Education

Primary educational resources

Please note that we advise vigilant monitoring of your child’s use of the internet and that you check all websites before your child uses them. Information and resources about keeping your child safe when using the internet can be found on the internet matters website.

Top five recommendations from parents

  1. Seneca Learning offers a free account and uses a fun way to learn at KS2, KS3, GCSE & A Level.
  2. BBC Bitesize offers lessons, videos, quizzes, and downloadable timetables, along with practical advice from primary age to post-16.
  3. EdPlace offers a free account to access English, Maths and Science.
  4. STEM Learning Home learning support for families To support parents and carers STEM Learning’s subject experts have put together a selection of activities and materials, which are free for everyone to access.
  5. Discovery Education Espresso Contact the Team or your Adviser to get the user name and password to get full access.

Resources for primary school aged children

  •  STEM Visit the STEM resource page to download bird spotter sheets, suitable for home learning. RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch – 7th January to 14th February 2025.
  • National Marine Aquarium On Wednesdays during term-time, Home Educated children between the ages of 4-16 can visit the Aquarium for just £5.50 each, with 1 free adult per family*. Also on the last Wednesday of each month during term-time, Ocean Conservation Trust run an exciting Ocean-themed workshop. Each 90 minute session is aligned with the national curriculum and emphasizes Ocean conservation. Visit the Aquarium Home Education Page to find out more and book a place.
  • RAMM’s online resources are based on their collections and local links. They are crammed full of historical facts, fun learning opportunities and creative ideas to inspire.
    Resources include the Second World War, Roman Devon and Ancient Egypt. If you enjoy using the online resources, please do leave RAMM some feedback.
    For more information please contact: ramm.extra@exeter.gov.uk
  • Eden at home The Eden Project has created Eden at home offering free resources and ideas for everyone at home, including ‘How to make your own den’, ‘Tips for fighting climate change’ and a delicious ‘Goan vegetable curry recipe’
  • Stormbreak Through their digital platform supported by BBC Children in Need; A Million and Me, Stormbreak offers a free of charge remote digital participation tool for trusted adults to help children to participate in stormbreak activities. Find out more on the Stormbreak webpage. Click here to download Stormbreaks nature’s pathway activity sheet.
  • RAMM Arts Award Discover is a certificate and introductory award for children and young people. It is also a creative and fun way to find out about RAMM and the many different things the museum has in it. You can achieve your Discover Arts Award at RAMM any day of the week. Visit the Discover Arts Awards page on the RAMM website to find out more.
  • BBC Children in Need Join in with fun springtime activities and find useful resources on supporting children during the holidays.
  • Libraries Unlimited The Secret Book Quest is an exciting new reading challenge for children aged five years old and over. Read a total of 50 books to collect all the stickers, decipher the code, and win a special prize. Visit your local library and speak to the staff to collect your Secret Book Quest Journal.
  • National Literacy Trust ‘National Storytelling Week 2024’ Ideas and activities for storytelling
  • EdPlace Enrol for a free account to access English, Maths and Science activities.
  • Duolingo The free, fun, and effective way to learn a language!
  • TED-Ed Lessons worth sharing and animations that can support them.
  • Royal Academy of Arts Inspired by the RA’s world class exhibitions, leading artists and architects here are a range of creative activities for you and your family.
  • Blue Peter Book Club and Reading Badge  The Blue Peter Book Club is all about sharing the joy of reading!
  • Super Movers BBC Teach Fun curriculum linked resources to get your class moving while they learn
  • Everyschool provides a one stop shop for busy teachers, parents, homeschoolers and children searching for the best free online educational activities and games. Have a look at the online math games, great for kids wanting to have fun as they learn.
  • Science Museum Group brings together resources from their Museums, including activities, games and videos. Discover activities to support a range of curriculum topics.
  • Pobble Inspire your young writers! Engage and motivate your child with a free, ready-made writing prompt every day
  • Everyschool Comprehension KS2 Literacy. Improve your English comprehension skills with links to free to use resources. Teachers of key stage 2 pupils will find useful printed worksheets, interactive activities and quizzes. Parents wanting to help 8 to 11 year olds improve their comprehension skills will find plenty to interest them.
  • Time Tables Rock Stars is an award winning, internationally recognised maths programme. It has the power to boost recall, fluency, and most importantly – maths confidence.
  • Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organisation. The organisation produces short lessons in the form of videos. All resources are free.
  • Theatre of Science Award-winning science teacher streaming free, live lessons for all ages. ‘All ages’ science lesson: Thursdays 12pm UK time. iGCSE Physics lesson: Wednesdays 10am. Lego story time science show! Thursdays at 2pm. You will also find past live lessons available to view and more lessons and shows are streamed live on the ‘Theatre of Science’ Facebook page
  • Family Learning – information and resources to support reading, writing and numeracy.
  • Mathsframe KS2 Maths Games and Worksheets. Mathsframe has more than 200 interactive maths games and 300 maths worksheets and assessments
  • Seneca Learning is free and uses a fun way to learn at KS2, KS3, GCSE & A Level.
  • BBC Bitesize offers lessons, videos, quizzes, and downloadable timetables, along with practical advice from primary age to post-16. A full range of subjects can be accessed at a click of a button from Literacy and Numeracy to Spanish and Art and Design. You will also find the daily Newsround bulletin where you can catch up with the latest news stories around the world.
  • BBC Teach The BBC Teach website is home to thousands of free curriculum-mapped videos, arranged by age-group and subject.
  • Oak National Academy The online classroom offers free access to teachers delivering video lessons, quizzes and worksheets. Available for both primary and secondary, it covers a range of subjects. The lessons are ordered so your child can learn along a clear plan. Coming soon-brand new lessons and resources. The first set will be available from autumn 2023.
  • Twinkl have produced some free resources for parent including a selection for World Music Day
  • Mintlings by The Royal Mint The Royal Mint has put together a collection of quizzes, games and educational tools – brought to life through iconic coins, and popular children’s characters such as The Gruffalo and Wallace and Gromit. Ideal for families and children staying home and looking to fill their time with fun, factual and coin-related activities.
  • The 2 Minute Foundation is a registered charity, that encourages everyone to play their part and clean up our planet, 2 minutes at a time. On this page you’ll find 6 lessons which are about 35 minutes long and have resources and activities included. You’ll also find 6 mini videos for your 2 Minutes on the Beach inspiration. If you have any questions, are interested in finding out more or would like to visit us in person, then contact Claire to find out more: claire@2minute.org
  • The Natural History Museum has a range of resources to support learning around natural history themes on their website, aimed at ages 5-14.
  • Dyson Challenge Cards Dyson engineers have designed these challenges specifically for children. Ideal for home or in the classroom, they encourage inquisitive young minds to get excited about engineering. Can you skewer a balloon without popping it? Coat a nail in copper? What happens when you plug a clock into a potato?
  • Starfall Education – free public service to teach children to read with phonics.
  • The Institute of Engineering and Technology Free STEM resources for primary and secondary school children. Engage your child and keep them busy and learning at home with the available home learning teaching resources and activities for 4-16 years old (key stages 1 to 4) including lesson plans, handouts and videos.
  • Primary Resources – teaching resources and lesson plans.
  • Forestry English – free beginner’s guide to stargazing In the forest at night in a whole new light! Written in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine and packed with fantastic activities for all the family, get your hands on this free beginner’s guide to stargazing. You can learn about constellations, try star navigation, play night-games and become a Forest-Star.
  • Teachit – free primary teaching resources and ideas.
  • Primary Homework Help – information on topics including the Tudors, Romans, Victorians, rivers and mountains.
  • Project Britain – all about British life and culture.
  • Paignton Zoo Home educators are able to take advantage of reduced education rates for entry. Details of these can be found in the zoo price list. These prices are available with the following conditions: Children must be aged 5–18, term time entry during usual school hours (Mon-Fri, 10am to 3pm), all visits must be pre-booked.
  • ZOO discovery from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) The site offers access to animal activity sheets for ages 3 all the way up to 16, along with educational activities from animal art and bug hunting to brushing up on keeper counting skills.  Also, London Zoo provides links to some of the webcams, live streams, animal antics and behind-the-scenes updates at the zoo. You can access these at Virtual London Zoo.
  • National Literary Trust Family Zone – You will find lots of tips and fun activity ideas for building children’s language, literacy and communication skills from home at the National Literacy Trust. They are all broken down into age categories.
  • Digiduck Stories (Childnet) The five stories in the Digiduck series were created to help parents and teachers educate children aged 3–7 about online safety. The collection includes ebooks, PDFs, a poster and an interactive app. As well as the books, there is a Digiduck Activity Menu for educators.
  • At Home with Aerospace Bristol Explore has a range of fun and educational activities and resources to enjoy at home. This page is filled with learning activities and information, including: How to make your own airshow, Coding challenges, Discovering coordinates, Careers in engineering.
  • Life Science Centre Online Life Goes Online is a new project to bring Life Science Centre into your home and help visitors continue to feel part of the Life community during these challenging times. Sometimes this content will be videos of science experiments that you can try at home or a science demonstration that can’t be done at home but you can watch to learn something new and be amazed. Other times, the content may be an activity sheet that you can download and print at home.
  • Devon Libraries are a great resource. You can look at and borrow books, find out information and use library computers, all for free. Libraries also offer free activities for children throughout the year, like ‘Storytime’ at Newton Abbot on 14th October and Harry Potter Book Day at Exeter Library on 12th October. The activities are there to support the children and young people in developing a love of reading and gaining confidence, so check in on the website regularly or in person at your local library.
  • Met Office activities The Met Office has added some educational activities to do at home. They include bite-size DIY activities and experiments for young people to work through in their own homes, from ‘making lightning’ to ‘forecasting fact-busters’.
  • Thrive – Wellbeing Toolkit Resources Resource categories include: activities for children up to 11yrs, activities for children up to 7yrs, a free toolkit of strategies and activities.
  • STEM Learning Home learning support for families To support parents and carers STEM Learning’s subject experts have put together a selection of activities and materials, which are free for everyone to access. These exciting activity collections contain a range of fun, hands-on activities that can be used to engage primary and secondary-aged children with science, technology, engineering and maths. They require little or no equipment so are suitable for any classroom or home learning.
  • Blue Peter badges If your child would like to earn a Blue Peter badge but doesn’t know which one to go for, there is a quiz to take to find out the perfect Blue Peter badge for you!
  • StayWise This public access version of StayWise brings together many educational resources from the emergency services and voluntary safety organisations. It is designed so you can easily find trusted resources to help with home schooling linked to age groups, themes and curriculum areas. You can use the filters to search by age or subject or even by the type of resource you need. For example, you could select, Maths, for seven to eight-year-olds, and work sheets, and let the system do the rest!
  • Tailfeather TV follows the early years foundation stage framework for learning and development, so children can explore and engage with fun topics through dance, singing, signing, learning, and playing. All episodes are co-written and presented by brilliantly talented young adults with learning disabilities, including dancer Andrew Self.
  • National Marine Aquarium (NMA) The National Marine Aquarium delivered live lessons using YouTube during lockdown which remain, with others, on their YouTube channel.
  • Paignton Zoo Home educators are able to take advantage of reduced education rates for entry. These prices are available with the following conditions: Children must be aged 5–18, term time entry during usual school hours (Mon-Fri, 10am to 3pm), all visits must be pre-booked.
  • ZOO discovery from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) The site offers access to animal activity sheets for ages 3 all the way up to 16, along with educational activities from animal art and bug hunting to brushing up on keeper counting skills.  Also, London Zoo provides links to some of the webcams, live streams, animal antics and behind-the-scenes updates at the zoo. You can access these at Virtual London Zoo.
  • NASA Kids Club A place to play games, complete activities and learn about NASA and space. Examples of the activities included are ‘Tracking the International Space Station’, ‘Spot the Difference’, ‘Making Paper Mars Helicopters’ and ‘Decoding Secret Messages’ but there are loads more to try out.
  • Landy and Friends Free Landy and Friends teaching resources for schools and home schooling. Download the teaching packs, which include a huge selection of resources ideal for key stage 1.
  • The Institute of Engineering and Technology free STEM resources for primary and secondary school children. Engage your child and keep them busy and learning at home with the available home learning teaching resources and activities for 4-16 years old (key stages 1 to 4) including lesson plans, handouts and videos.
  • Orchard Toys Free Activities Orchard Toys offer a range of free, printable worksheets and activities that are fun, educational and perfect for pre-school and school-age children learning at home. They include numeracy and literacy activity sheets, craft ideas, colouring sheets and recipes. They add to these every day, but if you sign up to their emails you will get them sent to your email inbox the night before they are released.
  • Free Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler home learning packs are available on the Scholastic website. Is your child a fan of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s wonderful picture books? You can download a range of home learning activity packs to complete as your read the books! Stick Man, Zog, The Highway Rat and more.
  • Disney on Stage have added some of the most popular parts of Disney Theatrical’s free education programmes to their website. There are activities from The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Frozen, and a selection of Careers in Theatres videos and podcasts.
  • The £2 Tuition Hub is a group of home-edders who organise tuition for £2 a class. They wanted the very best teachers to be teaching their kids at an affordable price. If you’d like your child to learn, have fun and meet others, have a look at their current timetable. Tuition that puts your child’s happiness and wellbeing at the centre of everything. No pressure in terms of participating (no need to put camera or mic on for example) Tuition that’s very high quality. All of the teachers are either very experienced qualified teachers or experts in their area (for example Rosie has a performing arts school, Martin has an MBE for his services to astronomy etc)
  • Action for Stammering Children interactive website is filled with information, fun facts and games all to do with famous people who stammered! (Stormzy, Winston Churchill, Ed Sheeran and many more)
  • Children of the Forest run sessions called ‘Free to Learn’ for home-educating children to attend, without their parents or carers, every Wednesday and Thursday in term time. The Forest School is based in 3 acres of private woodland in Uffculme, near Cullompton (EX15 3FJ) They are an Ofsted registered childcare Forest School run by two former teachers, Gemma and Lewis. They run according to true forest school principles, giving children connection to nature, freedom in their play and confidence in their skills. Activities can include bushcraft skills, campfire cooking, arts and crafts, drama, group games and much more – all following children’s interests and own choices. To find out more and join the waiting list, visit their Children of the Forest website.
  • Hakeford Woods Forest School is a social enterprise based at a beautiful woodland site only ten minutes from Barnstaple. The Forest School runs a group for home-educated children. The possibilities for activities are endless because they have a permanent Forest School site. The activities that take place in an individual session will be determined by the season and the weather, as well as by the age and abilities of the young people.

Resources for all subjects and levels

Other useful websites