Fenland and East Cambridgeshire Opportunity Area

Newsletter 27 January 2021

Message from our Chair

Firstly, I want to express my thanks on behalf of the Opportunity Area Partnership Board for all you are doing to ensure that the children and young people in your schools and settings experience the best education possible in these difficult times. I am very aware of the challenges this is posing and also of the innovative ways that schools are coming up with to overcome them. 

The OA team is contactable and there to support everyone. If you are concerned about any upcoming deadlines, then please don’t be. We can be flexible. A number of offers are still available and you will find links to these in this newsletter. 

If you have any queries, please do get in touch with the team via Fenland.EastCambsOA@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

With best wishes,
Tricia Pritchard

Contents

In this newsletter:

• Opportunity Area Updates
  • Opportunity Area Website
  • OA Webinar Series - Upcoming Live Sessions
• New Opportunity Area Offers
  • Early Years Offer
• Ongoing Opportunity Area Offers
  • SEMH Training from the YMCA
• Additional Updates
  • Education Support
  • Free Bereavement Box from Nurture UK

Opportunity Area Updates

Opportunity Area Website

We wanted to remind you that the Opportunity Area website is live with details of the latest offers and support available from the OA, Cambridgeshire County Council and our other partners.

We particularly want to highlight the current OA-funded offers, which we hope can support you through this challenging time:

• School Improvement Programme Universal Offer School Support Meetings
• OA Webinar Series - updated
• Early Years Offer - updated
• 50 Things to do Before You're 5 - updated
• SEMH Training from the YMCA - updated
• Parental SEND Support - SENDIASS
• Pinpoint SEND Parent Carer Support - updated
• Cultural Enrichment - Creative Briefs (for Secondary Schools)
• Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Apprenticeship Levy Pooling
• Youth Advisory Board
• The Careers and Enterprise Company
• One-to-one Teacher Training Support - updated

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OA Webinar Series - Upcoming Live Sessions

The OA Webinar Series, hosted on the KnowledgeHub platform, is fully funded and accessible to all schools across Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, West Norfolk and Kings Lynn.  

A number of LIVE sessions are coming up in February:

• 4 February: Mental Health and Wellbeing Session 1 (Courageous Conversations) by Karin Horowitz for school heads
• 10 February: Virtual Author Visit by Will Mabbitt for pupils in schools (KS1 workshop)
• 11 February: Virtual Author Visit by Will Mabbitt for pupils in schools (Lower KS2 workshop)
• 12 February: Virtual Author Visit by Will Mabbitt for pupils in schools (Upper KS2 workshop)
• 24 February: How to Reduce Extreme Behaviour by Yvonne Newbold (Pears Foundation/Pinpoint)
• 26 February: Repeated Mental Health and Wellbeing Session 1 (Courageous Conversations) by Karin Horowitz for school heads

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New Opportunity Area Offers

Early Years Offer

Early Years providers in the Opportunity Area can access a wide range of support suitable for all types of practitioner. The OA is funding a universal offer for all settings and childminders in the area. This offer includes:

• Five to Thrive Training
• REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) Training
• Cambridgeshire CLL Modular Pathway
• Business and Governance Training
• SEMH Support for Staff

Please note that some online sessions will be recorded and accessible at any time after the live session. Settings can get a bursary of up to £1,000 and childminders up to £500 to support engagement or purchase resources for the provision.

For more information visit the OA website Early Years Offer page. If you are interested in the offer, please email Quality.AssuranceTeam@cambridgeshire.gov.uk to request an OA Early Years Offer Request Form and return it by Friday 12 February 2021.

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Ongoing Opportunity Area Offers

SEMH Training from the YMCA

YMCA Trinity Group is continuing to run a wide range of mental health training for schools and early years settings. The training will be available online as well as face-to-face when restrictions allow. Even if you have already taken part in this training, you can apply for courses you have yet to access.

The full list of courses is available to view in the YMCA SEMH Training application form. To apply, complete the application form and email it to lisa.smith@ymcatrinity.org.uk by 30 June 2021. Please note, the contract has been extended until July 2021 but the funding is likely to run out long before then and is allocated on a first come first served basis.

Additional Updates

Education Support

If your team needs support, they can access it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from Education Support.

Education Support has over 140 years’ experience of supporting the sector. Our Employee Assistance Programme can help your staff face the challenges of working in education today. 

Education Support provides:

• Immediate support and counselling by phone for any issue from stress at work, to depression or bereavement 
• Up to six sessions of counselling per specific issue
• Financial, legal and practical support from qualified legal and financial professionals on issues such as matrimony, housing, consumer, debt management and more

Free Bereavement Box from Nurture UK

Nurture UK is offering a free Bereavement Box for schools to support bereavement. This has been supported by the Barclays UK Covid-19 Community Relief Programme.

The Bereavement Box is designed to boost children and young people’s emotional literacy and support them through change and loss. It fully describes the different stages of grief as well as discussing the possible reactions to grief.

Apply for a free Bereavement Box at the Nurture UK website.

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