Festival of Learning | The Arnewood School

23rd and 24th February 2021

Available On Demand for Registered Participants
Unable to Make the Live Event

We are delighted to introduce you to our first Festival of Learning. This is a webinar-based event over two days immediately after half-term, delivering sessions that parents can select across both days. Each session will last no more than 30 minutes and may include the opportunity to ask questions. The content is aimed at parents and carers with an interest in improving how they support their child’s remote education and preparation for returning to school.

Resources

Please register for as many sessions as you wish by clicking on the buttons below. Feel free to select just one or as many that interest you.

Programme

What makes good education?
9 a.m. – 9.30 a.m. Tuesday, 23rd February 2021

An introduction to the Festival of Home Schooling and what will be on offer to parents and carers across the two days. The speaker will explain what it is that schools look to achieve on a day-to-day basis and reflect on how learning from home impacts on the school’s objectives. Exploring the move to remote learning and the experience of students, the speaker will provide examples of how students respond to new ways of learning and what the school is doing to remove the barriers for children of all abilities and stages.

Online Safety
10.30 a.m. – 11.00 a.m. Tuesday, 23rd February 2021

Not all parents are able to be at home while children are at home learning online. Last year, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), who are responsible for finding and removing images and videos of child sexual abuse from the internet, received record numbers of online child sexual abuse reports. In this session the speaker will share their expertise in online safety. Keeping one step ahead of internet dangers will help you keep your son or daughter safer online. The content will explore technical options to optimise e-Safety. The speaker will also outline some of the conversations to have at home so that everyone can spot the risks, illustrating this by looking at some of the sophisticated ways in which children can be exploited.

Enriched Learning
12.30 p.m. – 1 p.m. Tuesday, 23rd February 2021

Fed up with your children looking at a computer screen day after day? Learning comes in many forms and the informal can be just as powerful as the formal. In this session the speaker will look at how to augment the home school learning experience through developing what is termed the hidden curriculum. It will contain practical examples of activities that improve young peoples’ stamina and creativity. Perhaps you can share the best of what you have done at home too that does not involve information technology?

Strategies to Improve Home Learning
2 p.m. – 2.30 p.m. Tuesday, 23rd February 2021

In this session the speaker will draw on their experience of child psychology and education practice to look at six simple steps to improving home schooling:

o time management
o chunking activities
o extending learning
o creating variety
o challenging reluctance
o rewarding success

What makes a good question?
3 p.m. – 3.30 p.m. Tuesday, 23rd February 2021

Many parents have found themselves thrust into the front line of helping their child with learning from home. While some might be content with sitting their son or daughter in front of the computer screen, many want them to experience a richer diet. In this presentation the speaker will explain how experienced teachers use questions and answers to shape students’ thinking. Exploring the use of question hierarchy, the speaker will illustrate how parents or carers can scaffold a child’s thinking and help them grasp new concepts. A rich question helps reinforce understanding and join knowledge from a wider range of sources. It also helps to see what is already understood and what has been missed. Do you see what we mean?

Keeping Good Mental Health
9 a.m. – 9.30 a.m. Wednesday, 24th February 2021

Remote learning can be challenging through nobody’s fault – the internet fails, work calls conflict with zoom lessons, children in different years are doing different tasks, and how are you really meant to know the exam specification for every subject on your son or daughter’s timetable! In this session the speaker will consider managing personal parental emotions and expectations during lock-down. They will also consider how to make home schooling a more pleasant experience by looking at teenage emotions, improving resilience and motivation, achieving boundaries, and how to achieve a balance between independent and directed learning.

A Space to Share
10.00 a.m. – 11.00 a.m. Wednesday 24th February 2021

This session is an open invitation to parents who would like to have a moderated conversation with others to share their experience of learning at home. Teachers and support staff will be on hand to listen and provide practical solutions. While we are familiar with Byte Size and Lockdown Learning, are there resources and tips you think others might like to know about ? What strategies have you found that others might find supportive? Please email questions in advance to d.lenton@arnewood.hants.sch.uk

Leaving School: Post 16 Destinations
12.30 p.m. – 13.30 p.m. Wednesday, 24th February 2021

The impact of COVID is arguably most pronounced for those who would have taken exams this year and who are exploring routes into post-16. In this session the speaker will look at the post COVID options open to students in year 11 and the importance of having a Plan B. Reflecting on the many conversations the speaker has had with parents and carers in recent weeks, The session will focus on key information relevant to preparing young people for Level 3 courses from September, taking you through practical steps that students can be taking in preparation for higher education and apprenticeship in a few years’ time.

Back to BASICS
2 p.m. – 2.30 p.m. Wednesday 24th February 2021

The speakers in this session will be exploring the key concepts in English and mathematics that parents and carers can help address to keep their child’s literacy and numeracy skills polished. Together known as the basic, being strong with words and numbers is considered an essential key to making good progress in education. Topics addressed in this session will include helping reluctant readers, improving spelling and grammar, space and number, and working with fractions. We will also show you where to find what students are covering when on the school website. You don’t need to be an expert – this session is aimed at beginners.