Welcome

Welcome back after the school holidays!  I hope you have all had a chance to be refreshed and have had a great break, wherever you spent it! 

The wellbeing of all our colleagues supporting children and young people across the County is at the heart of our thinking.  Working collaboratively and sharing ideas will be a recurrent theme this year in the weekly Heads Up and in our conversations, meetings and conferences.   

As you’ll know, three weeks ago, thousands of our students were celebrating their achievements in A-level results, the International Baccalaureate, BTECs, NVQs and apprenticeships.  The next week was GCSE results week so many more of our young people were collecting their GCSE results.  We look forward to detailed data about the County’s overall performance when it is published by the Department for Education in the autumn but early indications are showing an excellent performance from young people and schools in Warwickshire.

Further good news for Warwickshire’s 16-18 year olds came in the form of the recent announcement that more young people in the county are participating in apprenticeships (7.6%) compared to the national average (5.5%) which has helped to significantly reduce the number of young people who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) in Warwickshire to comparatively low levels.  

Another area of work that is gaining traction is the Supportive Employers Forum which is a partnership between the county council and the Careers and Enterprise Company in Coventry and Warwickshire (CEC).  This forum is making links between our school and colleges and businesses to establish supported internships, work experience and apprenticeships for people with SEND.  There are great benefits for businesses and the economy as this could save a good deal of money for the public purse but, most importantly, it is giving some of our most vulnerable young people the opportunity to achieve their potential. Look out for updates on the forum’s progress in future editions of Heads Up.

In the coming months, we will be working on the Early Years Strategy.  We recognise how important it is for a child and their family to get off to a good start to their education and this strategy will make sure that we bring in all the relevant partners who are best placed to support this ambition. 

So, as you can see, there is much to celebrate in Warwickshire education.  We love to celebrate the good news stories from individuals, teams, settings and schools.  It is wonderful to hear of good ideas and practice, and it is great to be able to share them with others helping to disseminate positive ways of working.

We can share news, pictures, practice and articles in Heads Up and Twitter (@wcc_schools).  Our Heads Up publication is produced every Friday during term-time.  Please email any articles and photos to headsup@warwickshire.gov.uk.

With best wishes

Ian Budd

Assistant Director for Education Services