HOW ONLINE RESOURCES CAN MINIMISE DISRUPTION FOR STUDENTS AMIDST COVID-19

The Government has announced that, from Monday 23 March, all schools across the UK will close their doors until further notice, with the exception of children of key workers. This includes those the Government has defined as frontline “critical workers” – those working in health and social care, education and childcare, key public services, local and national government, food and other necessary goods, public safety and national security, transport, and utilities, communication and financial services. Schools will also remain open for vulnerable children, who are described as children that are supported by social care and those with safeguarding and welfare needs.

However, for the foreseeable future, most children will remain at home. This can be a challenging time for students, as they seek to continue learning curriculum-aligned content outside of their school setting. It’s essential that students continue to receive some educational support during this unprecedented time and are still able to take steps to help prepare them for their future.

To tackle the upcoming challenges head-on, many resources are readily available to be utilised at home to help minimise disruption to their education.

Sparx   

The overarching mission of Sparx is to tackle the low levels of maths attainment across the country through providing a series of maths tutorial videos that align with lesson content.

To support students through remote working, Sparx is offering Sparx Maths Virtual Classroom free of charge to any school that has closed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. This resource enables students to complete classwork remotely with an internet connection and helps reinforce key maths concepts through regular feedback loops.

Edmentum International

Edmentum International provides online learning resources for educators by providing tools that can be remotely accessed by primary and secondary school-age students, as well as those in higher education.

As well as paid content, Edmentum International also provides free online resources that are sure to keep students busy. This includes EducationCity, a part of Edmentum International’s ‘Next Step Stickers Resource Pack’, ideal for helping students to improve their overall work. EducationCity provides games for students aged 3-12 and is available online, 24 hours a day.

Wey Education

By embracing digital technology, Wey Education provides online teaching provisions through two established divisions – InterHigh, a non-selective fee paying online secondary school, and Academy21, a business-to-business division supporting local authorities and schools.

Through their contingency plan, Wey Education has been prepared to help students and teachers through school closures, helping educators be on the front foot of remote teaching and learning. During school closures, Wey Education can help train up to six teachers at one time on how to use their online teaching platform, so that teachers can effectively deliver live teaching to pupils.

CREST Awards

Every year, over 30,000 students aged 5-to-19 years of age enter awards created by the British Science Association, providing them with the opportunity to explore real-world science, technology and maths projects.

There are six different levels of CREST Award for a variety of age groups, that can be entered remotely. These range from Star, which comprises of eight hour-long activities for 5-7 year-olds, to Gold, a 70 hour project undertaken by 16-19 year-olds. These projects can keep all school-age year groups entertained throughout school closures.

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica is a fact-checked online encyclopaedia that provides a plethora of online resources including articles, videos and biographies.

A key resource that students can use remotely is LaunchPacks. This resource provides curriculum-aligned multimedia sets for Key Stage 3 and 4 students in geography and history. As these resources meet Ofsted requirements based on a balanced curriculum, students are able to pick up where they left off in the classroom and refresh key concepts, they have previous learned.

Throughout this period of uncertainty, students, teachers and parents can feel reassured that there is a wide range of online resources available that can enable students to continue receiving a high-quality education without a physical classroom. The initial transition to learning from home can be challenging, but with a variety of support and resources available, disruption to students’ education will be minimised, providing much reassures to students, teachers, families, and the wider education sector.

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