19th January 2026
Headteacher Termly Briefing – Tuesday 20 January
Don’t forget to join us for the DBE Heads’ Briefing on the afternoon 20 January 14.00-15.30 on Zoom. Book your place here.
Agenda
Opening Reflection and DBE Update – Revd April Gold
Peacemakers Resource – Heather Rowlands, Director of Peacemakers
Recent Experience of Ofsted – David Briggs, CEO of Fosse MAT and Sam Welsby, Headteacher at Newbold and Tredington CofE Primary
Flourishing Together Through RE – Dr Kathryn Wright, Culham St Gabriel’s
Spotlight – ‘top tips and best practice’ – Spiritual Development – Louise Withers, Shottery St Andrew’s CofE Primary
Closing Comments and Prayer
DBE Training on School Admissions and Appeals
Wednesday 18 March 2026
16.00-17.00
Cost: £25 for DSA subscribers/£50 for non-subscribers
For – Presenting Officers, Governors and Office Administrators
This online training session is led by Joanne Evans, the DBE’s Admissions and Appeals Officer. It aims to ensure an understanding of the admissions and appeals process within a school that is responsible for its own admissions. Book here.
The National Year of Reading 2026 has begun!
Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP – alongside school children, campaign ambassadors and partners – officially launched the National Year of Reading on 13 January at the Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal Football Club, inspiring the nation to ‘Go All In’ on their passions through reading.
Just a reminder that the DBE have three collections of books that you can borrow for your school. They accompany the Difference resource which for primary schools, is based very much around literature and stories that help to build empathy, compassion and inclusion. They cross the ages from early years to transition stage. They are available for you to borrow – just get in touch with lisa.boffey@coventrydbe.org to arrange a pick up or delivery.
Celebrate Shakespeare Week – 23 – 29 March 2026
Many of our schools celebrate Shakespeare Week, making the most of the unique aspect of our geographical location and its historical legacy. As you may have discovered, Shakespeare’s worldview is included in the RE Agreed Syllabus L2.7 unit on how history and religion have entwined in this area, and there are additional sub-questions with a Shakespeare theme in several other units. Everything Shakespeare-related is collated onto one page on the syllabus website here to make it easier for any schools wanting to have an RE focus to their celebrations: Shakespeare Week and the New Coventry/Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus – Coventry City Council (password needed)
Find out more information about Shakespeare Week here. Register to access hundreds of FREE cross-curricular resources which have been developed by education experts from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and a number of excellent partners across the UK.
For the full Headlines newsletter contact joanne.evans@coventrydbe.org