15 January 2021 – With another national lockdown well underway, senior members of LVS Ascot are offering parents and students nationwide their top ten tips for productive home study:
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Top ten tips for homeschooling 4-11 year olds, with Rachael Cox, headteacher of LVS Ascot Junior & Infant School
- Establish a routine for each school day, which includes regular wake up times as well as bedtimes
- Have a dedicated place to work, with all your child’s school equipment to hand
- Start the morning with the right breakfast
- Ensure your children have a bottle of water nearby throughout the day
- Make sure your child takes regular breaks and uses that time to move around
- During their breaks ask your child to exercise their eyes by looking and focusing on things about 20 metres away
- Keep positive! If your child says they can’t do something, use the 5 B’s – brain, board, book, buddy, boss – approach to encourage them to try other strategies before coming to you for help:
Brain – give yourself time to think – don’t panic
Board – look back at the resources the teacher has provided
Book – is there anything in your book you have already done that might help you with this
Buddy – can you ask a friend
Boss – Go back to your teacher or parent after you have tried all these things.
- Don’t be afraid to ask if you need help. Contact your child’s teacher if you need more support
- Be patient – have a reading book to hand that you can pick up in case the teacher can’t respond immediately
- At the end of the day put the screens away to rest your child’s eyes and encourage their sleep pattern. Before the bedtime routine try playing board games, doing jigsaws or some colouring, as this will help your child to relax and leave school behind for the day.
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Secondary School studies, with Christine Cunniffe, Principal at LVS Ascot
Top ten tips for students
- Establish a routine – have set times for breaks, meals and bed, to make it easier to maintain learning time and make sure your body clock maintains a healthy cycle
- Get in the zone – If you can, have a dedicated, quiet and tidy space to learn and different areas where you can take a break, eat and relax
- Structure your time – know your timetable and create a to do list which you keep up to date
- Feed your brain – make sure you have a good breakfast, a healthy lunch and drink plenty of water throughout the day
- Limit distractions – learning is challenging enough so remove phones and other distractions during study
- Get organised – don’t leave it to the last minute to make sure you have what you need to hand and all your equipment is working. If something is broken, let your teacher know as soon as possible
- Have some flexibility – while sticking to routines, accept that some things may need to change at the last minute
- Communicate – if there is a problem or a worry, talk to your teachers, parents or friends. They won’t know that something is wrong unless you tell them and they may be able to help
- Don’t sweat the small stuff – if something goes wrong then have another go later on
- Work, rest and play – prioritise self-care along with schoolwork. Take regular breaks, away from your devices and use them to get some exercise and fresh air at least once a day or catch up with your friends.
Top three tips for parents of secondary school students
- Lead by example – don’t forget, your children will take their cue from you, so set the bar high and follow the same rules that you expect them to
- Check in – touch base with your children now and then throughout the day, to check all is well. Have general conversations at the end or start of each week to reflect on how they’re doing and what’s coming up. If your child is struggling contact the pastoral team at school
- Don’t worry if your child isn’t perfect (don’t be too hard on them or yourself).
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LVS Ascot Principal, Christine Cunniffe, explains; “Lockdown is hard on everyone and particularly so for young people and parents with young children. Whatever age, it’s important to maintain a routine and create the right environment to study at home and we hope these tips will help parents and students alike.
“We have been able to deliver all our classes online since the start of the pandemic. I am very proud of the team at LVS Ascot, and our students who continue to study hard during these uncertain times, and we will continue to offer online learning when we are able to return to in-classroom teaching, to support our international students and vulnerable and isolating pupils who have to remain at home.”
For more information or to book a virtual tour, visit the LVS Ascot website.
