Hello and welcome once more to Heads Up.

With Scotland announcing its plans to start the wider return of pupils to schools, we have been waiting with some anticipation for clarity on what the situation will be in England, but we do know that the earliest date will be March 8.

In the meantime, we will continue to plan and make preparations for increased Lateral Flow Device testing for secondary age pupils. I know that many schools and settings have been pressing ahead with their planning and I appreciate that it may be challenging make arrangements for standing up additional staff without the clarity on start dates. But it is good to see that work has been ongoing so that, when required, the next stage of LFD testing can be rolled out.

With remote learning being so critical, there has been some fantastic work done to ensure that the laptops and dongles required to support this have been reaching you.  For those schools who have been receiving devices in the first phase of distribution, thanks to all members of staff who have collected them.  Early signs are that the booking and collection arrangements for phase 2 is going well with many schools having booked slots following receipt of their distribution email.

Like so much of what we have done since the start of the pandemic, this is new to us, but I am, as ever, thrilled at the speed that council staff have adapted and innovated.  It is quite exciting to think what we can achieve with our ability to regroup, work collectively and take on new skills and mindset, as we have seen continuously over the last year.

Phase 2 of the WCC laptop distribution will see an additional 2,000 plus devices made available and will meet the demand expressed by schools and settings that was identified in the survey that you completed. The council swiftly stepped in to assess need, identify funding and make sure that there is no further delay in helping children and young people with their remote learning.  Staff have been working at real pace to make these devices safely available for collection.  I’m very proud of the commitment of the council and the staff team who have planned the analysis and distribution to do all they can to ensure that our vulnerable cohort of young people have every opportunity to access their education.  Not only will this support us in managing remote learning in the short term, the devices will also be an important resource as we move forwards to help reduce gaps in educational attainment.

A final word on the laptops. Thanks to all who have sent messages of gratitude to the team who have been mobilised to arrange distribution. They have been working flat out and these messages have been a welcome boost to their morale.

Another project that has been gathering pace that will help to reduce the gap in attainment is the Warwickshire Challenge.  The project team are somehow finding capacity to pull together a range of activities that can be safely carried out to help engage and motivate our KS3 pupils.  Look out for more details in the coming weeks as details begin to be finalised.

Running alongside this will be the Easter Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.  Following the 4-4-1 model (four hours, four days, one week), this local response to the national programme, will provide engaging activities together with meals. Again, a project team is leading preparations and will be working to ensure that a stimulating local programme is on offer.  Again, watch this space.

Finally, I mentioned mental wellbeing last week and, again, I’ll bring it to your attention.  The resources to support young people with their mental health were shared with you all this week and I urge you to make yourself and your staff familiar with them.  For many young people, this most recent lockdown has been harder than the others. But there is a lot of support which can help to take some of the pressure off staff if they know it is there to help them.

Well, we are at the end of another very challenging week, so please take some downtime and do get some rest. I know I say it every week, but I really do mean it. Take good care, there is a way to go yet, but together we will get there.

Best wishes

Ian