Week Ending 27^th March 2020

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope that you have all had a good week - whether it be in school, working from home or keeping yourself busy and occupied! It’s a strange time, and I hope that you are all managing to adapt OK.

Normally, I would be writing today to wish everyone well over the Easter holidays and to enjoy time off school. Today, that’s an adapted message as school is open over the next two weeks for the extremely vulnerable children and for the children who have front-line worker parents. For everyone else, I wish you a safe Easter period indoors with your loved ones. 

Life in school continues to be very different. We are loving spending time with the children here in different ways, but are also missing the regulars. I personally miss the buzz of the corridors, seeing you all in the playground, watching lessons take place and seeing the whole school together in Rainbow Rewards. As well as seeing the whole staff team all together, as we haven’t seen each other ‘as one’ in two weeks either.

We know that life for many is very different right now. Therefore, I wanted to share some links with you that have been coming my way over the last two weeks. This may seem like information overload, and I completely understand that, so please see this blog (and the links) as a resource bank (to dip in and out of, as you need to). Don’t look at them all at the same time (and some you may not want to read at all).

Mainly, these resources are either educational, fun or to support you with well-being and mental health. They may also help you to pass the time of day or to add that smile back when you may feel low.

By sharing these links, we are also possibly providing you with things to follow over the Easter period as no work or daily class Dojos will be sent over this time. We appreciate that some children may still want to stay busy and some of the following links may support you with that. Again, no pressure or expectation to work over the next two weeks, but just ideas to keep you going if you so wish.  

Helpful resources or ideas:

• Joe Wicks is doing a PE lesson for children at 9am every day on Youtube. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3LPrhI0v-w
• Yoga for Kids videos. Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
• World Book Online have 3,000 ebooks and audiobooks for free. Link: https://worldbook.kitaboo.com/reader/worldbook/index.html#!/
• Try a home tuck shop. For example, giving the children £1 a day to spend on snacks with fruit being the cheapest. You could try and encourage them to make monopoly money to use rather than actual money. 
• The Wind in the Willows stage show is now streaming for free. Link: https://www.willowsmusical.com/
• BBC Sounds App is free and has a children’s section with audiobooks, there is also a Mindful Mix of classical music which is very relaxing and might be helpful to you at the end of a busy day:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06q9h6q
• David Walliams is doing free audiobooks of his stories. Link: https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/

Zoos around the world are now doing live streaming for free, examples include:

• Edinburgh Zoo - https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/koala-cam/#koalacam
• Dublin Zoo - https://www.dublinzoo.ie/animals/animal-webcams/
• San Diego Zoo - https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams
• Paignton Zoo - https://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/explore/webcams

See also

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/games
• https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/
• http://www.kidsmathgamesonline.com/

• https://www.lbq.org/QuestionSets questions and quizzes set by year group and subject

English

• www.rsc.org.uk/education/teacher-resources/ Teaching packs and resources
• www.poetrysociety.org.uk Lesson packs and poetry to read and watch
• www.excellencegateway.org.uk/interactive-resources/literacy Foundation learning
• www.teachitenglish.co.uk Free subscription until end of April
• www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
• www.bl.uk British library online resources
• https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/ regular writing competitions

Maths

• www.teachitmaths.co.uk Free subscription until end of April
• www.topmarks.co.uk A range of websites and games – filter by key stage and subject
• www.bbc.com/education
• www.nrich.maths.org/9465
• www.cimt.org.uk/projects/mep/index.htm Select key stage to find interactive and printable resources
• www.mrbartonmaths.com Teaching videos and printable worksheets

Science

• https://global.oup.com/education/content/secondary/key-issues/ks3- science/?view=ProductList&region=uk Teaching packs and learning resources
• www.schoolscience.co.uk Articles, lessons and resources
• https://www.teachitscience.co.uk/ Free online subscription until end of April

Many of these have already been shared by teachers, through the weekly work, but some home learning books have still not been collected from school so these are purely reminders.

In addition to home learning, during COVID-19, we also need to think about support mechanisms for our mental health and wellbeing. Some of the following links are very useful and can also be accessed by adults within the school community:

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips/

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-at-home-tips/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-public-on-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-the-public-on-the-mental-health-and-wellbeing-aspects-of-coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/

http://www.em-edsupport.org.uk/Page/7730

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/publication/childrens-guide-to-coronavirus/

For now, I wish you all well and I am thinking of you all.

 
Keep inside as much as you can, folks. Keep safe and keep well. Miss you lots, but please “Keep smiling.”
 

Enjoy your weekend, and Easter, everyone!

Take care

Mrs Bates

Head Teacher