Welcome!

While school is closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, many families may have to spend periods of time caring for and educating their children at home.  This webpage will be updated with activities and suggestions for keeping that going.  Also on this page, there is information about ClassDojo, the learning and communication tool we have adopted to keep contact between your child and class teacher going. 

Home Learning Environment

Our brains associate spaces with activities so setting up a physical space that is dedicated to learning will help you be successful learning at home. Here are some tips for setting up a learning space at home.

1. Choose a space
Find a space that can be set up for home learning. If possible, keep this as a space purely dedicated to home learning. If this isn’t possible, do what you can to show that it is time to learn, such as clearing away all other materials from that space.

2. Eliminate distractions
Keep the television off whilst your child is working. If your child has a phone, it would be a good idea to ask them to turn this off too.

3. Make it comfortable
Choose a chair that your child can sit comfortably in, and ensure that they have a desk, table or other flat surface to put their work on. Try to ensure that it is not a sofa or bed though. It is important that children see a separation between these things and their school work.

4. Good lighting
Make sure that the learning space is well lit, either by natural light or from lights and lamps.

5. Have all of your child’s learning supplies available
Encourage your child to keep all of their supplies tidy so that they can find whatever they need easily.

Routine - Establish a Daily Schedule and Stick to It!

Although it may be the easiest option, allowing your children unrestricted television time, gaming and use of the internet is not the best move. So, first of all, ensure that the game console, etc. are strictly rationed! 

Next - establish a plan which works for you and your family.   

Whilst your child is learning from home, whether they are isolating or if their whole bubble is at home, they will be set work in line with the subjects that they would normally have on any particular day at school. It may be helpful to encourage children to stick to the same timetable that they would have in school as well. These can be found on your child’s year group or class pages.  

It may be helpful to display a timetable somewhere in your child’s home learning workspace as a reminder of what they should be doing and when. 

If your child has to isolate, whether as an individual or if their bubble is closed for a period of time, the class teacher will upload daily work to Class Dojo, our remote learning platform.

This will largely be in line with the lessons and activities that they would be having at school, although in a format that allows them to learn independently at home. 

Make sure that regular breaks, including some physical activity, are scheduled into your child’s day, as well as a suitable bedtime.  Here's a suggestion:

7.30am Wakey, wakey!

8.00am Breakfast

8.30am Chores (set up a rota for your child to be involved with household maintenance)

9.00am PE with Joe Wicks (see below)

9.30am Individual reading

10.00am Maths (things set my school as well as Time Table Rockstars, Abacus and BBC Learning)

11.00am Break (maintaining social distancing, take a walk/run as a family)

11.30am English 

12.30am Lunch (sit down and eat together: avoid putting on the TV - listen to music and chat, share best moments of the day so far - and finish with the children taking their fair share in the tidying up)

1.30pm Arts and crafts (draw a picture, make something, be creative) or Topic Work [try alternating daily]

2.30pm Storytime: read aloud with each other (find a book to share - make this a special time when adults read to and entertain children)

3.00pm Assembly - this would be when school gets together, maintain the tradition.  If you are religious, pray together; if you are not religious, share more of the day's highlights and what you are looking forward to over the next few days.  Encourage your child to write down something, perhaps in a notebook which you intend to keep as a family, about this reflection.  Let them relax into the activity, taking pride in what they do. Each day you are together is precious - encourage them to see that.

3.30pm End the school day by encouraging your child to contact someone who would love to hear from them, whether an elderly relative, a neighbour in need or an absent friend - but keeping in mind the rules of isolation and social distancing.  A letter, note or phone call is all it needs.

3.45pm - bedtime Family time, including limited gaming/social internet use (keep bedtime at its usual time for a school day and not the same as adults - you need time away from the children too).

ClassDojo during the Coronavirus Pandemic

ClassDojo is the system school will use to maintain contact with our pupils during the time school is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Children need to use a QR code to enter the system and parents/carers have been provided with their own logins to monitor communications between teachers and pupils.  

Parents/carers should understand that, during the crisis, while teachers will do what they can to maintain the system within our usual 3-day service standards, it will not be possible to do so at evenings or weekends and, if staff become sick, they will not log into ClassDojo at all.  Teachers are likely to look at the system only between 8.50am and 3.30pm.  Urgent messages should be sent via the School Office email (office@allsaintsmaidenhead.org) in the usual way. Thank you.

Online Safety

Inevitably, children and families will be spending more time online during the lockdown.  In this section there are resources parents and carers can use to get a better understanding of the issues and material to support.

There is support available to keep your child safe online. Below are some useful links to help parents and carers:

• Thinkyouknow (advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online)
• Internet matters (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
• Parent info (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
• LGfL (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
• Net-aware (support for parents and carers from the NSPCC)
• Let’s Talk About It (support for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation)
• UK Safer Internet Centre (tips, advice, guides)

Getting Too Much?

While it is great having time with the children, being with them 24/7 can be a completely different story.  If you need help to keep on going, try these resources:

PE with Joe Wickes

PE with Joe Wickes has returned on his YouTube channel

Resources

The following links will take you to a range of useful resources and videos - please try them out:

Arts, Culture & Virtual Visits

Life during lockdown prevents us being out and about, so visits to heritage and cultural sites are off the agenda.  While such trips are not possible in the real world, the virtual world is a different story.  Check out the following document and links to get out-and-about without leaving home:

As-Live Theatrical Performances

Available here is access to stream National Theatre at Home and the Royal Opera House. It is strongly recommended that parents/carers check the contents of plays to ensure they are suitable for a family audience, if they choose to watch the productions with their children.