Resources for parents and carers.

With large numbers of Australian students learning from home due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many parents/carers are keen for resources to support them.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has compiled a range of resources and links to help parents/carers during this time, while acknowledging that parents are not expected to take over the specialised role of a teacher.

“Many parents of school-age children are dealing with a new reality, trying to keep their children engaged in learning while not having the professional skills that trained teachers bring to that complex and vitally important task,” said ACARA CEO David de Carvalho.

“Parents and carers shouldn’t worry about trying to replicate the work done by professional teachers. Their main task is to provide their children with a safe and supportive environment where learning can take place. And following that, with opportunities to continue their learning.

“Government education departments, Catholic school systems and independent schools have been working with remarkable speed and intensity to put in place or ramp up online learning mechanisms to help. They are preparing high-quality learning materials, linked to the Australian Curriculum, which help parents to keep their children engaged in learning under these most unusual circumstances.”

The ACARA website has information on various resources available for parents and carers, including an overview of how the Australian Curriculum is organised, information on what your child learns at each stage of their schooling, activity ideas to support children in Foundation to Year 2 in finding opportunities to apply computational thinking in their everyday life, as well as links to useful resources provided by education departments and other organisations.

Visit: www.acara.edu.au/news-and-media/resources-for-parents-and-carers

See a recent opinion piece by ACARA’s CEO, David de Carvalho, on remote learning.