This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.

Access

If you are having trouble logging on then see this document on how to reset your password.

The Curriculum

We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. During national restrictions some departments may alter the sequence of their lessons slightly however pupils in school and those at home will experience the same changes. When specific bubbles of pupils are asked to learn from home they will join lessons in school via Teams and so have access to the same curriculum.

Joining your lessons

You need to use the guidance below to access your lessons remotely when you have been asked to self isolate and work from home.

You do not need to log into a "Teams Meeting" for morning or afternoon registration. Only your timetabled lessons.

You will have access to all of your timetabled lessons via Teams. This means you will have up to 5 live online lessons a day. You should follow your normal timetable (watch the guidance video below for more information).

If your whole year group or class has been asked to work from home then your lessons will be on Teams with all the pupils joining in the same way.

If only parts of a year group or class are working from home then you will be using Teams to join a lesson taking place in school.

It may take your teacher a few minutes to start the meeting at the beginning of the lesson. Please be patient and allow them time to get the pupils in school started.

Remember the chat in the lesson has your name next to it. You should use this function to communicate with your teacher. Keep your microphone on mute unless asked to switch it on by your teacher. 

The same good manners and high standards of behaviour are expected during remote lessons as when you are in school.

Engagement

Teachers will check that you are engaging in the lessons and will email parents with any concerns they have. You will be asked to submit tasks via the VLE, Forms, email and other online platforms. If you are unable to submit a piece of work let your teacher know via email and they will find an alternative.

Feedback

You will receive feedback in lots of ways just as you would at school. This may be verbal comments during lessons, written comments in the chat during a lesson, feedback from a quiz or task via the VLE, Forms or another online platform.

While we will try to allow you to join as many lessons as possible there may be times when a Teams meeting is not possible. When this is the case appropriate work will be set via the VLE. This may be because your teacher is ill or a practical lesson such as Drama or Dance is taking place.

PE  Lessons - PE lessons will be set via the VLE. You will have a range of physical activity to choose from. You may wish to use your PE lesson to join one of the PE challenges.

Support for pupils with particular needs

We recognise that some pupils, for example some pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), may not be able to access remote education without support from adults at home. We acknowledge the difficulties this may place on families, and we will work with parents and carers to support those pupils. The individual learning department and pastoral team will work with you develop an effective method of working. If you have any concerns related to this please contact your child's head of house.

Watch the video for a reminder of how to join your Teams lessons.

Things that might help if you are having trouble using teams:

If you are using a windows PC:

We have found that the best browser to use is Chrome try installing this browser and running teams through this.

If other people have logged into a Microsoft account on the computer their details are often remembered. Make sure that you are logging in using your school account. 

If you are using a MAC/ phone/ iPad/tablet:

You will need to download the Teams app. Then sign into teams using your school email address and the password you use to log onto computers at school.

You will not be able to use a web browser on a MAC. You will need to download the app.

Problems using Chat:

You need to make sure you are chatting in the meeting chat. This is easy on a laptop/ desktop as the chat can be viewed at the same time as watching the meeting.

On a phone or tablet as the screen is smaller the chat is accessed in a different way. When in the meeting touch the screen and look for the little chat icon. This is usually in the top right corner of the screen. If you select this it should take you to the meeting chat.

What to do if your child does not have digital or online access at home.

Please contact your child's head of house. There are many ways we can offer support including laptops loans and extension of mobile data allowances.

Please see the attachment below for information on how to update your pupil account so you can change your password.