COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
These pages have been created to support our work during the current pandemic.
Select the option below that best describes the information that you are looking for.
Children, Young People & Families
School Leaders, Governors & Trustees
Education Professionals
Emotional Health and Wellbeing
Sources of Advice
Children, Young People & Families
Sheffield Learning Together - home learning supplement
We are working with partners across the city to produce a home learning supplement which will go out weekly with the Star Newspaper every Thursday in May starting on Thursday 7th May.
Thank you to the sponsors who have supported this project: Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, Yorkshire Water, Sheffield Property Association, South Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner, South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit, Ant Marketing, Learn Sheffield and Sheffield City Council.
Home Learning Links
Below there are also a small selection of links to some approved resources that you might also find useful.
7 top tips to support reading at home – for Key Stage 2
The Department for Education has a list of online education resources for home education which continues to be updated. It includes subject-specific resources for English, maths, science, PE, wellbeing and SEND.
This includes links to BBC Bitesize which has daily lessons and activities for all ages, including:
Primary / Secondary - KS3 / Secondary - GCSE / Careers / Post-16 functional skills
The Oak National Academy is an online classroom and resource hub created by teachers to provide video lessons and learning resources covering a range of subjects including maths, English, art and languages.
This site enables you to find a lesson that is appropriate for your needs and also has a weekly assembly every Thursday with guest speakers.
The STEM Learning website has resources for home learning (including a resource of the day) for science, computing, Design Technology and Maths for primary, secondary and post-16 pupils.
Move More Sheffield have produced and collated a number of digital exercise and activity resources on their website. The Yorkshire Sport Foundation have also developed #ThisIsPE videos which are published on social media at 1.00 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The back catalogue can be viewed for free at any time.
If you are looking for creative activities then Create Sheffield have launched their new website, which includes Sheffield #homeadventures. They have also launched a terrific resource for the under-5s called ’50 things to do before you’re five’.
The UCL Institute of Education website has links to strong and free resources to support online home learning. It includes a number of good resources which relate to coronavirus and how to discuss this with children as well as links to home learning for primary and secondary aged pupils.
Emotional Health and Wellbeing
Emotional Wellbeing Support for Parents and Carers during Coronavirus
Family life during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak might feel like a stressful time and each family will have different things they have to manage. Key priorities to consider are:
- Look after your own emotional wellbeing so you can support your child
- Be available to listen to your child and help them to talk about their concerns – we can’t always fix things but being heard really helps
- Try and establish a healthy routine at home
We’ve listed below a variety of different sources of help and support.
Online help and support…
Help with bereavement and coping with grief…
I would like to talk to somebody…
- Call 0114 226 3636. This line is provided by Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust and is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week for urgent mental health support for adults
- Samaritans Provides a confidential 24 hour listening and support service for children and adults. Call 116 123 Email jo@samaritans.org (24 hour response time)
- Kooth: Provides a free online counselling service for children and young people.
- Door 43 offers support to 13-25 year olds on a range of emotional wellbeing issues in a young person centred environment
If you are concerned about your own mental health or that of your child please see your GP.
School Leaders, Governors & Trustees
Learn Sheffield is, as always, working closely with Sheffield City Council in relation to the COVID-19 The city education response to this situation and frequent updates for schools and academies are shared through the daily bulletins issued by Andrew Jones (Interim Director of Education and Skills – Sheffield City Council.
Home Learning
Learn Sheffield have produced a guidance document for schools in relation to Home Learning During COVID-19.
The executive summary of this document can also be accessed as an article on this website.
Learn Sheffield is currently following up on the outcomes of the Home Learning Audit which was completed following the publication of the document.
Further guidance and best practice documents will follow.
Home Learning Supplement
Learn Sheffield is working with partners across the city to produce a home learning supplement which will go out weekly with the Star Newspaper every Thursday in May starting on Thursday 7th May.
The supplements will be available in the ‘Children, Young People & Families’ section of these COVID-19 pages as printable versions each Thursday. To find out more about how to access the free copies for families with limited access to online learning contact enquiries@learnsheffield.co.uk.
Share Site
Further resources can be accessed via the Learn Sheffield COVID-19 share site which includes learning and mental health resources which have been shared by colleagues across the city. To access this site contact your Headteacher or email enquiries@learnsheffield.co.uk from your work email.
An overview of the EEF Resources for Covid-19
General link to EEF website resources: http://eef.li/covid-19-resources and other useful links: http://eef.li/covid-19-resources/useful-links/
SLT/School leadership advice
‘Linking learning: Home learning support from mainstream schools’
Questions for senior leaders to reflect on when schools set home learning to ensure the needs of disadvantaged, students with SEND, the vulnerable, disadvantaged and other specific circumstances are taken into account – built on evidence from five EEF guidance reports.
What does the best evidence tell us about the effectiveness of remote learning? NEW rapid evidence review from the @EducEndowFoundn looks at the research around distance learning.
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/blog-what-learning-should-we-be-promoting-for-home-during-school-closures/
How can you support your parents and carers with reading at home? New blog from our funders, @EducEndowFoundn: ‘Supporting parents to undertake brilliant book talk’.
Effective school-home communication
‘Supporting parents and carers at home: What schools can do to help’
Clear tips for communicating with parents and supporting home learning, distilled from the evidence in EEF guidance reports and our Teaching and Learning Toolkit.
What strategies can you use when communicating with families during school closures?
NEW resource from @EducEndowFoundn provides key tips and sample texts and emails you can use with your families.
School leader/teacher support documents about the most effective home learning
'Home learning’ approaches Metacognitive (student self-regulation) strategies will be particularly important for your pupils if you can’t be with them in the classroom. This framework can help schools create learning sequences while conducting home learning. Adapted from the EEF guidance report Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning.
How can metacognitive strategies be applied to home learning planning?
NEW planning framework from the @EducEndowFoundn helps schools create learning sequences while conducting home learning. Available here.
How can you help your students create consistent routines?
NEW short video from @EducEndowFoundn provide some key tips.
Supporting home learning routines during school closures.
Consistent routines are important for children’s behaviour and wellbeing. Here’s a checklist of some potential routines families can use to help plan their day.
‘Supporting the Learning of Mathematics at Home’.
NEW blog from the @EducEndowFoundn discusses key strategies to support maths learning during school closures. Available here.
‘7 Top Tips to Support Reading at Home’
Helping families have fun with reading. Adapted from the EEF guidance reports, Preparing for Literacy and Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools. Reading support for EY/primary parents.
‘Helping Home Learning: Read with TRUST’?
Easy ways you can make reading a part of every day. Adapted from the EEF guidance report, Preparing for Literacy. @EducEndowFoundn.
How can parents and carers support learning opportunities during everyday tasks?
A NEW resource from the @EducEndowFoundn provides valuable tips for using the TRUST approach while cooking.
Department for Education helpline
The Department for Education has a helpline to answer questions about coronavirus concerns related to education for staff and students. You can contact 0800 046 8687 (opening hours are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday) or email DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk with any further questions.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) website have developed COVID-19 resources to support schools with home learning’.
The support resources for schools include planning frameworks and worked examples.
The resources also include the best evidence on supporting students to learn remotely and information about supporting parents and carers at home.
Voluntary Action Sheffield
VAS (Voluntary Action Sheffield) can provide links in to the voluntary sector for schools.
Their website has an interactive COVID-19 map to support you in finding organisations that are located close to your school and they can also be reached by phone on 0114 273 4567.
Education Professionals
Resources can be accessed via the Learn Sheffield COVID-19 share site which includes learning and mental health resources which have been shared by colleagues across the city. To access this site contact your Headteacher or email enquiries@learnsheffield.co.uk from your work email.
Click on the links below to access further information and come back to see further resources added.
Department for Education
Skills Toolkit
EFF
Skills Toolkit
The Skills Toolkit has been launched by the government and provides an online learning platform to boost workplace skills. Free courses are available through the platform, which signposts to free digital and numeracy courses to help people build up their skills, progress in work and boost their job prospects and confidence whilst at home.
Courses on offer cover a range of levels, from everyday maths and the use of email and social media at work to more advanced training. All courses are available online and are flexible so that people can work through them at their own pace.
Some examples are listed below.
| Introductory |
Intermediate |
Advanced |
| Learn My Way: Using a computer, mobile, tablet, and the basics of Microsoft Office programs |
Creating a Professional Online Presence: This includes information about different social media platforms, how to conduct yourself online and online safety and privacy issues |
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing: This includes 26 modules to explore, created by Google trainers, with practical exercises and real-world examples to help you turn knowledge into action. |
| Make It Click: Using email, social media and Microsoft Office, calendars, Google docs, online safety, and video conferencing - a very extensive range of modules |
Thriving in the Digital Workplace: This is about the digital skills you're most likely to need in the future and techniques to enhance wellbeing and resilience at work. |
Learn to Code for data analysis: This course will teach you how to write your own computer programs, in the Python programming language. You'll learn how to access open data, clean and analyse it, and produce visualisations to share privately or publicly. |
| Learning for Everyday Life: Run by Lloyds bank, this includes information on online safety, video calling and preparing for interviews |
How to Create Great Online Content: This explores effective online content including tone, style and format and provides practical strategies for communicating effectively online |
Programming Essentials in Python: This course requires no previous experience of programming, and guides you through using the Python programming language. |
| Everyday Maths: This helps prepare for functional level mathematics and includes using a calculator, learning to convert fractions to decimals, understanding percentages, measuring objects, distances and weights, and using tables, diagrams and charts. |
Presenting your Work with Impact: This helps to develop skills for creating and presenting engaging content for different purposes, delivery techniques, and mindfulness techniques |
Introduction to cyber security: stay safe online: This course helps you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work, including how to recognise the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to reduce them. |
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Digital Skills: Social Media: This covers how to use social media effectively in the workplace and includes setting campaign objectives, identifying the target audience and the right channels, creating engaging content and managing your presence online. |
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Emotional Health and Wellbeing
These resources have been developed by a multi-agency working group to support schools to support children and young people with their emotional health and wellbeing as they look towards a return to school.
Colleagues from CAMHS (Healthy Minds), the Educational Psychology team, the SEND team, Learn Sheffield, MAST and others have come together to develop this guidance and resource pack.
The following information has been developed by Sheffield Educational Psychology Service and has been written for school staff and other professionals to provide information and guidance on how to support children, young people and their families experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA, a term sometimes used to describe some children and young people who do not attend school due to emotional factors).
Work was started on this guidance prior to the pandemic and so was focused only on EBSA. Nevertheless, some suggestions here may be beneficial in providing advice on supporting children who have significant struggles in accessing school that may have been heightened due to Covid-19.
EBSA Guidance Sheffield
Further Links
Transition back to school for children with SLC need
A Guide for Education Settings Supporting Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Needs Which Have Arisen from COVID-19 by Yorkshire & Humber Children & Young People’s Mental Health Clinical Network.
Sheffield Parent guide for supporting children to return to school
Beat the Boredom Language Translations