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16 July 2024
![Greenfields Specialist School for Communication with their bronze award](https://cms.westnorthants.gov.uk/sites/default/files/styles/responsive/public/1440/810/0/2024-07/Greenfields%20Specialist%20School%20for%20Communication.jpg)
Schools across West Northamptonshire have received awards recognising their commitment to going above and beyond in improving the health and wellbeing of their pupils.
A total of 40 schools across the area received the bronze and silver Healthy Schools Awards accreditation, which is presented by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).
This is the second wave of schools to receive the accolade following the launch of the awards in January this year, and each school was invited to a celebration event.
The schools which have achieved the status have met the criteria for certain standards across areas including mental health and wellbeing, healthy eating, physical activity and PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education). The criteria has been specifically designed and tailored to Northamptonshire, which makes it unique compared to other healthy schools awards.
The schools that achieved this prestigious award are:
Silver award:
- Lumbertubs Primary
- Spring Lane Primary
- Falconers Hill Academy
- Billing Brook School
- On Track Education
- Croughton All Saints CofE Primary
- The Bliss Charity School
- Wootton Primary
- St James Primary
Bronze award:
- Barby CE Primary
- Briar Hill Primary
- Bridgewater Primary
- Cedar Road Primary
- Crick Primary
- Eastfield Academy
- Gayton CE Primary
- Greenfields Specialist School for Communication
- Hardingstone Academy
- Headlands Primary
- Hopping Hill Primary
- Hospital and Outreach
- Hunsbury Park Primary
- Kingsthorpe Grove Primary
- Malcolm Arnold Preparatory Academy
- Queen Eleanor Academy
- Newnham Primary
- Northampton School for Girls
- Parklands Primary
- St Mary's Primary
- Standens Barn Primary
- Stoke Bruene CE Primary
- The Parker Academy - E-ACT
- Thomas Becket Catholic School
- Tiffield CE Primary
- Towcester Church of England Primary School
- Walgrave Academy
- Waynflete Infants’
- Welton Academy
- Whittlebury CE Primary
- Yardley Gobian CE Primary.
The majority of these schools have already signed up to start working towards either the Healthy Schools Silver or Gold Award following this achievement. Silver involves them focusing on a universal and targeted health priority in their setting and putting an intervention in place. Gold focuses on schools measuring the impact of their interventions and embedding it longer term into their school.
People can visit our Healthy Schools Award Programme pages for more information
The support and encouragement from the Healthy Schools Service was invaluable throughout the process. There were lots of things we already did that we could use, so it was not lots of additional work.Charlie Vickers. SENDCo at Hunsbury Park Primary SchoolIt was good to acknowledge all we do in school that helps our staff and pupils to be healthy. Our children have been very proactive about supporting mental health initiatives. It also helped us to pinpoint where we could improve and what to work on next. Achieving the Bronze Award was a proud moment, that was celebrated by the whole school. We are looking forward to working on our Silver Award.
It is fantastic to see the second cohort of schools who have received the bronze level award as part of our healthy schools’ programme. Gaining this accreditation recognises their commitment to health and wellbeing and the ongoing work to improve the whole school’s wellbeing.Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education
I am delighted that 40 of our schools have received this award that celebrates their commitment to keeping children across West Northamptonshire healthy. The number of schools who have participated in this scheme is so encouraging, and I am proud of West Northamptonshire Council’s continued effort to keeping our residents safe and well.Cllr Matt Golby, Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Wellbeing and Health Integration
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16 July 2024
![Three cars parked on the road.](https://cms.westnorthants.gov.uk/sites/default/files/styles/responsive/public/1440/810/0/2024-07/car%20parked%20web.jpg)
Motorists are being advised of closures to two car parks in Northampton this month, as work on two exciting town centre regeneration projects take a step forward.
The town’s Chalk Lane Car Park will be closed from the evening of Tuesday 16 July through to Thursday 25 July to allow for preparatory work on the new Marefair Heritage Park.
The nearby Doddridge Street Car Park is closed for four weeks from 15 July while the Museum of London Archaeology carry out investigation as part of the delivery of the Four Waterside and Marefair development.
Signage will be in place to notify motorists of the temporary closures, with people directed to use the nearby Marefair or Commercial Street Car Parks instead. Click here to view the council-owned car parks across Northampton.
West Northamptonshire Council secured £1.6 million from the Government’s Towns Fund towards delivering the Heritage Park, which will provide new green space, trees, play areas, community gardens, pathways and lighting.
Marefair and the surrounding area has a fascinating and important history as the site of the once famous Northampton Castle as well as other historic local buildings such as the Old Black Lion Pub, Hazelrigg House, Castle Hill United Reformed Church, St Peters Church and a former Saxon Palace.
The park will tell this fascinating story on a heritage timeline of Corteen Steel poles which will be installed throughout the park.
The project to improve a major gateway to Northampton will be complemented by the Four Waterside and Marefair development, which will see the vacant brownfield site along the River Nene transformed into high-quality office space, new homes, business space and a new hotel.
This ambitious project is being delivered thanks to £1.7 million of funding from the Towns Fund, £7 million of investment from Northampton Enterprise Zone and investment from developers CityHeart. Wider construction works are expected to start in 2025.
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11 July 2024
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Partners involved in providing SEND solutions across West Northamptonshire have today decided to publish an inspection report by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
All partners have a shared ambition that our children have the Best Start in Life, while recognising there is a lot of work to do to achieve this. This is why partners are working hard to progress a range of joint actions that will address significant concerns raised in the latest inspection of services for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) in West Northamptonshire.
In agreement with Ofsted and the CQC, West Northamptonshire Council, the NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board and Northamptonshire Children’s Trust have published the inspection report to progress the action required.
Priority work progresses at pace in response to the report, which can be found on our SEND pages. It identifies failings that must be urgently addressed by the West Northamptonshire Local Area SEND Partnership.
The Partnership fully accepts the findings of the inspection and apologises to children, young people and their families where we have fallen short. The partnership also includes Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, schools and West Northants Voices in Partnership.
Whilst finding that SEND services are not good enough, with many children and young people waiting too long for their needs to be assessed and for suitable provision, inspectors also recognised the “green shoots” of improvement and clear partnership commitment to making critical improvements to address this. They highlighted the ‘ambitious SEND strategy, co-produced with children and young people and parents, and acknowledged ‘it is too soon to see the impact’ of the work being done to improve outcomes.
The local partnership has developed a Priority Action Plan (PAP) in line with the requirements from OFSTED, the Department for Education (DFE) and NHS England, and has been approved by Ofsted. The PAP is aligned with West Northamptonshire’s SEND & Alternative Provision Strategy and been developed with all partners represented at the SEND & Alternative Provision Partnership Improvement Board. The local area SEND partnership will now meet with DfE and NHSE at regular intervals during the next eighteen months to ensure the delivery of the action plan.
Inspectors recognised how ‘parent voices and the views of children and young people with SEND, are now heard much more effectively’, with professionals across the Partnership ‘engaging positively’ to put in place the new SEND strategy. As well as this, inspectors highlighted where children and young people with SEND receive specialist support from the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Disability Team, they receive timely assessment and appropriate advice to meet their needs.
They also found that children and young people with SEND ‘benefit from early help services that provide support at home and in the community’, as well as ‘a strong emotional health and wellbeing offer’, and those with a visual or hearing impairment are well supported by a ‘strong, needs-led service’.
The Partnership is now focusing on several priority actions that require urgent attention to address the findings of the report including:
- Improving the timeliness and quality of Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments so that children’s needs are fully identified, and the right support is provided at the earliest opportunity. At the end of last year, WNC commissioned a team of Educational Psychologists to support with overdue assessments with positive progress being made, setting a positive trajectory for improvement. To further support this, at WNC’s last cabinet meeting £1.35million of funding was approved to increase capacity in the Council’s SEND team to meet the increased demand being experienced – since April 2021 there has been 40 per cent increase in EHCP requests (an increase of over 1,000).
- Developing a partnership joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) that informs a joint commissioning plan to ensure outcomes are informed based on evidence of local population need, and to support the best use of resources across the partnership. A working group has been set up to develop a JSNA for children and young people with SEND that includes data from across the partnership to inform local need, planning and outcomes.
- Addressing current waiting times for speech and language therapy, mental health services and neurodevelopmental assessments to support early identification for plans to be developed to support them. Additional staffing capacity has been agreed by the partnership for the Speech and Language Therapy service. Resources are being refocussed across specialist therapeutic pathways within child and adolescent mental health community services to increase access. Improved navigation tools for emotional wellbeing and mental health services are being developed for children and young people and professionals. A Community Paediatric Review has been undertaken to transform the early years and primary school neurodevelopmental assessment pathways. This will explore all opportunities to introduce extra capacity and innovative practice.
- Improving the partnership approach to speech, communication and language needs to embed recommendations swiftly. The partnership jointly commissioned a nationally recognised programme to analyse needs, and this has provided useful recommendations for improvement and future transformation. A working group has been set up to identify delivery options for earlier identification and support for children with speech, language and communication needs.
The inspection outcome highlights failings within the service which we had previously identified and which we are working hard to remedy. We accept the findings of the OFSTED inspection and will continue to strive to do better for our SEND children, young people and families. I am absolutely committed to seeing this change happen and we have been working hard to build positive, strong foundations for this.Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and SkillsWe recognise the ongoing work which we need to carry out to address the concerns arising from complaints and feedback from our service users and we are incorporating this into our improvement plan which seeks to carry out continual development. We have recently welcomed three additional colleagues who will support with this work.
Inspectors noted that some of the work we are doing is still quite new and it is too early to see the desired impact and we have been open in that. Unfortunately, due to the scale of transformation needed these changes will take time and they must be made working closely with schools, health colleagues, our Children’s Trust and most of all with families. Involvement from families, children and young people was recognised within the report and I would like to share thanks to all those who have been involved – their contribution has been so valuable, and we will continue to build on this engagement to ensure their voices remain at the heart of our planning, conversations and next steps.
The £1.35million investment approved at Cabinet, will make a huge difference, enabling further capacity in our team to improve the quality and timeliness for ECP needs assessment. I am confident this will set a positive trajectory to make these critical changes and be a significant step forward for the service.
It is our absolute priority to make sure immediate action takes place to continue to drive the urgent improvements which are required as highlighted in this report.Chief Nursing Officer at Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board, Yvonne HigginsSome of this work is already underway and it is now critical that we continue to build momentum across our partnership in health, education and social care to improve services to these children, young people and families who have been let down. The priority action plan will outline specific actions for each of our organisations and we will make the critical changes outlined in this plan as quickly as possible to work towards achieving far better outcomes that the children, young people and families in this county deserve and expect.
We are committed to working collaboratively with our partners to drive forward the priority plan to improve the experiences and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.Julian Wooster, Chair of Northamptonshire Children’s TrustWhilst it is reassuring that the inspectors saw that the Children’s Disability Team carry out timely assessments and give appropriate advice to meet the needs of children and young people most in need of social care support, we know that there is still a lot of work to do. Alongside our partners we want to ensure that all children, young people and families with SEND receive the best possible services and support.
The result and findings of the Ofsted and CQC inspection align with the perspectives shared by our members and ourselves, which makes them unsurprising.Statement from West Northamptonshire Voices in PartnershipAs representatives of the Parent Carer community, we are deeply troubled by the findings of the recent Ofsted & CQC report highlighting widespread and systematic failings in SEND provision within our local area. We share the concerns expressed by families across the SEND community.
West Northants Voices in Partnership are committed to advocating for the rights and interests of children and young people with SEND and their families. We stand in solidarity with all those affected by these failings and are committed to working collaboratively with the Local Authority, Education, Health, Social Care, and other stakeholders to address the issues identified and drive meaningful change.
Our priority is to ensure that the voices of parent carers are heard and valued. We will actively engage with the local authority, schools, and relevant agencies to hold them accountable for addressing the failings highlighted in the report and to advocate for improved SEND provision across West Northamptonshire.
We call for transparency, accountability, and swift action to remedy the failings identified in the report and to ensure that children and young people with SEND receive the support and resources they need to succeed. Together, we can work towards a future where every child, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
We look forward to the return of the inspectors in 18 months, where we hope the Local Area SEND Partnership leaders and stakeholders will demonstrate the effectiveness of the implemented measures with positive outcomes for children, young people with SEND, and their families.
The West Northants Voices in Partnership team would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to our Padlet pages and reached out to us via email and allowing us to share with the inspectors directly.
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12 July 2024
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Employers of any size across West Northamptonshire can now access a wellbeing toolkit designed to provide practical guidance on how to enhance wellbeing in the workplace and improve business outcomes.
Research shows that a good workplace wellbeing programme can have a positive impact on employee happiness and engagement, increase productivity and improve customer service and business outcomes.
The toolkit aims to encourage businesses to adopt an insight and data led approach to workplace wellbeing, improving the health and wellbeing of their employees and subsequently their business performance.
West Northamptonshire Council has launched the free to use, self-service Workplace Wellbeing Toolkit that is available to all businesses across the area. It offers a step-by-step guide to workplace wellbeing. Providing an overview of what wellbeing is, how businesses can invest in it, how they can use existing data to enhance their wellbeing programmes. It helps employers to create an action plan across a wide range of wellbeing topics to support the specific needs of their employees.
“We are pleased to be able to launch our workplace wellbeing toolkit which aims to support businesses with enhancing their employee wellbeing offer. It has been developed by our public health specialists in partnership with existing businesses to ensure that it meets the needs of businesses and their employees.Cllr Matt Golby, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Care, Public Health and Regulatory Services“We will be continuing to develop the toolkit over the coming months and years based on the feedback from local businesses.”
Northampton Community Foundation Trust are great exemplars of workplace wellbeing having won the Workplace Wellbeing Award in 2023.
“We put wellbeing in the workplace at the heart of our HR policy. As a grant making charity which invests many funds into wellbeing across our communities, we think it is incredibly important that we lead from the front and promote good wellbeing for staff and volunteers. Staff that feel valued at work are more likely to thrive and achieve their best. This enhances staff retention and provides a more nourishing and rewarding work experience for building a positive team culture and for achieving our mission as the leading grant making charity in the county. Our commitment includes a flexible working policy, being living wage accredited, providing wellbeing activities, a menopause policy and investing in our work around equity, diversity and inclusion.”Rachel McGrath, Chief Executive
To find out more about workplace wellbeing services across West Northamptonshire visit: Workplace Wellbeing Support
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A cohort of firefighters have become the first ever in Northamptonshire to receive an apprenticeship qualification with the Service.
The 14 firefighters have received the Level 3 Operational Firefighter qualification from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and demonstrates the Fire Service’s desire to develop our firefighters and equip them with skills and qualifications that will prove beneficial for the rest of their working lives.
Our new apprentices were presented with their certificates at Fire HQ in Wellingborough yesterday (July 9) by Deputy Chief Fire Officer Simon Tuhill, and were also paid a visit by new Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Danielle Stone.
Deputy CFO Simon Tuhill (pictured below right) said: “This is the first time ever that our firefighters have been able to achieve an accredited apprenticeship qualification through the Service, and this is a qualification that can not only help progress their career here in Northamptonshire Fire but is also a transferable qualification that can help them progress on whatever path they wish to follow.
“It is important that we help to develop our staff and give them valuable skills, and I know they all found it a positive experience – so it’s important also to thank our training instructors who helped them on this journey.”
The apprenticeship took two years for the cohort to complete and saw them undertake practical examinations to demonstrate their firefighting skills, as well as completing knowledge and understanding testing to showcase their understanding of the role and how they have helped with safety in the local community.
The end point assessment involved them being assessed by experienced independent instructors from other Fire and Rescue Services who determined if they had met the required standards, and NFRS was delighted with the feedback that was received about all the apprentice firefighters.
One of the firefighters to receive an apprenticeship is Charlotte Cowley (pictured below with DCFO Tuhill), who joined Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service two years ago and is currently wholetime on Blue Watch in Corby.
She said: “The first year of study was pretty intense, and I had to do that on top of my operational duties as a firefighter. But I would say that compared to when I first joined, I never thought I would have been able to learn as much as I have.
“It’s been a steep learning curve, but it’s been an incredibly fulfilling experience and I am so happy to have achieved it.”
Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service will be recruiting for new apprentice firefighters in the near future – please keep an eye on our social media platforms and our News Page for an announcement soon.