Revolution praised for “going above and beyond” to help schools
The commercial trading arm of Dudley Council has been praised for “going above and beyond” to support schools during the coronavirus crisis.
Revolution brings together a wide range of services to schools and academies in Dudley.
Councillor Simon Phipps said the Revolution team had worked tirelessly to support staff, parents and children in a number of different ways over the last few months.
They ensured that schools and services were kept informed throughout the crisis by sending regular news bulletins and supporting conference calls. Information was collated from a wide range of services to provide a one stop shop for all schools, with a dedicated coronavirus area within the Revolution traded services online portal accessible to everyone who needed it.
The team have worked alongside their procurement colleagues – as well as those in adult social care and children’s services - to source, order and supply thousands of items of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The effort across the whole council ensured it was safe for all staff and children to return to schools, colleges and early years providers across the borough when the time was right.
They have worked with Dudley Grid for Learning to ensure the transition to learning at home during lockdown was as seamless as it could be for staff, children and parents, ensuring that the IT provision was sufficient to allow teachers to deliver online lessons. They also supported a scheme to distribute laptops and devices to vulnerable youngsters in the borough.
Dudley Performing Arts have provided nearly 700 students with individual online lessons, spread across 68 schools.
Support lines were set up by the Education Psychology and Counselling team to provide help to school staff, parents and children who needed it and by the Learning Support Service to help parents who needed assistance to home school children, with particular focus on the key areas of spelling, writing, reading, phonics and maths.
The School Catering Service worked tirelessly to ensure children who were entitled to free school meals did not go hungry at the start of the crisis. Grab bags were produced and delivered to homes before the government’s voucher scheme came into being just after Easter. The Free School Meals team have received an unprecedented number of new requests and they have worked to process them urgently to ensure the families receive the support they need.
Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for commercialisation, procurement and transformation, said:
I am beyond proud of the work Revolution has done in the face of the coronavirus crisis.
They have gone above and beyond and worked tirelessly, becoming a one-stop shop for information and guidance for school staff, parents and carers, and children alike.
I would like to thank them personally for their efforts, which will continue in the coming month as we look to return all children to school from September safely.
More information on Revolution is available at http://www.revolutionforschools.dudley.gov.uk/AboutUs