BBC Bitesize Daily, the BBC’s biggest ever education offer returns with a bumper summer term planned for years one to ten. For the final half-term of the school year, Bitesize Daily will be showcasing the very best in English, science, sports and creativity through specific themed weeks as well as bringing even more famous faces on board to support the virtual school.
This week, Manchester City striker, Sergio Agüero will be helping students learn Spanish in a special lesson for KS3, available on Bitesize Daily Online on Thursday.
The life and work of William Shakespeare will be explored in Shakespeare Fortnight (15 to 26 June) created in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) when famous faces read adapted Shakespeare extracts for the daily Book Club (primary) and Big Read (secondary). Martin Freeman is set to appear alongside Niamh Cusack, Bally Gill, Natalie Simpson and Jamie Wilkes.
Online, special lessons made in partnership with the RSC include "Shakespeare’s words"; "Shakespeare’s audience" and "Kings and succession in Shakespeare" for KS3 and "Shakespeare and the language of love", "Character journeys in Shakespeare" and "Meaning in Shakespeare’s language" for Year 10s while Year 9s will have key texts dissected helping learners to understand Shakespeare’s most famous plays. All lessons will use Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth as the lead texts. All reading lessons on the second Friday for years 1 to 9 will have a focus on Shakespeare based on the Book Club /Big Read of that day.
As school science labs remain shut, Bitesize Daily Primary and Secondary will be bringing science straight into the living room for Science Week (29 June to 3 July) in partnership with the Science Museum Group with table top experiments from the Science and Industry Museum as well a some BIG experiments from the Science Museum in London. Dr Who’s Jodie Whittaker will also talk about outer space and the Solar System while Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to go to space will read an extract from her autobiography; Seize the Moment: The Autobiography of Britain’s First Astronaut.
A Creative Week (29 June to 3 July) on Bitesize Daily Secondary sees music stars Liam Payne, Mabel, Gracey and Sea Girls take part in a special Big Song, replacing the Big Read. Here they’ll read the lyrics to their songs, explain the meaning behind them and set creative writing tasks for students.
No summer term is complete without a Sports Day and Bitesize Daily (primary) will be hosting its own nationwide Sports Week (6 to 10 July). Key sporting bodies will be encouraging students to learn a different skill each day from balance to flexibility to mental resilience, before putting them all together for a virtual end of term sports day!
And for the final weeks of home-schooling, Sir David Attenborough will educate the nation’s primary students on continents and oceans on 16 June and 18 June. He’ll also appear on 30 June to teach a science lesson about animal evolution, dinosaurs and fossils on Bitesize Daily (primary).
As well as focussed weeks on TV, Bitesize Daily Lessons online will also be working with partners from the worlds of sport, arts and museum on lessons and activities to try at home. Bitesize Daily Lessons will also continue to partner with the best of the UK’s education industry to curate age appropriate resources for teachers, parents and learners.
BBC Bitesize Daily is available daily on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Red Button and BBC Bitesize Daily Online is available at www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize.