Hillside Special School

Hillside Special School
Sudbury, Suffolk

Home Learning (Remote Education)

At Hillside Remote Education is known as Home Learning. For further information, please refer to our Remote Learning (Education) Policy which can be found on our Policies page. 

Many of our pupils are unable to complete traditional 'Homework' and it would not be appropriate for them to receive this type of work. Please see below details of a whole variety of activities.

General Home Learning Activities

It is extremely useful for our children and young people to practice their skills learnt at school through practical tasks in their homes.

Below are some suggestions of activities for you to do together in the home. These activities cover a wide age and ability range, please pick the ones that interest you the most and that you feel your child will enjoy:

  • Create a birthday card or picture to send to a family member or friend whose birthday is coming up
  • Play a simple board or card game with a family member
  • Look at a book or magazine
  • Learn a song using Makaton from YouTube
  • Use the pupil's PECS books, Communication Book or TalkPad at home
  • Choose a song to listen to and have a dance!
  • Help with cooking
  • Lay the table
  • Tidy their room or a part of it
  • Make a bed
  • Help with laundry, including sorting socks!
  • Practice turn-taking with a family member
  • Investigate a range of sensory resources found in the home e.g. rice, pasta, jelly, water, sand, peas etc. Are you brave enough to explore them all?
  • Play "Can you find something blue?", "Can you bring me something white?". Use lots of different colours (red, purple, grey, pink, green, black, orange, brown, yellow)
  • Play "Can you find something with buttons?", "Can you show me something with ears?". Think of as many different things that you can.
  • Play "Can you bring me two socks?", "Can you find four books?"
  • Play "Can you sort these into colours?". Maybe helping with the washing!
  • Practice your mark-making in paint, flour, sand or shaving foam
  • Practice writing their name
  • Practice writing letters and numbers and sounding them out
  • Write the number 4 and ask your child to bring you the correct number of objects; this could be books, apples, pencils etc. Then do the same with other numbers.
  • Bake some cookies or cup cakes together and decorate them
  • Make some spring flowers out of tissue paper or old wrapping paper

 

External Online Resources

Details below of lots of online resources. Click on the links in blue to access the websites.

Please note: the direct website links have been checked by school, but we cannot be responsible for anything else that is accessed via those links. With all online learning that uses internet links, pupils should be supervised at all times to ensure that they remain safe.

2Simple - Purple Mash: Each week, a selection of daily activities is produced on different subjects, including comprehension and grammar suitable for all ages. Registration necessary.

BBC Bitesize: Videos, games and daily online lessons for all ages

Equals: Equals Whiteboard Room has a range of interactive resources for pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties.

Grandpa Magic: A Facebook page with live assemblies, stories and songs by Grandpa Magic. Suitable for Early Years and Primary children.

Help Kidz Learn: A collection of games and resources designed for a range of educational needs and stages. Registration necessary. 

Literacy Shed: Free story and reading comprehension packs available for Primary and Secondary classes. No registration necessary. 

Pearson School: Has a range of fun Maths, English and Science games, videos and other resources free of charge for 90 days for primary and secondary pupils. Registration necessary. 

Sensory App House: Free stimulating and fun apps available on apple and android devices for pupils with a sensory need. The website gives example videos of what is available. 

Twinkl: Twinkl have a number of really helpful guides, designed for parents, for different areas of the curriculum. They also have a wide range of resources for all year groups and abilities which teachers use frequently in school. You could also look at the dedicated Parents’ Hub which contains hundreds of educational activities designed for use at home.

Toy Theater: Toy Theater is a collection of interactive educational games to suit all levels. They are all free and designed to work on computers, tablets and mobile devices.

Topmarks: Topmarks offers lots of free, interactive, educational games and activities. The activities are primarily maths-based ranging from EYFS-Key Stage 4 but you can also find activities relating to other subjects. To access the activities, click on the link, select a subject and an age group under the search bar and explore!