Celebrating Warwickshire’s Family of Schools

Warwickshire’s Aspiring Headteacher Programme – reminder to sign up

Dear Headteachers,

As you begin your teacher’s Performance Management meetings, maybe, as part of those meetings, you are thinking about…

Succession planning
How to motivate and retain great senior leaders
Targeted training for your senior leaders who aspire to lead in Warwickshire

Well, why not tell them about Warwickshire’s Aspiring Headteacher Programme…

Warwickshire’s Aspiring Headteacher Programme is an innovative programme intended to support senior and experienced middle leaders who aspire to headship in a Warwickshire school. This course is appropriate for school leaders who have a minimum of 2 years senior leadership experience and are considering applying for a Headship, in Warwickshire, in the next 2 years.

The programme will consist of approximately 7 sessions, delivered via a mix of online and face to face sessions. The programme will be hosted by Debby Hughes (Former Headteacher of High Meadow Community School, Learning Improvement Officer for Warwickshire LA and Visiting Fellow for Ambition Institute – NPQSL) and there will be a range of guest speakers inputting into the sessions, including local headteachers, key colleagues from LA services as well as some national speakers.

The programme will run over the course of 2 terms, starting in January 2023, and will cover themes such as:

Leading the organisation - moral imperative, vision, innovation in the curriculum
Leading teaching and learning – curriculum, CPD, preparing for Ofsted, using data and closing the gap
The school as a business - finance, HR, legislation and policy
Applying for headship and working with governors

This programme is fully funded by Warwickshire County Council and is being organised by the Gateway Alliance.

For more information please see the programme flyer

ACTION: TO APPLY, PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Or contact Helen Martin (martin.h@welearn365.com) for more information

Supporting All Children with Social & Emotional Learning

Statutory School Census – 2022/23 Academic Yea

The statutory school census dates of the 2022/23 academic year are as follows:

Census Day

Autumn Thu 6th Oct

Spring Thu 19th Jan

Summer Thu 18th May

We ask that all maintained schools submit their return to the LA, via the School Upload System, by the end of the following day i.e. Autumn 22 census by Friday 7^th October.

Data collected via these returns are used by the DFE for funding purposes, to support strategic objectives and to inform policy decisions.

The autumn school census will be used in the calculation of the ‘schools block’ of the dedicated schools grant, pupil premium allocations for mainstream and special schools and also the universal infant free school meals funding.

It is therefore vitally important that you are satisfied with the accuracy of your schools’ return before submitting it, and that it is returned by the prescribed deadlines.

Prior to each census ICT Development Service will up-load census documentation to the Warwickshire Learning Platform (WeLearn365) which can be found at: http://bit.ly/midaspages and on the download site http://wsd.we-learn.com/downloads. These will assist you in preparing and running your census returns.

If you have any technical queries regarding the SIMS system and generating the return, please contact the ICT Development Service Desk on (01926) 414100.

If you have any other questions about this data collection, please contact Michelle Ali, Business Intelligence on 01926 742169 or by e-mail businessintelligence@warwickshire.gov.uk

Thank you for your continued support with these collections.

Online events by WCC school admissions team

You are invited to meet the WCC school admissions team at two online events this month.

The first will give you an update on the recent change to how we manage in-year applications, and the second will focus on the upcoming secondary place application deadline. There will be an opportunity during both events for you to ask questions, or you can submit them in advance here: https://forms.office.com/r/yCRcHmizLX

We would also be grateful if you could please share the details of a further two events which have been organised for parents and carers of year 6 children (details below).

In all cases, places can be booked using the links below. A recording of each event will be sent to those unable to attend on the day.

FOR SCHOOLS

School Admissions In-Year Process

Wednesday 12 October

11am-12pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warwickshire-county-council-school-admissions-in-year-process-for-schools-tickets-430935939997

We’ve changed the way that we manage in-year applications. Schools have a crucial role to play in ensuring the process works quickly and effectively for families and your staff, so come along and learn more about the changes, the timescales and the technology we are using.

FOR SCHOOLS

School Admissions In-Year Process

Wednesday 12 October

11am-12pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warwickshire-county-council-school-admissions-in-year-process-for-schools-tickets-430935939997

FOR SCHOOLS

Supporting with Secondary School Applications

Wednesday 19 October

11am-12pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wcc-supporting-with-secondary-school-applications-for-schools-tickets-430947935877

All Warwickshire parents and carers of Year 6 children need to submit an application for their child's secondary school place by Monday 31 October. Join our webinar and learn more about the process and how you can help parents and carers to make realistic choices for their children.

FOR PARENTS/CARERS OF YEAR 6 CHILDREN

Applying for Secondary School in Warwickshire: Helping you apply

Tuesday 18 October

7-8pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/applying-for-secondary-school-in-warwickshire-helping-you-apply-tickets-430959239687

If you are the parent or carer of a child in Year 6, you'll need to apply for their Year 7 place in a secondary school by the deadline of Monday 31 October.

Join this event and hear directly from the education team who manage the applications process, who will share advice and guidance on how to choose your preferred schools and submit a successful application.

You are welcome to ask questions, either during the event itself, or in advance using this form: https://forms.office.com/r/yCRcHmizLX

FOR PARENTS/CARERS OF YEAR 6 CHILDREN

Warwickshire 11+ Results and Applying for Secondary School - a WCC Webinar

Thursday 20 October

7 – 8pm

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warwickshire-11-results-and-applying-for-secondary-school-a-wcc-webinar-tickets-430967514437

If your child sat the 11+test in Warwickshire this year and you are considering applying for a grammar school place, join us to learn how to interpret your child's test results and how to use them to make informed choices on which secondary schools to include on your application.

The deadline for secondary school applications is Monday 31 October.

You are welcome to ask questions of the team. You can either do this during the event, or in advance by using this form: https://forms.office.com/r/yCRcHmizLX

Free wellbeing support for school leaders

School leaders can access free wellbeing support through Education Support. The DfE funded scheme provides free one-to-one supervision, peer support and counselling to assistant headteachers, deputy headteachers and above.

School leaders can apply here, even if they have access to an employee assistance programme in their school.

Working together to improve school attendance

Schools can now compare attendance with national, regional and local authority figures and view last year’s attendance

From Thursday 29 September, schools and local authorities can use a public data dashboard to compare themselves with up-to-date national, regional and local authority figures for pupil attendance and absence in England. This will be updated every 2 weeks.

In addition to daily attendance reports for the new academic year, schools, local authorities and trusts can use their school daily attendance reports to view a summary of their overall attendance for the 2021/22 academic year and attendance for each pupil.

You can sign up to take part in research and give feedback to help the DfE develop the reports.

Reminders:

New guidance in now in place on the role of schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities.
DfE Effective practice attendance webinars are available with schools sharing the approaches to attendance that have resulted in improved attendance. Another webinar is planned on analysing attendance data to identify pupils who need additional support. This is scheduled for October although no date has been set yet.
Attendance resources are available on the Education Huband Teaching Blogs
Sign up to share your daily attendance data with the DfE. 65% of schools In England are now sharing. It will become a requirement at some point this academic year.
The code X code can no longer be used in the attendance register to record COVID-19 related absence.

If you wish to discuss any issues relating to school attendance, please feel free to contact the Warwickshire Attendance Service:

was@warwickshire.gov.uk

Moving to Outstanding 2022: Best practice from recently outstanding headteachers, virtual conference, 24th November

Many colleagues have attended training from Sonia Gill of Heads Up Ltd on ‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling of Good’ and ‘Successful Difficult Conversations’. These course have been funded by the School Improvement Team and have been very well received. Following on from these you may be interested in a one day virtual conference from Sonia’s team on Moving to Outstanding 2022: Best practice from recently outstanding headteachers

24th November 2022 (online)
Tickets are £295+VAT
And one ticket gives access to the school's SLT

It’s a day full of inspiration and practical tips from schools who have achieved outstanding in this academic year. This year Sonia has three head teachers who have sustained their outstanding judgement.

Schools will need to pay for their places at this conference, for further information and booking please follow the link above.

September TSH Newsletter

Please find here September TSH Newsletter

Education Visits Advice Service update

Since 1 September 2017 Juniper Education have been commissioned on behalf of Warwickshire County Council to provide advice, guidance and support to all our maintained schools (where Warwickshire County Council is the employer) undertaking education outside of the classroom activities.

Following a recent tender exercise, we can confirm that Juniper Education have successfully secured the contract to continue to provide Education Visits advice and guidance on behalf of Warwickshire County Council to those schools where WCC Is the employer for a further two years (until 31^st August 2024)

You may already be aware that Norberto Fusi retired from his role as Educational Visits Adviser for Juniper Education in July 2022. The good news is there will be no changes to current systems or processes, and you won’t notice any gap in delivery or quality as the Juniper Educational Visits Support service will be undertaken by Jake Wiid (Partner Associate Adviser) who has been delivering Educational Visits Support to Schools within Warwickshire for several years.

Contact details for Jake are accessible via the contacts icon on the EVOLVE home page.

If you wish to speak with the team, please contact them at:- advice@evolveadvice.Co.uk

Three Warwickshire groups receive special trees from Platinum Jubilee Tree of Trees sculpture as new planting season begins

Three charity organisations in Warwickshire have been successfully nominated by the Warwickshire Lieutenancy to each receive a tree from The Queen’s Green Canopy Tree of Trees sculpture, which was displayed outside Buckingham Palace during the Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend earlier this year.

The three groups to receive a Platinum Jubilee tree in Warwickshire are:

Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association (Leamington Branch), which is an empowering women’s organisation that promotes religious and secular education amongst women, all in the spirit of sisterhood. The group are currently working on a project to plant 100,000 new trees in the UK to celebrate 100 years of their organisation, including 10,000 new trees in the Midlands.
Brandon Marsh Voluntary Conservation Team have put their efforts into transforming a former quarry site into a rich and vibrant nature reserve full of wildlife, whilst also providing a positive opportunity for people to learn new skills and make a difference.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust continues to care for five preserved homes and gardens linked to Shakespeare and his family, as well as managing a library, museum and archives which have been designated as being of international importance. The Trust will plant their tree so that it can be enjoyed for many years to come by the general public.

All 350 British native trees that featured in the 21-metre-tall Tree of Trees sculpture, designed by Heatherwick Studio, have been donated across the country to a variety of community groups and organisations. The sculpture highlighted the importance of trees and nature as well as the success of the first round of QGC tree-planting, which encouraged over a million trees to be planted between October 2021 to March 2022.

As tree-planting season begins again this month, the QGC continues to honour Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 remarkable years of service by creating a legacy in tribute to her leadership that will benefit current and future generations. Everyone from individuals, schools, care homes and early year providers, to faith groups, charities, businesses, and more are encouraged to play their part to enhance our environment by planting trees this Jubilee year. To get involved, visit The Queen’s Green Canopy website, and remember to add your tree to The Queen’s Green Canopy map. People can also choose to mark the occasion by gifting a tree in memory of Her Late Majesty, or with a physical or virtual commemorative plaque.

The Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Mr Tim Cox, who is the King’s representative in the county, said:

“The Tree of Trees sculpture highlighted the importance of trees and nature to all, and was a great way to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee as Her Late Majesty planted over 1,500 trees all over the world throughout the course of her 70-year reign.

“Following the wishes of King Charles III, The Queen’s Green Canopy has been extended until March 2023 to give people even more time to plant trees as part of the initiative or to gift a tree in her memory.

“Everyone can get involved in planting a tree, whether you have space for an individual tree or a larger woodland project, and each tree planted will make a positive and lasting difference to Warwickshire for generations to come.”

With a focus on planting sustainably, the QGC also supports with Warwickshire County Council’s commitment to plant a tree for every Warwickshire resident across the county. Tree planting plays a significant role in contributing to the Council's commitment to addressing the global climate change emergency and will restore parts of the Ancient Forest of Arden and other landscape character areas, which once covered most of the county and beyond into Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

Planting trees is also a practical and positive step to take to tackle climate change as trees produce oxygen and help remove harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while creating beautiful, uplifting outdoor environments and improving biodiversity by providing new habitats for wildlife. They create shade when it's very hot, help reduce the risk of flooding, and studies have shown that planting them, and getting out amongst them, is also great for physical and mental wellbeing.

Find out more about Warwickshire County Council’s commitment to planting a tree for every resident.

To plant a tree for The Queen’s Green Canopy, visit https://queensgreencanopy.org/get-involved/

For more information about how Warwickshire County Council is facing human-influenced climate change, visit the Warwickshire Climate Change Emergency website.

Maths Hubs: Secondary and Post 16 Newsletter

Please find here the Maths Hubs Secondary and Post 16 Newsletter.

Primary and Early Years newsletter

The Family Information Service has launched a special edition newsletter to support families with increase in cost of living

Many families are facing challenges around the increased cost of living, so the Family Information Service (FIS) is putting various measures in place to maximise the opportunities for families to access support.

In addition to the weekly Family Information Service newsletter, the team are now producing a special edition version on the first Thursday of every month. The first of these special editions was published in September and had a particular focus on energy saving.

The second special edition issue was published in October and had a focus on childcare.

A lot of families are worried about the impact of the increasing cost of living, and many might struggle to make their incomes stretch to cover the basics. In the special edition newsletters, FIS will provide information and resources to help families through the rise in cost of living. Future editions will focus on topics such as childcare funding support and accessing free school meals.

In addition to the newsletter, the FIS helpline is available from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday for families and professionals working with families in Warwickshire. The team have a vast knowledge of the services that are available locally and nationally to support families and they can help with issues including family relationships, finance, housing, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), childcare and health and wellbeing.

You, or any families you know, can sign up to The Family Information Service newsletter here.

For information and support, contact the Family Information Service by calling 01926 742274 or emailing fis@warwickshire.gov.uk.

Where family needs are more complex and/or there are barriers to families accessing services such as language, mental health, SEND or families at crisis point, the FIS team can work face-to-face with a family for a number of weeks to ensure the support they need is in place.

Heads Up 7 October 2022