23rd October 2023
School News
‘Hello Yellow’ Mental Health Day at Salford Priors
Paula Dhugga, Headteacher of Salford Priors CofE Academy writes:
“Our children, led by Pupil Voice, organised a fundraising event in aid of Young Minds ‘Hello Yellow’ for Mental Health Day, Tuesday 10th October. All the staff and children came to school wearing yellow clothing and/or accessories and donated money into a charity bucket (also yellow, of course). The school raised £96.68 in total which, for a small school, is absolutely fantastic! Special thanks to Mrs Kate Kendrick who loaned school the use of her beautiful, bright-yellow open-top Volkswagen, displayed in the middle of the playground for all the children to see on morning entry into school, putting a big smile on all our faces.”
Harvest Festival at St John’s
A brilliant Harvest Festival last week at St John’s CofE Academy, Coventry led by year 6 pupils which was a culmination of a partnership between St John’s CofE Academy, St Christopher’s Church and Global Care. Laura Stevenson Headteacher commented that the “The partnership has been excellent and the children have gained so much from all the work.”
SIAMS Termly Update – Change of Date
Now rearranged for 25 October 2023
16.30-17.30 – online via Zoom; or book to receive the recording. Book a place here.
Led by Jen Jenkins, DBE RE and Spirituality Officer, these termly sessions are intended to support those schools who are due for inspection within the next two academic years. The session will guide delegates responsively depending on what schools need, and there will be an update on any local and national information on good practice.
Do Encourage your Governors to Book for….
Diocesan Annual Governors’ Conference – ‘Standing in the Gap’
Saturday 25 November 2023. 09.30 – 12.30 Brandon Hall Hotel, Coventry
A morning of thought-provoking content and networking for governors of Church of England schools in Coventry Diocese. Our first speaker is Georgina Newton, an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick and co-founder of a not-for-profit organisation called Schoolgenie, that aims to help school leaders to build trusting staff cultures so that teachers can flourish and remain in the profession. She will be talking about how governors can help to embed wellbeing in the school culture and help staff to thrive. We will also have input from Stephen Beamond, Programmes Lead for the Church of England’s Growing Faith Foundation who will be talking to governors about how they have a crucial role to play in this exciting initiative. There will also be input from April Gold the Diocesan Director of Education and members of the Governance Reference and Advisory Group (GRAG).
Agenda
- Arrival, Coffee and Networking
- Welcome and Reflection – April Gold
- DBE Update – April Gold
- Holding the Space – Georgina Newton
- Coffee Break and Networking
- Growing Faith – Stephen Beamond – Growing Faith Foundation
- Governor Reference and Advisory Group (GRAG) Update
- Final comments and closing prayer – April Gold
- Depart
More Resources to Celebrate Black History Month
The Black Curriculum is a social enterprise that fights to bring about changes so the curriculum mirrors our racially, culturally and religiously diverse population here in Britain. They meet with parliament to discuss the national curriculum, run educational programmes for learners aged 3-25 and training and resources for educators. They also have a resource bank of lessons and resources. Find them here.
‘Kids of Colour’ based in Manchester have a bank of resources and reports to help schools, nationally, to become better at understanding and supporting Black students, and in becoming anti-racist institutions. On their resources page you will find a ‘home activity book’ which they created during lockdown so households could explore ‘race’, identity and culture together – maybe a good link to send on your parents newsletter? Students who are refugees in your classes may not have celebrated Black History Month before and this may be a good time to check in with them to see if their needs are being met in your school and that they feel comfortable to speak with staff if they do encounter racism, xenophobia or anti-refugee bullying. See information on the related free CPD below.
Supporting Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Pupils
Free ‘Healing Classrooms’ CPD Course
The IRC’s programmes seek to support schools to become culturally competent and to adapt teaching styles, topics and approaches to fit the needs of learners in diverse classrooms. Created to support refugee and asylum-seeking students, the majority of whom are from racialised communities, the Healing Classrooms Approach is the International Rescue Committee’s trauma-informed teacher training programme to make schools safe and healing spaces for children and youth dealing with trauma and displacement. Registrations are now open for the following:
- Healing Classrooms Basics Course (3x online sessions lasting 1.5 hours)
- Five Module Healing Classrooms CPD Course (5x sessions lasting 1.5 hours, weekly or half-termly)
Free Seminar – How education staff can support students seeking refuge and asylum from the Anna Freud Centre
This free seminar will look at helping education staff respond to trauma in children and young people who are seeking refuge and asylum. The seminar will be run with experts from the UK Trauma Council, which has recently developed a toolkit to support educational communities to recognise and respond to trauma. This seminar will feature some of the council’s key learnings from their work with experts in this field, including those with lived experience of arriving in the UK to seek asylum. 14 November 2023 16:30 – 18:00 More information and register here.
Harvest Collective Worship
Written by Helen Bryant, Chaplain to Harris CofE Academy she is sharing two collective worship sessions for schools on ‘Life in all its fullness’ and ‘Blessing of the animals’. You can find them on the DBE website and use the new password that is being sent to DSA subscribers in a separate email. And a song for Harvest…. free on the PopUK song bank
Dealing with Diversity in RE
One of the key features of the worldviews approach in RE is the teaching of diversity with the religious and non-religious worldviews. This article from RE Today gives some practical tips on how to deal with this in both primary and secondary teaching. Read it here.
What Children and Young People Say They Want and Need from Schools
Ten Top Tips
For Children’s Mental Health Week in February 2024 the theme is “My Voice Matters”. Children and young people’s mental health charity Place2be visited primary and secondary schools and asked children and young people what they want – and need – from their schools. Read their top tips here.
Free Health Living Pack from Earth Cubs
Learn about keeping healthy and complete some fun activities! Created in partnership with Eco-Schools for children age 3-7. Download it here. All of the Earth Cubs resources and lesson plans are free to dowload and are suitable for children of all ages. They are linked to the UN global goals including the environment, biodiversity, equality, wellbeing and global citizenship. Check out the website: https://earthcubs.com/
Learning How to Handle Controversial Issues in Schools
Controversy and controversial issues are at the centre and at all levels of our democratic societies. This means that learning how to deal with such issues must always be at the heart of an effective education for democratic citizenship and human rights education. The Council of Europe has helped to facilitate the creation of this good practice guide which is available to download free here. It complements the manuals Teaching Controversial Issues and Managing Controversy.
Talking to Staff Experiencing Peri-Menopause and Menopause
Did you know that around 1 in 6 of the teaching workforce is likely to be experiencing peri-menopause or menopause right now. For World Menopause Day next week, Education Support have developed this (6 min read) article to help you support your staff and build stigma-free cultures in schools.