One parent recently asked us: Should primary school children be doing school work over the Easter holidays?
We posed the question to Ben Thomas, one of our expert teaching panel. He discussed with us his view on school work over the Easter holidays. Ben has over 13 years experience as a primary school teacher and is currently an Assistant Headteacher. Ben has consistently secured excellent results for his year 6 pupils. He is also passionate that learning should not be confined to just the classroom and school.
What school work should primary school children be doing over the Easter holidays?
Ben says:
As a parent of Year 1 children:
I will be doing some reading with them and that’s it. The misconception is that children have had lots of time off school, but this isn’t true. Children have been working all the way through the term, be that in school or at home. Be mindful that the effects of lockdown on your child may not be obvious and so plenty of down time is required over this period of time.
As a primary school teacher:
- I won’t be setting home learning. The children I teach are tired, even after having a few weeks back at school.
- Your child may have been given a project to complete from their school.
- However, I would question why any school would send home formal learning at this stage.
- If your school is insisting on home learning being done, make sure you prioritise plenty of breaks and rest periods and don’t try to do it all in one go.
Ben discusses the importance of prioritising primary students’ wellbeing, ensuring they are well rested for when they return for the summer term. With the school closures it’s only natural to be concerned about how this may have impacted your child. We also discussed with Ben what to do if you’re worried that your child has fallen behind because of lockdowns and school closures.
I’m worried my child has fallen behind because of lockdown. What should I do?
- Keep talking to them.
- Parents sometimes forget that a large part of English is to be able to express an opinion verbally.
- Asking children to explain how their day has gone, what they’ve enjoyed and achieved and what they are looking forward to are all ways to develop their verbal communication skills.
- Additionally, making sure that they are exposed to a wide range of vocabulary. They can do this through the books they read and through the media they consume. Children can also discover new words and their meaning by having a go at the many online games that are designed to develop pupil’s vocabulary.
- And above all, don’t panic!
If you have any questions about learning, students’ wellbeing or supporting your child’s learning that you’d like to ask our expert teaching panel please don’t hesitate to get in contact. You can drop us an email at info@schoolonline.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help.
KS2 Easter Activity Pack
Finally, if you are looking for some educational AND fun activities that your children can do over the Easter break why not try out our Easter Activities downloadable workbook. This includes a crossword, word search, word match and storyboard activity. Perfect for when you’re bored at home, have exhausted all of the best box sets on Netflix, or just want to improve your English skills in a fun and relaxed way. Just click here to download!
