06. Want some ideas?

Oak National Academy has launched it’s online classroom and resource hub. The Academy offers 180 video lessons each week, across a broad range of subjects. The lessons cover children in Reception through to Year 10 and are free to access. The outstanding resources is easy to access, with no account or log in required. Useful information includes a clear FAQs document for  parents, carers and pupils on how to use Oak and a step-by-step videos on how to access their resources.

Hamilton Trust (home learning section)– downloadable resource packs with guidance. The packs can form the backbone of children’s learning at home and are stand-alone or usable alongside other materials. Five weeks of daily resources from Reception to Year 6.
TTS Activity Books – these activity books provide curriculum-focused independent learning resources for the Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key stage 2.  With over 40 easy to use and clearly explained tasks which are free to download and print.

Oxford Owl for Home– a wealth of free resources and activities – lots of new eBooks to the eBook library, plus extensive support if you follow the Read Write Inc. Phonics reading scheme. With maths, spelling, phonics & games, there is something for everyone.

BBC Bitesize –   a wealth of video links, programmes, quizzes and activities that related to the aspects of the curriculum. This excellent education package now includes daily lessons featuring celebrities and teachers.

twinkl home learning hub – for new ideas, activities, pack and even live videos, all updated daily.

25 non-screen activities – a range of fun activities that children can do at home.

Philosophy challenges – Spot and Stripe love to argue about juicy questions. In each short video, they ask a question and invite children to continue the debate!

For 4-7 year olds

For 8-11 year olds

30 day Lego challenge– fun Lego activities.

Classroommagazines.scholastic.com– cross curricular activities for all age groups.

Sustrans Outside In– a free resource providing fun ideas and inspiration for parents to bring education, health and wellbeing activities into their home. Parents can access resources by registering for a free parent newsletter. Over four weeks, you receive weekly videos, themed activities, games and challenges.

National geographic kids – online magazine.

BBC Good Food for children – recipes to make with children.

The Guardian’s 20 learning apps for stir-crazy kids – fun-filled educational apps. The “younger children” apps are most suitable for preschool and early primary kids, while the “older children” apps are more for later primary and early secondary age.

Play in lockdown – advice and ideas to help create enabling play environments at home.

This section is for ideas suggested by our Barnes Primary School community.  If you have any ideas you wish to add, please email Anneli ahegarty@barnes.richmond.sch.uk

Huffington post – fun and wacky things for kids to do in lockdown

Audible – is offering free children’s books whilst the schools are closed

Minecraft education edition– Microsoft has made some of its educational Minecraft games freely available online until the end of June. It can be downloaded for Windows, Mac or iPad. All Barnes Primary children now have licenses via their Office 365 accounts. Follow this link and use their school email address and password. 

Barefoot – has fun and creative activities, built by teachers to help you guide your child through fundamental parts of the computing curriculum without the need for screen time. They include everything you need to get started with activity sheets and accompanying materials. This resource also offers mini missions and interactive games. 

Chrome Music Lab – a great way for children to get creative with music and explore its connections to science, maths, art, dance and more. It’s free, you don’t need to set up an account and it works across all devices.

Scratch 3– an amazing free resource suitable for KS2. With Scratch, Children can program their own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share their creations with others in the online community. The “ideas” sections contains fabulous activities and tutorials. 

Scratch Jr – is an introductory programming language that enables young children (ages 5-7) to create their own interactive stories and games. Children snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. The “Learn” section contains useful guidance, descriptions and hints and tips.

Hour of Code – is another outstanding resource. It is free to use and offers a wide range of coding activities for all ages, covering all the fundamentals of programming . Most of the activities have their own tutorial to follow, which lead children through each step of the challenge. Suitable for beginners and more comfortable coders, this website offers something for everyone, including unplugged (no iPad/laptop/PC required) activities. 

code.org – offers a range of outstanding activities for all ages, including code breaks, hour of code activities, useful videos and a whole catalogue of courses. Courses teach the fundamentals of coding (sequencing, loops, events, etc), are age appropriate and children can work through them at their own pace. Children don’t need an account to access the activities, however if you set up an account their progress will be saved.

The video below offers an overview of what is on offer.

Art is where the home is – featuring contributions from UK artists, these artist activity packs are full of ideas about how to get creative at home.

Access Art – has many wonderful resources suitable for children, teenagers and parents to use at home during self-isolation. 

Tate  kids– loads of ideas and access to online galleries, activities, games and quizzes. 

Young Design Museum – Whether you’ve found yourself in charge of your children’s school day, or  are simply  after some creative fun to fill an afternoon.

Royal Academy family how to – greats family fun art ideas.

Artful parent – a directory of 500+ kids arts and crafts activities, including painting, drawing, scilpture, collage and suncatchers. 

BBC Art Ninja – has loads for fun art and craft ideas.

 Virtual tours of 12 famous museums

Supporting home learning routines – Planning the day

7 top tips to support reading at home

Shared reading is a great way to develop children’s language and communication and to boost their reading skills.

This resource provides 7 top tips to help families have fun with reading.

A version tailored to Key Stage 2 children is available, as well as 7 translations, to ensure that it is accessible to families for whom English is an additional language.