Secondary Learning
Remote Learning in Secondary – Guidance for Parents and Pupils
What we will offer:
Further to feedback from parents and pupils during the last closure, we have tried to provide increased clarity about teaching inputs, as well as ensuring that young people do not feel overwhelmed by teacher contacts and work set. We have also tried to base our approach on a live lesson model as feedback has suggested that this is effective in encouraging and monitoring engagement.
As a result, we have agreed that pupils will be invited to formal lessons in line with their current timetable but with contacts reduced according to agreed ratios to ensure that young people do not spend their entire day looking at a screen. We also hope this will reduce pressure on devices within households.
The ratios are as follows:
• S1-3: At a ratio of 1:2 of existing period allocations. Therefore, where a pupil would get two periods of a subject in the existing timetable, they would get one live lesson during closure. (Please note that an exception to this will be GME lessons, which will be given their full allocation.)
• S4-6: At a ratio of 3:5 (or 2:4) of existing period allocations.
In addition to the use of these ratios, we have also put some subjects in S1-3 on rotas over a few weeks to ensure that the number of subject contacts in a week does not become overwhelming for young people.
We have asked that teachers aim to provide a live Teams lesson for the first 15 minutes of the period, but many lessons will last longer. Whatever the length of the introductory session, teachers will normally be available for the entire period to support pupils.
Point for pupils/parents to note:
• Teams invites will be sent to pupils for all planned lessons. This will create a personal timetable for pupils using the calendar function in Teams. It is important that pupils view their calendar in advance of each day to be clear on lessons they must attend. Pupils will receive a notification of each meeting to their glow email account; they can also access their calendar from Teams by selecting the calendar icon on the left-hand bar.
• If a lesson needs to be cancelled for any reason, such as staff absence, a cancellation will be sent to pupils. There may also be changes to scheduled lessons and pupils will also be advised of these through their calendar.
• Pupils need to join the lesson for attendance to be recorded. Lesson attendance will be monitored by Principal Teachers and Pupil Support. As would normally be the case, contact home will be made by Guidance Teachers if a pupil is not attending/engaging with lessons.
- If parents/carers are aware of a reason, such as a health issue, why their child cannot attend a lesson, we would ask that they contact the school in advance. If there are more general reasons why a child’s engagement may be intermittent, please do make the school aware of these.
- Drop-in slots will be available with Ms Sanderson for any pupils requiring ICT support to access online lessons. These are optional but all pupils will receive a meeting invite. The times for these are: S1-3: Tuesday P6; S4: Wednesday P4; S5: Tuesday P2; S6: Wednesday P5.
- Pupils should continue to work independently on class tasks set throughout the week. In order to minimise further loss of learning, we are asking where possible that pupils – particularly in the senior phase – aim to spend a similar number of hours each week on home learning as they would do if they were in school.
Resource boxes will once again be available for pupils to access during the current lockdown. Each box will contain various items that pupils may require in completing their tasks i.e. paper, jotters, pens, pencils etc.
Remote Learning Materials
The link below provides links to home learning resources:
The link needs to be opened in Chrome, Edge or Firefox rather than Internet Explorer.
