Emma makes outstanding contribution with lockdown learning resource

A learning resource for children and parents created by Primary Education student Emma Illsley during lockdown has been downloaded thousands of times, inspired many grateful messages of thanks - and raised hundreds of pounds for charity.

Using her time in lockdown productively

Emma primarily created this resource for personal use, she says "having finished university for the academic year, I wanted to spend my time in lockdown doing something productive and enhancing my subject knowledge, which is a key component of our course, but something which, as students, we may not have time to do as thoroughly as we would like to.”

The response Emma has received on social media has been phenomenal. Emma explains “I decided that I would share on my social media to show others what I’d been doing, and the response was unbelievable! I have had over 8,000 people download the resource and I have received over 3,500 direct messages on Twitter thanking me for the work I’ve done."

"Emma has worked tirelessly to create a series of excellent subject knowledge and pedagogical approach resources for core curriculum areas. She is a truly committed student who is making an outstanding contribution and a significant difference." Charlotte Mosey, Programme Leader BA (Hons) Primary Education

Maths learning resource worksheet about calculating the area of a shape
A learning worksheet created by a student about calculating perimeters

Developing lifelong skills

Emma knows that to be a good teacher, developing subject knowledge and researching new content is a key part of the job. She says, “it is important that, as trainees, we are equipped with as much subject knowledge as possible, along with the skills to develop as we go through our teaching career.”

Emma credits her lecturers for giving her the confidence to have a go at producing her own resources. "The staff on our course spend hours developing subject knowledge development resources for us and they also email resources to the cohort whenever they find something new and useful!”

Raising money for charity

Emma had an overwhelming number of people asking her if they could pay for the resource or if they could send her something in the post to say thank you. Emma decided to take the opportunity to raise money for charity and in just 24 hours she had raised almost £500 with the total still rising. Emma says "I am so proud that something that started as being so small has turned into something so big and my fundraising total for this year is now well over £1,000!”

Emma standing in front of a building

I know this resource will be useful for many years to come. Even with any potential new changes to the National Curriculum, the content will still be relevant in some way.

Emma Illsley
BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS student

Download Emma's learning resources

To see the resource or to follow Emma search @e_illsley on Twitter.