Information on Blended Learning

What is Blended Learning? – this is a term which describes a wide range of teaching methods and approaches – some digital, others non-digital, some face to face with a teacher in school, others from a distance such as working from home.

When working from home, we will arrange that pupils are able to complete reasonable hours of activity drawn from the wide range of blended learning opportunities available to them. A blend of these methods can be more effective in delivering teaching, promoting engagement within a positive learning environment.

This means that we will not expect pupils to be on-screen for hours on end during the day.

We expect pupils to undertake activities which are a mix of digital and non-digital and asynchronous/synchronous.

Therefore, parents should not worry, for example, about expecting five hours of live streaming every day. A healthy balance of activities is expected.

Summary of blended learning activities which can be used in different arrangements and times to suit desired learning opportunities.

For distance learning (working at home):

• Under current circumstances, we would promote a flexible approach where the teacher could provide a variety of lesson delivery as outlined above, and our preference is to leave it to schools and teachers to gauge how much work can be reasonably completed as compared to a normal working week in school.

• Online lessons delivered by teachers may vary in length. Teachers may also choose to show a shorter pre-recorded clip to stimulate discussion and then be on hand online or on email to answer questions.

• Some educational sources suggest that time spent on the computer over and above the teacher’s input should be approximately 30% of the normal school day (which is about 90 minutes)

• Teachers will then gauge an appropriate time for pupils to complete other set tasks which are broadly consistent with the age, stage and ability of the pupils and be guided by the norms of what is required to ensure good progress. So, our first instinct would be to encourage you to trust in the teacher’s professional judgement.

We also ask you as parents to consider:

• Giving some thought to the additional challenges of working at home, such as encouraging your child to take regular breaks and having a quiet space to work.

• Older teenagers, particularly, may have a different body clock to other household members and choose to complete work at alternative times, as compared to the normal working day. That said, we would always support that:

- They have a good pattern of sleep

- Take regular mealtimes

- Think about when it is appropriate to support your child and when not to.

- We are also trying to nurture resilience in our young people to help them develop as independent learners so, if they are stuck and you think you can help, guide them to come to their own answers rather than complete the task for them.

Teachers and school leaders will monitor that work set is completed to the required standard and on time. Staff may on occasions take longer to mark/assess a piece of work compared to the ‘norm’. However, if they have concerns, they will chase that up with your son/daughter in the normal fashion and will only contact you if they begin to have concerns.