School’s out – but fun learning continues through coding summer camps
Virtual workshops for STEM stars of the future
A series of virtual summer camps to help children learn computer coding, game developmentand programming skills has been launched by Glasgow-based British Youth InternationalCollege (BYITC).
Children aged 8 to 14 can sign up to the camps, which are hosted online, so are accessible to young people in any location.
The 2023 BYITC Summer Coding Camps last three days, with the first camp focusing on games and running on the 24th, 25th and 26th July.
The second Coding Camp takes place on 31st July, 1st and 2nd of August and will focus on Python – a popular programming language that can be used for a wide variety of applications, including building websites and creating software.
BYITC founder Dr Rashmi Mantri said: “The school holidays are the perfect time to combinefun with fascination – and our Summer Coding Camps will have plenty of both!
“The idea is to introduce young people to the world of coding and games development, while also powering their imaginations with a combination of hands-on activities, interactive workshops and project-based learning.”
Young people taking part in the BYITC Summer Coding Camps will use apps that introduce kids to coding, such as Scratch and Thunkable,9 and game creation platforms such as Roblox. Python programming topics will also be incorporated.
“We’ve carefully crafted the camp curriculum to provide a holistic learning experience thatencompasses coding concepts, game design principles and the practical application ofprogramming skills,” Dr Mantri said.
Each day of the Summer Coding Camps will run from 11am to 1pm and then 2pm to 4pm.
Dr Mantri, who has a PhD in Computer Science, founded BYITC in 2015 to teach maths using a counting tool that has been used for millennia – the abacus. BYITC has since expanded into online courses in English, programming and cyber security and runs 10 franchises globally – including Dubai and Sri Lanka.
Supermaths is BYITC’s most popular teaching programme and offers a mix of weeklyteacher-led abacus maths classes and online tutorials.Thought to have been first used by the Babylonians, an ancient Middle Eastern civilization, as early as 2,400 BC, the abacus is known to be highly effective at training the brain to make mathematical calculations involving huge numbers.
For more information on the 2023 BYITC Summer Coding Camps visit:
The Scottish Parliament has launched a new digital education offering to help schools in Scotland who are teaching Modern Studies.
Free, online classroom sessions are available for teachers to book, which includes a live interactive lesson with a Scottish Parliament education officer.
These informative sessions last around 45 minutes and cover important elements from the Modern Studies curriculum.
The digital sessions are being offered as a complementary option alongside in-person school visits to Holyrood, as well as outreach visits by Parliament staff to Scottish schools.
“Over the last few years, our team has focused on delivering a high-quality and informative online experience,” said Education Manager, Caroline Schofield.
“We know it can be difficult for some schools to get to Edinburgh, and so with these digital sessions, all you need is a screen and a webcam, and pupils can still enjoy a ‘virtual’ trip to learn about their Parliament.”
Lynda Swanson, who has been teaching Modern Studies for over 25 years, and is currently at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, said that after organising an in-person trip became “a little tricky with costs and staffing”, she took up the offer of a digital session for her class of National 5 learners.
“The session covered a lot of things we’ve covered already in class, and offered a different insight into them. It’s also helpful for revision purposes, and the presenter, Angela was very good at engaging the learners, asking them questions.”
She praised the session for being time-saving and cost-saving and recommended other teachers to consider the option.
These digital sessions are available throughout the year and can be booked for free from www.parliament.scot/education.
The online lessons are available to everyone, and will build a wide range of skills, from improving confidence online to developing a website for your business, managing your money and staying connected with friends and family. The academy also provides access to online events for small businesses and charities to network virtually and hear from expert speakers.
Bank of Scotland’s latest research revealed that 67% of people said they would improve their digital skills if they knew support was available.
The new data also found that almost two-thirds (63%) of people across Scotland are spending more time online. People are not only spending more time online but are also doing more online. For those who have tried new things for the first time during lockdown, more than nine in ten (94%) expect this to continue in the long-term and almost a fifth (17%) are concerned that their digital skills still aren’t good enough.
More than half (53%) of Scots rely on the internet for day-to-day life and 49% agreed being online helped them to find and get a job.
Philip Grant, chair of Lloyds Banking Group’s Scottish Executive Committee, said: “During the pandemic, digital skills have been a lifeline for many, helping people stay in touch with friends and access services like banking and online shopping.
“Being online has become part of everyday life for many more people and creating the Bank of Scotland Academy is all about helping people build the right digital skills.
“For small businesses digital confidence and capability have been crucially important. In the last year, 44% of small Scottish businesses wouldn’t have continued trading without digital facilities.[1]
“Having the right digital skills means that people can stay connected with loved ones, businesses can run more efficiently, and charities can raise more funds by reaching more people.
“The lessons are open to everyone, easy to follow and completely free, so my message is: get involved.”
Kate Forbes MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, added: “Digital technology plays a key role in a great many aspects of our lives and is essential to our economic recovery. As many people also choose the convenience of digital banking services, industry led initiatives such as the Bank of Scotland Academy will ensure that our financial system remains inclusive and accessible.
“If people have access to devices and the skills and confidence to use them, it will have significant benefits in economic growth and ensuring services work for us all. I would encourage anyone who thinks they would benefit to make use of this excellent new resource.”
The live lessons and resources have been created by Bank of Scotland with the help of expert learning and technology partners. The number of lessons available will evolve over time to reflect changing needs.
Sessions can be booked through Eventbrite[2] and more bespoke sessions will also be available, built around the specific needs and objectives of organisations.
An online school, established by Wey Education more than 16 years ago, has launched an ‘essential’ programme of English, Maths and Science support, delivered live by expert teachers, to help students across the UK recover the learning they have missed due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
These efforts align with the Government’s recovery support package which includes tutoring programmes, summer provision and recovery premiums for state schools, so that children and young people can catch up on missed learning and development opportunities.
The “InterHigh Essentials” package was developed as a way to alleviate the “pain” of families who were struggling with home schooling and remote learning. It offers young people in the local area the opportunity to enrol on its online platform and access lessons for three core subjects English, maths and science, plus tutorial, in an interactive and effective, yet easy-to-use format. The virtual lessons will be delivered live by experienced teachers who are qualified to teach online.
Developed by a team with over 16 years of experience with online teaching, students will be given opportunities to fully engage with their learning, in a virtual environment that is characteristic of how we will learn, work, and interact in the future.
For the equivalent of £12 a day, families can benefit from supplementary learning in a virtual environment while their child continues to be enrolled in their current school.
Emma Beer, an InterHigh parent who enrolled her son during Covid-19, said:“He’s more settled into a routine and is far more engaged in learning at home. During the first two weeks of schools closing, it was difficult to home educate my son and I struggled to find material online which engaged him, meaning I had to constantly sit next to him to keep an eye on what he was doing.
“The crisis has unveiled an amazing opportunity for my son to try a different approach to education.”
The programme is open to students in Key Stage 2, 3, and 4, and registration can be done individually by students, or by schools on their behalf. The team at InterHigh believe in transformative education which provides a community for students to learn wherever they feel most comfortable, supported, and engaged.
Jacqueline Danielle, CEO of Wey Education, said:“Our aim is to provide all young people with the opportunity to access an education that will inspire a lifelong love of learning – both pure and applied, and I believe we have achieved something truly remarkable over the past 17 years at Wey Education.
“Events this year have opened the eyes of many to the power and possibilities of online learning. We are excited to provide more families with the opportunity to study with us and experience our innovative and pioneering approach to teaching and learning in a virtual environment.”
Dr Sara de Freitas, Executive Director of Education at Wey Education, said:“During the pandemic, many students have missed out on parts of their education which can have long term negative impacts upon employment and mental health.
“Our new programme is designed to plug these gaps in young people’s education and provide the important learning they may have missed during the pandemic.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer this package to students as a supplementary offer and recommend it for all students that have been affected by school closures during this year and last year.”
For more information, including how to enrol, please visit:
Yorkshire Building Society has launched six online lessons of its financial education programme Money Minds, to support parents, carers, teachers and all Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 primary school pupils as well as Key Stage 3 secondary pupils through the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to new national lockdown measures leading to the closure of schools, the Society has released two Key Stage 1 (aged 5-7) digital Money Minds lessons on the topics of ‘Keeping Money Safe’ and ‘Wants and Needs’ and two Key Stage 2 (aged 8-11) lessons on the topics of ‘Vacation Venture’ and ‘Project Party’ to teach them about the importance of budgeting.
The Society has also launched two new Key Stage 3 (aged 11-14) digital lessons for students on the topics of ‘Bills and Budgets’ and ‘Project Profit’ to teach them about the importance of budgeting and being financially resilient.
The video lessons should take between 25-40 minutes to complete and are presented by colleagues from the Society.
Money Minds is a free programme consisting of a series of activities and projects designed to promote discussion and learning amongst children and young people and is usually delivered in schools by colleagues from the Society as part of its volunteering programme.
Society colleagues working in branches are key workers and are supporting customers with essential financial services through the Covid-19 outbreak and new lockdowns.
Sharon Stirling, manager at Yorkshire Building Society’s Edinburgh branch filmed the ‘Keeping Money Safe’ and ‘Project Party’ lesson which teaches children how to budget whilst planning a party.
She said: “We know that there have been really hard times over the last nine months for children, teachers, parents and guardians. Now with schools closing again I hope that our digital Money Minds lessons will help in any small way in making their lives a little easier by providing some quality ‘go to’ content available to use for home-schooling or in classrooms for vulnerable children and those of key workers.
“I’ve delivered numerous face-to-face Money Minds lessons for the Society to pupils in the past and know from experience how impactful they are. The feedback we have received so far on our online sessions has been really positive so we are really pleased they are being well received.”
Louise Neill, Community Manager at Yorkshire Building Society has developed the financial education lessons. She said: “We’re committed to supporting children and young people in teaching financial education through our Money Minds programme. As we usually have our colleagues volunteering in schools we have had to adapt the way we deliver these.
“It’s incredible that our branch colleagues, classed as key workers supporting customers with essential financial services through the lockdowns, have been able to extend the help they can offer by providing these lessons which will continue to improve financial capability in the next generation in the UK.”
More than 25,000 pupils across the UK have now received a Money Minds lesson since the programme launched in 2015.
When children have completed the lesson their parents or guardians can e-mail the Society and they will be emailed a certificate.
If you had a hundred home educators in a room, each of them would likely have a different approach, but there are various steps you can take to get the most out of homeschooling.
With a third national lockdown closing most UK schools, Greg Smith, Head of Operations at Oxford Home Schooling, one of the UK’s leading home education providers, has given his 10 tips for how to effectively homeschool.
1. Take breaks
A bit of experimentation should identify what works best for you and the child. You might find 30-minute blasts followed by 10-minute breaks help to keep your concentration up. Alternatively, you might prefer to work for longer periods at a stretch and then enjoy a longer break.
Boring as it might sound, giving your learning a predictable structure and routine does help to make sure you get everything done!
2. Make a routine
Children get the most out of homeschooling when parents decide when and what they should be studying. At school, the typical day might consist of seven 40 minute periods – four in the morning and three in the afternoon. So should parents try to emulate this?
It’s important to remember that most children (and adults) are not able to concentrate for long periods of time, whatever the learning environment and kids do not concentrate on their studies for five hours a day at school. The average lesson is filled with interruptions and irrelevancies and the real ‘work’ might be condensed into 10 minutes. The same is true at home. Even if you have assigned 40 minutes to a subject, do not be surprised if the useful work is done in just 10 minutes and the rest is spent in (apparently) less productive activity.
Organisation is not simply a matter of time slots. It is a combination of timetabling and study objectives. By setting routines, children will find it easier to stay focused, engaged and make progress.
3. Get rid of distractions
It’s really hard to focus when the TV’s blaring, the radio’s on or there is lots going on in the place you’re working, so try and get rid of the distractions.
Also, concentrating is easiest when you’re in a quiet, comfortable place, so play around with how you and your child study – sitting, standing or lying down; inside or outside; with lots of light or without – and find a method that helps them concentrate.
4. Divide up the work
Sometimes it can be difficult to motivate yourself when faced with a really big or difficult task. The best solution is to break it down into smaller pieces, planning out the various stages that need completing before you start. This way, your child will know what needs doing and you’ll both get a good sense of progress as you work.
5. Get lots of sleep
It’s an accepted fact that if you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll find it harder to concentrate, learn and retain information. The trick is pretty simple – get some sleep! Most people between the age of five and 11 need 10 to 12 hours of sleep per night, while 11 to 18-year-olds need 8 to 10 hours.
6. Don’t multitask
Sometimes, particularly when there’s a lot of work to be done, it can be hard to resist the urge to multitask and try and get lots of jobs done at once.
This is best avoided though, as, in essence, you’re dividing up the amount of brainpower you have available to a given task, meaning you might miss out on important bits of information.
7. Meditate and reduce stress
Plenty of scientific studies have shown the benefits of sitting silently, with your eyes closed and the mind focused on the present. This can dramatically reduce stress levels – a factor that’s been proven to exacerbate tiredness and reduce memory retention.
8. Utilise TV and online learning
Technology is a massive part of education both in schools and at home. Sites like BBC Bitesize and Geography Games are great for delivering educational content in a fun, engaging way.
It can also be used to keep in touch with the homeschooling community to share tips and advice.
If you’re temporarily homeschooling, then tools like Google Classroom can help you interact with your class and teacher from school.
9. Stick to the curriculum
It’s important to try and cover all of the subjects your child is used to learning about, but don’t worry too much about spending an equal amount of time on each.
You will naturally have greater knowledge in some areas than others and it’s fine to lean on these more heavily. However, your child may have interests in subjects you are less familiar with, and it would be a shame if they were unable to continue learning about these during this period. Avoiding these topics altogether could result in your child losing their passion.
If you are unsure about any content, it can be quite refreshing to do some research yourself and learn something new, before passing on the information to your child.
10. Make it fun
Learning doesn’t have to be a chore, there are hundreds of games you can play to exercise your brain, including the following memory tests.
There are card games where you have to match pairs or groups of face-down cards, flipping two each turn and reverting them face-down if they’re not a pair.
You could also place a number of small, random items on a tray, memorise the items for a minute, then cover the tray, listing as many of the items as you can remember in a given time period.
Then there are two-player games, such as Memory Master, where one player stares at a picture (magazines, books or photos all work) for a minute, after which the second player quizzes them on all aspects of the picture.
University students will be taught online throughout January and February, with the vast majority not expected back on campuses until the start of March, as part of a revised plan for their return in light of the spread of the new variant of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Only very small numbers of students will be allowed back on campus this month, for example, those:
who have remained over the winter break
whose attendance is critical and whose education cannot be delivered remotely or postponed, essential placements, or for reasons of student well-being
Where attendance is time-sensitive to the ability to graduate and cannot be delivered remotely or further postponed, very limited numbers of students may be able to return from mid-February. However all arrangements are subject to a future review of COVID-19 conditions.
Colleges will follow the level guidance for their local authority area which in practice means with limited exemptions the majority of college students’ studies will be on line in January and into February
The current state of the pandemic, the impact of suppression measures and the roll out of the vaccine will all be taken into account in considering whether it is possible for a return at any point.
Richard Lochhead, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, said detailed sectoral guidance will be published as soon as possible next week, but that his basic message to students remains that they should not return to their term-time accommodation until in-person teaching resumes, as advised by their institution.
Mr Lochhead said: “These changes reflect the current status of the virus, the reality of the new strain, and the rise in cases in recent weeks.
“The return of students to campus, including returning to term-time accommodation, involves the mass movement of thousands of people across the country. The mixing of people on that scale, including the potential movement of tens of thousands of students to university halls and private-rented flats, simply isn’t safe right now. It would fuel the virus, and that is something no one wants.
“Our immediate priority right now is to say to students, other than in specific special circumstances, they must not return to their campus or term-time accommodation before they are specifically told to do so by their institution.
“For the overwhelming majority of university students, this means all learning will be online-only at least for January and February, and students should not expect to return to campus or student accommodation before the end of February.
“We will review plans in light of the state of the pandemic nearer the time, but right now even the very limited number of returns that were previously planned for phase 2 of the restart dates, cannot happen until at least the middle of next month for the majority of students, supported by rapid-result testing on arrival.
“We would like to thank everyone for their patience and fortitude in dealing with the pandemic over past months, and we understand this is more difficult news – but we want to give students and staff as much certainty as we can so they can plan effectively. That’s why we are setting this plan out now.
“As we have all seen, this virus moves fast and changes quickly but even in light of that reality, hopefully by setting out a clear plan that gives certainly for at least the next two months, everyone can now plan with a greater degree of confidence.”
As we move into 2021 and parents, teachers and pupils once again find themselves facing additional challenges to deliver and attain a full and rounded education, it is worthwhile remembering the role that music can and should play in improving our lives.
Firstly, music will help support and sustain our young people through the coming months. For children and adults alike, the creative arts play a vital role in promoting wellbeing and positive mental health, providing both a means of expression during the isolation of “lockdown” and a practical as well as enjoyable pastime.
Secondly – and just as importantly – playing an instrument is complementary to academic subjects and has been shown emphatically to improve wider educational success. As we consider the often daunting challenge of the return to home schooling, those parents whose children can mix domestic timetables with musical lessons will understand the release and stimulation playing an instrument can deliver.
Across society music is integral to our identities and is made to be shared. We now have the means to do that successfully and safely with online tools whose use has been well-honed by recent experience.
So whether you’re at the start of a musical journey, or are well advanced in music -let’s keep singing, keep dancing and keep music lessons flowing, particularly while the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic keep us apart in our own homes.
