As we all try to do our bit to help children who will be learning from home for the foreseeable future, I would like to announce that I will be posting a daily English activity online from Monday to Friday, starting today.

I am an experienced primary school teacher (KS2) with a specialism in English. I am currently self-isolating at home and this is my small way of helping people (particularly parents and children) to find some calm, enjoyment and escapism during a truly testing time. Each daily activity will involve some form of short literacy-based task and will be aimed at cultivating imaginations, creativity and a real love of literacy. The focus will be on enjoyment and pleasure in English. My hope is that these activities will also prove useful to teachers who remain in school with children of key workers.

Over the coming weeks (and perhaps months?), I will try to build a bank of fun literacy activities right here on this blog. I will try to keep the activities as simple as possible, using only what can be found at home or online. As we navigate this new home-learning system, I am also working on how to best utilise video content for these activities so please bear with me! I will continue to publish new ideas and activities and I invite you to join in at home in the following ways:

• Set your creativity free by ‘having a go’ at a variety of daily activities at home.
• Post a comment on the blog posts with your child’s response to daily literacy tasks, any questions or further suggestions.
• You may also wish to engage on social media as our online connections become inreasingly important, sharing your child’s creative writing using the hashtag #literacywithmissp (you can find me on Facebook and Twitter) may give them a sense of purpose for their work.
• Watch and comment on my Youtube videos (once these are up and running!).
• Take part in contests and competitions promoted here to give your child authentic purpose and audience for their writing.

The most important thing you can do for your children right now is to read with them every single day! Storytelling is really important, especially in times like these. Read aloud as well as independently (even with older children), get cosy, listen to audiobooks and make sure your children have access to books… as well as magazines, poetry and non-fiction. As most of us begin to live our lives confined to the home environment, stories become essential in allowing children to escape to far-flung places, meet extraordinary characters and expand their world! Stories can also be a great way of helping children deal with real-life situations.

I will be posting the first activity later today, which I hope will support you and your children in finding some calm during these uncertain times. As communities today face school closures and enhanced isolation and social-distancing measures, mental health is going to become increasingly important. My thoughts are with the incredible NHS staff and key workers that are keeping this country afloat. I am also sending so much love and positivity to all in the education community today as we are faced with one of the toughest days in teaching history. You are all absolutely amazing at what you do. Some things are simply beyond our control. We have done our best and we will continue to do whatever we can to help during these extraordinary times…

Stay calm. Stay safe. Stay home.

Miss P x