24 Apr Roding Valley High School shares top tips for students during lockdown
Roding Valley High School has created a home learning booklet to provide wellbeing advice and learning tips to help its students navigate the challenges faced while studying at home.
Sharon Jenner, Headteacher, Roding Valley High School, comments: “We have a fantastic cohort of students here at Roding Valley High School, who are always first to display resilience when facing a challenge, and this time is no different. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone in the school community for all of their support during this difficult time. It is a different ‘normal’ for us all at the moment, but I am confident that we will get through this together.”
Roding Valley High School shares its top home learning tips for students from its booklet:
Stay connected
Just because students can no longer see friends in person, does not mean to say that they can’t stay connected. Students should keep in touch with friends and family using readily available technology, and also use these means to keep in contact with teachers, reminding them that they are not alone in this new process of learning.
Create a routine
Adding routine and a basic structure to a student’s day is incredibly important. Set aside periods of time for when they will study, eat, exercise and relax. Students could use the “relax” period to learn a new skill or to rediscover old interests and passions, and should try and achieve something of some value – no matter how small the task – every day, to keep motivated. Teachers at Roding Valley High School have created a ‘suggested’ structure for a learning day, which includes mindfulness and wellbeing activities.
Let the student be the teacher
Learning can still take place, with support from teachers, at home. Roding Valley High School is using its ‘Google classrooms’ to post subject assignments for students to engage with. Students are able to leave comments for their teachers if they need help and hand in their work at the end of each week. Many departments are also sending out bulletins & broadcasts to keep students engaged in their subjects – such as ‘Roding Reads’ from the English team and the ‘Humanities Broadcast’ with interesting challenges to participate in.
Be active
Don’t stop being active! Roding Valley High School is offering a set of PE skill challenges that encourages students to film their efforts and email them into the school. The best videos will be posted on the school’s social media channels and House Points will be awarded to the House with the highest number of submissions in a two-week period. Challenges include a range of activities, from conventional press-up and sit-up challenges to the more inventive, such as performing ‘squats with a toilet roll on your head’ or creating a ‘sock golf hole’.
Stay safe online
The Internet is a fantastic tool for learning when used safely. However, students and their parents should be aware that there is a lot of misinformation online, so be sure to use reliable sources of information. It is important that if students come across content that is inappropriate or makes them feel uncomfortable, they have someone to talk to. Teachers are always there to help.
Jenner continues: “As I look longer term, we want our students to be prepared to return to full time school healthy, both physically and mentally, capable of independent study, having learnt some new skills and having been inspired to learn something that will support their future study and life.”
