Blog entry by Astrid Dinneen

Anyone in the world

As the situation regarding the Covid-19 outbreak continues to unfold and as schools, parents and children adapt to their new ways of working the Hampshire EMTAS team is sharing how they will keep up their support.  

 

Hampshire EMTAS is still open for business and colleagues are working hard in the background to maintain our usual level of support:

- The Specialist Teacher Advisors are working on new material and training and are still available for support and advice via email, telephone or videoconferencing (preferably on Microsoft Teams). They are keeping a close eye on the situation and will contact colleagues booked to attend network meetings with an update. Note some events may still happen virtually so do continue to book on and look into downloading Microsoft Teams.

- CPD continues to be available through our EAL e-learning, which is free to Hampshire schools. Please contact us to sign up.

- The Bilingual Assistant Team are going to produce translations of key resources for the EMTAS website. They are also able to produce translations and voice-overs in other languages for curriculum resources to be used with those children they’ve been supporting e.g. PowerPoints to be used in teaching inputs. If teachers in schools have anything like this they want adapted for their learners, please get in touch.

- The Traveller Team are working on new resources for schools and a contingency plan for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, which for communities in Hampshire is being postponed but which promises a range of fun activities including line dancing and a postcard competition.

- Our language phone lines, SEND/EAL, ELSA and GRT phonelines are still running hence Hampshire practitioners and parents can continue to phone the EMTAS main phone number to speak to a member of staff. Note a list of Hampshire EMTAS colleagues’ email addresses will be shared with Hampshire schools via a ‘school com’ hence school practitioners will also be able to contact particular members of staff directly.

- Our Resources Manager is still processing some orders e.g. for digital subscriptions to the Young Interpreter Scheme but will be unable to send resources out to schools. Our Admin team is working remotely but is still responding to calls and emails from schools.

- We are working on publishing activities for Young Interpreters to carry out from home on our Moodle (free access). Note that a decision will be made about the Basingstoke Young Interpreters Conference after the Easter break.

Finally, we are keen to continue posting blogs every other week but acknowledge our original schedule will need to be tweaked to ensure articles are pertinent to our readers in these highly unusual circumstances. As far as possible our blogs will include useful links for digital resources and advice to support you and families throughout the pandemic. Please subscribe to the blog digest to stay up to date (select EMTAS on the sign up form).

We will start here with a non-exhaustive list of suggested resources which school practitioners are encouraged to share with parents where appropriate. We would like to draw your attention particularly to the Kitabu Dual Language ebook Library. A review of this library written by Hampshire EMTAS Bilingual Assistant Eva Papathanassiou is coming very soon. In the meantime, Mantra Lingua is offering parents of learners of EAL free access to the library. Please contact us for details which you can share with your families.

List of resources

Coronavirus information in other languages

- Doctors of the World

- World Health Organisation (WHO) – choose your language in the top right-hand corner

- Translated posters for hygiene tips from New South Wales Health (Australia)  


Ebook libraries

- Download eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines for free from Hampshire libraries

- Ebooks and audiobooks for children currently available for free at World Book Online

- Kitabu Dual Language ebook Library (blog coming soon)

- Free streaming for children on Audible. Includes stories in six languages

- International Childrens Digital Library


Resources for parents and their children

- Free resources for Young Interpreters via the Hampshire EMTAS Moodle

- National Literacy Trust – Parent Zone

- Secondary resources for home learning with the English and Media Centre

- Free British Sign Language course for under 18s

- Free home learning resources for Secondary students from the British Library Learning

- Collaborative Learning Project - Collaborative Activities are ideal for learning at home. You collaborate to make up an activity. You collaborate to do the activity. Then you sanitise the activity and pass it on to another parent or carer

- BBC Bitesize – cross-phase and cross-curricular learning resources

- BBC Programmes categorised as learning

- #stayathomestorytime  - 6pm on Instagram – a daily children’s story by Oliver Jeffers

- Jack Hartman on Youtube - maths and English with physical exercises to do

- Topmarks - resources for KS1 and KS2

- The Confident Teacher – weekly themed activities and resources

- @littlelessons20 on Twitter. Two video lessons each day suitable for primary pupils

- Kelly’s Home Centre on Facebook - live free virtual cooking classes for children aged between 6 and 14

- Cambridge Assessment – offering their ResourcePlus suite, with videos and teaching resources, for free. Secondary phase

- EAL journal – for further links of suggested websites and activities


Culture

- The Royal Opera House - programme of free online content for the culturally curious at home

- ‘A list of free, online, boredom-busting resources’ from Chatter Pack. Includes links to virtual tours of museums and galleries, links to concerts and much more

- Snow Mouse – a wintry 40-minute tale for the under-fours


Online learning platforms

- Education City  - resources to support literacy, numeracy and cross curricular work (including a Learn English module)

- Learning Village – blended learning materials for EAL learners


Technology

- Parents can order a free 14-day trial C-pen  to be sent home in order to support their children's literacy.


Fitness and wellbeing

- Live PE workouts each morning with Joe Wicks, Body Coach, on Youtube

- PE workouts on demand with Les Mills Born to Move


CPD for school staff

- EAL elearning

- Blog

- Hampshire EMTAS website

- Bell Foundation

- Naldic


Visit the Hampshire EMTAS website

Subscribe to our Blog Digest (select EMTAS)

[ Modified: Tuesday, 24 March 2020, 5:14 PM ]

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