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Tips for Supporting the Pupils at Home
Tips for Supporting the Pupils at Home
The ‘routine’ or timetable
The ‘routine’ or timetable
Under the 'Timetables' heading, you will find timetables for each of the classes in school. It is highly unlikely that any household will be able to stick within the rigid confines of a document that is designed for in-school use. However you may find these useful for reference, hence their inclusion. Across the country parents are reporting the stressful challenges of keeping up with work being sent from school. Our sincere aim is to provide what you need and what you are able to support, and no more. Inevitably, this will take time to assess from all parties' points of view. At no point will the School demand XYZ is done by a deadline or by a set timetable. This is simply neither practical nor possible. The situation for each and every family will be different. All staff realise that the key will be flexibility of provision, whilst at the same time providing enough structure and support to give a potential form to something that is inevitably amorphous and chimera-like.
Distance Learning Overviews
Distance Learning Overviews
Copies of the long-term overview of proposed topics, can be found under the 'Distance Learning Overviews' heading. These will give you a useful big picture, and will provide a skeleton of topics and provision. What they are not, is a checklist of things to get done. They are simply a tool to help you make informed decisions.
In general terms, you may struggle to access a full timetable. With this in mind we can suggest a scaled back and more realistic schedule that you may find useful in planning time at home. However, there is no rule of thumb and what works for one household will not work for another. Please see a generic timetable in Appendix C, for both the Prep School and the Pre-Prep. These may be helpful in supporting you to decide how to structure a day. Equally, please feel free to disregard - you have to create a routine that works best for your family and situation.
The Google Environment
The Google Environment
In general, the majority of learning will be organised via the Google environment and, in particular, Google Classroom. We would strongly advise taking time to familiarise yourselves with this platform, as it will undoubtedly ease the myriad of technical glitches that we will all experience over the coming weeks. Google themselves have launched a dedicated site to supporting all users: HERE
The Cothill Trust have also amassed a library of knowledge and ‘how to’ guides. These can be found on the Trust intranet: HERE
Morning Registration
Morning Registration
Each day will start with an 8:30am - 8:55am Form Tutor session. All Form Tutors will be available for their forms at this time for email questions and possibly a Google Meet session.
Form Tutors and teachers will naturally try to respond to questions and requests in a variety of ways, and as the term gets underway a series of processes will be in place to support pupils, parents and staff. Some of these processes will be organic and evolve as the term progresses.
‘Live’ Lessons and Direct Teacher Support
‘Live’ Lessons and Direct Teacher Support
There will also be a degree of timely live support offered to pupils through live lessons or video tutorials. In this situation, the teacher will be able to give instant support or advice to a group of children on a given topic, as if they were actually in a lesson. Pupils will be invited to these sessions with plenty of notice, primarily using Google Classroom and emails.
The main application used for this purpose will be Google Meet. This will allow pupils to dial in via the internet and join a group session. These sessions will mainly take place in that subject’s normal timetabled slot - this will avoid pupils/staff being double booked. If for whatever reason a pupil cannot make one of these lessons, they may well find that this session has been recorded and placed onto their Google Classroom. However, if this is not the case, please let the teacher know and they will strive to find an alternative session where possible. Our sincere aim is to give personal support wherever possible. The regularity of these live lessons will be constantly considered, based on the age of the audience, the effectiveness of the delivery and the engagement of the pupils.
Conduct and Behaviour
Conduct and Behaviour
We will continue to have high expectations of our pupils’ behaviour, and this is no different when they are online. The Google platform (or any distance learning tool) must be used in accordance with pre-existing expectations. As we are all exposed to a greater range of digital platforms, the potential for misuse increases. It is vital that all resources that are produced within the School’s Google platform (indeed, any digital platform) remain within the appropriate realms. Globally, schools are beginning to report the misuse of digital materials, especially recorded lessons and the images of other pupils and staff. Any misuse or redistribution of digital materials, in any way, from any party, will be viewed extremely seriously.
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