Homeschooling during lockdown

As the final term starts from our own homes, there’s one question on everyone’s mind – how do we support our children? While we don’t expect you to replace your child’s schoolteacher, it’s important that children are still learning as best they can. We’ve got some ideas to make learning easy and fun for both parents and children.

Firstly, our teachers are still here to support you and your children. Please visit our class pages on the website, click on your child’s class, followed by ‘2019-2020’, and then onto ‘Home Learning Area’ to find work that our teachers are setting each week for your children to do. This work can be shared back with the teacher to be marked and to provide feedback. This work is intended to help children not only continue their learning but to keep work they have already learnt fresh in their mind. Therefore, it is important that you support your children as best you can to complete this work.

There is an abundance of online resources to help children to learn. One site is BBC Bitesize - there is work for all ages, from Reception up to Post-16, so all of your children can work from this resource. Not only are there new lessons being uploaded weekly, but there is advice for parents on how to home-school. What’s great about BBC Bitesize is that it follows all of the curriculums, whether you are in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Another website that the government has backed is Oak National Academy, which provides 180 hours of free lessons a week aimed at Reception to Year 10. If you’re looking for some videos for your children to watch on subjects from the ocean to poetry, YouTube have a great selection to choose from on the Free School channel. You can find links to all of the resources we recommend in the class pages section of our website.

However, what’s most important isn’t academics, but keeping a routine. Don’t treat this time as a few months extra holiday; make sure that children wake up the same time as they would for school, as well as get changed rather than staying in pyjamas all day. This way, when schools do reopen, it’s not so much of a shock to the system. If you have the space to create a dedicated study area, such as a dining table or spare bedroom you can use as a study space, it can make learning much easier. Having the separation between work and leisure can help children stay more focused (as well as parents who are working from home)!

There are also plenty of ways your children can learn through day-to-day life. Encourage them to help you work out how much your weekly food shop is going to cost based on the prices online, or to read before bed. Writing letters to friends and family is a great way to practice writing skills. Even going on local walks and spotting different birds, insects or plants is a great way to learn!

Finally, we would like to reiterate that we do not expect you to replace schoolteachers. Children who can focus just one to three hours a day are working very hard. It’s much more important for a child to have one productive hour followed by playtime than hours of unfocused work. What is paramount for us all is maintaining safety and wellbeing for our families during these difficult times.  Please do not feel pressure in completing all learning activities provided. As long as you try your best, that’s all that matters!