Home Teaching Resource Ideas
Dear parents and carers,
I just wanted to share with you some resources. I hope that some or all of them might be useful to you.
We know that learning at home can bring both rewards and challenges and we are so grateful for the engagement of our school parent group during this period of school closure. We do not underestimate the challenges that many of you will be facing with managing work, home and schooling commitments at the moment. I know from my own experiences that there will be times at home when everything is going well and other times when managing everything can seem impossible. I hope that the short documents attached will give you some reassurance and useful strategies during challenging times.
As a school our aim is to check in with all families every week to see how things are going and support in any way we can. This contact will mostly take place with class teachers phoning home. Additionally our learning support assistants are also working to offer additional support and guidance to some identified children over the phone. I will also be following up with any families that we have not been able to make contact with so we know that everyone is safe and well. Please remember that you are not alone, you are doing an amazing job, there will be highs and lows and above all we are all in this together.
Take care and best wishes
Visual Resources:
Social Stories
What are Social Stories?
Social stories are mostly used for autistic people. Social stories are short and simple descriptions that are created with the intention of helping the person to understand a particular activity or situation, along with the how to behave in that situation. Social stories also alleviate anxiety by giving precise information on what the person could observe or experience.
Presenting the Story to the Student
Ensure there are no distractions The stories should be read often. The student should share the story with a range of people.
When to Stop
The student will directly or indirectly let you know when to stop reading a social story. The most obvious signal is when he/she is less confused in the specific social situation and behaves more appropriately. Continue to read the story for a short while after to remind the student.
Examples of social stories explaining the Corona Virus
https://www.flipsnack.com/KeshetChicago/coronavirus-social-story/full-view.html
What is Coronavirus? – Help Children Understand
Visual Resources
Useful website links:
Maths games on (for a range of abilities and ages), which can be played independently. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
https://www.skillsworkshop.org/
https://www.skillsforlifenetwork.com/article/resource-showcase/862
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/games
https://www.helpfulgames.com/subjects/english/
TTRockstars: Teachers will provide student accounts
Wellbeing
OWN IT – a support for young people around all aspects of mental healthUser friendly resource with videos, activities and links to support networks covering topics like feeling anxious, bullying and mental health tips.
Home Learning Activities
Resource packs for each year group to help your students learn from home.
https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/free-home-learning-packs/
Parent-Zone: Digital family experts providing support/information to parents, children & schools.
Safe4Me
- Parents are overwhelmed: here’s where we can all help
- NCA warns of increased threat from child sex offenders during coronavirus pandemic
- How to look after your family’s mental health when stuck indoors
- Free Resources for Schools (share with parents)
- ParentZone Blog, News & Posts page
Remember Parent-Zone is offering free Digital Resilience membership until end of June 2020 to help schools support parents – providing resources for parents, plus support and training for you/your team, including exclusive suite of online training courses and access to the Parent Lounge. Visit offer page for more details: https://parentzone.org.uk/membership/digital-resilience-membership
Physical Activity Ideas:
https://www.safefood.eu/Start/Healthy-Living/Getting-active.aspx
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/50-things-to-do-before-youre-11–activity-list
Here are some useful links for Sensory class students (might be useful for others too):
http://www.priorywoods.middlesbrough.sch.uk/page/?title=Resources&pid=3
https://www.helpkidzlearn.com/
Sensory Class
Food Tech Recipes
Science
Free Science Lessons – videos with questions to answer as you go through and workbooks.
e-Chalk (KS3&4)- online simulations.
Twig (KS3&4) – online multimedia database, videos are no longer than 5 minutes and there are some interactive quizzes and worksheets, but mainly used as a multimedia platform for consolidation of ideas.
BBC teach – The BBC is starting Daily Lessons from 20th April
across their online platforms.