#StayHomeSaveLives: A Guide for Parents

mother and daughter playing - a Guide for Parents

Following Government Guidelines: Stay at Home Parents working from home, school from home and big events suspended. PE in my living room, supermarket trips only, and no seeing my friends. Will this go on forever? For children, it might seem confusing and even frustrating that their personal reality is on pause. For parents, it might feel impossible to balance childcare, cooking, work-from-home, school-from-home, fun activities, food shopping, checking on older relatives (quick pause to breathe), keeping up with friends, relationships, news, housework, paying bills… and the list goes on. For most of us, navigating change isn’t easy. How do I keep a routine? Will my children miss out on education? How will I keep them entertained? These are just a few of the questions that will be floating around many parents’ minds. Life couldn’t be more different making it challenging to establish a sense of continuity and stability for your family. However, by keeping a regular routine and protecting our physical and mental health we are already halfway there. Read the guide for parents to find out more. How do I balance Work-From-Home and childcare? As home and office blend together, striking a balance between family and work life might feel nearly impossible. It’s easy to feel distracted, unmotivated or unable to do it all. Feelings such as inadequacy, stress and worry are heightened as we try to balance home duties alongside work tasks.  Whilst WFH might feel chaotic at times, there are ways to ensure you are able to work effectively and get through a meeting without hearing “Mum, I’m bored” halfway through.    1) Honesty with your boss and team-mates Trying to remain 110% at the top of your work game whilst managing your children is an unrealistic expectation, leading to feelings of failure and inadequacy from the get-go. Remember that your children, much like yourself, have been asked to flip their norm upside down. Your number one priority is therefore to be realistic about your situation, and that means making sure that you and your family’s wellbeing isn’t sidelined. Honesty and open dialogue with your team, as well as prioritising essential tasks isn’t a bad place to start.    2) Be realistic with your time Write yourself an achievable checklist by breaking down your bigger goals into easier steps. For example: 1) Check emails 2) Finish expenses 3) Make the kids a snack.  As you go through the day, tick off the things you complete. This will help nurture feelings of purpose and success. When you look back at your day, you’ll be able to visually see all the things, big or small, that you managed to complete. Stick to your contracted hours. Whilst it might be tempting to do ‘just one more task’, give yourself time to switch off and recharge.    3) Separate your workspace and life-space If you live in a house, try to separate spaces in which you work with the spaces in which family activities take place. For smaller accommodation, keep work to one side of the room and play for the other.  If your children are old enough and are getting on with school work, create a ‘work zone’ for you and the family. Older children will understand that parents still have jobs. You can divide your time effectively by using a timer. Focus on how much you can do in thirty minutes, rather than having to complete a specific task. If you have an important meeting, prepare in advance some online activities or quiet reading your children can do to create a quieter environment.  For parents with younger children, try to provide activities that keep their attention whilst you do essential tasks or meetings. Alternatively schedule meetings for when your child is having a nap to ensure a quiet space.  If you live with a partner, divide your day around who is keeping an eye on the children. For single parents, be open and honest with your colleagues that you are looking after your children single-handedly.    How do I entertain my kids? Most parents struggle to provide continuous fun activities during the summer holidays, let alone in confinement, so be easy on yourself and your expectations as a parent. Keep in mind that you are a parent and not an entertainer. Whilst structured and organised activities are undoubtedly important, there are also benefits of allowing your children to create their own fun. Skills such as independence, leadership and communication come from autonomous play. Set your children fun projects such as putting on a show for Mum and Dad. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Try to schedule in an organised fun activity with your children where you can. This could be something simple such as watching a movie together, baking, dancing, theatre, drawing or reading a story. Sit down with your children for a chat about their feelings and thoughts. Children, particularly younger ones, will not be looking for dazzling acts of entertainment but for attention and love, which we as parents know how to provide.  Out of inspiration? Create an ‘I’m Bored Jar.’ At the beginning of the week, write fun activities on pieces of paper and place them in the jar. When your children say ‘I’m bored,’ they can take an activity from the jar.   How do I home-school my kids? Looking after our children can be challenging at the best of times, let alone making sure their educational development needs are met.  When it comes to teaching, most of us haven’t looked at fractions or The Tudors for a fair few years. First things first, remember most of us are not a teacher by trade. What we can do is provide a similar school structure for our children and find creative ways to explore academic topics in a relaxed manner. There are plenty of resources available to help parents provide educational resources. Here are a few of our top recommendations:    1) PE with Joe Wicks : Kids and parents are taking to the living room

Edtech charity LGfL wins for second year running Supplier of the Year

Edtech charity

Edtech charity LGfL is celebrating having won for the second year running Supplier of Year: Not for Profit in the Education Resources Awards (ERA). The judges selected LGfL as the winner in recognition of its social mission to advance education through digital innovation and its delivery of circa £9M in savings and benefits to schools per annum. One of LGfL’s most notable initiatives is its Pledge 2020 project to supercharge connectivity across its 3000-strong consortium of UK member schools by the end of 2020, enabling them to use cloud computing, 4K streaming and virtual reality in the classroom. The Education Resources Awards are organised by The British Suppliers Association (BESA) and Brilliant Marketing Solutions and are recognised throughout the education sector as an accolade of excellence. This year’s awards ceremony was streamed online for all finalists and winners to enjoy their achievements safely and responsibly during the COVID-19 pandemic. EdTech Top 50 mover and shaker LGfL’s mission is to energise teaching and learning, improve educational outcomes for its 3,000 member schools, keep its 1.2 million children safe online, tackle inequality, promote wellbeing and help its community harness the power and promise of edtech.    Commenting on the award win, John Jackson, CEO, LGfL, said “We are thrilled to be recognised for LGfL’s role as a digital leader in transforming teaching and learning. During this difficult period, we are working tirelessly to provide schools with all the resources, connectivity and support required to deliver the best education possible.” For more information on LGfL, please visit https://www.lgfl.net/default.aspx For more information on how LGfL is supporting school communities during the coronavirus pandemic, please visit https://coronavirus.lgfl.net/ andhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTgQ6keprSw

3P Learning launches Support Package to keep maths and literacy on the home-schooling agenda

Child learning with support package from 3P Learning

Maths and literacy are set to stay firmly on the agenda worldwide for 3P Learning’s 17,000 schools and 5 million pupils working from home during the current COVID-19 pandemic thanks to the launch of its Digital Accelerator Support Package designed to help schools keep pupils engaged, on track with the curriculum and communicating well with parents and students.  Global leader in online education 3P Learning is offering its multi-award award-winning suite of online education resources to educators and schools including its much-loved Mathletics challenge and reward maths resource and Reading Eggs, its comprehensive range of online reading lessons, activities and ebooks that teach children aged 2–13 the core literacy skills needed for reading success. The increased support is open to both new and existing customers. Any new customers can use 3P Learning’s resources for free for 30 days and use any of the webinars and increased support to get up and running as quickly as possible. The company is also mobilising its extensive education specialists and customer service teams to provide an unprecedented level of support for teachers, as well as bringing on additional staff to help teachers transition smoothly to their digital classroom so pupils can continue learning regardless of where they are. Commenting on the launch Allan Dougan, Global Head of Education, 3P Learning, said:  “None of us have experienced mass school disruption or distance learning on this scale before.  We want teachers and parents to know that via our Accelerator Support Package we can resolve concerns for our school teachers so enabling them to continue to educate students remotely. The Accelerator Support Package is fully aligned with national curriculum requirements and provides the following: Access to any or the full range of 3P edtech solutions covering mathematics, literacy and science with thousands of activities suitable for pupils aged 4-14 Express on-boarding one-on-one guidance on how to set up a school or class and upload students’ work, as well as a tour of the portal to ensure teacher are confident to begin distance learning Daily product Q&As and weekly education webinars with customer success managers and teams of education specialists who can advise on remote teaching and learning strategies Parents comms advice to help teachers mobilise parents to provide support for home learning, weekly webinars on home learning for parents and weekly student progress reports. Commenting on the Support Package Rebekah O’Flaherty, CEO, 3P Learning, said:  “We are fortunate to have unique access to a community of teachers across the world, all focused on delivering online learning. Our community of schools has made it loud and clear that it is support that they need and a human voice to help them manage a fully digital classroom. That is why we are mobilising our staff workforce to support them at this time.”   “As we’ve always done, we’ll innovate to ensure that we do all we can to connect and support our students, teachers, school leaders and parents to give them the confidence and help they need at this time,” added Mr Dougan. 3P Learning’s Accelerator Support Package is designed to meet the needs of the teacher and the learner. Its auto-created pathways are tailored to the various country-specific curriculums to ensure that students continue to move forward with their learning. Teachers can also personalise their pupils’ learning journeys as and when required.  3P Learning’s resources are diverse and designed to meet a wide range of different teaching and learning styles.  Please click on the link for more information on the Accelerator Support Package

TCS iONTM Offers Free Access to its Interactive Virtual Classrooms

Free Access to Interactive Virtual Classrooms

TCS iONTM, a strategic unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, is offering free access to its virtual learning platform:TCS iON Digital Glass Room. The announcement comes as global lockdowns of schools and colleges continues.  Using Digital Glass Room, educators and students can connect in a safe, secure virtual environment, moving lessons from classrooms to interactive digital “glass rooms”.  Students can ask questions and debates with peers, teachers can conduct polls, run quizzes, set assignments, conduct exams, give feedback, and mark handwritten work.  Interested schools and higher education organizations can register for the platform by going to: https://learning.tcsionhub.uk/organisation/intl-glass-room/ The TCS iON Digital Glass Room is a mobile and web education platform for schools and colleges, that empowers educators to engage with students in real time by sharing lessons, videos, worksheets, assignments and assessments, using interactive methods like polls, debates, quiz, surveys and many more tools. As an add-on, the platform also provides an embedded live classroom, which simulates live classroom teaching. The iON Digital Glass Room mimics an actual classroom – acting as a ready-made platform for schools and educators to take advantage of in this unprecedented time. Any level of education – be it primary or secondary schools, universities or other institutions – can leverage this platform to ensure the teaching and learning doesn’t come to a halt. Customers include the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and The Training Room, which mentors young unemployed people. “These are unprecedented times. With schools and colleges shut down across the UK, educators are quickly pivoting to digital teaching. We want to empower teachers and institutions to confidently take their lessons online and enable students to continue learning with as little disruption as possible. said Venguswamy Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON. There are many platforms out there enabling video classes with the ability to post text and videos – iON Glass Rooms is far more than that, it is providing a holistic 360’ learning experience. This tool is an easy way to transition online without having to immediately make a long-term commitment, and we hope we can help teachers and students alike in such a challenging time.”  TCS iON Digital Glass Room is available to educational institutes of all types. The software easily integrates with other online tools and gives educators everything they need to take learning online. The initial offer is available for 90 days, which will be extended if the lockdown continues for longer. Customers are not automatically charged at the end of the 90-day period.

Ebbsfleet Green Primary, celebrates signing of Funding Agreement

pupil at green primary celebrating signing on funding agreement

Ebbsfleet Green Primary, due to open Sept 2020, celebrates signing of Funding Agreement with the Department for Education: a major milestone for the school Ebbsfleet Green Primary, a new Garden City school due to open in September 2020, is celebrating the signing of its Funding Agreement with the Department for Education: this official contract between the school and the government is a key milestone in the school’s journey to opening. Ebbsfleet Green Primary School is part of the Maritime Academy Trust; an educational charity catering for over 2600 pupils aged 3-11 across eight primary schools with nurseries based in London and Kent. The Trust is headed up by Nick Osborne, CEO and National Leader in Education – a title earned for his ‘exceptional’ leadership as Executive Head Teacher of Millennium, Brooklands and Timbercroft Primary Schools, a position he held prior to founding Maritime. Ebbsfleet Green Primary will serve the rapidly growing community in the new Ebbsfleet Garden City and help meet increasing demand for school places in Dartford and Gravesham, whose population is predicted to rise to 252,000 by 2031. Beginning as a one-form entry school, it will become two-form to match Ebbsfleet’s rising population. In September 2020, the school will have Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes. It has already received over 100 applications for school places for the upcoming academic year. The Funding Agreement, which is a legally binding contract between the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson and Maritime Academy Trust, sets out the terms on which this free school is funded. As part of a Multi-Academy Trust, Ebbsfleet Green Primary is a free school – funded by the government but not run by the local authority. Therefore, the Funding Agreement specifies how the academy is run, its duties and the powers that the Secretary of State has over the school.  Commenting on the event, Nick Osborne, National Leader of Education said, “As CEO of Maritime Academy Trust, I am delighted to sign the Funding Agreement with the Department for Education. This is a significant step towards the opening of our brand new community-driven school in Ebbsfleet Green – we thank all the local families who have supported our journey and we look forward to welcoming parents and children to the school in September.” To learn more about the school, please email info@ebbsfleetgreenprimary.org.uk or visit its website: https://www.ebbsfleetgreenprimary.org.uk/

We must take action to keep children safe when schools are closed.

keep children safe when schools are closed

National Children’s Bureau statement on coronavirus response NCB supports the momentous decision to keep schools and childcare settings running only for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.  We now urge the Government to provide the resources and the clarity required to limit the damage of that closure, so together we can do our utmost to keep children safe in these most challenging times.   Children’s social care  We support the measures proposed to protect vulnerable children; ensuring schools and childcare settings continue to provide safe, nurturing spaces for children with special educational needs and children who may already be vulnerable to abuse, neglect and other harms.  However, this classification cannot be the end of the story. The Government must act fast and collaboratively to ensure that schools can themselves identify children they believe to be vulnerable, even if they do not have a social worker or an Education, Health & Care Plan.  Keeping education settings open for these children will help to keep them safe. However, this is a time when local authorities themselves are reeling from reduced staff capacity, when social workers have reduced access to people’s homes and when the resilience of children’s services has already been severely tested through a decade of shrinking budgets.   Moreover there are many more children whose families are already facing substantial challenges and may well struggle to cope with the demands resulting from school closures. This could lead to more children and families needing support from children’s services. Without an injection of resources, these services will be overwhelmed and unable to protect the most vulnerable children or intervene to protect those who become vulnerable as a result of school closures. Financial support for families looking after children Closing schools at any time would create pressure on parents. This isn’t any time. This is a situation where there is widespread anxiety about the spread of a disease which is endangering lives. Where families will be cooped up together with no real social outlets – where the impact of every interaction is weighed. Where parents will have to juggle the anxiety and isolation at the same time as worrying about income or trying to keep up with employment.  The best way to meet children’s needs during this time and prevent many more children from becoming vulnerable is firstly to ensure that their parents or primary caregivers are available to attend to their needs. Parents of children in primary school and younger cannot possibly attend to their children’s needs either while working or while facing the stress of losing their income or their employment. The Government must ensure that no parent faces financial hardship as a result of caring for their child at this time.  The provision of vouchers to compensate for the loss of a free school meal is a step towards ensuring that children and families don’tgo hungry as a result of school closures. However, the prospect of lost earning and employment means that much stronger action is required to ensure every family can put enough food on the table and attend to the needs of their children. Support for families at home In addition to the measures to protect parents from severe financial worry, we need to work together to give parents the best chance of managing this new situation. We must ensure parents have clear information about how best to meet their children’s needs at this time – focusing especially on supporting new parents to form secure attachments with babies and young children. This includes crystal clear guidance on how to compensate for the ordinary social interaction and learning that children will miss out on in education and childcare settings.  This guidance for parents must also include clear and realistic expectations about managing children’s health and wellbeing as well as their learning at this time. We need to create spaces where parents can share the challenges of parenting in this situation, releasing the pressure before it builds too far. If the pressure does build too far and families are unable to cope in lockdown, there must be clear instruction about where they should turn for help.  With or without the additional resources they require, local authorities are going to need to count on wider systems of support from local communities and networks in order to protect our children as we endure this pandemic. We will all have to play our role in keeping children safe and preventing crises from emerging. This is not the childhood that any of us intended for this generation of children. We must act wisely to keep them safe now. We must be resourceful to find ways of making their experience as positive as it possibly can be in these circumstances. When we finally reach the other side of this pandemic, we must be ambitious and intentional about delivering a better childhood for these children.   For similar article please visit our features section.

AquaCare – the specialists in legionella control for the education sector

legionella control in education

AquaCare are the specialists in legionella control for the education sector. We have a large portfolio of Academies, Independent Schools and Colleges who entrust us with looking after their water hygiene and legionella control namely, Walhampton School, Bryanston School and Bournemouth School.   Water systems left unused during the extended school holidays can increase the conditions for bacteria to proliferate, including legionella.    Many school buildings, both public and private contain old, adapted water systems, creating long pipe-runs and dead-legs – again perfect for legionella bacteria to grow in water.   We can offer you a tailored programme of monitoring and remedial maintenance to ensure ongoing and consistent compliance with Health & Safety Executives Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) L8 and Technical Guidance HSG 274 &HTM04-01.   And if you have an internal maintenance we can train them for you, ensuring you always have a ‘Responsible Person’ on site.   Don’t just take our word for it:   Bryanston’s Estates Bursar Jon Mortimer said: “We have found the service provided by Aquacare to be professional, prompt and reliable, and would have no hesitation recommending them to others. Michele, our contact at AquaCare, has been crucial in building the relationship. She’s so helpful and if we ask her to do anything she does it without question. Since we switched to AquaCare there has been a noticeable, positive difference in service.”  

This is fostering

Janet from Hackney Fostering

Over 100 children and young people come into care, everyday, in the UK. When these children and young people are unable to stay with their birth families, foster carers are there, ready to provide a safe, supportive and stable environment for them.  78% of these children will have experienced abuse, neglect or serious family dysfunction. However, not all foster care arrangements are permanent as the aim is always to return children to their birth families: when it is safe to do so.  Foster care gives birth parents the space they need to make positive changes in their home and lifestyle whilst keeping their children safe. Foster families provide these children with a positive sense of family life, whilst these changes are taking place.  There are so many great foster carers doing great work for these children, as well as benefiting from the experience themselves. Hackney Foster Carer, Janet said: “I feel like I have purpose again, and to be honest I think it has brought the family together. When everyone left home I would just go to work and come home to an empty house. Now I feel like I have it all back with my foster children, my adult children and grandchildren because we do a lot together.” Are you a potential foster carer?  A good foster carer is understanding, empathetic, resilient and patient.They care about children and are committed to providing them with the help they need. If you have these basic qualities, then you might be who our children are looking for in their time of need.  Foster carers are ordinary people like you, doing extraordinary things.  It doesn’t matter if you are single, cohabiting, married or in a civil partnership, if you care about the wellbeing of children, and have a spare bedroom in your home, we would like to hear from you.  As part of our commitment to achieving positive outcomes for young people, Hackney has recently introduced its own Supported Lodgings scheme. This service is a step down from fostering and aims to support care leavers’ transition to independent living.  If you would like more information about fostering or supported lodgings in Hackney then call 020 8356 4028 or email fostering.recruitment@hackney.gov.uk and supportedlodgings@hackney.gov.uk respectively.  https://hackney.gov.uk/fostering  

Action To Prevent Suicide

Group of school students on their way to Action To Prevent Suicide

“Action To Prevent Suicide CIC Believes that Good Mental Health and Suicide Prevention can be supported by all” Suicide Kills over 800,000 people every year it is not a Virus. At time of writing this we have a pandemic. As it passes we can respond with insight & kindness. We are a training consultancy and support service, specialising in Suicide Prevention, intervention and postvention services .We also promote good mental health and wellbeing initiatives including mentoring, staff support and supervision. We offer a range of internationally recognised programmes as well as bespoke packages to suit your needs. Our courses include Lifeline Workshop Inc, The ASK Workshop for those who live and work with children of 5-14, LivingWorks’ safeTALK suicide alertness course for everyone working with ages 15+ and ASIST applied suicide skills intervention training regarding ages 16+. We have also developed a range of responsive and collaborative partnerships which can respond to your organisation’s needs. Our network of registered trainers and specialist advisers are drawn from a range of diverse backgrounds including teaching, psychology, social work, trauma-informed specialists, Ofsted, counselling, creativity and technology. We aim to address the issues of now that are affecting educational systems our children/young people and broader society. Action To Prevent Suicide CIC will support you in developing compassion, acceptance, respect and empathy (CARE) and the ability to respond. E: Info@actiontopreventsuicide.org W: www.actiontopreventsuicide.org T: 01803226227 M: 07528241400