urge everyone who is eligible to get a vaccine. The booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is available to everyone aged 16 and over who has already had their first and second dose, and all children aged 12 to 15 can get a first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

A third primary dose and booster are available to people aged 12 and over who have severely weakened immune systems. All children aged 5 to 11 can also get a first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly important if they have a condition that means they are at high risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19, or they live with someone who has a weakened immune system.

As we move towards a more normal life for our children and young people in education, we will continue to monitor the data closely and keep our advice under review.  As ever, our advice to ministers will be built on a solid foundation of sound data and the close observation of trends, combined with our ever-increasing understanding of COVID-19 and its clinical and societal effects.

Article by UK Health Security Agency

COVID-19: Update to all education and childcare settings and providers by DfE

Accessing tutoring through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) this academic year 2021/22

As we enter the second half of the spring term, this is a crucial time for those in years 11 and 13 who are taking public exams this summer, and tutoring offers high quality academic support. We encourage you to register for the NTP as soon as possible so your pupils can receive this help alongside pupils already receiving tutoring in other schools.

The Unity School Partnership Trust, a multi-academy trust have produced a blog on how they are taking advantage of all three routes of the NTP programme to benefit pupils.

Information on Tuition Partner eligibility

The NTP aims is to deliver a minimum of 65% of tuition to disadvantaged pupils in receipt of pupil premium, and this remains a key focus for the programme given the higher learning loss among many disadvantaged pupils. Schools are best placed to decide which pupils need additional support and have been given the flexibility to do so, whilst ensuring disadvantaged children continue to be prioritised.

Take a look at our ‘how to guide’ for more information on how to access the NTP. You can also call the team on 0330 390 3315 to get help with registering your school.

How to register for the NTP webinars

The NTP webinar series continues and will focus on region specific information. They provide a great opportunity for shared learning from the experiences of schools in your region.

This week’s webinar will focus on the North East and will take place on Thursday 3 March at 4pm.

To register your interest in this webinar and other events, please visit the NTP events website.

 If you would like to receive DfE newsletter directly, please use this subscription form.

Book Drop

How to Talk with Children About the Conflict in Ukraine

Talking about war, and feeling confident and comfortable about it can be very difficult. Remember that for some people they might not have had any direct experiences of war. For others they may have had direct experiences and that can be difficult too.

Below there are two different resources :

• experts at Save the Children share five tools and tips that caregivers can use to approach the conversation with children
• and Phoenix Education Consultancy has pulled together some ideas to help you think about approaches and strategies to talk about these situations.

Government releases first ever physical activity guidance for disabled children

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) have released the first ever guidance on physical activity for children and young people with disabilities, aiming to improve their physical and mental health.

The guidance is based on research by Durham University, the University of Bristol and Disability Rights UK which found that regular exercise is equally beneficial for disabled children as non-disabled children aged between two- and 17-years-old.

Read the guidance here. 

First aid in schools, early years and colleges

DfE have revised their webpages 'Check early years qualifications', including:

• Qualification requirements
• Qualifications achieved in England
• Qualifications achieved outside England
• Qualifications that do not meet the criteria
• Pathway into early years

Read more here. 

Anti-racism in the early years by Rachna Joshi

Rachna Joshi, has pulled together a blog post issued by Early Education, with suggestions and links in order to respond to the systemic racism in education. 

Read the blog post here.

New Autism Strategy approved for Coventry and Warwickshire

The announcement means that the strategy has now been adopted by the key organisations who lead on autism services across the region, and Coventry City Council joins Warwickshire County Council, NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Warwickshire Autism Partnership Board in giving their approval to the strategy.

The new Autism Strategy commits the partner organisations to commissioning high quality autism services and support, as well as working closely with one another to build local communities that are more inclusive and welcoming for autistic people and to improve the lives and opportunities for autistic children, young people, and adults.

This five-year local strategy has been coproduced with support from a wide range of people, including autistic people and their families and people working in services and organisations that support autistic people. This has built a shared understanding of the experience of autistic people of all ages and their families in accessing support appropriate to their needs and getting a formal diagnosis of autism.

The strategy is due to be launched at the Together with Autism Conference 2022, a series of 3 conferences held in Warwick, Nuneaton and Coventry. The conferences are designed for professionals, parents and carers of autistic children, adults and for anybody wanting to better understand autism. The first conference will be held on Saturday 2nd April between 10am and 4pm at Myton School, Warwick, CV34 6PJ. 

Read more here. 

Latest Warwickshire SEND newsletter published

The latest Warwickshire SEND newsletter is now out. It covers the latest update from the Graduated Approach webinar, a team focus on the children missing in education service and the Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice - Big SEND Survey.

So why not grab a coffee and enjoy the read?

https://mailchi.mp/warwickshire/warwickshire-send-mar22... and share it with your family and friends.

If you don't subscribe to the newsletter, then you can sign up here: https://warwickshire.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe...

Your help to gather parental feedback to improve School Admissions in Warwickshire

At Warwickshire County Council, we are reviewing the way parents and carers apply for a school place for their children. We want to ensure every parent and carer has the information and support they need to decide the most suitable education setting for their child to learn in.    

We have created the following questionnaire to understand from a parent and carer perspective, their experience of applying for a school place.  

Please can you encourage parents to complete this questionnaire as all feedback will be used to improve the process and how the system operates going forward.  

 

Link to Questionnaire

Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics - Secondary Programme

It's the time of year where planning for next academic year begins, and it may be that you have a teacher in your school who normally teaches a different subject but will have maths teaching on their timetable, a teaching assistant who will be responsible for teaching mathematics in small groups, or a cover supervisor who will have a regular mathematics teaching commitment next academic year.

This course will be perfect to help them feel confident and have the mathematics knowledge for teaching that they need to support their pupils to make sustained progress in mathematics.

The programme focuses on the subject knowledge, pedagogy and classroom practice required to teach maths with skill and confidence - thus enabling teachers to better understand, teach and support pupils in maths in the classroom.

Find more here. 

Ofsted inspection data summary report (IDSR) newsletter

Welcome to the Schools Pre-Inspection Data and Insight team’s second inspection data summary report (IDSR) newsletter. It contains important information about the redeveloped IDSR, the latest release, the new website and other key information.

2022 Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) external newsletter

 

Please can you forward to all schools in your authority.

Educate Against Hate newsletter

The Educate Against Hate provides a range of extremely useful information which is updated regularly. In their latest newsletter they have promoted learning resources which may be of use given national and international events. Firstly, there is a link to materials designed to discuss why conspiracy theories are more common in times of crisis, why people spread them and how they should be debunked.  Secondly, there is a section on resources for teachers and schools regarding the Russian and Ukraine war that may be of use.

To access this resource register on the Educate Against Hate for their newsletter.

Art for Wellbeing courses February to April

The new Art for Wellbeing courses February to April can now be booked through Arty- Folks website. 

Or the Recovery and Wellbeing Academy 

 

It would be much appreciated if you could support to reach adults in Warwickshire who may be struggling with low mood, anxiety, depression and social isolation.   A range of online and in-person courses are being run, to help people get connected and creative, including

• daytime - online or in-person and outdoors
• evening - online for people in employment
• courses specifically for unpaid carers

Arty Folks has been teamed up with the Heart of England Carers Trust in support of unpaid carers across the region.

Carers can choose to attend an online course or a course in-person in Coventry or Leamington

• for Coventry residents at Arty Folks art studios

 

To find out more about what the programme and meet the tutors enrol on Come Connect, an informal 1hr workshop.

To see the whole programme February to April see the attached pdf with clickable links.

All courses are free but please note that places are limited and booking is essential.

“Plant a tree for the Jubilee” - The Queen’s Green Canopy

Warwickshire County Council and the Warwickshire Lieutenancy are encouraging individuals, schools, community groups, and businesses to get involved in a unique tree planting initiative, The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC), to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

With a focus on planting sustainably, The QGC celebrates Her Majesty’s 70 remarkable years of service and will create a legacy in honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation. Anyone can get involved in planting a tree for the Jubilee, or mark the occasion with a physical or virtual commemorative plaque in keeping with the environmental focus.

 

The best time to plant a tree is from October 2021 to the end of March 2022. To get involved in planting a tree over the next few weeks, or to set-up a commemorative plaque for The QGC, visit https://queensgreencanopy.org/get-involved/, and remember to add your tree to the QGC map which will be presented to Her Majesty The Queen as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations: https://queensgreencanopy.org/map-education-hub/qgc-map/#/

 

For more information, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/news/article/2768/-still-time-to-plant-a-tree-for-the-jubilee-says-warwickshire-s-lord-lieutenant

Hardship support for residents

We know that many of our residents are struggling financially as the cost of living rises. We have attached a pack of information outlining the support available for you to share with parents/carers. 

One month left to switch Post Office card accounts - HMRC Press Notice

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding about 7,500 tax credits, Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance customers they have just one month left to switch their Post Office card account.

 

HMRC will stop making payments to Post Office card accounts after 5 April 2022 so customers must notify HMRC of their new account details, so they don’t miss out on vital payments.

 

In November 2021, HMRC extended the deadline to the end of the financial year. The one-off extension to the contract meant customers could temporarily continue to receive their payments into their Post Office account, giving them extra time to set up new accounts and notify the department.

 

Nearly 138,800 customers have already switched their accounts and provided HMRC with updated bank account details. Time is running out for the remaining 7,500.

 

Customers can choose to receive their benefit payments to a bank, building society or credit union account. If they already have an alternative account, they can contact HMRC now to update their details.

 

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

 

“We want to make sure that no customer misses out on the benefit payments they are entitled to. If you still need to switch your Post Office card account, contact HMRC to update your bank account details by 5 April.”

 

Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance customers can use their Personal Tax Account to provide revised account details, change their bank account details via GOV.UK or by contacting the Child Benefit helpline on 0300 200 3100. Tax credits customers can change their bank account details by contacting the tax credits helpline on 0345 300 3900. If customers cannot open a bank account, they should contact HMRC.

 

If a customer misses the 5 April deadline, their payments will be paused until the customer notifies HMRC of their new account details.

 

The Money Helper website, provided by the Money Advice and Pensions Service, offers information and advice about how to choose the right current account and how to open an account.

 

HMRC has been contacting customers recently to encourage them to take action and will continue to contact them to remind them.

Agenda for Spring Term Headteachers' Conference (9th March 2022)

May we remind our headteachers that this term’s conference will be taking place next Wednesday 9th March 2022 (9.30am – 12.00pm) and will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams.  To join the conference on the day, please click on the below link:

Spring Term 2022 Headteachers' Conference 09.03.2022

Please find below agenda with further details.  We hope you will be able to join us.

Programme		Lead
9.30am	Welcome and Conference Opening	Mark Ryder Strategic Director for Communities, Warwickshire County Council
9.40am	Positive OFSTED experiences	Abi Huggins Headteacher, St Andrew's Benn C of E Voluntary Aided Primary School   Kate Worthington Headteacher, Cawston Grange Primary School
10.00am	SEND Update	Marie Rooney Head of SEND and Inclusion and Education Entitlement Services, Warwickshire County Council   Conrad Bourne Whole School SEND   Inclusion at Clapham Terrace Community Primary School Clapham Terrace Staff Team   Inclusion at Myton School Amy Hawkes Assistant Headteacher/Vulnerable Students and SENCO Leader, Myton School
10.35am	Break
10.55am	Safeguarding Updates	Claire Reynolds Front Door Operations Manager   Carl Lewis Headteacher Coach, Early Help and Targeted Support Team (Countywide), Warwickshire County Council
11.15am	Attendance Developments	Andy Danks Delivery Lead, Attendance Service, Warwickshire County Council
11.35am	Headteacher well-being and policy updates	Margot Brown School Improvement Lead Commissioner, Warwickshire County Council
11.45am	Close	Chris Baird Interim Assistant Director for Education Services, Warwickshire County Council

 

 

Dedicate a Warwickshire honeysuckle to a social care worker for Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection

Warwickshire residents, social care services and the voluntary sector are being encouraged to take part in Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection, which takes place on Thursday 17th March and is dedicated to those working in adult social care.