News

Welcome Back to Term 5!

Date: 20 Apr 2021

Welcome back after a well-deserved break and rest.

Now that staff and students are regularly self-testing for Covid-19, we may see the rest of this academic year through with some form of ‘normality‘.  The sun is shining and we are in term 5 of this academic year, so ‘things can only get better’!

PSHE, a subject that should have been a statutory requirement a long time ago, is now officially in play. All Schools should now be delivering the new curriculum which includes; personal development, health, relationship and sex education for both Primary and Secondary schools. The statutory guidance sets out what schools must cover in the new curriculum. The PSHE Association Programme of Study can help in planning schemes of work.  

To ensure you develop a personalised programme for your school, in consultation with your pupils, please encourage your young people to complete the How Are You? Survey, (here are the three survey links for students in Year 7, Year 9 and Year 11, which were sent to you before the Easter break). The survey needs to be completed by April 30th. Thanks to schools who managed to do this prior to the end of term.

The Staff wellbeing Survey, has had a good response but there are still several staff who need to complete this. Please ensure this is shared across your settings so we support you and your leaders in meeting the Swindon School workforce needs – this is survey is for all Swindon Schools staff including school leaders ! The survey is open until April 30th and remember it is totally anonymous.

Secondary PSHE leads, another student survey from the University of Bristol may have landed on your desk for years 8 and 10. Hence the reason we didn’t include these two year groups in our survey. If you would be interested in participating in this research please contact Dr Catherine Sharp on Catherine.sharp@bristol.ac.uk, who will provide you more detail and information. There is a £200 gratitude payment for the schools who take part in this research.

Primary Schools please do not feel left out, as mentioned in the previous blog, we are in the process of commissioning a very similar survey for primary school pupils. However something else that’s new for you, Chameleon Compass is a new resource to support Year 6, pupils going into Secondary school. Chameleon PDE have launched a free transition pack for Swindon Primary Schools please contact Angela Milliken on  angela@chameleonpde.com to give you access to these resources.   

Another free PSHE resource for all is; free taster membership to The Sex Education Forum, until June. It is worth joining and having a look at their extensive library of RSE resources and receive discounts on events. Please take advantage of this offer!

Whilst we discuss the road to recovery, the DFE are offering funding to schools to open sports facilities outside of school hours. The funding is aimed to help young people to be more active and take part in sports activities. The funding has been distributed to Wiltshire and Swindon Sport who will co-ordinate the grants and support schools with the delivery plans. For more information and to discuss how you can get support with your plans, please contact Stuart Arthur; stuart@wiltssport.org

On a final note for this week, we hope this term will be an enjoyable one, with little or no disruptions. However we still would like to say; stay safe and ensure you continue to follow the Covid guidance. Also a  reminder that all new resources and articles are added to the Swindon Healthy Schools website to help and support you with teaching one of the most important subjects on the curriculum.