Home-schooling support goes global
A Facebook group set up by teacher Ruth Hopkins, from Co-op Academy Woodlands, has attracted thousands of members and gone global.
A Facebook group set up by teacher Ruth Hopkins, from Co-op Academy Woodlands, has attracted thousands of members and gone global.
Ruth and a few colleagues set up Teachers’ Top Tips to help families feeling overwhelmed by the closure of schools.
https://twitter.com/Mrs_Hopkins_Y6/status/1241029358543876101
The group brings teachers from a wide variety of schools together with thousands of parents. Some from as far afield as Australia, Spain and Ireland who’re looking for ideas and activities they can do with their children while at home.
Ruth explained: “As I sat watching the news the evening that school closures were announced, I considered all the many parents and families out there who would have felt incredibly overwhelmed by the prospect of home schooling and not necessarily knowing where to start. I messaged a couple of colleagues with my suggestion and we all agreed it would be a good idea and so the group began.
We had only expected to reach 50-100 people but very quickly realised we would exceed that as the numbers started growing. By that evening we had 3,000 members and within 72 hours we had 10,000 with the numbers continuing to grow. At the last count there were more than 12,000 members.
The group is made up from initially a group of teaching colleagues with many parents joining, both locally and further afield. As word has spread and the group has grown, there are now teachers from a wide range of schools adding themselves to the group to share ideas with parents.
We estimate the group is made up of 70% parents with the rest teachers sharing ideas of resources, useful websites, ‘top tips’ and any other ideas.
However, there are also parents making requests for where to find help or get some advice. We have also had families sharing ideas and supporting others with things they have found useful.”
The group has a number of administrators, mainly from Co-op Academies and some from other schools. They’ve come together to support thousands of families and ensure that the group maintains a high quality, with posts in keeping with how the group was intended.