Fancy a science lesson from David Attenborough? He’s just one of the teachers on BBC’s virtual school

Big names including David Attenborough, Brian Cox and Sergio Aguero have been announced as some of the teachers giving lessons on the BBC’s new educational programme, which starts today

The kids are back to (home) school today, and to help ease the burden of homeschooling the BBC have announced an extensive list of daily programming for children in both primary and secondary school, with some teachers that parents might want to tune in to see, too.

With David Attenborough and Brian Cox teaching science, Sergio Aguero helping us learn Spanish, and Liam Payne leading a music lesson, there’s plenty of famous faces to tune in for. The virtual learning programme, called Bitesize Daily, will be available via the red button if you have Sky, on BBC iPlayer for anyone in Northern Ireland, and on the BBC Bitesize website and app.

A schedule of lessons for each day is on the website, broken down into different subjects and age groups, so your children can choose the topics that are most relevant for them, or focus on a particular area.

Brian Cox will be giving lessons on physics topics such as the solar system, force, and gravity, while David Attenborough will share some of his extensive knowledge on the oceans, how we map the world, and why animals look the way they do. Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero will be teaching kids how to count in Spanish, while Eastenders actor Danny Dyer, who is in fact a direct descendant of King Edward III, will be giving a lesson on Henry VIII.

The programme, which was filmed in just four weeks, was developed with teachers and education specialists to ensure that lessons were suitable for their intended age groups, and covered a broad range of topics. There is 14 weeks of content planned, which will keep children engaged right up to July.

There will also be two daily podcasts on BBC Sounds for parents of primary and secondary pupils. Each episode lasts around ten minutes and will be a guide to help families who are homeschooling. Both podcasts —BBC Bitesize Primary Planner and BBC Bitesize Secondary Planner — are also available on smart speakers.

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