Information
ASD Family Help – support, advice and activities for children, young people and their families with any learning disability, additional need or autism (including siblings).
Autism Berkshire and Acre’s Alafia service – working together to deliver free advice and support to Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) families with autistic children who live in Reading, Wokingham and West Berkshire, to help them look after themselves and support their children.
Barnardo’s – advice for parents and carers. How do you talk to your child about coronavirus? How can you keep your children entertained whilst you’re working from home?
Barnardo’s – a range of resources, tools, videos and more to help you support your child’s journey going back to school.
Barnardo’s See, Hear, Respond service provides support to children, young people and their families who are not currently seeing a social worker or other agency, and who are struggling to cope with the emotional impact of coronavirus (COVID-19). Use the See, Hear, Respond self-referral webpage or Freephone 0800 151 7015.
Charlie Waller Trust run free live webinars for anyone who looks after children and young people – parents, carers, educators – as well as young people themselves and anyone interested in psychology or mental health.
#Coping: Family life during the lockdown – some reliable and free sources of information and advice to help you and your family to cope under lockdown.
Coronavirus A book for children – free information book explaining the coronavirus to children, illustrated by Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler.
Domestic Violence – FLAG DV (Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence) have a new phone number 01635 015854. Hours: Mon, Wed, Fri 10.00am – 1.00pm
Edible Cannabinoid Confectionary – the sweet versions are widely available on the internet and via social media and may be easily accessed by young people. The packaging is often deliberately targeted to attract young people and look very similar to well-known sweets such as Haribo, Smarties and chocolate bars. There is NO quality control on these products.
Every Mind Matters – advice for parents on looking after the mental wellbeing of their child/young person.
Family Lives – coping practically and emotionally during the COVID-19 outbreak, advice for families in self isolation.
Fitness Studio exercise videos – take your pick from 24 instructor led videos across aerobics exercise, strength and resistance, and pilates and yoga categories.
Four Loko – West Berkshire’s Community Alcohol Partnership and Trading Standards Team in the Public Protection Partnership want to raise awareness about a new alcoholic product which may soon be available in our area and whose historical marketing could easily be confused with other non-alcoholic products. American Alcopop is due to release Four Loko in the UK, this has been marketed in the past as a ‘medicinal’ beverage, citing that it contains beneficial minerals and vitamins. It has also been produced in various flavours. We want to alert parents and school staff that this is an alcoholic beverage which comes in a number of strengths (ABV) starting from 6% with some cans being as high as 14%, the average can size has about 750ml. For the super strength version – the contents can be equal to 4 cans average strength beer, or a bottle of wine. Trading Standards Officer are aware and will be checking licensed premises for sales of this products during inspection – however we asking school staff or parents to be on the lookout and if you become aware of an underage persons having had access to this, or, become aware that an underage sale has occurred – please can you alert the team at tsadvice@westberks.gov.uk
Guidance for parents and carers on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can be found here.
Guidance on helping children aged 2 to 4 learn at home can be found here.
Guidance on helping primary school aged children learn at home can be found here.
Guidance on helping children with special educational needs and disabilities learn at home can be found here.
HAF links for each local authority: Bracknell ; RBWM; Reading; Slough; West Berks; Wokingham.
Keeping children happy and safe online during COVID-19 – useful resources and tools to help ensure that your child is safe and happy online.
#MoveWithUsBerkshire – use the GBA Activity Finder to find what works for you. There are also some Active at Home resources.
Net Aware – a guide to the latest social networks, apps, and games children and young people are using.
NSPCC Learning – Coronavirus: transitioning back to school.
Parents’ Guide for Safe YouTube and Internet Streaming for Kids – a resource for keeping your children safe. This guide features what children do online, the threat of online strangers and how to ensure a healthy balance between Internet use, your children’s online privacy, digital security and more.
Parents: Reducing stress, neglect and non-accidental injuries during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic – where to get help and support.
ParentWise – a helping hand for parents and carers from HM Government.
PHE has launched new e-learning which can help parents and carers to support their children and young people in emergency or crisis situations.
Reading SEND Local Offer – information for Children & Young People 0 – 25 years who have special educational needs/disabilities (SEND).
ROC – free support available to parents now. Telementoring is a free and remote service offering support to those struggling to cope with parenting. Please contact paulwilson@roc.uk.com for more information on how to access the scheme.
Sunshine Support – helpful resources for children and young people with SEND.
Supporting Your Child During The Coronavirus Pandemic – tips, advice and where to get support for your child’s mental health during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Supporting Your Child’s Return to School After Lockdown – tips from Young Minds, NSPCC Learning, NHS and Mental Health Foundation.
Swings and Smiles – are still able to offer services such as their virtual timetable, 121 SIBSupport or group SIBSupport through video calls (contact sibsupport@swingsandsmiles.co.uk), support by email or phone or resource packs and sensory lending library. Contact Swings and Smiles on 01635 285170 or email office@swingsandsmiles.co.uk.
The World Has Turned Upside Down – Ambitious about Autism has partnered with children’s author Kes Gray and illustrator Chloe Batchelor to create a new story which explains the current crisis to children.
Thinkuknow – a resource for keeping kids safe both online and offline.
Activities For Younger Children
Activity Book – Here are some great ideas for young people to try. There are games, crafts, quizzes, recipes and much more! Please try them and let us know how you get on!
Apple – have released free ebooks for a limited time for your Apple device; click on ‘Book store’ and then the ‘Free books’ section.
ASDAN – free resources to support home learning and educating.
Audible – thousands of educational and children’s audio books available completely free.
BBC Learning – This site is old and no longer updated and yet there’sso much still available, from language learning to BBC Bitesize for revision. No TV licence required except for content on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Teach – thousands of free curriculum-mapped videos arranged by age group and subject.
Book Trust – free online books and videos.
BrainPop – animated movies on topics in maths, science and English completely free to parents.
British Council – resources for English language learning.
CBeebies – various links for games that children can play.
CBeebies Radio – listening activities for the younger ones.
Change 4 Life – ten minute shake up activities with Disney inspired games and activities.
Children’s Activity Pack – Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvelllous Medicine, Dr Zeuss’ The Cat In The Hat and Giles Andreae & Guy Parker-Rees’ Giraffes Can’t Dance.
Crash Course Kids – You Tube videos on many subjects for a younger audience.
Crest Awards – science awards you can complete from home.
DKFindOut! – lets kid’s explore subjects from coding space, history and much more.
Funbrain – education for younger children.
Futurelearn – Free virtual tours of world museums, educational sites and galleries for children.
Get Berkshire Active: Activities for Families with Children – ways to stay active with your children.
Khan Academy – especially good for maths and computing for all ages but other subjects at Secondary level. Note this uses the U.S. grade system but it’s mostly common material.
Mystery Science – free science lessons.
National Geographic Kids – activities and quizzes for younger kids.
Nature Activities – 10 activities for kids to do at home.
Nature Activity Sheets – downloadable activity sheets which can be used to complete Wildlife Watch awards.
Nature Detectives – a lot of these can be done in a garden, or if you can get to a remote forest location!
Oxford Owl for Home – lots of free resources for Primary age.
Paw Print Badges – free challenge packs and other downloads. Many activities can be completed indoors. Badges cost but are optional.
Premier League Primary Stars – a range of free resources in Maths, English, Health and Wellbeing brought to you with the help of your favourite football stars.
Prodigy Maths – Is in U.S. grades, but good for UK Primary age.
Red Ted Art – easy arts and crafts for little ones.
Sports Activities – resources for physical activities.
Ted Ed – all sorts of engaging educational videos.
The Artful Parent – good, free art activities.
The Daily Mile At Home – easy and fun way to keep fit and maintain good health and wellbeing for you and your children.
The Imagination Tree – creative art and craft activities for the very youngest.
The Kids Should See This – wide range of cool educational videos.
Toy Theater – educational online games.
Twinkl – this is more for printouts, and usually at a fee, but they are offering a month of free access to parents in the event of school closures.
Tynker – free resources and lessons to teach young child to code, from ages 5+
Ultimate Boredom Busters – 101 things to do when kids are bored.
West Berkshire Heritage – free family activity sheets which can be downloaded and completed at home.
Young Leaders at Home – resources for KS1 and KS2 focusing on the development of leadership skills and character virtues.
Youth Sport Trust – 60 second physical activity challenges.
