COVID-19 Information and Guidance
This document outlines our guidance for students and staff when the school is open during the COVID-19 pandemic: COVID 19 Guidance Document V6.
It is regularly updated in light of new information and the latest version is shared with students and staff through Teams and parents via email.
Working remotely
If your son or daughter needs to isolate whilst the school is open, they will be able to join their peers in school via Microsoft Teams. Teachers will do all they can to include them in the lesson even if they are not in the room. If they are too ill to join, they will be able to watch the recording of the lesson once they feel better.
During a period of lockdown the school may be required to switch to remote learning for most students. During such a time we will communicate with parents more frequently than usual, to ensure you have the information necessary to support your son or daughter.
The diagram below shows our timetable for learning during lockdown. Key features are:
- the length of online lessons are reduced, in most cases to 45 minutes to enable focused concentration with regular breaks away from the computer
- some lessons (with a bold border) have been moved to enable lessons to be paced evenly throughout the week
- all the normal lessons, including enrichment and support, will continue
- a lunchbreak of 1 hour will allow for an important rest each day
- an earlier finish time than normal will provide plenty of time for independent work and to switch off before the end of the day
Lessons will be taught “live” by the same teachers as normal, using Microsoft Teams as the platform. Students will be expected to complete an additional 1 hour per week of independent work per A-level. This will provide them with valuable time developing fluency and problem solving which may otherwise be lost due to shorter lessons. Students will cover the same curriculum online as they would have in school and we expect to work through the curriculum at the same pace as normal.
Teachers will be using a variety of ways to access learning and offer feedback, including, but not limited to: asking questions in lessons, asking students to write using online mini-whiteboards, quizzes, homework and the associated feedback lessons, assessments, sharing written work via Teams chat and just good old fashioned conversations. To enable your son or daughter to fully engage they will need:
- good internet access
- a graphics tablet or similar
- a microphone (although not essential)
- a means of uploading work (photo on phone or Microsoft lens, or direct to OneNote)
We do not expect you to monitor your son/daughter’s work but if you have any concerns about their engagement in learning or wellbeing, please email their form tutor. Likewise, if we have concerns which we are unable to address with a student, we will contact you. Working together we aim to nip problems in the bud before they become substantial and support students to adjust to a new way of working.
If students are unable to access online learning at home we will either provide equipment and support to overcome their barriers or will invite them into school to join the online lessons. Very few students are expected to work in school during a lockdown and greater social distancing will take place than is normally possible when the school is full open.
If your son or daughter has a particular learning need or disability we will adapt our provision to meet their needs. If needs emerge as a result of remote learning, please contact their form tutor and we will review our provision accordingly.
It’s likely to be a strange time. Some students will thrive in lockdown whilst others are likely to struggle. More will experience ups and downs. Working together we will support them to cope and hopefully excel, coming out of lockdown having learnt new lessons about themselves, how well they can adapt and what it feels like to overcome.