*** UPDATED - New information added below *** (1st May 2020)

In response to the unprecedented closure of schools to most pupils, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has produced a set of resources for parents to support effective home learning. These are all based on the evidence-based recommendations in the EEF’s guidance reports. These resources outline straightforward ways in which you can identify learning opportunities in everyday routines and build them into your home life. There is also guidance for supporting your child’s behavioural, emotional and social needs at this time. 

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Resources_for_parents/Summary_of_Resources_-_Parents.pdf

*** UPDATED - New Activity added below *** (30th Apr 2020)

Oak National Academy - online classroom. This is a new collection of high-quality lessons and online resources. Backed by the Government, it has been created in response to the coronavirus lockdown. Our online classroom offers free access to great teachers, delivering video lessons, quizzes and worksheets. Available for both primary and secondary levels, it covers a range of subjects. All of the lessons are ordered so your child can learn along a clear plan. We’ll provide new lessons and resources each week.

If you’re a parent or a pupil, before you start, please talk to your class teacher about how best to use these resources, or they may refer you to Oak National Academy for particular lessons or resources - https://www.thenational.academy/online-classroom

*** UPDATED - New free Activity added below *** (26th Apr)

The Department of Education are pleased to announce, from Monday 27 April, free online phonics lessons. Written and presented by phonics experts and funded by the Department for Education, the online lessons are designed to cover new phonics teaching that that children would have received over the summer term had they been in school. This resource is for use by teachers and parents who will find planning and teaching phonics challenging when schools are closed due to Covid-19.

Three sets of lessons will be available. One set for Reception and one for Year 1, based on where children are expected to be in their learning in the summer term. A third set of lessons aims to reach the lowest 20% of children; focussing on areas children find the most challenging. A guidance film for parents to explain the basics of Phonics and how parents can support their child is also available. Please see the below document for more details and the links :-

*** UPDATED - New free Activity added below *** (22nd Apr)

• If you want a change from Joe Wicks PE, maybe try this? Free Yoga lessons that are simply structured, easy to follow and to teach, as well as safe, highly engaging and great fun. Parents and staff do not need any yoga knowledge or experience. Originally created for children on the Autism Spectrum, they are also ideal for children from EYFS, Reception and Years 1 & 2. The lessons consist of 3 short animated videos and can be found here.

*** UPDATED - New free Activities added below *** (20th Apr)

• The government has produced a list of recommended educational resources for parents to use at home. These websites have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts and offer a wide range of support and resources for pupils of all ages. Many have already been included in our list below but there are some new ones here too. You can find it here.

• Beginning Mon 20th April, BBC Bitesize are publishing daily online lessons for all ages. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize.

• Thumbs up for your postie! Up and down the country people have been posting beautiful messages to thank our posties for the wonderful work they are doing to help keep the country running during this difficult time. To show our appreciation, we’re asking the nation to get involved by giving your local postie a big ‘thumbs up’. Find out more here https://www.royalmail.com/thumbsup

• British Red Cross 'Kindness Calendar'. Find out how children and young people can practise kindness every day during the coronavirus emergency.The power of kindness calendar helps children and young people learn about and carry out kind acts. https://www.redcross.org.uk/get-involved/teaching-resources/kindness-calendar

• White Rose Maths have a planned daily maths activity and a friday challenge for all year groups. They're easy to download plus they give you the answers! - whiterosemaths.com/homelearning

• The Natural History Museum website contains lots of virtual tours and activities for free. -  http://www.nhm.ac.uk

• Create a covid-19 time capsule and hide it somewhere! :-

• Use these calm-down ideas if you are feeling a little restless or stressed.

As you know, reading for at least 15 minutes a day is extremely beneficial to a child’s overall progress. During this time of home learning, please read, read and read some more. Short periods of reading with lots of discussion around the book (prediction, defining words, answering and creating questions and summarising what has been read) is the easiest and most beneficial thing you can do at home and is a lovely, relaxing time which you can enjoy together. 

As well as sharing your home readers and any of your favourite books from home, we have gathered together some fantastic FREE resources available online for you to share with your children :-

Audio Stories

Some famous children’s authors are sharing their stories for free:

• David Walliams https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/ The daily treat is called Elevenses and children and grown-ups can tune in every morning at 11am to listen to one of his short stories from The World’s Worst Children. He will be releasing a story a day for the next 30 days.

• Chris Haughton 5pm (Facebook live) He has also uploaded all of his live readings to his website so you can go back and enjoy them all  – they are called ‘#stayathome…’ etc.  https://www.chrishaughton.com/home

• Oliver Jeffers 6pm (Instagram live) All of his live readings can also be found on his website https://www.oliverjeffers.com/books#/abookaday/ These include The Heart and the Bottle and Lost and Found.

• Mac Barnett 7pm (Instagram live)

• RJ Palacio 4pm (Twitter live) She is reading one of her most famous books Wonder which is recommend for 8-12 year olds. She will be reading the book every day until she finishes it.

Audible Books

• Audible: https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

Audible has released a collection of audiobooks for free which they say will be available for as long as schools are closed. Books include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Winnie the Pooh, Timeless Tales of Beatrix Potter and many more.

Book Trust

• Book Trust https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/fun-at-home-with-authors-and-illustrators/

This link brings up a whole host of information including some of the previously mentioned resources. Examples include Cressida Cowell reading How to Train Your Dragon and children can learn to draw some of their favourite authors.  There are lots of wonderful resources to access across the whole of this website.

World Book Reader

• World Book Reader – Kitaboo https://worldbook.kitaboo.com/reader/worldbook/#!/

World Book ebooks have just made their fabulous collection of over 3,000 ebooks and audiobooks available for free. They have books suitable for all ages.

There are many other amazing reading resources available – please let us know if you come across any others which you think other children and parents would enjoy!

Happy reading!