Christmas Edition - 16 December 2022
On behalf of the DSLS Board of Trustees, Schools Executive Committee and office team, we would like to thank you for your continued support during 2022 and wish you all a very happy and restful Christmas break. The DSLS office will close on Friday 16 December 2022 and will re-open on Tuesday 3 January 2023.
Dedicated Headship Time Survey
To assist with our support to school leaders, we would be grateful if you could take a few moments to answer just five or six questions in a short survey. This should take no longer than one minute to complete. Thank you.
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DSLS would like to say farewell and best wishes to the following colleagues who are moving on to pastures new at the end of this term:
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Colin Butler - Executive Headteacher, Otter Valley Federation
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Simon Green - Headteacher, Tidcombe Primary School
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Nicky Taylor-Bashford - Headteacher, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
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Sarah Lavis - Headteacher, St Michael's C of E Primary Academy
Education Support Newsletter
Read the latest newsletter from Education Support
To include:
- Teacher Wellbeing Index for 2022
- Wellbeing resources for Teaching Assistants
- Supporting schools' unsung heroes: TAs and LSAs
- Supporting Safeguarders
- Getting the right work-life balance: A guide for School Business Managers
- Giving the staff the help they need, when they need it
- Christmas E-Cards
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 The Wave Project
We are delighted to confirm that, as a result of fundraising at the Annual Leadership Conference in October in collaboration with The Big Give initiative, we have recently donated £2550 to The Wave Project.
Jasmine Bennett, Project Coordinator North Devon said:
“Thank you so much… It was a pleasure to meet delegates at the conference, and we are so grateful for the huge amount of fundraising for us from the gala dinner. 1 in 6 children aged 5-16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2020. As the cost of living crisis deepens, we know that times will be getting really tough for children and families. That’s why services like ours, a place where children can feel safe, have fun and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of immersing in blue space will be as important as ever in the coming year. With support like yours, delivering our service to the young people who need it most is possible.”
A story from The Wave Project:
We received this emotional message from a parent of one of the children who took part in a surf therapy programme this year:
"My 15 year old son Jake has suffered a lot of bullying, discrimination, hate crime and also the loss of a very special family member last year. Getting him out of his room, let alone out of the house was a daily struggle. Confidence and mental health was at an all time low. We had been to GPs and saved what little money we had to pay privately for a therapist because things were not improving. Finding his suicide notes in his room was the most heart breaking experience of my life, I felt lost and like I was failing him….
I can’t even begin to describe what the Wave Project has done for not only my son but my whole family. He has been accepted, encouraged and treated so kindly.
He now actively makes plans with various groups of friends, looks forward to going out and about on buses, explores the city, goes shopping. It's unbelievable! His confidence, resilience and realisation that people do accept him has changed all of our lives.
I fully believe The Wave Project has saved my son’s life."
School Leadership changes and Headteacher email updates
We should be grateful if you would kindly bring to our attention any known forthcoming or impending changes to school leadership roles eg. Headteacher, Head of school etc. as it is not always possible to pick these up, particularly within MATs and Federations.
Please email office@devonsls.co.uk
Additionally, to ensure that school leaders are well informed and kept up to date with important information from the Local Authority and the DfE, regular headteacher updates are being emailed directly to you via DCC.
If you are not receiving these on a regular basis please let us know via email and we'll make sure you are added to the distribution list.
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