Celebrating Warwickshire’s Family of Schools
Preparation for Headship: Free WCC cpd for Senior and Middle Leaders
Warwickshire’s Aspiring Headteachers Programme is a new and 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 5 sessions, primarily online twilights, plus a face-to-face launch day. The programme will be hosted by Darren Barrow (Schools Sustainability Lead Officer and Headteacher at St John’s Primary School, Kenilworth) 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 autumn 2021 and will cover themes such as:
- Leading the organisation - moral imperative, vision, innovation in the curriculum
- Leading teaching and learning - 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 further details will be made available in due course.
ACTION:
If you are interested in securing a place on the first cohort of this fully funded programme, starting in the autumn, please complete this expression of interest form as soon as possible.
The Aspiring Headteachers Programme is being organised by the Gateway Alliance on behalf of Warwickshire LA.
If you have any queries, please contact Helen Martin on martin.h@welearn365.com.
August Exam Day Collections - Submitting data to the Local Authority
For all Secondary Schools
August Exam Day Collections – Submitting data to the Local Authority
It’s been another exceptional year! As grades will be awarded to students in the summer, we hope you'll be able to support us as usual with the submission of aggregated school level results on the exam result days in August.
As always, all concerned know that individual school results at this time and especially this year may not be representative of any final revised results and will be viewed with this knowledge.
Please could we ask that you complete these MS Forms for us on each of the days:
- a) Post16 Results - Schools with Sixth Forms and Colleges – Thursday 10th August
- b) KS4 Results - All Schools – Tuesday 12th August
We will be sending e-mails to nominated Exam Day contacts as well as Headteachers and Principals week beginning 12th July.
If you have any queries about the collection, please e-mail the Business Intelligence Service on businessintelligence@warwickshire.gov.uk
*Please do let us know of any changes to Exam Day contact details
Have your say on school parking!
Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Police, and Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner are undertaking a review of parking outside Warwickshire’s schools.
Inconsiderate, unsafe and illegal parking around schools is an ongoing concern for many Headteachers, parents/carers and residents and puts the safety of children, and others, at risk. Partners and organisations are working together to review parking issues outside schools to greater understand and address the problems schools experience.
Partners would like to invite you as a Headteacher to participate in a (5 minute) school parking survey. Your response, which will remain anonymous, will be analysed and used to identify specific issues and help shape future initiatives to address unsafe and inconsiderate school parking and help to make the roads around schools safer.
As a Headteacher, we value your thoughts and would appreciate you taking some time to complete the short 5 minute survey.
To take part follow the link: https://forms.office.com/r/acaPmtW5R3
This is your opportunity to share your thoughts, concerns and ideas about dangerous and inconsiderate parking, outside and around your school.
Warwickshire Road Safety Partners have recently contacted schools directly with resources and wording to promote the survey and share the links with parents and carers. If you would like this information shared again, please contact roadsafetyeducation@warwickshire.gov.uk.
What's on with Kooth this summer?
The team behind the Kooth platform, the online mental wellbeing community, has produced some digital resources for the summer period that you may find useful.
Please see the four PDFs here: KoothSummer1, KoothSummer2, KoothSummer3, KoothSummer4.
Free summer activity programme available for children and young people Warwickshire
The Government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF) will be available throughout the county this summer, coordinated by Warwickshire County Council (WCC).
Backed by a nationwide investment of up to £220 million, the expanded programme ran initially during Easter in all local areas and is also scheduled for the Christmas holidays in 2021. It will enable children and young people to enjoy fun activities with friends and learn and develop new skills. The local programme is launching at the start of the summer holidays and is aimed at those who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals.
The holiday clubs can involve helping young people learn new thing by taking part in enriching activities from sport to music, dance, drama, art, cooking and gardening through to engineering workshops, junk modelling, den building, farm animal welfare and much more. The activities all aim to improve socialisation and help young people to have fun with friends this summer.
The Government’s investment in the HAF programme will build on the foundations laid by WCC sporting organisations, charities and the voluntary sector during the successful programme over the Easter holidays. This initiative is running alongside the £200 million funding announced in February to provide summer schools to help pupils who have experienced the most disruption as a result of the pandemic.
John Coleman, Assistant Director for Children and Families at WCC said: “We are delighted to be taking part in the HAF programme funded by the government as it will benefit children in all parts of Warwickshire.
“After such a challenging year for many children and young people across the county, we want them to be able to make the most of the summer holiday with healthy meals, fun activities and learning opportunities.
“WCC strives for Warwickshire to be the best it can be, offering a great place for children and young people to live, learn and grow. The HAF programme will support this aim, helping them reach their full potential and look towards a brighter future.”
Cllr Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families added: “Enabling children to learn new skills, socialise with their friends, and enjoy nutritious food in a safe environment is important now more than ever. By taking part in the HAF programme, we can enrich the summer holidays for young people across the county while supporting their return to school and alleviating parental stress.
“If you’re a parent or carer in Warwickshire and you think you might benefit from free holiday clubs then please make sure you find out more about this exciting programme!
Applications are now open to enrol children in a free holiday clubs programme over the summer and places are free for those who are eligible for free school meals. Children will be able to access lots of activities throughout the summer and there are also activities available for children with SEND or additional needs.
Eligible families will have received a HAF booking code via text from Warwickshire County Council this week. If you think you may be eligible but haven’t received a text please email haf@warwickshire.gov.uk or call the Family Information Service on 01926 742274.
View the summer holiday activities taking place across Warwickshire.
Warwickshire County Council is working with local schools, voluntary and community organisations, and childcare providers to provide the HAF programme. The free places are funded by the Department for Education. Visit the government website for more information on the national programme.
Get involved with new climate emergency website
Warwickshire County Council is launching a new climate change website and we want schools across Warwickshire to get involved.
The climate change website, or hub, is a place to bring together organisations and individuals from across the county, all working towards the same goal of achieving net zero emissions.
We know schools are involved in lots of climate change activities and are working hard to help us achieve this goal, so we want to showcase some of the things you’ve been doing.
Maybe you’ve installed solar panels or introduced meat free Monday. Perhaps you’ve started growing your own vegetables or set up a climate change committee in school to come up with innovative ideas. Whatever you’re doing we’d love to hear about it and share your stories on the new website.
If you’d like to get involved, please email us at climateemergency@warwickshire.gov.uk
Fair school funding for all: completing our reforms to the National Funding Formula
On the 8th of July 2021 The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Schools Standards Minister announced the consultation to complete governments reforms to the National Funding Formula.
The consultation will run until 30 September 2021 and is aimed at:
- Local authorities
- Schools and academy trusts
- Any other interested person or organisation
The press release by Nick Gibb can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/school-funding-to-be-made-fairer-and-clearer?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=e41296bb-4f2e-45b6-ab1c-e18805dbd55e&utm_content=daily
And the consultation document (62 Pages) can be found here:
https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/completing-our-reforms-to-the-nff/supporting_documents/Fair%20Funding%20For%20All%20Consultation.pdf
Warwickshire County Council will be doing its own response to the consultation which will be shared with schools forum.