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The National Academy- Online Learning

Mon 20 Apr 2020

Oak National Academy is a new collection of high-quality lessons and online resources. Backed by the Government, it has been created in response to the coronavirus lockdown.

Our online classroom offers free access to great teachers, delivering video lessons, quizzes and worksheets. Available for both primary and secondary levels, it covers a range of subjects. All of the lessons are ordered so your child can learn along a clear plan. We’ll provide new lessons and resources each week.

Oak National Academy will fit alongside other resources such as BBC Bitesize to offer a structure for the day for children until schools fully reopen.

Oak National Academy was built at speed; at present our resources are for pupils who usually access their schools’ curriculum in mainstream education, from reception through to year 10, without significant support or adaptation.

https://www.thenational.academy/online-classroom/schedule

BBC Home Learning *Starting Monday 20th April

Fri 17 Apr 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

As you will know, BBC Education’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Bitesize Daily, launches this Monday April 20th to support parents and children learning at home over the next 14 weeks. You will be hearing more about the new service over the next few days via TV, radio and online trails.

BBC Bitesize Daily programmes will be available on any TV via the Red Button and online on any device on BBC iPlayer with teachers, experts and famous faces covering what each age group should be learning that day.

Bitesize Daily Lessons will offer a tailored learning experience for every age group between Years 1 and 10, drawing in the best of our existing BBC Bitesize content with activities and input from the best of the broader education industry, who have generously thrown their weight behind our work. These will be available via the BBC Bitesize website and will deliver a newly created Maths and English lesson every day, as well as a lesson in another curriculum topic, for each year group. We hope this content will be a useful resource for teachers.

All lesson plans have been devised by teachers. And there’s a host of well-known faces on board to host the programmes including Karim Zeroual and Katie Thistleton, plus specialist subject support on Maths from Bobby Seagull and Rachel Riley, and on English from Matt Barton.

Every week we’ll have an age appropriate ‘Book Club’ for young learners with books being read in week one by Strictly Come Dancing stars Oti Mabuse and Diane Buswell, comedian Russell Kane and England rugby player Maro Itoje.

We’re also delighted to have worked with organisations including the RSC, Premier League, Twinkl, TES, Pearson, SAM Learning, Sparx, Oxford University Press and children’s publishers including Puffin Books, Nosy Crow and Macmillan too.

Please visit:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/dailylessons

Food Parcels and Hot Meal Support

Thu 16 Apr 2020

Dear Parents

There has been an incredible response from individuals and communities in the borough in the fight to beat challenges faced from Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Willenhall Chart Centre is able to support families with Food Parcels and the Guru Nanek Gurudwara is now offering free evening hot food deliveries for those in need.

If you require a Food Parcel, or a hot meal delivered to your door, please contact Willenhall Chart Centre on: 01902 368199.

I hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe and well.

Mr M Dakin

Walsall Music Hub (Singing Opportunities)

Thu 02 Apr 2020

Good morning everybody

I hope that you are all keeping well during these challenging times, and that you are all in good health.

As vocal coordinator of Walsall I have been tasked with the challenge of offering the children of your schools an opportunity to get singing online.

I have created an online choir, and I would love to know that the talented children that I have worked with, either on a Christmas project, or a singing festival, have access to the project.

I have launched the project on YouTube to enable easy access to most of the children. Here is the link:

https://youtu.be/Nn1tcXK1fHg

I understand that getting the word out to your students may not be that easy, but I am hoping that you can reach a few at least.

If you feel the project may benefit your students, and give them an extra something to fill their time at home then I ask you to share with as many as you can.

There are even some harder harmony lines coming out on a later video this week for my advanced older singers. I even have some of my singing teacher friends looking forward to joining in.

Many thanks for your attention, and I hope to see you all again soon.

Kind regards

James

James Maddison

Vocal coordinator

Walsall Music Education Hub & Service

Walsall Arena & Arts Centre (Forest Arts Centre)

Hawbush Road,

Leamore

Walsall

WS3 1AG

Tel:01922-654555

email:jmaddison@walmused.org.uk

Home Learning Encouragement...

Wed 01 Apr 2020

Well, we’re coming to the end of the first week with the children at home. How did it go?

It might have been delightful in your house, it might have been… er… less than delightful. For most of us, it’s probably been a mix of the two. Hopefully the first week has given you a feel for the things that work well, the things that everyone enjoys, and the things that are going to be tricky.

However the first week went, it’s over now. The weekend gives us a chance to take a deep breath, reflect, and get ready, knowing more about what we’re in for. To help prepare, here’s my non-exhaustive list of practical things to get ready for life at home with primary children.

1. Stop putting the recycling box out

If you’re at home with primary children, the chances are you’re going to be doing some junk modelling at some point. Start stockpiling the empty boxes now: every cereal packet is a potential robot part that you might need in the future.

2. Find something to plant

With an extended period of time at home, there’ll be plenty of time to watch something grow. As well as all of the learning involved, looking after and nurturing something is good for the soul – and goodness knows we could all do with that at the moment.

If you don’t have seeds and pots, don’t worry: an ordinary potato planted in a bucket or waterproof box (with holes in the bottom) should give your children a plant to look after.

3. Find your online pin for the library

Libraries are wonderful places when you can visit them, but they’re also great when you can’t. With your online pin, you can access all of their digital resources, including eBooks and audiobooks.

Depending on where you are, you might be able to sign into an app like PressReader or RBdigital to get free access to magazines and comics. If you haven’t got an online pin, it’s worth contacting the library to see if they’ll send you one. You can also find hundreds of free ebooks on Oxford Owl, as well as some brilliant storyteller videos.

4. Sort out your special or magic items

Every primary school teacher knows the power of the ‘special’ something. For the reluctant writer in Year 1, breaking out ‘the magic pencil’ can be enough to get the words flowing. For older children, magic can be replaced with technology – a ‘specially engineered pen that only works if you use it slowly and carefully’ sorts out most messy handwriting pretty quickly.

Equally, most scrapes can be cured by a dab with a wet paper towel and a special Elsa/football plaster. Perhaps now would be a good time to create a special talking chair where we can curl up if we want to have a chat about any worries, or a special blanket that cheers us up if we wrap it around ourselves.

5. Hide some toys

Really? Surely we need all the distractions we can find at the moment?

Well, here’s the thinking: you know when you’re sorting out a cupboard and you find a toy that hasn’t been played with for ages and it causes huge excitement? That. Hiding some toys now allows them to be ‘found’ in a few weeks time when children are bored of their current playthings. You’re welcome.

6. Think about how to organise the day

In the last blog post, we looked at different ways to organise the day, ranging from a daily timetable to a completely free, unstructured day. What works best will be different for different families. After a week at home, you’ll have a much better idea of what works and what doesn’t.

The weekend is a good time to reflect and perhaps make some changes ready for a fresh start next week. There’s nothing wrong with that – we’re all finding our way in strange circumstances.

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