After two weeks of break we will be returning to school tomorrow. This will not be a usual return to school as we will be returning to distance learning as the lock down in the UK continues. I hope that you have managed to enjoy the sunshine and to stay well.

Today teachers will meet for a day of INSET using google classroom and google meet. Teachers will discuss the feedback from the first week of distance learning and start to respond to some of the feedback. We received a number of submissions on the feedback form and they really demonstrated the diverse environments that learning from home can create. Many enjoyed the range of resources, it was clear that pre-made videos and collaborative documents were popular. It was also clear that often people want different things, some stressed that there was too much work whilst others said it was not enough. Some wanted more worksheets and less digital learning, others wanted live streamed lessons. It is evident that it would be a challenge to please everyone. As such we will continue to give a broad range of activities, however, we will strive to include occasional and optional class google hangouts so students can see each other and connect with their teachers. We will continue to develop the distance learning website so those who want additional work can easily access it.

Image of the new safeguarding pages on the distance learning website

To enhance the distance learning website we have added a few new resources. These include pages on safeguarding, which include a page on online safety which links to the Think U Know website which has parent pages and provides plenty of resources for students and they are set out by age group. There are interactive games and informative videos. The Think U Know resources are all supported by the National Crime Agency and Childline. For extension activities we have added the well resourced wide open school collection put together by common sense media. We have also added an extra resource to the wellbeing section which is a time capsule document, which can be used directly or as a template for us to record these unprecedented times.

As we move into term three I think it would be nice to document the students’ thoughts on their learning experience and for them to share their days with each other. If you (student, parent, teacher) would like to write a blog about your experiences during this time please send it to me with a couple of photos and we can share it using the community blog.