Unfortunately, although probably sensibly, it is likely that schools will close in the coming weeks so that social distancing can be upheld to halt the spread of coronavirus. This is a worrying time for schools with so much to think about. Many schools are looking to the government for advice on how they can use free school meals money to provide packs of food for families having to isolate. Also concerns over safeguarding of vulnerable pupils at this time will be top of everyone’s priority list. However, in amongst these concerns, schools are also trying to quickly gather ideas and links/sites/apps for parents and students to use at home to continue the learning as much as is possible/reasonable at this time.

For some schools a move to live online lessons is possible and practical. In others, however, such a move would be understandably so far from their current tech practices and capabilities, and/or would be inaccessible to many families who do not have sufficient broadband in the home, so as to make this an untenable position. For those families it might be more helpful to provide booklets of work they can complete at home at least in the short term until other decisions can be made and infrastructure put in place.

We still, of course, advocate strongly for adding home learning links to your school website. At any time this is really useful for parents who want to continue the learning at home, but now seems a particularly good time to share some links to sites, printable downloads, and apps that your parents might find useful.

Below are some of the top sites we know of who either always have free resources or have offered their resources and sites free in the event of mass school closures.

Printables

The TTS group have created beautiful home learning booklets for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 which you can download totally free without even inputting an email address. A very generous offering from them and the learning is all fun and interesting with extras such as an opportunity for the whole family to learn fingerspelling. Long at over a 100 pages each you might want to pick your favourite pages to print or email the whole booklet home for parents to pick and choose from.
https://www.tts-group.co.uk/home+learning+activities.html

Twinkl provides resources and downloads for all curriculum areas. Usually their premium content requires a subscription but they are offering all resources free in the event of school closures.
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/

Teacher’s Pet is another site offering lots of free printables for download across a wide range of subjects.
https://tpet.co.uk/

First News is a newspaper for children containing lots of (panic free!) sensible information on loads of the top international news stories. You can subscribe at a cost but everyone can download one digital copy for free at any time.
https://subscribe.firstnews.co.uk/free-downloadable-issue/

Online Learning

Teach Your Monster to Read is a wonderful game made in association with leading educational experts and follows phonic phases 1, 2 and 3 in separate games. Perfect for EYFS through to KS1. Apps are available and paid for but the online website version is always free. Your child can follow their monster around and learn without realising how much they are learning to read!
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/

2Simple’s Purple Mash is an online platform full of content which keeps children engaged and supported through the curriculum in every subject. Games, videos, activities and ebooks are available. Suitable for ages 4-11. Usually a paid subscription but free in event of closures.
https://2simple.com/blog/using-purple-mash-when-school-closed/

Pobble is an online writing platform. They post a free picture a day with prompts for discussion and writing.
http://www.pobble365.com/

BBC Bitesize is always free and has videos, lessons, and games covering the whole curriculum all the way up to GCSEs.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

Oxford Owl provides free ebooks all the time for children of primary age.
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/

Duolingo is a free website made for language learning. One for all the family. Not specifically made for schools and you can pick whichever language you like. An initial assessment helps to pick up your current level if you want to improve rather than start from scratch.
https://www.duolingo.com/

Handwriting practice a bit a day will be essential for infant and junior age children. Handwriting Heroes has premium content and apps but their letter formation videos are always free so will help remind children of the right formation while practicing.
https://appytherapy.com/handwriting-heroes/

Mangahigh maths games are for children age 5-11. Usually a paid subscription but free for school closures.
https://www.mangahigh.com/en-gb/blog/2020-03-06-free-access-schools-online-maths-coronavirus

Music Theory has some content always free with lessons and exercises to do at home. For all ages and musical abilities.
https://www.musictheory.net/

Seneca Learning is always free and provides bite-sized content and revision for a range of subjects all the way to A level.
https://www.senecalearning.com/

Music GCSE revision YouTube channel has videos specifically for GCSE revision.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCART1kRc9fSDx4os7dIsO2w/playlists

Your Favourite Teacher has lots of free content and has put together a specific revision guide for GCSE maths, science and English in case of school closures this summer.
https://yourfavouriteteacher.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/school-closure-contingency-pack-2020.pdf

This blog has lots of links to great sites for GCSE Art and Design revision.
https://blog.tutorhub.com/2014/07/17/top-resources-for-gcse-art-and-design/amp-on/

The online education technology community has also been gathering loads of resources and web sites you may find useful, including schools sharing their own plans and strategies for school closure and any online learning, as well as contingency plans for safeguarding.
Follow hashtag #HomeLearningUK for more information.