Remote Learning

In the event of any school closure, all classwork will be set via Microsoft Teams. In addition to this, if any student is unable to attend school due to prolonged illness or for a period of self-isolation, they will be able to access and return their classwork for that period, via Microsoft Teams.

At our school, Microsoft Teams has been chosen as the platform for student remote learning as it has been specifically tailored for education. As part of Microsoft Office 365, students not only have access to Teams but also have access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneDrive.

Microsoft Teams enables us to use a range of functions for online learning, such as 'live teaching', as interactive quizzes, teacher feedback and improved communication via the conversation function as well as enhanced file storage arrangements for sharing class resources and setting work online.

Remote Access in Practice

Each student in the school will be part of several 'Teams' in Microsoft Teams. 

Each class team is labelled the same as it is on the student`s timetable. The class team is the most important team for remote learning, as that is where the student needs to be directed to for the lesson they are scheduled for. Over time students can also be part of a team for various pastoral groups; e.g. tutor group or year group.

Students and teachers follow the normal timetable to ensure students have the full range of subjects each day, as if the student were present in school.

Student Guide to using Microsoft Teams

Submitting work

At the end of the lesson (or if the work continues into an extended activity), it is important that students save  their work to their school OneDrive account, then upload onto Microsoft Teams.  Teachers will provide instructions regarding how the work is to be submitted and the deadline for each piece of work. Students should only submit work via Microsoft Teams, in order that it can be saved in the appropriate location and enables feedback to occur.

Access to Remote Learning

We appreciate that owing to shared devices across family members, illness, or personal circumstances this may not always be possible.

The current Government advice for high quality remote learning explains that it should be available on several platforms. All content that the school shares with students at home, can be accessed on a range of IT hardware which includes desktop computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones with large display screens. We have recently discovered that all content for Office 365 including email and Teams is also available on the PS4 and X Box.

If a family has no access to any device or internet provision, if you have not already done so, please contact your child’s Head of Year as there is provision in place to support those who require it. Hard copies of resources can also be made available via parental request to the Head of Year.

Expectations

Staff can expect students learning remotely to:

• not allow anyone else to use their Office 365 account (apart from parents /carers if they need help)
• not share their password
• be contactable during the normal school day
• complete work to the deadline set by teachers
• seek help if they need it, from their teacher
• alert teachers if they’re not able to complete work.