Home Learning

Teachers have prepared tasks and activities for children to consolidate their learning. The work packs we sent home can also be accessed by clicking on Work Packs in the menu on the left hand side of this page.

After Easter, teachers will consider how best to communicate new learning. Teachers have begun to use Class Dojo to set learning for pupils in a more personalised way now that there is an extended school closure.

What is a typical school day?

One parent has asked for an example of a typical school day so their child can continue with some kind of normality and routine. Whilst you cannot and do not need to emulate a school day while your child is at home, here is some guidance of the school routine they are familiar with.

Pupils start the day at 8:40 and spend the first thirty minutes self-registering what they want for lunch, completing a morning task e.g., a maths task, spelling or handwriting, and teachers use this time to run intervention sessions with small groups or individual pupils based on their assessments of the previous day.

Assemblies take place everyday from 9:10am-9:30am. Headteacher on a Monday, Singing Assemblies for KS2 on Tuesday and KS1 on Thursday, Wednesday is often related to Maths or a special religious fesitval and Friday is our Celebration Assembly. Reception don't start joining routine assemblies until after Easter.

At 9:30am pupils all start there lessons until playtime. These lessons are usually Maths or English, depending on the Year Group.

The children then have their playtimes: these are either at 10:30am-10:45am or 10:45am-11:00am.

After this until lunchtime, which again is at different times but is 50 minutes for everyone, the children will do the other subject of either Maths or English.

Lunchtime ends and in the afternoon there could be one lesson of 1.5 hours or two shorter lessons e.g., of 45 minutes each. These are typically science, music, art, history, geography, PSHE, PE, French, RE, DT, and soon to be Computing lessons.

At 2:30 classes stop for a class story. This is a protected time in the timetable.

Depending on the age of the children, they start getting their things ready for the end of the day between 2:55 and 3:00pm.

If children are well, beyond the work packs, they should read as much as they can and those looking after them should read to them, again as much as possible because the benefits are priceless. There are also online storytime sessions, including the following:

Astronauts reading stories from space.

https://storytimefromspace.com/library/

The author Oliver Jeffers will read one of his stories and talk about some of the things that went into making it; it will be added to his website.

https://www.oliverjeffers.com/

As well as the work packs:

Twinkl.co.uk have kindly produced free home learning packs for children in self-isolation or in the event of a school closure. These can be accessed here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/search?term=school+closure Go to the website and then click on the appropriate year group.

Twinkl have also offered every teacher and parent a one month ultimate membership totally free of charge so children can have access to high-quality learning during any periods of disruption. Setting this up is easy- go to www.twinkl.co.uk/offer and enter the code UKTWINKLHELPS.

We use White Rose Maths Hub for our maths curriculum. They have announced that they will set up resources for teachers to set work for pupils who are not able to go to school, from next week. Here is the website: https://whiterosemaths.com/

Pupils in Years 1-3 have access to Purple Mash where teachers set To Do tasks linked to pupils' learning.

Pupils in Years 2 and 3 also have access to Times Tables Rock Stars online.

Phonics Play is another website that has announced that all of their games and resources are currently free. https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ It will be great for home learning for pupils in Reception and Year 1 in particular, because the children always love the games and they would be practising reading real and alien words.

Kids Classroom Secrets have also announced free access to their online learning activities: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/home-online-learning/

Carol Vorderman's website, The Maths Factor is giving parents free access while schools are closed (usually £2 per week): https://www.themathsfactor.com/

Here are some other free websites with activities you may want to consider for your child(ren):

www.khanacademy.org/

www.freerice.com/

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

www.topmarks.co.uk

www.storylineonline.net/

www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/stories

www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/

www.learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/games

www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

www.hourofcode.com/uk

https://www.teachingpacks.co.uk/50-youtube-channels-for-home-learning/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Free+Resources+for+Home+Learning%21&utm_campaign=AC50YoutubeChannels

PICTURE NEWS

Picture News is an organisation which creates weekly projects for children. They have kindly offered to do this for free during the period of school closure for most children. They produce projects for EYFS (we would include Reception and Year 1) and older children. The resources have the date in their title so it is clear which resources are part of the same project. We hope parents find them useful to work through with their children. Please click on the relevant bars on the menu on the left hand side of this page.

Clicker 8

As a school we have five licences for a computer software programme called Clicker. Crick Software who make Clicker have offered free home access to all our parents and teachers for the next six weeks, in order to help with home learning during this difficult period. They have offered to extend the free access if required. Go to www.cricksoft.com/home-installation for all the information you need to get started, including installation instructions and helpful hints for getting the most out of the software. Clicker 8 is compatible with Windows/Mac machines (full system requirements can be found here). I have just tried installing it myself and it works perfectly. When you are asked for the serial number, enter the following in the four cells: 8G3EM PMLXH 4QXVC 5VB4W. Once you have installed Clicker 8 spend some time viewing the tutorials. It is a very useful programme for all year groups but particularly for Reception to Year 2 pupils and any pupils in Year 3 who may struggle with reading and writing. I will also add this information to the Home Learning page on our website.

If you have any issues installing Clicker 8, the following could be helpful:

Clicker 8 (Windows/Mac)
Guide to installing Clicker 8
Clicker 8 – hints and tips for getting started

Clicker Writer (iPad/Chromebook)
Guide to installing Clicker Writer on an iPad
Guide to installing Clicker Writer on a Chromebook
Clicker Writer – hints and tips for getting started

Due to the spread of COVID-19, many children’s routines have changed and anxieties for some are running high. To help children work through their feelings, we have published some new reading and writing Clicker Sets on LearningGrids.

The new resources include a When I Feel Worried series, with a Clicker Book, Sentence Set and Clicker Board, to help younger children to think about things they can do to feel better when they are worried.

There is also a When My Routine Changes Connect Set and a How Do You Feel Word Bank for more independent writers to express their feelings.

You can access these and many other resources that help children to explore their emotions and feelings via the LearningGrids area in Clicker.

With the 75th anniversary of VE Day coming up next week, we’ve published some new Clicker resources to help inform and inspire your children.

A family of sets based on the stimulus VE Day – Read a Book focusses on why and how people celebrated on VE day in 1945. The supporting Word Bank, Sentence and Connect Sets enable children with varying abilities to write about the topic, giving evidence of their factual recall and understanding of life in 1945.

Awareness and empathy are crucial skills for children to develop. The Clicker Board VE Day uses an image of a VE Day street party to encourage children to discuss what happened on VE Day, how the people felt and why, and how 1945 differed or was the same as the year they live in now.

You may also be interested to hear about our brand-new addition to the Find Out & Write About series on LearningGrids – Life in the Second World War! Children can read and write about what life was like in Britain for children, families, men and women, and how their lives were affected by experiences like evacuation, the Blitz and rationing.

For all these resources and more, search for ‘VE Day’ or ‘Second World War’ in LearningGrids (just select ‘LearningGrids’ in your Clicker Explorer menu).

The Essex Primary Headteachers' Association have created a website with links to resources for home learning for those children and adults socially isolating:

https://essexprimaryheads.co.uk/story/2000165/links-to-online-resources-and-activities-for-children-and-adults-

Keeping a Diary

It may be cathartic if children kept a diary during the school closure. Writing something down is in itself, one way of dealing with a stressful, worrying situation. Who knows, your child's diary may be a historical source one day!

Oak National Academy

The Academy offers 180 video lessons each week for schools to use, across a broad range of subjects. The lessons cover children in Reception through to Year 10 and are free to use by both teachers and young people. Access the lessons here: https://www.thenational.academy/

BBC Bitesize

The BBC has today launched an education package across TV and online, featuring celebrities and teachers, helping to keep children learning at home and supporting parents. Access the resources here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize.

Parents Working from Home

If you find yourself working from home over the coming weeks and months, there are a number of free online SEN courses you may wish to work on for your own professional development, irrespective of whether or not you are a teacher. They are:

Speech and Language and Communication:

https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/projects/professional-development/online-short-course/

Trauma Informed Practice:

https://www.acesonlinelearning.com/

Understanding ADHD:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/understanding-adhd

Addressing Dyslexia:

http://addressingdyslexia.org/free-online-learning-modules

Furthermore, Harlow College have a range of free online courses in: