Context

This document outlines the approach that will be taken by the St Bartholomew’s School in the event of future lockdowns. It builds on the experiences of lockdown during the Spring/Summer 2020 and has been informed by information from teachers and students who have completed detailed surveys in September to reflect on their experiences. We have carefully weighed up the relative merits of different platforms and considered reflections on lockdown experience shared by schools nationally and internationally.

The exact scope of any future lockdowns cannot be fully anticipated but the following principles can be applied whether the lockdown extends to single year groups, various groups in combination or even a full school lockdown. The most recent government guidance, issued as schools returned in September, identified different lockdown ‘Tiers’:

Tier 2 Lockdown - Rota Planning

In the event of a Tier 2 lockdown we will run a two-week rota. In the first fortnight,Y7, Y11, Y12, Y13 in school with Y8, Y9, Y10 working remotely. They will then swap over for the following fortnight.

Tier 3 or 4 Lockdown - Apart from children of key workers, the vulnerable etc, students will be working offsite. Provision for all students (both those still in school and those working at home) will need to be provided remotely. The children of key workers and the vulnerable will be accommodated safely in school, in line with all the guidance on social distancing. They will be supported by teaching staff to access remote lessons and ‘live’ online lessons within school.

1. EXPECTATIONS FOR DELIVERY OF ‘LIVE ONLINE ’ AND ‘OFFLINE’ LESSONS WHERE YEAR GROUPS ARE HAVING TO WORK REMOTELY.

The following guidance on the frequency of lessons has already been shared with all teaching staff and steps are in place to ensure that all staff, including new members of staff, are trained to be able to deliver the required quota of lessons.

There are, of course, circumstances where staff may be indisposed by illness or by the illness of family members. In the event of a Tier 3 or 4 lockdown, there may also be challenges for staff who are caring for young children. In such circumstances, the scheduling of ‘live’ lessons has been arranged to maximise opportunities for departmental colleagues to combine classes or otherwise cover lessons to ensure that all students have access to the quota of live contact with specialist teachers identified below.

Expectations for the Frequency of ‘Live’ Lessons

• KS3 - 50% of timetabled lessons per subject (where 3 lessons a fortnight, at least one will be ‘live’)

• KS4 - 50% of timetabled lessons per subject. (where 3 lessons a fortnight, at least two should be live)

• KS5 - 50% of timetabled lessons per subject (in most cases this would mean one lesson from each teacher a week)

This is the minimum expectation. Teachers can choose to teach more of their lessons live online.

Duration of live lessons.

To allow smooth transitions for teachers from one live lesson to another, lessons will not last a full hour. In some lessons, teachers will only deliver content for a relatively small section but where this is the case, teachers will continue to keep students online, being available to respond to questions as students work independently on tasks or collaborate in a shared ‘room’ in Teams. As would happen in a conventional classroom, teachers will convene some form of plenary at the end of the lesson with all students before ‘dismissing’ them.

Which lessons will be selected as ‘live’?

Much work has already been done since we returned to school to establish a lockdown timetable. Our intention is to centralise all this information to ensure that, at the moment of any lockdown, students can have access to a timetable that clearly identifies when ‘live’ lessons will take place.

What platforms should be used for live lessons?

We are now able to reflect on the experiences of students/teachers with different online platforms. In the interests of clarity and to consolidate the training and support required to students and parents, our use of different platforms will, in the event of any future lockdown, be as follows:

All teachers in all Key Stages are encouraged to use ‘Microsoft Teams’ for live online lessons. This will enable students to benefit from the high levels of functionality in this product and, through consistent use across all subjects, teachers and students will rapidly become more adept and confident in their approach to lessons. Crucially too, this platform enables teachers to easily set up classes and take registers.

One exception to this principle has been made. In small groups at A Level where it is easier to manage attendance information and where Google Classroom has become the absolute hub of student activity, there are some useful synergies with Google Meet. In such circumstances, teachers can make use of Google Meet but in other contexts Microsoft Teams will be our platform for ‘live’ lessons.

What platforms should be used for assigning and receiving work from students?

SMHW remains the key platform for assigning work. It features functionality that allows students to upload completed tasks and enables teachers to check submission of work and leave useful feedback. It is anticipated that this will remain the key hub for the assignment and submission of work for KS3 and KS4 students.

As part of our drive to develop staff expertise and explore the potential of different platforms, teachers have experimented with Google Classroom and Microsoft OneNote as more sophisticated alternatives for assigning work, receiving work and providing valuable feedback. These technologies have been used, in particular, with Sixth Form classes. Where teachers are anticipating that they will be using one of these platforms, they have been urged to start using them pre-lockdown, training students in their use and acclimatising them to the processes involved.

To avoid confusion for students and parents, it is important to note that all tasks will be recorded on SMHW even if the teacher specifies that work can be accessed on Google Classroom/OneNote. As of this month, there is now improved connectivity between SMHW and Google Classroom.

Email/Announcements

Teachers have been asked expressly to move away from email as a platform for delivering and receiving work. Students are, however, encouraged to regularly check their email accounts to ensure that they are receiving key messages and announcements.

What about offline remote lessons?

We are committed to a blended approach and alongside the ‘live’ lessons outlined above, teachers will continue to set work for lessons that will be completed remotely. As with ‘live’ lessons, these will be clearly scheduled and identified on SMHW with easy access to all required materials.

What about Tutor TIme/PD?

All Tutors Y7-11 will meet each morning on Microsoft Teams with their students at 08.40. 50% of timetabled PD sessions should be delivered via live online lessons across all years. Tutor arrangements for Sixth Form students will be confirmed shortly.

How are students to be alerted to live lessons?

As already indicated, we are aiming to share lockdown timetables with students as soon as they find themselves in lockdown. To complement this and to avoid any doubt/confusion,a live link to Microsoft Teams online lessons will be posted for each ‘live’ lesson on SMHW.

Students can choose to make use of their Outlook Calendars but we are not going to rely on students being able to access/manage their Calendars. Instead, we will make SMHW the one-stop for accessing remote ‘offline’ lessons and to pick up links to live online lessons. Email should not be used to set work or to alert students to live lessons.

Frequency of Feedback/Marking during Lockdown

Expectations around the frequency of feedback/marking established within Faculties should be maintained during lockdown. All submitted work should be acknowledged and students should receive detailed feedback with the same frequency that they would expect in normal circumstances.