Dear Parents / Carers,

I hope you are well and that your families are beginning to settle to the strange new normal we now find ourselves in.  This is a very stressful time for everyone, especially young people, and the prospect of home schooling can add greater tension to a household.  I would like to take this opportunity to outline some the strategies you could take at home to promote good learning with less pressure.  Our Firefly system is adapting to increased worldwide demand, so these approaches would be very effective in those periods when you are unable to access the specific tasks set.

Most importantly do not put too much pressure on yourself to provide 5 traditional lessons a day.  It is a very stressful time for everyone and effective learning is not possible in such circumstances.  Your children should take time to read for pleasure, do something creative (baking, music, art, craft, gardening), do some mindfulness activities and exercise videos.  A list of recommended reads suitable for Key Stage 3 students is included, as is a list of appropriate family movies.

A list of classic reads, free to download through Amazon, is available here : https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/44192.Project_Gutenberg_Young_Adult_Fiction

The restrictions we are now under give us the opportunity to broaden our general knowledge; what educationalists often refer to as ‘Cultural Capital’.  A key aspect of the work we do at Tytherington is supporting students in acquiring “powerful knowledge”. Exam success is an important consideration but so too is the knowledge to enable our students to participate in rich and ongoing conversations about the world around them.  During the weeks and months ahead you may, for example, wish to explore Greek Mythology, the stories of the world religions, great pieces of art, learn the locations of countries on a world map, and learn capital cities and landmarks.  Take the opportunity to watch classic films as a family.  For students in Year 8 and 9, who have completed a unit on ‘The Art of Storytelling’, this could be followed up by looking into the narrative techniques and character archetypes.

The following links provide great starting points :

https://www.arthistorykids.com/

https://world-geography-games.com/

https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/famous-places-channel.htm

https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/an-introduction-to-greek-mythology/

https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/magical-musical-tour/

https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/quotation-station/

https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/activity-plans/movie-night/

https://www.learnreligions.com/bible-story-summaries-old-new-testament-4590132

I have included in this email overviews of the topics covered in each subject in each year group of Key Stage 3 which can help to support your home schooling.  At Tytherington we follow the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3, so the BBC KS3 Bitesize resources also support the work we are doing.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/z4kw2hv

You can also find additional website links, recommended movies and books by clicking here.

Please do not hesitate to get in contact directly if you have any concerns about supporting home learning.  Emotional and physical well being should be everyone’s priority and we do not wish to add to difficult times by adding additional stress

Please stay home if you can and stay well.

Curriculum Overviews

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9