WE2 An empowering curriculum
Resources to help families prevent accidents and keep children safe
Warwickshire County Council has been sharing a wide range of advice and guidance this week to highlight the importance of child safety and to help people take steps to minimise accidents.
The council and its partners work together every day to protect children and families, but has used national Child Safety Week (1-7 June) to give extra focus to some of the support available to help people keep their children safe at home, at play and on the roads.
Please share the information and links below with your families to highlight some of these key safety messages and support that is available.
Road safety advice for parents
As the roads begin to get busier again and with many back on the school run, whether walking, driving or cycling to school, now is the ideal time to remind pupils, parents and carers of the importance of staying safe near roads.
WCC - Road safety advice for parents
Fire safety for families
Parents guide to fire safety in the home
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service has put together a handy guide to help parents and carers spot hazards in the home. The guide also includes a checklist of safety measures that can be taken to prevent accidents and keep homes safe from fire.
Parents guide to fire safety in the home
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Signed story teaches fire safety
In partnership with West Midlands Fire Service, Sign for All Community LTD, has released a new story called 'Francis the Firefly'. The story, signed in British Sign Language, teaches children about the consequences of playing with matches or lighters.
Watch 'Francis the Firefly' here
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How to have a 'fire safe' bedtime routine
This video, from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, demonstrates how families can set up a bedtime routine to minimise fire hazards within their household.
Watch the fire safe bedtime routine video here
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Fire Safety Learning Hub
The Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Learning Hub delivers interactive, online safety lessons to children while they are off school.
Visit the Fire Education Learning Hub
Keeping children safe during lockdown
The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) is reaching out to families feeling the pressure during lockdown to highlight easy wins that can keep children safe with a pack that contains safety top tips, fact sheets and activities to do with children.
CAPT - Keeping children safe during lockdown and beyond: parents' pack
Helpline to support children and young people in a mental health crisis
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT) want to support children and young people during the difficult times we are facing due to the Covid-19 situation. To do this, they have developed a 24 hour, 7 day-a-week telephone advice helpline run by qualified mental health clinicians.
We would encourage all education settings to share this information with their staff, students and families so they are aware of the support that is available.
Children or young people may be frightened at such difficult times or feel that their emotional wellbeing is in crisis. These emotions can lead to a mental health crisis which often means they no longer feel able to cope or be in control of their situation. They may feel great emotional distress or anxiety, unable to cope with day-to-day life, intense sadness and may be thinking about suicide or self-harm, or experiencing thought disorientation that can feel like hallucinations or hearing voices.
The helpline has been set up by Rise, the Children and Young People's Specialist Mental Health Service, to offer support and advice and to work with young people so they are more able to stay in control of their emotions and manage any distress they may be feeling.
Helpline contact details
- Between 8am and 8pm please call Warwickshire & Coventry's Children's Crisis team at Whitestone on 02476 641799
- Between 8pm and 8am please call Warwickshire & Coventry's Crisis team on 02476 938000
What the young person can expect when they call
- The mental health clinician will want to ask some questions to help understand their feelings and emotions so they can make sure they get the right support for that individual.
- Listening to what the young person has to say is important in terms of what they are experiencing, the feelings and the situation.
- They may ask about family and any adults who are able to support the young person or be part of their coping plan. This may mean they need to speak to an adult in their house as well but this will be done with the young person's consent.
- At times they may need to call back to offer ongoing support and advice and they will request a contact number to do this.
Other support available
- CWRise website - provides a wealth of up to date links, advice, guidance and support during coronavirus
- Papyrus - Tel: 0800 068 4142 - opening hours are 9am - 10pm weekdays and 2pm - 10pm weekends and bank holidays
Support from your school nurse team is still available
The Warwickshire School Health and Wellbeing team have created a pledge video (watch this below) to show that they are still here to support families at this difficult time.
Young people and parents/carers in Warwickshire can access confidential health and wellbeing advice from a qualified professional using the following channels:
- Parents/carers can call the service on 03300 245 204 or text Parentline on 07520 619 376.
- Young people aged 11-19 can text ChatHealth on 07507 331 525.
- These services are available Monday -Thursday, 9am - 5pm and Friday, 9am ‑ 4.30pm.
Visit the School Health and Wellbeing Service website for more information about the support available.
Stour Federation achieve first ever virtual 360 Online Safety Mark in UK
Congratulations to staff at the Stour Federation (Acorns Primary, Brailes CE Primary and Shipston Primary) who recently achieved the first ever virtual 360 Online Safety Mark in the UK, which recognises schools that can demonstrate good practice in their online safety policy and procedures.
Their success will soon be part of a case study that will be available via the SWGfl website.
Support for schools in reviewing their online safety practice
It can be difficult for schools to identify where their strengths and weaknesses are with regards to online safety. The 360 degree safe tool allows you to review your organisation’s online safety criteria.
This free tool will benchmark your school against good practice from other organisations and gives you immediate feedback and suggestions to help. The final report will provide:
- information that can influence the production or review of online safety policies and develop good practice;
- a process for identifying strengths and weaknesses;
- opportunities for commitment and involvement from the whole school;
- a continuum for schools to discuss how they might move from a basic level provision for online safety to practice that is inspirational and innovative.
As schools progress through the self-review tool, they can work towards certificates and awards to demonstrate their commitment to keeping children safe online, including the 360 Online Safety Mark.
For more information about the self-review tool and other awards please visit www.360safe.org.uk
Support is also available through the ICT Development Service, please contact Jane Key for further advice: key.j2@welearn365.com
Stepping into someone else's shoes for Empathy Day 2020
Next Tuesday 9 June is Empathy Day. Run by Empathy Lab UK the campaign aims to encourage us to understand each other better by using reading to step into someone else’s shoes.
Warwickshire Libraries have been promoting the countdown activities and written a blog post looking at some of the #ReadforEmpathy book recommendations from Empathy Lab UK for this year – read the Empathy Day blog post here.
Early years and schools toolkits
Visit the Empathy Lab UK website to watch authors, illustrators and poets read aloud from the ‘Read for Empathy’ book collections.
Teachers and school librarians can email to request access to the toolkits which include activities that can be completed by children to enrich home learning (see website for details).
Family activities pack
A free family-pack of fun activities covering the three themes of Empathy Day 2020 – Read, Connect, Act – is also available. They include activities such as making empathy glasses, seeing the world through a character’s eyes and making empathy resolutions.
View the family activities pack here
Live online events on the day
You can join in with lots of different live sessions on the day, including 'The Empathy Conversation' with authors Cressida Cowell and Muhammad Khan, and psychologist Professor Robin Banerjee, by visiting Empathy Lab UK’s Facebook page. View the full programme of events here.
CSW Virtual School Games - winners and upcoming challenges
Think Active has been setting schools in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire the challenge of competing in their virtual school games challenges, with an exciting programme of sporting competition running throughout the summer term.
The challenges give all children the chance to represent their school team and prizes are up for grabs for the top individuals and schools in each challenge.
Warwickshire schools have been doing themselves and the county proud, with prizes in week 1 and week 2.
Congratulations go to the following schools who were the Participation Winners in the Athletics and Cricket challenges (they had the highest percentage of participants by the end of the challenge):
- Round Oak School - Special School Athletics and the Special School Cricket challenges
- Campion School - Secondary Athletics challenge
- Myton School - Secondary Cricket challenge
Week three of the Virtual School Games was Tennis and next week (8-12 June) is the Dance challenge.
For more information check out the Think Active School Games Virtual Challenge webpage. You'll find details of the School Games Organisers for each area and how to enter into the challenges.
Follow @ThinkActiveCSW to keep updated and get involved by sharing your photos and videos!
Special mention goes to St Nicholas CE Primary School in Kenilworth for putting together this fantastic video of staff completing the virtual cricket challenge. Well done everyone!
Let’s celebrate Carers Week (8th -14th June)
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Warwickshire County Council is excited to celebrate Carers Week 2020 (8 -14 June). The theme for this year is Making Caring Visible.
There are many people who don’t associate with the term carer but simply as mum, dad, brother, sister, grandparent, neighbour or good friend. However, if you provide unpaid care for someone and that person could not cope without your help – you are a carer.
We don’t want anyone with a caring responsibility to feel they are on their own. They are not. Along with our Adult Social Care team here at the council, we also work with several services such as Carers Trust, Heart of England, Carers UK, Warwickshire Young Carers and the Parent Carer Forum who can all provide specialist advice and guidance.
We have a packed schedule of tweets, posts and online content that we will be sharing across our social media accounts next week.
On Monday, we will be discovering what support is available for those with a caring responsibility and also what is a carer; Tuesday, what services are available from our partners in Warwickshire; Wednesday, what is the vision for Carers in Warwickshire – taking a look at plans for the Warwickshire Carer strategy and Thursday, specific advice for the different strands of care i.e. parent carers and young carers. Finally, on Friday we will be identifying community and local groups who can provide help and support.
We would like to encourage everyone to follow, like and share our content across our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Join us as we celebrate carers every day during Carers Week with a virtual cuppa. Get your family, friends, colleagues and others together and encourage those who care to take a break. Take pictures and send to the comms team at newsteam@warwickshire.gov.uk or upload on your social media and tag @Warwickshire_CC along with the hashtags #MakingCaringVisible and #carersweek.