Home Learning Update
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we finalise our Home Learning plans and organise technology for some of our families. We hope your first two days of home learning have gone well and you are starting to settle into some new routines. We are now ready to share some more information with you regarding how Home Learning will work during this lockdown period.
Microsoft Teams
This will be our Home Learning platform, where teachers will share lessons, stream some teaching and support children through video and chat channels.
As we build and develop our approaches over the coming days, teachers will be inviting children to lessons using the Teams Calendar. Please watch this video that will help explain how you and your children can accept invites to registration, lessons and sessions and get them to appear in your child’s online calendar.
Please help your children to log in from tomorrow morning (Thursday 7th January) to get started.
We will actively try to avoid live sessions clashing across year groups but, unfortunately, this is inevitable with the increase in live teaching during this lockdown. Teachers will record the sessions so children can request recordings of a session if they miss them due to a timetable clash with a sibling or technical issue. These recordings can be requested by asking your teacher through Teams chat.
Registration
In order for us to support families with home learning and track home learning engagement, we will be taking a virtual register each day. This will be a live session and will support us with our safeguarding responsibilities but also give teachers a chance to start the day off with a hello and help the children build home learning routines.
Infant School – an electronic register will be taken at the start of the morning live sessions
Junior School – this will be a separate event happening daily between 09:00 and 09:15. All children will receive this as a calendar event (as explained above.)
Books and Stationery
We would like to offer all children lockdown exercise book(s) for them to use at home. We will also be able to offer a small amount of stationery if needed.
The books and stationery will be available to collect on Wednesday 13th January between 09:30 – 12:00 outside the Infant Office and Junior Office (please come to the relevant school office to make sure you collect the correct books).
We will also put out reading books for children to collect if they wish to do so.
Please arrive at any time between 09:30 and 12:00 on this date, wear a mask or visor when on school site and observe social distancing.
Feedback and questions
We are very keen to take feedback, answer questions and understand your challenges as we enter another period of lockdown and as we look to build and develop our Home Learning.
Therefore, we are offering a ‘Drop-in session’ for all families with myself and Sophie or Mrs Simmons. This will be a meeting on Teams and will be open for parents and carers to drop in to ask questions. We will not be presenting anything or sharing new information, so you do not need to attend at the beginning of the session. We will be available during this slot for parents to drop in and drop out as required. Please note that this will be a public forum and if you require a private conversation you can request one during this session and we will get back to you.
Infant School Drop-In – Wednesday 20th January between 16:00 and 17:00
Junior School Drop-In – Thursday 21st January between 16:00 and 17:00
These Drop-In sessions will come through as Teams events and appear on your child’s calendars. Please accept and log in using your child’s account.
SEND Support with Sara Hibbs (St Saviour’s Schools SENCo)
Sara will be running weekly ‘parents evening style’ meetings for families with children on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) register. These will be optional and will be organised in the same way as parent’s evenings (using the same online platform and during the school day) with the option to sign up for slots when you require them.
Sara will be there to help you manage home learning, work with teachers and families to make sure your children can access learning at home.
Another email will be sent out next week explaining more about this.
Sara will also be uploading supporting materials to her page on the website that can be found on the home learning page by clicking here
The teachers and support staff have been working tirelessly to create a home learning offer that will hopefully engage and support children at home. Please be patient and understanding as we build on what is in place and overcome any technical issues we might experience. Teachers are also teaching and supporting critical worker children and vulnerable children in school and working to strike a manageable balance that supports all children in and outside of the school building.
Thank you for your continued support, I truly hope that working in partnership with families the home learning offer can be an engaging and fun experience for the children.
See you online!
Best wishes,
Mr Beament
Executive Headteacher
St Saviour’s Schools