It’s the mid-week point – hopefully, you and your child have settled back into a routine that’s working for you. It’s working for this parent: ‘I just wanted to pass on our thanks and gratitude for all the home learning that is being prepared… We thank you all for your continued help and support – it is invaluable!’
We’re keen to hear suggestions about how we can improve what we’re providing at the moment, and I’ve mentioned some things in the last couple of days. Something important to remember: tomorrow’s home learning tasks will be published this evening at 7pm and teachers will continue to publish the home learning the night before. This follows some suggestions from you so that you have time to prepare.
For the rest of today’s message, it’s over to the government and – far more importantly – to two of our Year 6 children!
Guidance for parents and carers on supporting their children’s education
The Department for Education has published information, guidance and support for parents and carers of children who are learning at home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It’s similar to the advice we’ve offered over the last four weeks or so, but you might want to read it:
- Guidance on helping children aged 2 to 4
- Guidance on helping primary school aged children
- Guidance on helping children with special educational needs and disabilities
The government has also updated its guidance for parents and carers on the closure of educational settings with additional information on the support available for parents, online educational resources and support for vulnerable children.
We know how to wash our hands… don’t we?
I found this update (over the Easter holiday period) more interesting – it explains a bit some advice we’ve made in the past, which is to wash hands with soak and water rather than rely on sanitiser:
It is essential that everyone washes their hands more often, using soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Hand washing with soap employs mechanical action that loosens bacteria and viruses from the skin, rinsing them into the drain. Drying hands afterwards makes the skin less hospitable to the virus. Hand sanitiser can be effective if soap is not available or the situation makes using soap less feasible (i.e. when outside) but using hand sanitiser provides none of the virus-destroying friction that rubbing your hands together and rinsing with water provides.
Read more about the latest guidance and video on hand washing.
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene. Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3.
Finally, updates from some Year 6 children…
Nothing has really been normal recently so why don’t you take advantage of that. Try baking or cooking with your child. You could even get them to do meal planning, which can teach them to be prepared when the are older. Also, email your child’s class teacher- they would love to know what your child is doing!
To make your child feel more like they are at school, try to keep a timetable but make sure you and your child are having breaks between the work.
Thanks for that, Amelie – lots of good advice for parents there.
Lily, meanwhile, has two top tips for children:
Don’t forget to get out in the sun (but don’t forget your sun protection). I know it can be tough getting yourself into the routine of doing it when it feels just like the summer holidays!
Don’t forget to send us some pictures of you doing the work and having fun at home!
There’ll be more updates from our Year 6 children (and quite probably from the government, too) in future messages from us!