Policy seminar to address key areas of concern for schools Tuesday 14 April 4:30pm - 6.00pm at 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2HZ
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n Tuesday 14 April a special seminar will be held for the leaders and practitioners of the children’s workforce and its key stakeholders in Southwark. This is an important opportunity to preview key scrutiny reports on three high profile areas of work for the council and its residents. This event will give a heads up on the results of three scrutiny reviews and provide the opportunity to contribute to the recommendations before they go to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Guest speakers will talk about a theme from each review. Adoption in Southwark Miranda Mercado Gregory, a Southwark Adoptive Parent and founder of ‘We are Family’ • Recruiting and inducting prospective parents • Matching parents and children faster and better – can Southwark deliver cross-racial /cross cultural adoptions sensitively? • Supporting adoptive parents and children post adoption
Scrutiny to consider adoption, achievement and exploitation
Julie Timbrel Scrutiny Project Manager
Achievement and opportunity for children and young people
Protecting our children from sexual exploitation
John Martin, Head Teacher Bacons College and representative of Southwark Head Teachers Executive
Dominic Campbell, FutureGov
• If 70% of young people are getting five good GCSEs what is happening to the other 30% • What kind of relationship do we need between the Council, Health, the Police and schools? • How to we promote well-being and good mental health in schools
• How do the council work with schools to better to tackle CSE • How do we make a cultural shift so that CSE becomes unacceptable • How can the internet help protect our children from sexual abuse? All school leaders are welcome to attend, please RSVP to Julie.timbrell@southwark.gov.uk
NEW ROOTS COMPETITION WINNERS GET FREE GARDENING Three schools have won free labour in a competition organised and sponsored by New Roots. Lucky winners are: 1st prize (£500): Rye Oak; second prize (£200): Crampton; and third prize (£100) goes to: Hollydale.
New Roots is a Landscaping and garden services company based in South London. We have experience in community educational projects through a wide range of garden services, landscaping constructions and play areas.
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DANGER UXB MAGNA CARTA THROUGH THE AGES A
s part of a nationwide commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, the Society of Antiquaries London is presenting Magna Carta Through the Ages to schools and public visitors. June 15th 2015 marks the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta and as a part of the Society’s exhibition a programme of school events will be taking place throughout June and July. Exhibition All students will explore the exhibition. Primary school students and lower school secondary students will receive a learning pack to assist them in discovering about King John, the barons, Runnymead and how Magna Carta was made and sealed. Upper school secondary students will view the exhibition independently. Primary School Workshops (KS2 years 4, 5, 6) The workshop session will be divided into two 35 minute sessions. Participating in a group role-play activity will enable students to use their imaginations to step into the shoes of King John or the Barons and perhaps even come up with a Magna Carta for their own school. Schools will also be able to choose one practical workshop from Calligraphy and Illumination or Wax Seals. Secondary School Workshops (KS3) The workshop will be a 45 minute session. Students will explore the day of June 15th 1215 by participating in a group role-play activity and later zoom forward to the 21st Century to question the relevance of Magna Carta to their own lives now. Students may scrutinise the impact that Magna Carta would have had and consider the relevance of Magna Carta to modern society. PROGRAMME DATES & TIMES June 1st June 8th June 15th June 22nd June 29th July 1st July 6th July 13th
KS2 or KS3 workshop or Secondary School Lecture KS2 or KS3 workshop KS2 or KS3 workshop KS2 or KS3 workshop KS2 or KS3 workshop KS2 or KS3 workshop KS2 or KS3 workshop KS2 or KS3 workshop or Secondary School Lecture
Please make bookings and enquiries by email to hannahcarter@sal.org.uk. For more information and map: https://www.sal.org.uk/contact-us.
A 500lb WWII unexploded bomb caused havoc in the Grange Road area causing Kintore Way, Boutcher, Tower Bridge and Harris Academy Bermondsey were all affected with evacuations and closures taking place. The scene at a building site in the Grange, just off Grange Road in Bermondsey, was sealed off by emergency services. Army logistics experts attended the scene, working to make the bomb safe. The bomb was discovered around 9.40am on Monday 23 March, with hundreds of residents spending the night in temporary accommodation and Boutcher and Kintore Way remaining closed for two days. Cllr Peter John said: “I can understand how worrying this was for local people, and the council did all it could to support them while the emergency services made the area safe. “We had well-rehearsed emergency plans in place and our first priority was to make sure residents were safe and cared for. Evacuated residents were urged to go along to one of the rest centres in Canada Water where they were provided with hot meals and tea and coffee.
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Schools get a breakfast boost with FareShare A number of schools have taken advantage of the services of FareShare - see January’s edition of Heads Up!
FareShare is a food redistribution charity taking surplus food from the food industry and redistributing it to organisations across the UK that work with, and cook meals for, vulnerable or disadvantaged people. Most of the food it redistributes is fresh fruit and vegetables or fresh and chilled items such as yoghurts, bread and juices. Schools can use the service as a provision for breakfast clubs and after school activities and any food surplus to those requirements could be distributed among the most deserving families within the school. The cost of participation is just a contribution via a membership fee of at least £19.20 per week if FareShare can deliver the food, or £15.60 if food is collected from the organisation. For this FareShare supplies an average of 50kg of food per week.
Schools using FareShare: St James C of E Dulwich Wood Alfred Salter St Peters CE Kingsdale Cobourg Charles Dickens English Martyrs John Donne Townsend Angel Oak St Thomas the Apostle SILS3 and 4 Robert Browning Hollydale Dog Kennel Hill School Rotherhithe Primary Peter Hills Ilderton Phoenix Albion Nell Gwynn Kintore Way
Pupils from Hollydale School Any project can apply to be a member of FareShare, provided it is not set up to make private profit. FareShare works with charities, community organisations, CIC, social enterprises and also schools and some council projects.
Schools benefit as Southwark Park relocates
W
ith the closure of Southwark Park School’s old home prior to moving an “eBay Day” was organised to allow any Southwark schools to come along and bid for unwanted items from the old school. The day was an enormous success raising nearly £5,000 and enabling schools to grab some real bargains, while at the same time obviating waste through recycling/upcycling. Lynn Cooper, headteacher at Nell Gwynn was just one who took advantage of the event. She said: “Just before half term our oven exploded - fortunately no-one was hurt. I wondered there couldn’t possible be an unwanted oven could there? I quickly learned that an oven was available and I wouldn’t be needing to find £10,500 to buy a new one! A price was agreed to take delivery of the Southwark Park oven and our financial future and end of year balance was looking a lot healthier again. I couldn’t resist visiting Southwark Park just to see if there was anything left that other people didn’t need. I came away with paper for the art cupboard, bean bags for the Sensory room, tubular bells for the outside area, a stack of “big books” a couple of brooms for the classroom, a printer a rug.......the list goes on. A couple of days previously I had spent £300 in Ikea to brighten up the home corners in the classrooms. Looking at what I got from Ikea against what I got from Southwark Park really made it clear how fortunate I was to benefit from things another school did not need and what a huge amount of money Southwark has been saved from being able to recycle goods. Thank-you Headteachers Executive - you saved our lunches!”. Reema Gee Reid, headteacher at Hollydale School also endorsed the success of the eBay Day. She said: “We were told that due to moving to a new site there was unwanted furniture that could be collected from the old Southwark Park School at Gallywall.
A smart new cooker for Nell Gwynn thanks to an innovative recycling initiative from the Headteachers Executive
The only availability that I had to view the furniture was in the half term. I am so glad that I made that decision. The visit to Southwark Park was the most rewarding and fulfilling part of my half term break! Our visit enabled us to salvage tables, chairs, storage units, soft furniture, wall units, computers, smart boards filing cabinets playground equipment virtually new litter bins and more. To say that we have virtually refurnished Hollydale School is an understatement!”
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New strategy for poor behaviour
Ensuring lessons in the pool go swimmingly T
he ASA, the national governing body for swimming in England has a range of useful resources to help schools to deliver quality, effective and safe school swimming lessons. Resources include:
T
he Headteachers Executive addresses concerns raised by schools with members of the Local Authority. At the last Executive meeting, one issue in particular - behaviour - was discussed in some detail with Pauline Armour. Pauline has since contacted the Headteachers Executive and is keen to develop a new strategy to tackle the increase in behavioural problems. The Executive is therefore seeking input from schools that would be interested in working together to create a new strategy. If any member of a Leadership Team would be interested in being involved, please contact yolanda@ headexec.com with your details. Another point of discussion is the relationship between health and education and the Executive reports that it has organised a meeting with the Chair and members from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on 22 April and would welcome schools’ input for agenda items. Again, please forward concerns, comments and suggestions via yolanda@headexec.com. Following both meetings the Executive will report back fully to schools on any outcomes or initiatives.
DIVE IN! Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2015 Launched
The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is one of the largest and most prestigious poetry competitions in the world. The competition is open to any young person aged 11-17 and since it began 17 years ago the Award has kick-started the career of some of today’s most exciting new voices, including Helen Mort, Caroline Bird and Jay Bernard. For further information, visit: http://poetrysociety.org.uk/
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Guidelines for school swimming
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Advice regarding disability and special education needs in school
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School swimming and water safety. A guide for teachers involved in school swimming
In addition the HSE have produced guidance and information for pool operators on what to do to comply with the law. For more information visit www.hse.gov.uk/entertainment/leisure/swimming-pool.htm Schools should review these resources and ensure that the current arrangements comply with these national standards and recommended best practice. For more information visit www.swimming. org/schoolcharter<http://www.swimming. org/schoolcharter>. If you have any questions or need any support /advice on swimming safety or any other health and safety matter, please contact Lee Tapping, Health & Safety Manager on
SEND US YOUR NEWS!
HEADS UP is published monthly during term time by Southwark Headteachers Executive. We would love to hear from you, so tell us your news:
Yolanda Houston T: 01797 364366 M: 07770 347616 E: yolanda@headexec.com
For all your information needs visit www.southwarkheads.org.uk