Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are coping, as best you can, with the changes to everyday life which we are all now experiencing. And I hope that your children are, too. There is a real value in routine in a young person’s life. Routine will now take on a bigger importance as we make sense of working differently as we get to the other side.

Pupils need to get into the routine of using their learning packs and accessing their class page on the school website.  They are becoming more familiar with the online portal of Wonde and Google classroom, as you know. Teachers have posted resources, tasks and exercises which will enable our pupils to follow their curriculum.

Our Twitter and Instagram accounts @Wolverley_SAET will also contain regular updates about new resources, school updates and key messages.

If your child is having difficulties understanding the work then you can message their teacher through it or email the teacher direct to get advice on what to do next.

At the same time, there are fewer better things than a good book to read or listen to. 

Here are ten pointers which you might want to discuss with your child:

1. It’s OK to find all of this difficult. It’s a change, so it will take time to get used to. But you are also more resilient that you know. Despite occasional irritation with the work set and all that’s going on around you, you can do this.

2. You’ll work more slowly at home and online because it’s not your usual way of working. So, you will be less productive at home than at school. But that’s OK, and another good reason to stick at it. If you feel you are making slow progress don’t worry.

3. And you’ll need to take regular breaks. Studying will make you feel tired, so go outside and get some fresh air, go and get a glass of water or do 20-star jumps.

4. Do stay off the sugar. You’ll only get a big sugar rush and then feel rubbish after about 20 minutes. If you find you’re getting tired at a certain part of the day, have a piece of toast or a banana (or bananas on toast) about 40 minutes beforehand. Then you’ll get a healthy energy release at the right time.

5. Think about each study session as having a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning: spend five minutes telling yourself what you are going to do. Make sure you understand the instructions. Read them out loud. The middle bit: spend 45 minutes working. The end: spend ten minutes talking yourself through what you just did. Consolidate.

6. If you do (5) then you’re actually doing 45 minutes work with a beginning and an end on either side, so it’s not really an hour. 45 minutes is much more manageable! Just do make sure that on either side of the 45 minutes you have a beginning (5 minutes) and an end (10 minutes).

7. Get some exercise when you can. It is as important as your work. It is also as important as a good night’s sleep.

8. Try and limit screen time if you can. If you have had a big chunk of time using your computer to get  tasks then stay off the PS4 or Xbox in the evening. Equally, if you’ve had a day away from the screen, then access to screens for games is not as bad. 

9. Give yourself little rewards once you have finished your planned work for the day.

10. We cannot expect parents to transform themselves into teachers they are there to encourage and support. Asking questions is key: what went well? What can you remember? What did you enjoy? And offering praise. 

We’ll get some feedback from pupils about how they have found things this week and next week and report back to you. They are quite good at finding their own way, with a little guidance of course.

In the meantime I will continue to be based at school and will provide updates on a regular basis. 

Best wishes to you all,

Shelley