Guidance for Parents (Senior School and Sixth Form)
We will provide remote learning for all pupils using Google Classroom.
Pupils will be familiar with Google Classroom from teaching and learning in the Autumn Term, as all Departments have been using the platform for both in-person and remote learning since last March.
Our recommendations
Pupils should they treat each day as if it were a normal school day:
They should join their Form Google Classroom at 8.40 each day for registration
They should join the Google Classroom for each subject at the start of each lesson as they would during the normal School day. To build in short breaks between lessons and to ensure each lesson can start promptly, they will be 55 minutes long:
Period 1 - 8:50-9:45am
Period 2 - 9.55-10.50am
Period 3 - 11.10-12.05pm
Period 4 - 13.45-14.40pm
Period 5 - 14.50-15.45pm
Pupils should be dressed in a plain white shirt, and will be asked to do so by their teacher if they are not. Pupils are permitted, but not required, to wear their School pullover or blazer if they wish. When joining a Google Meet, they should have their camera turned on and a plain background, and they should be visible during the Meet. If a plain background is not possible, pupils should blur their background in the Google Meet settings under ‘change background’.
Where possible, pupils should have a personal working area free from distraction with access to their resources, such as pens, paper, textbooks, exercise books and their device, whether that be laptop, desktop PC or iPad.
There is some excellent advice on the importance of effective organisation in the Senior School and Sixth Form sections of the Arete Learning Site.
Parents are reminded that Senior School pupils in Years 7-11 do not have access to their phones during the school day and this is an arrangement that parents may wish to replicate.
We strongly recommend that parents control their home internet connection, as well as their child’s overall screen time and access to games and social media, in order to maintain focus on the work set and online safety. Guidance is available on the School website, and from Apple. Pupils will be able to complete the work set using the device that they normally bring to school.
Lessons
Pupils will be set work to mirror the framework of the existing School day. Lessons will feature interaction between pupils and teachers to ensure that pupils are clear on the work they need to do. We believe it is important that the nature of this interaction varies across the week. Some lessons will be in the form of full live Google Meets for the entire class for the entire period, whilst others may be broken into small group Meets, or feature different forms of interaction, such as text-based question and answer sessions, or teacher introduction to the lesson, followed by independent work and teacher review of learning at the end of the lesson. Regardless, clear instructions will be given to pupils on Google Classroom for each lesson.
As well as wearing a plain white shirt, pupils should ensure their camera is switched on for Google Meets to enable everyone to participate effectively. In addition to their School shirt, pupils are welcome to wear their School pullover and or their blazer. Pupils are not expected to wear their School tie.
There may be times where a teacher is unavailable for the duration of a lesson should they be unwell, be looking after someone else who is unwell or need to attend to a childcare matter. In such cases, clear instructions will still be given on Google Classroom.
Work will be set, assessed and feedback given with the usual frequency. However, to avoid excessive screen time, any ‘homework’ set by teachers will be in the form of reading or wider research.
Communication
Communication between pupils and teachers will take place either through the Google Classroom or via the School email system. Private email accounts should not be used. Teachers may require pupils to work collaboratively on specific tasks, to communicate with each other electronically and to use collaborative online tools. They will not set tasks that require pupils to work physically together.
Pupils are strongly recommended to ask questions if they require clarification, or if they are encountering difficulties. They can post general questions that may be relevant to the whole group on Google Classroom. However, if the question is specific to their own work, it may be preferable to use a private comment on Classroom, or the email system.
Parents cannot be given direct access to each Google Classroom, but are encouraged to discuss the work with their child and to view the work that is being set and completed on their child’s device. Parents can also contact teachers through the email system, although we would strongly encourage pupils to try to resolve issues themselves in the first instance.
Form Tutors will keep in touch with pupils on a daily basis. Pupils are expected to join their Form Classroom as a live meet 8.40-8.45am each morning and at 1.20-1.40pm each afternoon. Heads of Year will arrange for remote assemblies to take place during remote learning. The School considers these sessions to be as important as lessons. The morning sessions provide pupils with an official start to the day, and an opportunity to raise any queries with their Form Tutor. The longer afternoon sessions afford pupils the chance to think about and reflect on issues that support their personal development such as wellbeing, staying safe, current affairs and the Waconian values.
As with lessons, and in support of our pupils, attendance is monitored and parents will be informed should there appear to be a lack of engagement in these sessions.
We want every pupil to continue to make progress and enjoy their learning in the weeks ahead, and also want you to be aware of any issues as they arise. With this in mind, teachers will issue a ‘Pink Card’ if a pupil does not attend a lesson, does not hand in work, produces work of a poor quality or does not follow the remote learning guidelines after being asked to.
Mindful of the unusual circumstances, the Pink Card is not intended as a sanction in the way that a Yellow Card or detention is. Rather, it is intended to keep parents, Form Tutors and Heads of Year informed and enable us to help pupils make the progress they would do if they were learning onsite.
If a pupil is unwell and unable to attend lessons, and/or complete their academic work for any reason, then the parent/carer should contact Attendance at attendance@chschool.co.uk. The parent/carer should then email again when the child is once again fit to work.
Contact
Pupils or parents with safeguarding concerns should contact Mrs Susan James at: susanjames@chschool.co.uk.
If pupils or parents encounter technical difficulties in accessing remote learning resources, they should contact technicalservices@chschool.co.uk