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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

Scouting with the Cub Scouts

Child in canoe
Scouting offers young people up and down the country the chance to experience new adventures and challenges. We take a look at what Rainbows, Beavers, Cubs and Brownies could offer your child.

Although over 100 years old, the Scouting movement continues to offer almost half a million young people in the UK new opportunities to challenge themselves physically, mentally, socially, spiritually and creatively through a unique programme of activities.

Jenny Brooker who leads an Enfield Cub Scout pack (for ages eight to 10), says a typical evening with her Cubs Scouts could include a physical game followed by learning about Scouts in Mozambique, with a creative activity based around that learning, for example cooking some African food. At the weekend they may camp overnight, take part in activities like abseiling or mountain biking, and work with new friends there helping to prepare meals.

What do children learn in Cub Scouts?

Scouting isn’t just about doing activities for their own sake. The organisation encourages young people to feel the buzz of the challenge and then reflect on what that means. Did they have fun? Do they feel more confident? Would they do it again?

“I’ll discuss activities with my group at the end of every meeting,” says Jenny. “It’s about getting them to reflect on what they’ve just done and trying to get them to see why we did it. It’s about giving them the opportunity to organise their thoughts and formulate opinions.”

Leaders are encouraged to develop their Scouts’ fitness, creativity, global awareness and give them experience of outdoor adventure. Programmes are rounded so they incorporate balanced activities and instil a sense of unity and friendship within the group and the communities in which they operate.

Through the adventure of Scouting, young people get to take risks in a safe environment, and have their first taste of responsibility and independence.

Who Scouts?

From football hero David Beckham to business tycoon Richard Branson, Scouting helps to create successful people who talk of the skills, leadership and independence they experienced through their time as a Scout. It’s about offering opportunity to all sections of communities to get involved in worthwhile, skill enhancing activities. At a time when many young people are looking for an alternative to iPods and X-Boxes, or, more worryingly, gangs and crime, Scouting can offer adventure, fun and challenge to satisfy the largest appetites.

It’s not just for kids…

Scouting is made possible by the efforts of 100,000 voluntary adult leaders, many of them parents of the young members. With award winning training and one-to-one support, scouting makes sure that each one of its volunteers gets to make the best use of their skills and talents. It’s something different from the norm, and that’s why a lot of people like it. In fact, it’s what’s made scouting the largest co-educational youth organisation in the country.