Day 29 of Lockdown

Day 29, four weeks under our belt, and who knows how many more to go? The main news item today is the expansion of Home Education support including a remote laptop scheme. Other news items include:

Online Education Resources

Essex County Council is supporting a government campaign to help families access online educational materials. The Department for Education (DfE) recently announced further support for schools, families and young people during the current school closures.

This includes the launch of the Oak National Academy, a new, government-backed online learning resource. It provides 180 video lessons each week for every year group – from Reception through to Year 10 – across a range of subjects, including maths, art and languages.

The BBC has also launched its own education package, BBC Bitesize Daily. This will deliver a tailored day of learning across TV and online, with curriculum-relevant offers for Years 1 to 10.

How to Support Your Child(ren)’s Education in Lockdown

These resources are alongside new Government guidance for parents on how to best support their child’s education and development.

These offers and guidance join the range of existing resources and tools schools have been using to support young people in their learning at home. The Council is working with Essex schools on rolling out these new offers which, together, are aimed at minimising disruption to children’s education and providing rhythm and routine in these challenging times.

Remote Laptop Scheme

The DfE has also published remote education guidance for teachers and leaders. This includes plans to support disadvantaged Year 10 students and children with a social worker. If these students do not have access to remote education resources, local authorities and trusts overseeing schools will be able to order tablets, laptops and 4G routers to ensure they can continue their learning at home.

The remote laptop scheme will launch on Wednesday 22 April. Following the publication of further details by the DfE, the County Council will be working with schools to identify those pupils who would benefit.

Emergency Foodbank Fund

The grant is to be used to fund food banks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants can apply for up to £1,000 per project. Funding can be used for:

Food,
Toiletries & essentials,
Storage boxes,
Storage space,
PPE for staff and volunteers,
volunteer coordination,
Volunteer expenses (e.g. petrol),
Promotion & volunteer recruitment, and
Phones for additional staff capacity.

Staying Safe in the Home

The Staying Safe in the Home campaign launched Friday 10 April continues to run. Spending more time together at home can put additional pressure on relationships or amplify existing tensions More information about how to effectively resolve conflict at home can be found on the Livewell website.

PAUSE – is a disagreement escalating to a point where you are no longer in control and you are just reacting? If so, take a breath and re-assess the situation.
THINK – try to reflect on why an argument started. Ask yourself how you were feeling before the conversation started and whether you were already feeling anxious or tense.
RESOLVE IT – take a step back. Is this argument about something important, or can you come back to it when you are both calmer?

There is an increased risk of children and young people feeling issues around their mental health. If children and young people are feeling overwhelmed and confused due to the current situation, they should be encouraged to express their feelings with someone they trust, or through organisations that can provide safe and confidential support. Visit: https://www.essex.gov.uk/staying-well/

More time online can increase the risk of online abuse. There are lots of steps that parents/carers can take to ensure children remains safe online, including having regular conversations with them about what they’re doing on the internet and who they are talking to. Visit: https://www.essex.gov.uk/staying-well/

The change to normal routines and social distancing may be placing families under extra pressure. If a child or young person is in immediate danger, call 999. If you’re worried that a child is being abused or neglected, call Essex County Council on 0345 603 7627 (out of hours or on bank holidays, call the emergency duty team on 0345 606 1212). For more information, visit https://www.essex.gov.uk/report-a-concernabout-a-child.

East Suffolk & North Essex NHS Foundation Trust Announcement

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) is taking extra steps to help patients stay connected to their loved ones by putting together a series of practical tips to help reduce isolation when visiting is restricted.

Three leaflets giving advice for patients, visitors and staff have been circulated at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, as well as Felixstowe and Aldeburgh community hospitals and Bluebird Lodge in Ipswich.

Photos Are Central

They encourage patients to show staff a photo of someone close to them so that they can chat about them, share any worries or anxieties, and think about things they are looking forward to and times when they were at their happiest.

Visitors are asked to provide a photo to connect them to their loved one and to write letters to them. iPhones and iPads will be provided so that relatives can FaceTime or text patients if they are well enough, while they are advised to focus conversations on good times and looking forward to the future.

Finally, staff are being urged to talk to patients about their photo or what is important to them, regularly ask how they are feeling and encourage them to breathe slowly, relax their muscles and think about different times.

Rebecca Pulford, associate director of nursing at ESNEFT, came up with the idea. She said:

We understand just how difficult it can be to spend time in hospital without visitors, but are keen to do whatever we can to help make admissions easier for both our patients and their loved ones.

We hope that these tools will help us support mental and emotional wellbeing and reduce isolation so that we can care for people’s heads as well as their bodies.

Although these resources have been introduced to keep people connected during the pandemic, we will continue using them in the future as we strive to become a mentally healthy hospital which looks after the whole patient rather than just their physical illness.

The leaflets are also available on ESNEFT’s website.

New Website

Grahame Stehle, Chairman of Colchester Neighbourhood Watch, announced the site saying:

The new, modern-looking web site is a tremendous asset, enabling Neighbourhood Watch to distribute crime prevention advice more widely within the borough. The new site, at www.colchesternhw.org.uk, allows residents to join Colchester Neighbourhood Watch and enjoy the benefits of membership easily and more quickly than before.

Cllr Mike Lilley added:

I am delighted the Safer Colchester Partnership and the council have lent their support to this important new community resource.

If there is one thing that we have surely learned from the coronavirus crisis it is that people working together, with their hearts and minds set on serving the common good, can help build safer and more resilient communities.

COVID-19 Daily Homeschool Schedule

Time	Task	Activity
7:00-8:30	Wake Up	Eat something. Do not wake up parents. Do electronics. Don’t die.
8:30-8:34	Academics 1	Do work the school sent home.
8:34-9:00	Distraction 1	Stare at squirrel outside. Fight over what to name it. Whine for snack / iPad / TV.
9:00-11:30	Parents Give In	Play on iPad. Floss dance naked in the background of an important meeting. Fight with sibling over TV programme.
11:30-11:32	Eat	Sit and eat 9.2% of carefully prepared, nutritionally balanced, lunch
11:32-12:30	Whlnefest 1	Whine to parents that you’re still hungry, but only for biscuits/sweets/crisps/anything without nutritional value.
12:30-1:30	Activity 1	On parents lunch, attempt to take a walk/scooter/bike ride, but it rains so Face Time with school friends using parent’s phone as iPad has died. Use swear words so other parents judge your parents.
1:30-1:37ish	Academics 2	Do computer-based maths program from school.
1:37-3:00	Distraction 2	Navigate away from school-approved work and, although unable lo spell correctly, miraculously find Roblox/Minecraft/Non·Kids YouTube. Sneak sweets from the kitchen. Leave wrappers EVERYWHERE.
3:00-3:45	Activity 2	Parents out of meeting. They put on Just Dance video game as an attempt to get some physical activity in. Spend 30 minutes fighting over which song to do. Find a way to do the least amount of movement necessary to get 5 stars.
3:45-4:00	Whinefest 2	Get bored. Suddenly remember the most unimportant piece of information ever and scream MUM! from outside office door until she ends meeting early. Then whine for nutritionally-deficient snacks.
4:00-4:30	Activity 3	Do whatever you want. Just PLEASE let parents work for at least another 30 minutes.