
We are collating remote learning resources and other tips curated/created by schools and trusts, so all can benefit. This page will be updated regularly, so please email comms@challengepartners.org if you have resources to share with other schools or tag us on Twitter @ChallengePartnr
On this page we have details of:
- Sharing Leading Practice events
- Recent Ofsted visit insights
- Digital learning tips and resources
- Wellbeing resources
- Recovery curricula
- Resources for disadvantaged pupils
- Resources for special schools and SEND pupils
- Lessons from America
- CPD resources
- Children in school resources
- Links to official information eg DfE, NHS and translated NHS advice
There are further resources here including on anti-racism in schools. NB: Partner schools can access a far more extensive range of resources shared by trusts and schools, catalogued by theme, in the Members Area (login required).
Sharing Leading Practice
Join us at our virtual and face to face Sharing Leading Practice events, which offer great opportunities to learn, collaborate and challenge. We also have an archive of any webinars which you may have missed.
Ofsted
Blog: When inspectors called - insight into processs of recent Ofsted visit
Tips for digital learning
- Guidance on what's working well in remote education January 2021 (Ofsted)
- School leaders on what worked for them to deliver remote education: primary school webinar or secondary (United Learning)
- English and international resources about online teaching, collated by Roy Blatchford of Blinks (recommended by Marc Rowland)
- Tools for schools to support home learning and parental engagement to maximise impact and new review of core elements to make remote learning effective (EEF)
- Learning at home resources shared by the Greater London Authority
- Cassie Buchanan shares useful insights here into how Charles Dickens' virtual school has developed and adapted - including timetabling for the rhythms of the family home.
- Lal Chadeesingh of The Behavioural Insights Team shared research findings with school leaders at our Senior Partners' meeting last week - including the value of motivational messages for pupils, and engaging parents digitally. Find out more and watch the webinar here.
- A short video summary of the Education Endowment Foundation rapid learning assessment on remote learning, put together by Charles Dickens Research School. They said it's important as primary schools are making lots of assumptions about what works based on research from older students.
- Daisy Christodoulou blog: Remote learning pitfalls to avoid and 10 programmes to try
- John Hattie - Does it matter if children are not in school? Blog on the impact of home on learning, ways to engage students, potential for Edmodo and other social media (Professor of Education and Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute)
Resources for digital learning
- Oak National Academy: Teacher Hub has 10,000 free lessons, curriculum maps, presentations and worksheets to download and edit. Their Support Area has how-to videos, FAQs, template letters and more. Oak are also hosting regular support webinars covering remote teaching advice, a tour of our free resources and practical ways to save teachers time, teaachers can register for them here. Oak also offer a guide to support available from the DfE and the mobile networks for families struggling with connection.
They have recently added a Virtual School Library to keep children reading during lockdown. Every week, a popular children's author will become our ‘Author of the Week’ and provide a free book or audiobook aimed at primary school children available at library.thenational.academy.
- Learning at home resources shared by the Greater London Authority
- Teaching staff at Holy Cross Catholic Primary in South London have made personal films for their classes, and parents welcomed this human contact and encouragement. They also still send a newsletter each week to foster a sense of community and encourage small steps/achievement.
- Sally Garrett headteacher of The Ashley School Academy Trust said Picture News have some great resources based around current affairs, and Lucy's in Lockdown is a fabulous ebook exploring social and emotional aspects of lockdown. Also Developing Experts, a science programme (£100 for 3 years) where everyone has home login and the school can set lessons to do.
- The Brilliant Club are offering free pupils resources here, including videos about life at university and the chance to a modern history masterclass about religious minorities in the time of a pandemic.
- Oak National Academy, a new online classroom and resource hub, will be launched and available to all teachers from 21st April. 40 teachers are producing over 180 online lessons each week until schools fully re-open, covering core subjects from maths and English, to art and languages. Click here to access the site.
- Leo Academy Trust shared these for primary schools: regularly updated website links for distance learning and CPD
- Chartered School of Teaching have put together a page of resources/links.
- English mastery and maths mastery links here for primary and secondary schools.
- We've had good feedback from LEO academies about schoolexams.co.uk, a platform that hosts past papers for KS2 and GCSE. They would like to offer free licenses for 6 months to all schools in our network as a supplementary resource for students.
- Chiltern TSA: BBC Bitesize has always been a brilliant resource, which covers the curriculum and is divided into each key stage.
- Charles Dickens Primary School: Our Virtual School is live! Lessons for every year inc. French, music, art. Where possible, everything you need to join in Head over to the website - find your year!
- Elliot Costas-Walker in Knowsley worked with Oxford University Press to support trusts and schools with Home Learning. OUP have put together comprehensive support and have opened up many of their platforms for schools to use to facilitate learning at home – for primaries and secondary schools: Oxford Owl free access for School and Home – wealth of free content on Owl for Home, including our full eBook library, activity sheets, and support videos, which will help parents whilst children are away from the classroom.
Wellbeing
- Covid wellbeing resources, advice and support + free for teachers Mental Health Training Foundation programme (Place2Be)
- Teaching Emotional intelligence and wellbeing (Charles Dickens Research School)
- Coronavirus: 7 ways to help pupil mental health
- Resources to help support parents and young people during lockdown (Save the Children)
Recovery curriculum
-
EEF report to support school leaders plan for the unpredicable year ahead: focusing on high quality teaching, targeted academic report, wider strategies
- Webinar in which Barry Carpenter discusses A Recovery Curriculum: Reconnection, Re-igniting and Resilience (Chartered College)
- Designing a Recovery Curriculum - Mike Garvey (Herts and Bucks hub)
- What can we learn from others' experience of learning loss and recovery curriculua - Andrew Jones reviews international evidence (Herts and Bucks TSA)
- Recovery Curriculum - great planning templates and resources from our Compass Hub
- Barry Carpenter's Recovery Curriculum podcasts, which Ash Field Hub have found useful for a special school setting.
- Our Trustee Gary Handforth of Bright Futures Education Trust shared this Manchester University recovery paper, which they are going to use aspects of in some of their discussions this term. It positions the recovery from this pandemic as having far more reaching implications/issues than the response phase.
Provision for vulnerable and disadvantaged children
- Marc Rowland on strategies for supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils - webinar and blog.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have pulled together lots of helpful resources available to help support mental health and well-being here.
- The Conversation: Supporting children through the coronavirus pandemic – lessons from the autistic community
- Chair of our Excellence for Everyone advisory Board, Marc Rowland, shares some strategies to consider around distance learning for disadvantaged pupils.
Resources for special schools and SEND
- The TES are offering free webinars from expert SEND consultants on how to overcome the implications of school closures and general SEN top tips. Starting on 21st April, sessions are every Tuesday and Thursday at 10am. Contributors include Jo Johnson, David Bartram, Natalie Packer, Abigail Hawkins and Carol Vorderman. Find out more and register here.
- UCL centre for inclusive education have launched a Facebook group to support parents of students with special needs.
Lessons from America
Jay Altman of Firstline Schools spoke to our National Network Meeting and recommended these US resources:
- Transcend Education - including Leaps for Equitable 21st Century Learning
- Digital Promise
- New Classrooms (Teach to One)
- Using Technology to Tailor Lessons to Each Student (New York Times)
- Learning Accelerator quality drivers for remote learning
- Social Stories (Van Ness Elementary)
- Success Coaching Playbook (Brooklyn Lab School)
- Valor Collegiate
- Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
CPD
- Julian Grenier, headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children's Centre in Newham, East London, blog on using the updated Development Matters to support assessment and curriculum design - Assessment beyond levels in the early years: improving learning for all children
- Bengeworth Multi-Academy Trust are redeploying their Ed Psych, Speech Therapy and other external agency staff to run online coaching and CPD with staff. Sharing here: key resources for this SEND CPD.
- Medway Teaching School Alliance are curating virtual CPD on their website and recommend some (short) articles on life in lockdown: Why are Zoom meetings more exhausting? and Why do I have the attention span of a goldfish?
- Manor Leas Primary, Lincoln, like Heads Up training on psychology of leadership - high quality training and connections. Has free materials around effective video conferencing, eg having difficult conversations.
- Chiltern Teaching Alliance are hosting a free series of online professional development sessions. You can sign up here
- Cheam Common Junior: Training slides to support your staff using Jamboard from Google Education for children's distance learning
Children in school
- Free to use social distancing posters and stickers (shared by The Courtyard school)
- Good handwashing guide (Certified Nursing Assistants)
- Primary - stories to help pupils with return to school covering new rules and what they have been doing at home: The Tale of Going Back to School and The Tale of Going Back to Nursery & Pre-School
- What happened when a school had a pupil attend with Covid-19 case, including who they contacted and how they have enhanced health and safety since
Signposting
- Department for Education coronavirus helpline 0800 046 8687 (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday) and email address: DFE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
- Doctors of the World UK have translated NHS updated guidelines + resources on to how to stay safe - available now in English, Albanian, Dari, French, Pashto, Portuguese, Bengali, Vietnamese, Kurdish Sorani The guidance is based on the government’s advice and health information and will be updated here.
- NHS website
- NHS 111 online
- FAQs on coronavirus
- Number of coronavirus cases, symptoms and other guidance (Gov.uk – updated)
- Myth busters on the coronavirus from the World Health Organization