The Government has announced schools will close after Friday until further notice.

Steps are likely to be taken by headteachers and education chiefs to help them continue their learning away from the classroom. But there is also a vast amount of resource available for families to support home schooling, all of which run alongside the national curriculum.

We take a look at some of the online apps, games and websites which may interest your family should school closures for coronavirus become a reality:

BBC Bitesize

BBC Bitesize offers specific guides to learning for children and young people in primary and secondary education as well as those who are aged 16 and over.

Broken down by UK area and by individual key stages, the website will take you through every subject from art and design and computing to religious education, maths and science.

The website gives visitors the chance to both learn and revise, giving families a comprehensive guide to their child's education and what they have been learning and need to know within their different year groups.

Learn more at www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

BBC Bitesize and Cbeebies Games

Key stage 1 and key stage 2 children can find a raft of educational games on the BBC website.

At BBC Bitesize games and activities are covering subjects including maths, English, geography and science as well as issues such as starting school for the first time.

The online games are suitable for both infant and junior children and you can find them all here.

Whilst younger children might also enjoy the options over at Cbeebies, which feature many of the television channel's popular characters such as Mr Tumble, Charlie & Lola and Go Jetters. Games there cover topics including reading and writing and music and art as well as age-related communication skills and activities relating to emotions and behaviour.

For everything that Cbeebies has to keep the kids busy please click here.

Times Tables Rockstars

With year 4 primary school pupils due to have their multiplication skills formally tested in the summer term of Year 4 from this year, a quick recall of the sums is more perhaps more important than ever.

If you're on the lookout for an engaging way to help your child practice their tables then Times Tables Rockstars could be the programme for you.

Kids are able to create rock star characters, learn new times tables as they progress through the programme, as well as having the opportunity to compete against other users or against the clock in various modes of the games.

Whilst being crowned Headliner, Rock Star or Rock Legend motivates them into answering their questions quicker.
Both School Plan and Family Plan subscriptions are available, which start at just £6 for a household of two adults and three children. For more information visit ttrockstars.com

Sir Linkalot

Sir Linkalot has been named in the Best Educational Apps category at The Bett Awards, which recognise the creativity and innovation which can be found in technology for education.

This programme helps children learn spellings using quick, memorable animations and quizzes.

Described as a 'fun way to learn how to spell properly' Sir Linkalot can be used to revise the spelling of more than 300 'tricky' high frequency words in the national curriculum. Targeted at KS2, but suitable for both KS2 and advanced KS1 it covers spelling, vocabulary, homophones, rules and patterns, punctuation and grammar.

Search 'Sir Linkalot Spelling' in either the Apple or Android app store - various subscription packages are available to choose from along with the option of some time-limited free trials.

For more information visit www.sirlinkalot.org

Mathletics

Mathletics says it is designed to support maths learning for a child's entire journey through school.

With activities, challenges and programmes aimed at children from reception all the way through to Key Stage 4, there is plenty of online content to keep youngsters busy when they're at home.

Students have the option to create their own avatar, play games, take part in live maths challenges and collect certificates to recognise achievement.

Alongside school-based programmes, Mathletics runs specific home learning subscriptions which begin at £11.95 for a month for families.

There are also 48-hour free trials of Mathletics and its sister site Spellodrome to put to the test before purchasing. More details can be found by clicking here.