Essex County Council have produced some resources for parents and carers to help them support children’s wellbeing during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mental health and wellbeing

Now more than ever, it’s important to support children’s mental health and wellbeing.

You can find online counselling and mental health services listed on the Livewell Essex website.

Mind has guidance on coronavirus and mental health for young people.

There’s also guidance for parents on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus outbreak on the GOV.UK site.

Social distancing

Social distancing is vital to helping stop the spread of coronavirus. There are resources to help children and young people understand why it’s so important.

The GOV.UK site has guidance on social distancing for everyone in the UK.

Royal College of Occupational Therapists has advice for parents who are socially distancing with children.

Young Minds also has some tips for young people on how to cope with social distancing.

Home learning resources

The Department for Education has information, guidance and support for parents and carers of children who are learning at home, along with a list of online resources for education at home.

There are lots of other resources that you can use to support home learning too.

Early years

• Hungry Little Minds provides simple, fun activities for kids, from newborn to 5
• Talk, Listen, Cuddle is an Essex campaign helping parents, carers and families give their young children the best start to life through learning at home. You can find a home learning tip of the day on the TLC Facebook page
• The British Association for Early Education offers lots of free downloadable resources for early learning

Education resources

• The Oak National Academy is a 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
• Bedrock Vocabulary offers evidence-based and fun online learning sites. Bedrock is suitable for all Key Stages and is free for all schools that are closed
• English teachers offers work booklets that students can complete at home
• BBC Bitesize provides online learning for children and young people aged 3 to 16. Their new ‘Daily’ package delivers a tailored day of learning across TV and online, with curriculum-relevant offers for Years 1 to 10
• eParenting has lots of free revision resources for GCSE, A-Level, SATs and 11+
• Amazing educational resources has a list of learning companies offering free subscriptions while schools are closed
• National Geographic Kids has activities and quizzes for younger kids