So much moves on in the period of a week.

I start with a few thank you’s.

Firstly, a massive thank you to everyone for their contribution to this year’s statutory accounts. This mandatory document is a colossal undertaking, running this year, to some 80 pages of A4! They have been submitted on time and are a historical record of not just our accounts, but also our developments and achievements.

I want to extend a thank you to all those colleagues working industriously in the background to keep in touch with our vulnerable children. The coordination, calls, emails and collaboration with other agencies will be making a positive difference even if it is not immediately apparent.

Further to last week’s Whistle we now know that our schools will be closed – properly -  during the February Half Term break since there is no call from the government for us to provide ‘Educare’.

Furthermore, we now know that when we do return on Monday 22nd February it will be in the same mode of operation as now. Only from 8th March do we expect to see more children in our schools.

We are busy interviewing this week for two positions – Assistant Director of Primary School Improvement and Executive Assistant. I look forward to sharing the news as to who is joining our teams in next week’s Whistle.

Best wishes

Rob Haring, CEO

Continuing recent articles to introduce the School Improvement Team, this week sees the spotlight fall on Scott Davies, Executive Director of English:-

My career in education began with a desire to learn a language.  Deciding that the best way to learn Spanish was to immerse myself in the culture, in 2004 I moved to Barcelona and trained to become a TEFL teacher.  Four years of teaching English as a foreign language followed, the final year of these spent working in the north of Sweden.  Eager to develop my teaching further, I returned to England to complete my PGCE and started work at Kingsbridge Community College in 2008 as an English teacher.  KS4 responsibilities, the role of House Leader and appointment as Literacy Coordinator followed before I started to work increasingly in the wider trust and beyond.  My role as English Lead Practitioner for ESW saw me working with four secondaries to drive improvements in English and literacy, a period that also included a secondment to Teign School as Head of English.  This was combined with outward-facing support for schools in Devon and Cornwall through my position as English SLE for SWTSA. 

In parallel to this, I have long held an interest in the value of evidence-informed approaches to education.  This interest partly found form in my taking on a master’s in English Studies, the dissertation for which – a study of parents’ evenings involving detailed transcription of several hours of talk – will forever stay with me.  This interest became formalised in my appointment as an Evidence Lead for the Research School Network in 2017 and, subsequently, Deputy Director of Kingsbridge Research School.  Varied in nature, these roles have involved the development and delivery of school improvement programmes – primarily literacy, curriculum, and implementation – as well as close collaboration with the EEF in various working groups and as part of the advisory panel for the Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools Guidance Report.  I continue to work closely with both the Research School Network and the EEF as Evidence Lead.

Despite starting my new role of Executive Director of English for WeST at a decidedly odd time, I already feel very much at home within the trust and feel lucky to be working with such a dynamic and dedicated group of people.  I look forward to continuing to work together – perhaps even in the same room – in the future.

Scott Davies, Executive Director of English

Recruitment update:

We are delighted to inform you of the following exciting career opportunities within our Trust:-

Hele's School are currently advertising for Learning Support Assistants – 26 hours 40 mins pw x 38 weeks pa required as soon as possible. Salary - Grade B, SCP 3 (Actual pro-rata salary £11,160, FTE Salary £18,562). For further information please visit the school's website here.

Financial Support

Money worries can affect anyone at any time. The ongoing pandemic has brought additional pressures for many.

Advice

Did you know that the Money Advice Service provides a range of online guides and calculators? Its free to use and facilitated by the Department for Works and Pensions. They also offer online, WhatsApp, and telephone support for a personal and confidential discussion.

Visit: https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en

Grants

Did you know that you may be able to access grant support too? Or perhaps you may know a former staff member from education who needs a little support? There are a range of schemes providing financial grants for personal circumstances which don’t need to be repaid.

There are some criteria to each scheme and many are based upon a change of personal circumstances or hardship; this could be a loss of income to the household, illness or injury, bereavement, cost of travelling to work, relationship breakdown, escaping domestic abuse, or any other personal circumstance meaning you are in need of financial support.

So if you or someone you know is in need of financial support – reach out to any of the following:

  • https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/helping-you/apply-grant?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=grants
  • http://teachingstafftrust.org.uk/
  • https://neu.org.uk/trust-fund
  • https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/contact-us/legal-support/benevolent-fund.html
  • https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/services-support/there-for-you/financial-assistance/
  • https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/Turn2us-Funds/Turn2us-Elizabeth-Finn-Fund

This week is national Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week – an opportunity for us all to talk about this abuse which can leave victims feeling isolated and traumatised.

Everyone in society has a responsibility to look out for sexual abuse and to speak out about it – let’s break the silence. If you are worried that a friend, neighbour or loved one is a victim of domestic abuse then you can call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline for free and confidential advice, 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247.

And remember, #itsnotok. To access further resources please click here.

The Learning Institute has just issued its January newsletter which includes information about the TLI's programmes, including degrees, teacher training, apprenticeships, CPD and current research projects.

To view this latest edition of the newsletter, please click here

This week also marks Children's Mental Health week in which this year's theme is Express Yourself.

There are lots of free resources for schools, families and youth groups as well as for example, access to their virtual assembly.

If you are interested in getting involved or reviewing the free resources please click here.