PSHE
Care and responsibility
Children who care for their siblings or parents often miss out on key aspects of childhood as they take on responsibility far beyond their years.
Almost 10,000 five- to seven-year-olds are now carers for their relatives, an increase of about 80 per cent in a decade, according to statistics released in May from the 2011 Census for England and Wales.
But how can you help other young children to understand the ways in which the lives of child carers differ from their own? And how can you best support students in your class who care for others?
The Children’s Society has in the past called not only for support for these children but also for measures to be put in place so that they do not have to care for relatives. Being a carer is different from living in a family where a sibling or parent has mental or physical needs that have to be taken into account.
Find resources on child carers and advice on providing support at www.tesconnect.comresources
MUSIC
Sound beginnings
Children who care for their siblings or parents often miss out on key aspects of childhood as they take on responsibility far beyond their years.
Almost 10,000 five- to seven-year-olds are now carers for their relatives, an increase of about 80 per cent in a decade, according to statistics released in May from the 2011 Census for England and Wales.
But how can you help other young children to understand the ways in which the lives of child carers differ from their own? And how can you best support students in your class who care for others?
The Children’s Society has in the past called not only for support for these children but also for measures to be put in place so that they do not have to care for relatives. Being a carer is different from living in a family where a sibling or parent has mental or physical needs that have to be taken into account.
Find resources on child carers and advice on providing support at www.tesconnect.comresources
RELATED RESOURCES
- Deepen your understanding of the issues that young carers face, and learn how to establish a support framework, with this resource pack from the Carers Trust. bit.lysupporting childcarers
- liz_alston2004‘s poster offers strategies that readers can use to overcome difficulties. bit.lyReadingstrategies
- This zoo-related resource from CultureStreet asks students to write and create their own picture books.bit.lyzoobook
- Students profile a musical genius in this homework activity from lec211187. bit.lymusicalgenius
- See how UK charity The Children’s Society teaches schools to support children who care for family members in this Teachers TV video. bit.lysupportyoung carers
- Refresh your knowledge and improve your practice by completing the Carers Trust’s e-learning module on how to support young carers. bit.lycarers elearning
- Experiment with sound and instruments to create rainforest-inspired music in this composition lesson from HamiltonTrust. bit.lycompose rainstorm
- Support early phoneme, grapheme and initial sound recognition skills with this collection of activities from jambam. bit.lyshort phonicsgame
- Thinking of setting up peer mentoring? This guide from wgenterprise is a good place to start. bit.lypeermentoring
LITERACY
A lesson from Africa
When former street children in Uganda returned to the classroom to teach younger street children to read, no one predicted that the visit would have an impact more than 4,000 miles away.
But it inspired one teacher to introduce a similar programme in England. Students aged 15-16 at Brune Park Community School in Hampshire have been using Yes We Can Read, a phonics-based programme designed to develop reading for meaning among poor readers or non-readers in Uganda. The scheme has been so successful that it is being expanded, with students aged 11-18 coaching four- to 11-year-olds.
“Reading ages have increased significantly and the improvement in confidence, behaviour and attendance has amazed us,” headteacher Richard Kelly reveals.
For more information, go to www.gatehousebooks.com.
