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5 tips for teachers and schools 

My Online Schooling is an online school that offers a full-time English Curriculum-led education to children all over the world. They support home-educated pupils by providing live online lessons following a set syllabus, providing them with all the benefits of a mainstream British education that they can access from home.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, pupils, teachers and schools across the country have had to adapt to homeschooling in place of their usual physical classroom learning. My Online Schooling shares 5 tips for teachers and schools on easing the transition and optimising their pupils’ home-learning experience.

1. Stay structured 

Children need structure to their school day at home even more than they do at school. Providing pupils with a weekly timetable of lessons or tasks for each subject will give them a clear blueprint for their homeschooled day, making it easier for pupils (and parents!) to stay on track. Try replicating a typical school timetable and sending this out to your class to help them stay in ‘school mode’.

2. Keep in touch

Depending on the resources your school has access to, it may not be possible to introduce live virtual lessons to replace your usual class timetable. But keeping some form of teacher/pupil contact is important if possible. Even a class catch-up and/or one-to-one check-ins each week can go a long way in helping pupils and parents feel supported by and connected with the school.

3. Maintain accountability 

These are challenging times, so it’s understandable not to expect perfect attainment from pupils as they and their families try to navigate their new home-learning situation. However, maintaining basic accountability can help to keep pupils on track and minimise potential gaps in their learning. Setting deadlines for projects, having weekly class catch-ups and upholding termly reports can all help to ensure that children continue to take their school work seriously.

4. Share Your WFH tips 

It’s not just your pupils who are having to work from home at the moment – so are you! Try sending out your top work-from-home tips of the week to provide some inspiration for your pupils as well as their families to create a positive and productive environment. We are all in this together, after all, so why not share your experiences for the benefit of your class. Check out this blog for some ideas!

5. Make it fun

Being stuck at home for the majority of the time can be a particular struggle for young people who are used to seeing and interacting with friends at school every day. Now is a great opportunity to integrate more fun and engaging projects, challenges or games into  your pupils’ regular curriculum to help keep them feeling positive and motivated. Take a look at this free homeschooling resources page for some inspiration for their home-learning.

Many thanks to Zoe Macnaughton for this informative and very helpful post