Schools North East is a network for all. Committed to supporting those working in North East Schools and ensuring their voice is heard. We are very grateful to our 626 Partner Schools from across the North East who make this work possible.
Healthy MindED Conference 2022
Schools North East hosted their 6th annual Healthy MindED Conference. The day had great sessions, boasting a variety of topics centred around mental health and wellbeing as well as combining our Supporting Challenging Learners Conference into this event.
It was a fantastic programme with keynote sessions from Julie Liddell from The MIND less FUL; Mark Dunne-Willows from the Department for Education; John D’Abbro, Behaviour Advisor at the Department for Education; Dr Chris Wilson and Beth Williams from ImpactEd.
The day started with a welcome from Schools North East Trustee and CEO of SMART Academies, Colin Lofthouse. He reflected back to the first Healthy MindED Conference in 2017- the time when the Healthy MindED commission was set up to identify the issues surrounding children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing in North East Schools as this was a rising concern among many school leaders. Looking to today, he commented how great it was to see everyone in person after a 2 year hiatus of virtual events. He could not think of a “more urgent backdrop” to the Conference than this one with the conflict in Ukraine escalating overseas and the cost of living increasing every day at home furthering anxieties massively.
We would like to thank all the delegates, speakers and exhibitors who attended this year’s Conference. We would also like to extend a special thank you to The Edwin Group who were the main sponsor.
Stakeholder Briefings
Our Stakeholder Briefings go out to both local and regional contacts in the press as well as key policymakers across the country. There has been a great response to the Briefings with the issues which we have identified being picked up in both national and local news stories. Alongside this we have had responses from both the Department for Education and Ofsted.
CEO Roundtable
The monthly CEO roundtables are held online bring together Head Teachers and MAT CEOs from across the North East covering both primary and secondary schools. In the most recent roundtable on 10th May 2022 the discussion focussed on attendance with this term so far seeing improvements in attendance and lower levels of disruption. Schools are now focussing on persistent absences, especially among harder to reach families, that have developed during the pandemic, and recruitment and retention of staff is a significant developing issue. Workload is a particular challenge, affecting recruitment and making it difficult to compete with other sectors, and support new teachers. Despite this ongoing challenge, staff wellbeing has improved compared to the low starting point last term. Exams have given some welcome structure to both staff and students. However, this also comes with usual exam anxieties, which have been exacerbated by the missed learning caused by the pandemic. Schools are also looking at addressing longer term learning loss, however schools are limited in what they can achieve with the resources they currently have. You can read the full Stakeholder Briefing from May here.
Regional SEND/AP Policy Network
Schools North East also host monthly virtual roundtables with school leaders in the special and alternative provision sector. On 10th May 2022 we were joined by representatives from DfE’s SEND Review division. They gave a short presentation on the SEND Review Green Paper, followed by roundtable discussions on several key questions. These discussions are being fed back into the SEND Review Green Paper consultation.
These discussions build our regional SEND and AP policy roundtable held in December, held in in-person and in preparation for the publication of the SEND Review. – Members felt that the SEND and AP sector is being treated as an afterthought. It is vital to think first of the most vulnerable children, with clear entitlements and expectations. Currently, there is not a ‘system’ in respect of SEND/AP. For the SEND review to be successful, any ‘system’ that emerges must recognise school/community context far better than it currently does. We must move away from a ‘one size-fits-all’ approach, with longer-term and evidence-based thinking to ensure stability in the sector. You can read the SEND/AP Policy Network roundtable Stakeholder Briefing here.
MP roundtables
Schools North East MP virtual roundtables are an opportunity for Head Teachers and other school leaders to engage in a confidential, friendly, and informal manner with their local MP to help them fully understand the most pressing concerns and issues that you and your schools are facing. Our most recent MP roundtable was with Blaydon MP Liz Twist on Friday 29th April. Some of the discussion was focussed around Mental Health with the growing challenges around pupil mental health being a key concern for schools. Schools reported services both in and outside of schools as being overwhelmed. While schools understand the important role and relationships they have with children and young people, there are limits to what schools can achieve without increased funding and reform of mental health services. You can read the Liz Twist MP roundtable Stakeholder Briefing here.
Our first in-person MP roundtable since the pandemic will be held in June 2022 with Berwick MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan. If your school is in the Berwick constituency and you would like to attend, please contact h.goodwill@schoolsnortheast.com.
Policy roundtable
In response to the Schools White Paper and SEND Review Green Paper, we held an in-person roundtable discussion on Tuesday 17th May 2022. Leora Cruddas, CEO at the Confederation of School Trusts, joined us as a guest speaker. Key questions discussed were focused around whether the papers address the levelling-up agenda and the impact of Covid, what the implications will be for schools, trusts, and whether these reforms will help children and young people.
Surveys
We distribute regular surveys on a range of issues and policy developments. Responses are collated as a stakeholder briefing. The most recent survey was sent out in response to key announcements in the Schools White Paper. You can read the Stakeholder Briefing from the survey here.
Once a term we conduct a ‘State of the Region’ survey of North East schools. Our ‘State of the Region’ surveys intend to monitor the ongoing impact of the pandemic across this academic year, looking at how the situation is developing every half term. This will ensure education stakeholders and policymakers get an accurate picture of the environment and challenges North East schools are contending with. Our next ‘State of the Region’ survey will be sent out on Monday 6th June.
