Schools and teachers of today have had to embrace online learning more than any other generation. Some have faced up to the challenge brilliantly which has made a tremendous difference to parents struggling to get to grips with the technology and sometimes reluctant learners at home. The best examples of online learning and teaching that has emerged has been when the task and instructions are clear and unambiguous and do not require previous knowledge from the parents and carers. Some adults may not be confident in their own academic ability and this has caused difficulties when trying to support their children often trying to use teaching methods that are alien to them. Teachers that have provided a variety of activities with a mix of practical and written tasks understand that... Read More »
For some children literacy and specifically writing fills them with dread and the thought of writing a story causes a great deal of anxiety to them. This may be for a number of reasons such as fear of spelling the words correctly, fine motor skills issues that make it physically difficult to write or struggling for ideas, whichever of these reasons is causing the pupil to be reluctant to write it is the teacher’s job to try to help and support these children so that they can become confident writers in the future. Motivating children to want to write is a key principle here and different stimuli work for different children. It is thought that boy writers are more inclined to prefer non-fiction writing such as instructions or reports and... Read More »
For many parents, the news that schools were again closing left them wondering how they were going to cope with the demands of home schooling their children especially for those that are trying to work from home at the same time. This time there is an expectation that children will complete three to five hours of schoolwork a day which is proving to be a huge undertaking for parents with children of different ages. Schools are doing their best to provide contact with teachers and tasks for children to complete along with feedback for work completed. Each school is taking a slightly different approach trying to find a way to support children and their parents in their area whilst also teaching critical worker children who are coming into school. So,... Read More »
It is widely recognised that a child’s self-esteem is a contributing factor to their progress at school and their behaviour in the classroom and so it is vitally important that staff in school aim to build and develop positive self-esteem wherever possible. There are a number of ways in which this can be encouraged in the classroom and in the wider school community. Firstly, the whole ethos of the school should be one of mutual respect where every pupil is valued. The idea that every child has the potential to excel in something is an important one and children should be encouraged to explore lots of different avenues to find their niche not just the academic routes that so often are prevalent in school. Giving children small responsibilities in the... Read More »
This Christmas is going to be like no other. Although we are all hoping that we will be able to get to see at least some of our loved ones, it is likely to be a lot quieter than usual. Schools are having to have a rethink about how they do all of their usual activities on the build up to Christmas as many of them will either have to be scrapped completely or changed to allow for social distancing. Christmas plays in many schools have been cancelled or some have decided to just do them per class and film them for the parents to watch from the comfort of their own home. Another tradition that has had to be rethought is the Christmas disco that many children have at... Read More »
