Please read the following extract from the Government Guidance regarding educating children at home and online safety:
(a full copy of the guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ofsted-coronavirus-covid-19-rolling-update)
What support is available to parents to help them educate their children at home?
We want to support parents and all educational settings to ensure children and young people’s education can continue.
For support for school-aged children, you should first contact your child’s school, who will be able to offer advice.
Available support includes:
- a list of online educational resources which have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts to help pupils to learn at home
- the BBC enhancing its education provision to include daily lessons, starting from 20 April 2020
For parents with children under 5 years old, who have not yet started school, the Department for Education (DfE)’s Hungry Little Minds campaign features tips and practical activities that you can do at home with children to support their early learning.
There are many simple ways to help your children learn and it does not have to feel like ‘learning’. Having everyday conversations, make-believe play, and reading together, all make a big difference to your child’s development.
You can find more ideas and content from the BBC’s Tiny Happy People campaign and the National Literacy Trust Family Zone.
8.2 There is too much pressure on broadband connections in my area – how can my child do online learning?
The government is having regular calls with the major fixed and mobile operators, and with Ofcom, to monitor the situation and ensure that any problems on the networks are rapidly addressed and rectified.
We fully understand the importance of having reliable internet connectivity, particularly at this time, so that people can work from home wherever possible, and access critical public services online, including health information.
8.3 Where can I go to get support to help keep my child safe online?
There is support available to keep your child safe online. Below are some useful links to help parents and carers:
- Thinkuknow (advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online)
- Internet matters (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
- Parent info (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
- LGfL (support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online)
- Net-aware (support for parents and carers from the NSPCC)
- Let’s Talk About It (support for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation)
- UK Safer Internet Centre (tips, advice, guides)