News

Return to School after Lockdown 3

Date: 22 Mar 2021

Welcome back to the start of your third week of this term. Having spoken to several school staff last week, each and every one seems genuinely pleased to be back with the pupils. Which is really good to hear.

Third time lucky, hopefully no more lockdowns and school closures. With so many people having been vaccinated and case rates starting to have a downward trend, we may start seeing the normality we have all been waiting for.

Talking about normality, this week we have sent out the annual pupil wellbeing, How Are You? Survey to senior leaders of Secondary schools. To date we have surveyed KS4 students, this year we are including KS3 too. Here are the three survey links for students in Year 7, Year 9 and Year 11.

We have teacher links for; Year 7, Year 9 and Year 11, so that you can see the survey. In addition to the regular questions we have included questions around Covid, to learn what impact the pandemic has had on young people’s wellbeing. We have also included some questions around, how safe young people feel in Swindon. Please share these links with your pupils to complete the survey, (which can be done on their own device and takes approximately 10-12 minutes). We are currently looking to commission a similar survey for Primary aged pupils, which will be forwarded to all Primary PSHE leads as soon as it is ready.

Here is the guidance you can use to deploy the survey, a draft letter for parents will be sent as an attachment in an email so you can adapt it in accordance to your school and need.

Furthermore, we know it’s been a tough year for all School staff, therefore we have a Staff wellbeing Survey too. The survey like the one for young people is anonymous, it will not identify any school or member of staff. We are simply conducting this survey to see how and where we can provide support to school leaders and their work force. Please ensure this is distributed and encourage all staff in your settings to complete it, including senior leaders.

Both the student and staff survey will be closed Friday 30th April 2021, so we do urge you to get these completed before that date.

This survey analysis is very relevant to all of us this year as schools are expected to ensure delivery of PSHE meets the needs of the students. Student consultation is probably the best way to do this and the survey allows you to complete an effective and comprehensive consultation. DfE is expecting schools to be delivering the new curriculum from the summer of 2021. The latest update was released by the PSHE association on behalf of the DfE on 11 February 2021.

We also want to make you aware that many new resources to support your teaching of PSHE have been included on the Healthy Schools PHSE resources page. Please feel free to download these. Chameleon PDE have offered to deliver some free virtual RSE/PSHE training after Easter, once they share dates we will let you know.

We are also going to highlight the Mental Health Award, if your school has not completed this framework, please consider it. The framework will help you develop a global needs analysis across the school. This too will contribute to the development of your PSHE curriculum. 

We would also like you to remind you of the Swindon Prevent Education Event, to check your school has booked a place or still needs to book a place, please contact Debbie Greenough, Community Safety Co-ordinator at Swindon Borough Council who will confirm your booking.

As in all our communication to schools we urge you to contact us if you require any additional support or guidance. Share your good news, success or anything that you feel will inspire others.