Edge Hill students offer to teach online lessons to help teachers during lockdown

Edge Hill’s (@edgehill) Secondary English PGCE students are offering a helping hand to teachers by putting together a programme of English lessons for schools to use.

The faculty has developed 47 English lessons for secondary schools to pick from. The lessons have been created around curriculum texts as well as other unique literature and subjects with the aim of saving teachers time and giving pupils a change of pace.

The lessons were inspired by the University’s Secondary PCGE students who saw the pressure teachers were under and wanted to do something to help.

Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for Secondary English Natalie Reynolds said:

“I’ve spoken to teachers and colleagues who are facing a difficult situation in lockdown. They are all working so hard, having to teach lessons in a completely new way while trying to home school their own children and adapt to life in lockdown.

“I’ve also seen amazing examples of teachers going the extra mile delivering work and even food to disadvantaged children. It’s amazing to see them doing everything they can to provide the very best education.

“Many of our students have seen this first-hand and wanted to do something to give back. We came up with the idea of offering to teach lessons to give teachers a break. We now have an amazing offer of 47 lessons that use the latest online teaching methods to be fun and engaging for pupils.”

Each lesson lasts 50-minutes and can be taught live or in a pre-recorded format. The series supports KS3 and GCSE, and includes sessions on A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, Shakespeare, creative writing, poetry, Black Lives Matter, detective fiction, gothic literature, persuasive devices, transactional writing and more. The resources can also be used as a springboard for teachers to do their own lessons.

Secondary PGCE Student Kudsia Ashfaque said:

“The pandemic and lockdowns have been a real challenge for teachers. A few of us decided we had to do something to help and so came up with the idea of offering to teach lessons for them.

“Hopefully it gives teachers a bit of breathing room and a chance to get other work done. It’s also a great way for my friends and I to get some extra teaching experience and use the online teaching techniques we’ve been learning about.”