New Wave English Hub Newsletter
We know you are all adjusting incredibly well to the "new normal", which seems to change every day. As a profession, what a steep learning curve into the world of remote learning, socially distanced pastoral care and online CPD it has been! And with more challenges ahead of us.
Now, more than ever, school-to-school support is vital for schools in need of non-judgmental, realistic advice and practical ideas. We hope that this newsletter will provide both as we share some of the things that we, and other English Hubs, are doing to support our pupils' reading and phonics learning in these tricky times.
Please do get in touch with us if you have any questions about the English Hub programme, or any aspect of teaching reading and phonics and we will do our best to help. Reach us on englishhub@newwavefederation.co.uk or 020 8103 5199.
Latest Hub News
HOME LEARNING TIPS
Like you, for the last six weeks we have been working hard to find the best way to engage with our families and support them with their child's phonics and reading learning. Like you, we have found it hard to reach some of our families for whom access to the internet is not a given, and for whom even printed home learning remains hard to use. Here is our current approach:
- Weekly home learning packs - electronic and hard copies for collection/delivery. (See the example from Reception to the right.)
- Additional reading materials for any child not reading at age-related expectations. These include phonics resources, fluency sheets, decodable readers and books for sharing. (See the guidance we provide parents for these additional resources to the right.)
- Regular emails and phone calls to all pupils to check in and support them and their families.
As I'm sure have you, we have found that of all the support we are giving, it is the personal emails and calls that are best received and most needed. In response, we have started sending home weekly newsletters for the each phase to increase this more personalised contact. (See an example from EYFS to the right.)
We are not saying our approach is the best or will necessarily work for your school, but we also know from our experience of working with other schools, how it can sometimes help to see what other people are doing!
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR LETTERS & SOUNDS SCHOOLS
In case you haven't heard the news... Online Letters and Sounds phonics lessons are now available from Letters and Sounds for home and school.
Written and presented by phonics experts and funded by the Department for Education, the online lessons are designed to cover new phonics teaching that children would have received over the summer term had they been in school.
Three sets of lessons will be available. One set for Reception and one for Year 1, based on where children are expected to be in their learning in the summer term. A third set of lessons focuses on areas children find the most challenging. A guidance film for parents to explain the basics of Phonics and how parents can support their child is also available. Lessons take place at the times below:
To help you to communicate this new resource, here is a template letter you can send home to parents and carers. Your school may want to add additional guidance for your parents to help them to select the set of lessons most appropriate for their child’s stage of phonics learning.
We are delighted to announce that one of our partner schools, Shacklewell Primary, has been designated one of the 20 schools nationally to become an EdTech Demonstrator School. Please check out the website here: edtech-demonstrator.lgfl.net/
If you are in need of any tech support, from one-to-one tutorials with a member of staff struggling to master QR codes, to remote staff meetings on making online lessons, to advice about your digital strategy, the EdTech team at Shacklewell Primary can provide help, completely free of charge.
Please email your queries to swoffice@newwavefederation.co.uk
The Book Corner
Best EYFS Book
Best KS1 Book
Best KS2 Book
Best Teachers' Book
Dr. Dog is a collaboration between illustrator Lydia Monks and Professor James G Logan from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Dog was created as a friendly face who can educate and reassure young children about the Coronavirus outbreak. Download from here.
This is a free digital information book to help explain the coronavirus and the measures taken to control it. It answers lots of questions in a child-friendly way, and aims to both inform and reassure. Download from here.
A comic strip that provides young people between the ages of 8 and 14 with information about coronavirus and other preventative hygiene measures. Download from here.
If you fancy a bit of an escape from the pandemic, this is a fascinating study of the science of reading. Read a review here.
Q & A
Q: How can we support our staff with remote CPD during school closure?
In some schools, being closed for all but a few pupils means that staff have more time to complete their own home learning. We have been offering our staff weekly training in the form of links to videos and articles on-line. We write a series of questions and tasks for each video or article and get staff to respond via email. For us, having free access to the Read Write Inc. school portal has been a huge help, but do contact your phonics programme provider as they should all be able to offer you some training resources. If you would like any support setting up your own CPD programme, please get in touch.