Readers, this blog is again aimed at parents and carers - please, if you can, share the blogpost with parents/carers via your chosen communication channels (shortlink: https://wp.me/p8Z4W4-Tw).
Many of us are settling in to a different routine with regards to how we approach our daily lives; each day requires us to adapt and be flexible. Lots of parents and carers are now juggling the demands of working from home whilst trying to keep their own children entertained, active and most importantly happy! Keep going, we are all doing our best in very difficult circumstances.
At LGfL we know individual schools are approaching the school closure in a variety of different ways and also know there is no right or wrong response/guidance. All establishments are doing their very best to support home learning with the resources they have available to them.
Earlier in the week, my colleague Bradley (a father to two primary school aged children) wrote a blog "A Parents'/Carers' Guide to Home Learning". He is also planning on running a parents/carers' live webinar in the future, to showcase LGfL for those who were previously unfamiliar with the resources we host.
In the meantime, I thought I would put together a timetable for (some) of the activities I have seen being advertised. This is by no mean exhaustive and every day more and more people are starting up YouTube channels, Facebook Live events and other such ways to share things you can do with your children. Also, do bear in mind that, your children are likely to work through activities quicker than they would when in a class of 30; one to one or one to a small group means you are likely to be able to cover far more content! Also remember that you cannot replicate a typical school day and to try, where possible, to get outside with your children and limit the amount of screen time.
Daily Timetable - what is on offer at set times of the day?
| Time | Brief description | Link to activity |
| 9:00 | PE lesson with Joe Wicks (30 mins) | https://www.youtube.com/thebodycoachtv |
| 9:30 | English Activities with Pie Corbett, Deputy Mitchell, Ian Rockey and Russell Prue Wildlife with Steve Backshall on Facebook (answering wildlife, biology, conservation, geography and exploration questions) |
https://radioblogging.net/ |
| 11:00 | Super Sentence Stacking Webinar Let’s Go Live with Maddie and Greg (science and nature) |
Jane Considine - English Webinar Free Subscription - //bit.ly/2UoAMxo |
| 11:30 | Dance with Oti Mabuse live on Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/OtiMabuse/ |
| Any time | LGfL’s DigiSafeDaily (a worksheet with reminders to stay safe) White Rose Maths Lessons English Activity - free online projects from Lit Film Fest Complete some of the micro:bit projects Draw along videos (with Rob Bidduplh) LEO Academy lessons:
Gareth Metcalfe - I See Maths Stay at Home Storytime with Oliver Jeffers Little Inventors Daily Challenge Discovery (ready to print or download, Discovery have unlocked a collection of activity-based worksheets). New Horizon - Meditation & Sleep Stories |
digisafedaily.lgfl.net whiterosemaths.com/homelearning http://www.robbiddulph.com/draw-with-rob http://www.iseemaths.com/home-lessons/ https://www.oliverjeffers.com/books#/abookaday/ |
| Yoga, mindfulness and relaxation designed especially for kids aged 3+, used in schools and homes all over the world. | https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga |
Graham Andre (who was at the centre of the BBC's 'No More Boys and Girls' programme that explored gender equality issues in schools) has also put together a padlet which contains some of the suggestions above; where it is a live document, he will be adding further suggestions, so do visit that too. Please visit Graham Andre's Padlet. (Image shown below):
Do remember that we are continually updating our advice on the LGfL Coronvirus page (you will note there is a parent tab on there too, see image below).
From the parent tab you will find information about the changes we made to help our schools offer continued meaningful education during school closures ie the majority of LGfL learning resources have been changed to open access (no login needed). There are also links highlighting the LGfL resources which best lend themselves to being used for learning at home.
Both BusyThings and Just2Easy have simplified LGfL access to their resources during the school closures.
For BusyThings, if pupils are unable to use LGfL USO logins, teachers should contact Busy Things and they will be able to issue them with temporary login details for both teachers and pupils to use at any time.
You can call Sue on 01332 364963 or email sue@busythings.co.uk if you have queries as a parent; they are happy to help during school closures and will be able to advise regarding what your school has in place.
BusyThings have reported a high volume of calls asking about logging in from LGfL. If you are unfamiliar with LGfL.net and your child has a USO username and password, you will want to log in at "myLGfL" (this is the far right tab):
Children's USO will generally be their inital and surname (sometimes a number depending on popularity of surname) and a number which identifies the borough. An example would be lsmith1.319 (this is the username) and then it would require a password (unfortunately staff at LGfL, BusyThings and Just2Easy cannot access this password for you).
Once you are logged in and have searched for BusyThings, you will be taken to the BusyThings summary page.
In the top right hand corner you will need to launch BusyThings by clicking on the red "launch resource".
Once you have launched the resource, you will then get a screen as shown below:
You will need to choose the top "Normal USO login".
For the J2eToolsuite (from Just2Easy), if schools haven't got USO (unified sign on) sorted for pupils yet - you can now login to #just2easy here.
The #DigiSafeDaily challenge is to remind parents & pupils about staying safe online. It is includes a question (answers given the following day) and reminders to get active & creative: digisafedaily.lgfl.net for #stayingsafe while #homelearning.
Additionally, there is a NEW flyer aimed at parents and carers to help keep children #SafeOnline during Corona #schoolclosures. Mark Bentley from LGfL DigiSafe explains the 'Six Top Tips' given in the poster and suggests you print it out and place on the fridge.
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To help ease the burden, if you are on Twitter or Facebook do look at #RemoteLearning #Edtech #HomeLearningUK people are being encouraged to share resources and make learning accessible by adopting these hashtags.
Remember, if you need any support for our learning content you can contact the Inspire Team by emailing contentsupport@lgfl.net or contact the LGfL Switchboard: 020 82 555 555.