“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great...” These are the words of Nelson Mandela, and how true they are at this challenging time. The challenges facing the world are unprecedented, and the impact they are having will be felt for years to come. The way the country has pulled together through fund raising efforts, the receipt sharing, the online family chats and meals and the simple following of the rules has shown the very best of humanity. Definitely a generation being great!

There is help and support out there for students, but also parents. The NSPCC has created a number of resources to support parents and carers. Topics include:

• Talking to a child worried about coronavirus
• Parents working from home
• Children staying home alone
• Lockdown and separated parents
• How to cope with tantrums and other difficult behaviour

The advice can be found on the NSPCC website: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/coronavirus-advice-suppport-children-families-parents/

The Anna Freud Centre has published a range of resources to help support the mental health of children, young people, school staff and parents. You can find them here: Coronavirus: Resources for mental health and wellbeing
Toolkit 1

• videos to provide practical guidance and tips to schools, parents and carers about coronavirus (COVID-19) and mental health
• activities to ease anxiety that can be done at school or at home and other helpful advice, helplines and resources for adults and children.

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/coronavirus-resources-for-mental-health-and-wellbeing-toolkit-1/

Toolkit 2

• resources to help children with SEND
• responding to the unique challenges that may arise for vulnerable children

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/coronavirus-resources-for-mental-health-and-wellbeing-toolkit-2/

Toolkit 3

• resources for school staff, as well as parents, to use with vulnerable children or children with SEND
• a resource from Stonewall for the LGBTQ+ community
• a resource pack for staff wellbeing and practical activities for adults and children to help stay mentally well during this time.

https://www.mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/coronavirus-resources-for-mental-health-and-wellbeing-toolkit-3/

BBC Bitesize has also been relaunched to support parents and students learning at home. BBC Bitesize Daily programmes will be available on any TV via the red button and online on any device on BBC iPlayer.

BBC Bitesize daily lessons, available via the BBC Bitesize website, will offer a tailored learning experience for every age group from year 1 to year 10. They will include maths and English lessons every day, as well as a lesson in another curriculum topic for each year group.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

As announced by the Education Secretary, in yesterday’s daily briefing by the government, The Oak National Academy has also been launched to support online learning. Click on “subject”, select the relevant year group, select the subject you want to study and them scroll through and select a lesson to follow. It really is simple, and new lessons are being added all the time.
https://www.thenational.academy/online-classroom

During these difficult times, it can feel like every news story is sad or down cast so it was fantastic to receive confirmation that two of our students have been selected to go through to the next round of BBC Radio2’s 500 words competition. There were 135,000 applicants and only 5000 go to the next stage. A huge congratulations to Hollie Oliver, year 8 and Isaac Carr, year 7. We are so proud of them both and look forward to hearing how they get on in the next stage, at the end of May.

Keeping a routine during this time is important but parents please remember, you are not trying to replicate school. Any learning must be a positive experience for both you and the students. As they say, “don’t flog a dead horse”. Even a small amount of reading and learning will be beneficial.

Most importantly, please stay safe, follow the rules and we will get through this challenging time.

Very best wishes.