How to Get the Best from Home Schooling

Learning can take many forms. For example, physical activities can be great fun and help children learn lots of different skills, such as physical coordination and self-control. Children will learn and enjoy different things from different kinds of play and your joining in will help their social development too. Don’t ever under-estimate the power of play!

The BBC Bitesize website has just got better, so please look at the new content here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize It has even got some Functional Skills lessons for English and Maths starting at Level 1.

Other excellent learning experiences can be accessed by taking virtual tours around other parts of the world. Take a tour of the Tulip fields in Holland:

https://www.timeout.com/news/you-can-now-take-a-virtual-tour-of-the-netherlands-most-spectacular-tulip-garden-041420

And there are some great ideas suggested by the Money Saving Expert website here:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/deals-hunter/2020/03/free-virtual-globe-trotting/

Your child’s school should still be sending work through for them to complete at home. If you have any concerns about the quantity or the appropriateness of the work, please let us know at virtualschool@leics.gov.uk and we will be happy to address this with the school.

In addition, the VS is providing all our young people from age 14 years the chance to work towards an ASDAN award for some activities they may already be doing at home.

At present, all Leicestershire’s looked after and leaving care young people between the ages of 16 and 18 should be working with their carers to develop vital skills for moving into independent life. However, there’s no need for young people to delay starting until they become 16 - they can start this learning from 14 and now might be a good time to do some of the tasks that lead to an ASDAN* award.

Many tasks, like planning for and cooking weekly meals, are things carers might be doing with young people anyway, but they can be included as part of an ASDAN project. All that’s required is some form of evidence that the tasks have been completed e.g. photos in a scrap book or electronic folder, or a mind map/diagram created by the young person about the discussions they have had with their carer or PA. It is important to make a note of how long each task takes to complete; a note in the corner of a picture or on a Word document with the time taken e.g. “1½ hours”.

The VS can offer task sheets which give structure to these activities and, as well as the practical tasks, give links to some useful online learning modules that are all totally free, many of which include a separate certificate the young people can print out on completion. It is fine to use different activities too, for example, if a young person is being supported to learn how to use a washing machine, they could record that with a portfolio of photos and a note of the total time taken. Once tasks have been completed, the evidence should be kept so that it can be put towards the ASDAN award. 

If you are interested in taking up this opportunity, please drop us a line at virtualschool@leics.gov.uk so we can send you more information.