Evidence for Learning: Department links for parents and carers

Department links for parents and carers

Links and resources from education departments for parents and carers to support learning at home.

Australian Government

The federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment has established the Learning Potential website, app and newsletter to help parents to support their child’s learning. The website includes activities, articles and links on different topics including career education, communication, creativity, development, life skills, literacy, numeracy, play, school, science and wellbeing. Each resource is marked for certain age groups (babies, toddlers, preschool, primary school and high school).

The Starting Blocks website on early childhood education and care has COVID-19 information for parents including a hotline to find early childhood education or child care service during the COVID-19 pandemic, how to have conversations with children about COVID-19, and activities to do at home with children.

Australian Capital Territory

The ACT Directorate of Education has established a site on home learning resources for students and families. The site includes:

  • Family Guides – The family guides support parents and carers to manage their child or young person’s learning, and to stay healthy, safe, and connected. It includes advice on effective home learning, eSafety and wellbeing.
  • Resources – The resource library provides access and information about digital platforms, online resources and activity ideas that support children in their learning. Resources are presented by different subject areas (English, maths, science, technology, humanities & social sciences, the arts, health and physical education and languages) and age of the child.

New South Wales

The NSW Department of Education has a learning from home site that refers to the ways schools will maintain teaching and learning in the event of a prolonged school closure or student absence. The site includes:

  • Advice to parents and carers – Advice and resources for parents and carers to support student success when learning remotely including parent and student responsibilities during remote learning, establishing routines and expectations, setting up a learning environment, wellbeing, communicating and using technology.

The NSW Department of Education also provides general advice to parents on learning:

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory Department of Education has created a site called Learning Together: Families and Schools which includes resources and advice for parents, carers and families when supporting their child’s learning. The site includes:

  • Advice and guidance – Advice for parents, carers and families to support students’ success when learning, including overall planners by education stage.
  • Keeping Kids Learning – Resources for parents, carers and families to support their child’s learning and engaging activities for families to explore (presented by age ranges from Birth to Year 9). Includes daily activities for English, maths and wellbeing and other projects and fun activities linked to arts, humanities and social sciences and science.

Queensland

The Queensland Department of Education has created a learning@home site that refers to the ways schools will maintain teaching and learning in the event of a prolonged school closure or student absence. The site includes:

  • Advice for parents – General advice to parents if there are circumstances in their household that interrupt their child’s normal school attendance as well as specific information on wellbeing of students and maintaining healthy routines.
  • Advice for parents on how to support the reading and writing development of their child.
  • Curriculum resources in English, Mathematics, Science and Senior Schooling – Learning opportunities for students to continue their learning while not being able to access a school, presented by year level (Prep to Year 10).
  • Inclusive education – Resources designed to provide targeted support for students with autism, vision impairment, deaf and hard of hearing, and other learning differences to fully participate in learning@home.
  • earlylearning@home – A website with with ideas, tips, links and apps for parents to help families stay healthy, safe and connected. There are resources for 0 to 3 year olds, as well as activities for kindergarten aged children to support oral language and early literacy development.

South Australia

The South Australian Department for Education has a site called Our Learning SA to support continued learning between school and home. The site includes:

The South Australian Department for Education also has a Great Start website that provides everyday ideas for learning for parents with children aged 0 to 5 years old.

Tasmania

The Tasmanian Department of Education has a learning at home site to support families and students with resources and ideas for learning at home. The site includes:

Victoria

The Victorian Department of Education and Training has a learning from home site for parents that provides advice, tips and resources to help parents and carers support their child’s continuity of learning from home. The site includes:

Western Australia

The WA Department of Education has created a learning at home site with resources and information to support learning and wellbeing in the home. This site includes:

  • Support for parents and carers – Advice on student health and wellbeing, support services and resources to maintain a positive sense of wellbeing, setting up a learning environment, other support services and taking care of yourself.
  • Learning resources by year level – resources across all year levels (kindergarten to year 12) and learning areas, to give children and young people the best opportunity to continue to learn at home.

Australian resources

Early learning (0 to 8 years old)

Bright Tomorrows app – A free app from CoLab – Collaborate for Kids (a partnership between the Minderoo Foundation and the Telethon Kids Institute) that provides access to over 1000 meaningful moments and tailored tips to help build young brains (0−5 year old children).

Discovery at Home (from Early Start, University of Wollongong) – Virtual tours of the Early Start Discovery Space and Experiences, challenges and prizes, shows, reading stories and guided activities.

First Five Forever – A Queensland Government and State Library of Queensland initiative that provides strong early literacy foundations for all children aged 0 – 5 years. The website includes articles on early literacy and over 300 tips and activities to try at home, which can be personalised to the age and gender of the child.

Five from Five’s Parent Resources – Evidence-informed play-based activities to help parents support children’s literacy development. 

Goodstart@Home – Play-based learning activities for parents to do together with preschool aged children, and activities that parents can set up for some individual play.

How to help young children regulate their emotions and behaviours during the pandemic – An article in The Conversation with practical advice for parents by University of Wollongong researchers in early childhood education and child development.

All ages

Raising Children Network has a general COVID-19 family guide for parents and carers including protective hygiene and tips to help families cope (e.g. family routines, positive thinking exercise, screen time tips, play activities for children 0 – 6 years).

International resources

Early learning (0 to 8 years old)

How to Support Children (and Yourself) During the COVID-19 Outbreak – A brief guide from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child that includes tips on how to practice serve and return” back-and-forth interactions between adults and young children that helps to build developing brains and resilience. 

Khan Academy Kids – Free online learning program that engages kids in core subjects like early literacy, reading, writing, language, and maths, while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills via interactive activities, books, videos, games and lessons.

Vroom – Free science-based tips and tools for parents of young children aged 0 to 5 years old.

Primary and secondary school

Khan Academy – Free online learning courses in maths, science, computing, arts and humanities, and economics and finance for school-aged children.

Oak National Academy – Free online lessons for school-aged children in many subjects including art & design, computing, drama, English, history, maths, music, physical education and science. Includes specialist lessons for students with additional needs.

All ages

Activities guide for executive function (thinking about thinking skills) – Activities and games from Harvard University for adults to support the development of executive function and self-regulation skills with children from infancy to adolescence.

The links under Australian resources’ and International resources’ are curated by Evidence for Learning based on selected criteria, including whether the resource is available for free, whether it is produced by a non-profit organisation, whether there is direct evidence of impact of the resource or whether it is based on high-impact approaches as outlined in Evidence for Learning’s Toolkits or other robust sources of evidence in education. Evidence for Learning will continue to add resources to these lists.