Throughout the pandemic finding innovative ways to ensure that students having to isolate at home can continue to learn has been a ‘steep learning curve’. Efforts to improve digital access for students at home have meant that more than 800 laptops have been sent home to be used by students .
Earlier this term as numbers of students needing to be at home rose sharply, we were pleased to introduce the use of a platform enabling live streaming of lessons, reducing the disruption to students’ learning. All school laptops had the Team Viewer app installed automatically, and students using their own devices could download it for free.
Access was simple and has been very effective; thousands of lessons have been viewed using the platform. Students signed into lessons on their timetable via the app and completed classwork in their books or on paper, bringing it to school when they returned from isolating.
Assistant Headteacher Mrs Black said, “We have been on an incredible journey since March 2020 to make the most of remote education! We are now in the position to offer live streaming of lessons for the majority of subjects, with practical subjects set work on Frog. We have chosen the ‘Team Viewer’ app as it is simple to use for teachers and students, it offers live streaming without affecting learning in the classroom. We ran a successful live streaming pilot and rolled this out fully in January.”
I am really proud of how far we have come as a school in terms of our own knowledge and skills and the work we have done to tackle the digital divide to ensure that all students can access a high quality curriculum. Our teachers and support staff have worked really hard to over come challenges and have been open to new ideas as our provision has developed.”
Together with student absence, we saw an increase in staff needing to isolate too. Despite this, teachers across all faculties provided work from home, again via Frog.
Mrs Black added, “Live streaming lessons means that students can return to following a period of absence or isolation ready to join their peers without feeling left behind.”
“Our students have improved their digital literacy and we are now able to communicate easily using email and access digital resources to support home learning such as GCSE POD, doddle and Seneca.”
