Celebrating Warwickshire’s Family of Schools
HSE inspectors to assess the management of asbestos in schools
The HSE have announced that they will be resuming their programme of inspections to primary and secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales October 2023 onwards. The inspections will be assessing how schools are managing the risks from asbestos within the school estate and meeting their 'Duty to Manage' (DTM) requirements under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR).
The regulations place duties on those with responsibility for the maintenance of work premises, including schools, to manage the risk from asbestos. For the maintained schools, this will be the council.
Who will be carrying out the inspections?
The visits will be carried out by HSE inspectors, who will contact the school before visiting to arrange a suitable date and time for the inspection.
They will need to speak to someone with knowledge of how asbestos is managed by the school and may also ask to see certain documentation in advance of the visit, for example your asbestos register and management plan. (ATLAS Web)
The HSE will also take the opportunity to as questions regarding RAAC inspections as the two are linked and also be auditing any construction works on site especially if it includes any asbestos removals.
Autumn Term 2023 Headteachers’ Conference
What: Autumn Term 2023 Headteachers’ Conference
When: Thursday 19th October 2023 (10.00am – 3.30pm)
Where: Stareton Hall, Stoneleigh Park (NAEC), Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, CV8 2LZ
We are delighted to attach the agenda for our Autumn Term Headteacher Conference - Warwickshire Works: Shaping Innovation out of Adversity.
We have listened to feedback to make conferences more effective and appropriate at the Warwickshire Education Partnership Board (WEPB). You will note the later start time and the re-organisation of the agenda, so that local and contextual messages and presentations from WCC teams are before lunch, allowing the Keynote Speakers time after lunch.
We are also really pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for you to each invite one extra staff member from your settings to join us for the afternoon Keynote speakers. We feel that this is a really good opportunity that enables further discussion around any significance or ideas for your schools.
If you will be inviting a colleague, please can you let us know when you book onto the conference and ask them to arrive by 1:05pm as we must have a prompt start at 1:15pm.
As we’ll need to inform the venue of any dietary requirements, please can you complete the following booking form by Monday 9th October at the very latest (see below link).
Booking Form - 19th October 2023
Best wishes and we are looking forward to seeing you on 19th October.
Deadline to apply for a 2024 Secondary School Place
Just a quick reminder that the deadline for secondary school applications for your Year 6 children is fast approaching, so please do remind parents/carers to make sure they submit their application by 31 October. Any applications submitted after the deadline will only be considered after all the others, meaning the child is much less likely to be offered a place at a preferred school.
Applications should be made online at: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/applying-secondary-school-place, where parents/carers can also find lots of useful information on school transport, priority school areas and admissions criteria.
FINAL REMINDER to register your ECTs for ECF and Appropriate Body services!
Youth Mental Health: 2-day Youth Mental Health First Aid Course
We had some funding for 85 schools to have someone trained as a Youth Mental Health First Aider. This training also comes with a contribution to the cover costs involved in the training. The training is primarily for primary and secondary schools, although if an infant school applies, we will consider it. This is the last offer and there are only 16 places available. If the applicant number exceeds 16, then we will put those schools who have not had any MH First Aider training first, in date order of application.
This final course will run on 21st, 23rd, 28th & 30th November from 9.15am to 11.45am.
Please read these details and if you are interested in applying for the course, please fill out the form below:
- The course is virtual and consists of two sessions in week one and 2 sessions in week two. All sessions are 9:15-11:45
- There is a £200 contribution to the cover costs for the course.
- You must complete all 4 sessions to get the qualification and the funding. Where this does not happen, there will be a £200 charge to comply with the council’s wastage policy.
- It needs to be the same person who completes all 4 sessions.
Training is accredited and conducted by Mental Health First Aid England. Please see their website for more information on the course.
Please note that unless you book on the course via this application form, the free training offer does not apply.
Please click the link to access the form.
https://forms.office.com/r/Jdb7eurw6y
If you have any queries please contact schooleffectiveness@warwickshire.gov.uk
The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium
This week EEF have published a suite of new resources, to help you plan, monitor, and implement an effective Pupil Premium strategy.
The EEF updated Guide to the Pupil Premium focuses on balancing the essential ingredients of an effective strategy – high quality teaching, targeted academic support, and wider strategies – alongside a five-point plan to help you sustain it in the long-term.
An accompanying evidence brief signposts high-quality resources linked to the Department for Education’s ‘menu of approaches’, and a supporting tool for governors provides discussion prompts and examples of best practice.
Find more here.
Information from Tudor Grange Academy
Tudor Grange Academy is excited to announce that the academy has been selected as a Lead Hub School for the National Consortium for Languages Education.
They are very proud to have been chosen for this role to drive improvement in Languages with up to seven partner schools. The academy is looking forward to being involved in such an exciting venture to support high-quality languages education in England.
Registration for Appropriate Body
The hard deadline for registering your ECTs for the September cohort is the 17th October 2023. All ECTs who are registered after this will automatically be put on the January cohort for their induction. We are unable to backdate any induction period, so please register soon if required.
Click here for more details on the Appropriate Body registration process.
National Professional Qualifications
We still have some places available for the Autumn 23 cohorts. The deadline for these applications is the 18th October 2023.
Too soon? We are running a selection of NPQs in the Spring Term. The deadline for the Spring cohort applications is the 5th February 2023. Find out more here.
National Referral Mechanism (NRM) & Devolved Decision-Making Pilot
Warwickshire County Council is delighted to be involved in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) & Devolved Decision-Making Pilot.
The NRM is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of Modern Slavery and The mechanism has been brought in to replace current processes with the objective to get cases in the right hands much more quickly.
You can see how the new process works here:https://api.warwickshire.gov.uk/documents/WCCC-1980322935-2489
Kerry Sabec (NRM Coordinator) will be providing 2 workshops on the 18th October, 10am and 2pm to raise awareness around the NRM Devolved decision making pilot within Warwickshire. So please read more information here and contact Kerry for more details.