Outlining expectations for online learning in a range of scenarios, clarifying any misconceptions
Ensuring that colleagues are aware of the procedures designed to safeguard themselves and students/pupils;
Providing support for teachers to enable them to develop confidence with the required skills and knowledge to conduct live and recorded lessons during a partial or full school closure.

2.0 Background

In March 2020 schools across the UK had to move their teaching ‘online’ for the vast majority of students at very short notice in response to the coronavirus pandemic. At that time there were many barriers to schools doing this successfully and we were ‘learning as we went along’. Initial barriers included:

Significant numbers of colleagues isolating with young children in their household. This made any attempt at more interactive or ‘live’ learning impractical and a demand we were not prepared to place on our colleagues.
A lack of available evidence, or experience, on remote learning to know what might work best.
A lack of IT infrastructure within some schools to allow more interactive learning to take place safely.
Most telling, the gap in available IT resources in many houses (both hardware and internet access) would have put some pupils/students at an unacceptable disadvantage if we moved to a fully online programme.

3.0 Current situation (During covid-19 outbreak)

More recently, research conducted by the EEF, published in “Rapid Evidence Assessment – Distance Learning” has shown that clear explanation, scaffolding, assessment and feedback are the most important factors when considering the effectiveness of online learning. While explanation can be delivered via pre-recorded video, assessing students’ understanding and adapting the teaching to meet the immediate requirements of students cannot and for this reason the Trust has revisited the earlier barriers, working to remove them to allow as much ‘live’ and reactive teaching as possible.

Consultation with parents of pupils who attend Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff indicates that they would prefer a mixture of both ‘live’ and recorded interactions; for example, recorded lessons offer flexibility to families in which the parents work shifts or there are a number of children with limited access to IT resources.

DfE guidance states that:

Schools have a duty to provide remote education for state-funded, school-age children whose attendance would be contrary to government guidance or law around coronavirus (COVID-19).

When teaching pupils remotely, the DfE expect schools to:

set meaningful and ambitious work each day in an appropriate range of subjects
provide teaching that is equivalent in length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school. This will include both recorded or live direct teaching time and time for pupils to complete tasks and assignments independently, and will be as a minimum:

Key Stage 1: 3 hours a day on average across the cohort, with less for younger children
Key Stage 2: 4 hours a day

Online video lessons do not necessarily need to be recorded by teaching staff at the school: Oak National Academy lessons, for example, can be provided in lieu of school video content. However, it should be noted that such videos should be clearly linked to the curriculum focus in school.
consider how to transfer into remote education what we already know about effective teaching in the live classroom by, for example:

providing frequent, clear explanations of new content, delivered by a teacher or through high-quality curriculum resources
providing opportunities for interactivity, including questioning, eliciting and reflective discussion
providing scaffolded practice and opportunities to apply new knowledge
enabling pupils to receive timely and frequent feedback on how to progress, using digitally-facilitated or whole-class feedback where appropriate
using assessment to ensure teaching is responsive to pupils’ needs and addresses any critical gaps in pupils’ knowledge
avoiding an over-reliance on long-term projects or internet research activities

Laptops, Chromebooks or tablets will be provided to families for whom access to IT is an issue.
All Co-op academies have access to, and most use, Google Classroom as a remote learning platform. Live lesson streaming is accessed via Google Classroom (see https://support.google.com/a/answer/9784550?hl=en). This has many benefits. For example: classes are created automatically for each teacher saving workload; only those pupils/students and colleagues within the organisation who have been given permission can access the lesson; the teacher can control the cameras / microphones of participants to switch them off, and can end the session in a way that prevents students from rejoining (if the session is set up correctly). Any misuse is recorded, and therefore the normal school sanctions can be applied if necessary.
There are a number of platforms available with which to record lessons; at Co-op Academy Clarice Cliff, we currently use Loom and Vidyard. Links to pre-recorded lessons can be posted into Class Dojo or Google Classroom.

4.0 The way ahead

As a consequence of the above, we are now in a position to offer a much more interactive experience where we are not able to deliver face to face teaching.

In summary this means that:

In the event that an individual pupil is isolating at home, if they are well enough to do schoolwork, we will ask them to work remotely. They will access work that the rest of the class have been doing and the teacher will simply drag and drop their resources into the appropriate section of Google Classroom or post them on Class Dojo*. The school will ensure that the pupil has the appropriate technology to access this wherever possible. Where this is not possible, paper packs will be provided. .

*At the moment, Class Dojo is our main way of communicating with pupils and their families. As our practice in remote learning develops, teachers may wish to set work via Google Classroom; however, Class Dojo should still be used to communicate with parents and to give rewards/sanctions etc.

In the event that a whole class is at home, we must offer the best teaching we possibly can. We are in quite a different position now, so the work should include video content either recorded by the teacher or using appropriate resources such as those from the Oak National Academy.
During periods of ‘lockdown’ when the school is closed to most pupils, we will offer a mix of recorded lessons and work set via Class Dojo or Google Classroom. ‘Live’ interactions (such as pupil check-ins or lessons) may also be provided.

Some FAQs are included in section 7, however, it is important to note the following:

You do not need to ‘appear’ on their screen, but you can do. Your camera can be turned on or off depending on circumstances. If your camera is on, you must ensure you will not have other household members appearing on screen. Choose a neutral background, or use the Google Meet function to blur or change your background.
Similarly it is recommended that during ‘live’ interactions, pupils have their camera and microphone turned off, responding only through the chat / Q&A functions, unless permission is given by the teacher for an individual pupil / student to put their mic on as they’ve put their hand up to ask a question . If the camera function is being used at any point, all parties should be advised of and follow the guidance previously issued around dress codes and backgrounds see https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MS_3tEktZzLWlAbLEY3g6dhz70-Kg1Rp8hXEa7P-C_A/edit?usp=sharing
There is no need to speak for the full duration of a live lesson. You could choose to greet the class, introduce the lesson and then talk over your PowerPoint to explain the new content. Pupils might then be allowed to work on a task whilst you answer their queries on the chat / Q&A function. You might then turn your microphone back on to explain a concept, correct a misconception, or to deliver more new content.
For further guidance on conducting a live lesson, please see Annex 2.
In the case of questions around work set during recorded lessons, a member of teaching staff will be available to answer questions via Class Dojo.
When activities are presented as documents such as PDFs via Class Dojo, teachers should consider producing a short video explanation to go alongside any written instructions. This will increase accessibility for pupils and parents who have literacy difficulties whilst retaining accessibility for our EAL families who may wish to use the ‘translate’ function.
Teachers should consider which small group SEN interventions could continue via either live or recorded sessions.

5.0 Safeguarding guidance

All parents and pupils must agree to the Home Learning Code of Conduct for Live and Pre-recorded Sessions - see Annex 1

When you are teaching/interacting via live video, please ensure that:

There are no one-to-one lessons.
The lesson is hosted on Google Classroom so only pupils and colleagues within the organisation can access this.
Quick Access is turned off, which prevents pupils from accessing the session before a member of staff is present.
The lesson is recorded. Please note, this video remains the property of the teacher and will not be used for quality assurance.

During online/remote learning, staff and pupils should continue to communicate and act in a professional manner as if in school.

Colleagues / staff should:

Maintain their usual professional relationship with pupils.
Use professional and ‘safe’ language at all times.
Maintain normal expectations for pupils, as you would in school lessons.
Ensure pupils are aware of these expectations when delivering live video lessons.
Whichever method of remote learning is being used, ensure that appropriate privacy settings are in place and GDPR compliance is maintained. For example, don’t share your screen with the class if it shows confidential information (e.g. SIMs).
When delivering a live lesson, ensure that:

Only relevant pupils can access the lesson.
Pupils are not sharing personal information via the chat function.
Pupils have their microphone and camera turned off (this should be set by default)
Pupils use the ‘chat’, Q&A or ‘raise hand’ functions in a live lesson to ask questions.
All pupils have left the session before the teacher, or the teacher has the function to end the session for all participants (i.e. pupils are not left on the call unsupervised)

Challenge any inappropriate behaviour from pupils and report it as you would in school. For serious concerns it may be necessary to remove pupils from the online learning activity to ensure the learning of other pupils can progress.
Any safeguarding concerns should be reported to the relevant safeguarding leads using the usual channels.

Pupils:

Should behave as if they were in school and in the classroom – they should be reminded of this, and that the session is being recorded, at the beginning of the lesson.
Pupils should only access live lessons using their school accounts, not personal accounts. They must not share or access any inappropriate material.
Pupils should ensure conversations using the chat function are appropriate and related to the lesson.

6.0 Additional guidance for colleagues/ staff

6.1 When schools are open to all pupils (teacher & pupils in school)

Colleagues should upload lesson resources to Dojo or the Classwork section of Google Classroom, allowing pupils to revisit previous lessons and pupils who are self-isolating to access content from home. Lesson resources should be in clearly labelled folders, allowing easy access for pupils.
Paper packs will be provided for those pupils who are unable to access online learning.
Homework should be set using the assignments section of Google Classroom. Where this is not possible, please discuss with your line manager.

6.2 When pupils are isolating or there is a partial school closure (teacher in school/at home, pupils at home)

When pupils are not in school, work will be set using Class Dojo and/or Google Classroom.
Any live lessons must adhere to the protocols as set out in the “Safeguarding Guidance” section of this document.
Following government guidance, pupils working from home should be set assignments with colleagues giving regular feedback.
If you are teaching some pupils in a class, but have members of the class working from home, the pupils working from home should be set work via Class Dojo and/or Google Classroom. If possible, the work should include video content either recorded by the teacher or using appropriate resources from the Oak National Academy. However, regular lesson resources such as those that are uploaded when schools are open to all students/pupils would be sufficient.
Under no circumstances should any colleagues “livestream” any lesson or part of a lesson where some pupils are present and some are at home in any year group.

6.3 In the event of a full school closure (teacher and pupils at home)

Work will be set on Class Dojo and/or Google Classroom.
We will offer a mix of recorded lessons and work set via Class Dojo and/or Google Classroom.‘Live’ interactions (such as pupil check-ins or lessons) may also be included.
The work set should include video content either recorded by the teacher or using appropriate resources from the Oak National Academy which are clearly linked to our curriculum.
Pupils will be set regular assignments by staff /colleagues, (including the use of self-marking assignments), on the assignments section of Google Classroom or on Class Dojo. Colleagues / staff will give regular feedback on these assignments. The frequency of feedback should be as directed by the Headteacher.

6.4 Colleague / staff having to self-isolate (teacher at home, pupils in school)

If required to self-isolate, and are not ill, colleagues are asked to record lessons from home or to set work for their classes via Google Classroom or Class Dojo - using recorded input where possible.

7.0 Frequently Asked Questions

Q) I have some pupils in my class that are absent and some who are present.

What should I do?

A) Please upload your lesson resources and set homework on Class Dojo or Google Classroom for these pupils as normal. This will allow the pupils who are absent to keep up to date. Please teach the remaining pupils in school as normal.

Q) My entire class is absent. What should I do?

A) In the event that a whole class is at home, we must offer the best teaching we possibly can.

We are in quite a different position now, so the work should include video content either recorded by the teacher or using appropriate resources from the Oak National Academy.

Q) How do I do this?

A) The suggested way of doing this is by sharing your screen with the students. This allows you to give verbal explanations over your slides. If you choose to offer live lessons, you should be able to teach the live lesson sitting at your computer.

Q) Do I have to appear on camera?

A) No. Whilst there are benefits of being seen, it is your decision taking into account where you are delivering the lesson from, the number and age of the pupils involved and any special needs, and the subject matter / nature of the lesson.

Q) Will I be able to see or hear the pupils in ‘live interactions’?

A) No. Pupils' cameras and microphones should be set to off and microphones remain muted until the teacher tells them that it is their turn to talk.

Q) If I can’t hear my class, how will they ask me a question?

A) Pupils can communicate with you through the chat, Q&A or raise hand functions.

Q) What if pupils use inappropriate language in the chat?

A) Pupils will log in via their school email, so all chat comments have the pupil name next to them. Any inappropriate language will be dealt with through the behaviour policy.

Q) If offering live lessons, will I have to talk over my slides for the full lesson?

A) No. There should be opportunities in live lessons for pupils to work independently, just as there would be in regular lessons. At this point you could choose to mute your microphone and interact with pupils through the chat when necessary until it becomes appropriate to address the whole class again. When recording lessons, you may wish to tell pupils at which point to pause their video so that they can go and complete a task before playing the rest of the video, in which you may wish to go over the answers.

Q) What about pupils who don’t have the technology to access these lessons

from home?

A) We will be providing the technology to pupils who need it so all can access these

lessons.

Q) How do I give feedback to work submitted via Google Classroom?

A) Acknowledge the work has been completed to (1) confirm attendance / completion, and (2)

where possible, add a short comment on the student’s work / input.

Q) What should I do if a pupil is regularly not completing the work set at home?

A) Follow procedures for contacting pupils and their families and logging this onto CPOMS.

Q) Will recording be used for quality assurance?

A) No. Recordings are only there to allow pupils to revisit the lesson if they could not attend at that time or wish to revise, and (in the case of live interactions) to provide a record should this be required in connection with safeguarding.

Q) Should I be concerned that a parent/carer might ‘sit in’ my lesson?

A) For younger children or those with special educational needs this might be necessary and helpful. However, if you feel a parent/carer is posting things on the chat function or you have other concerns, please let a member of the senior team know to support you. Parents/carers have signed up to follow our Home Learning Code of Conduct.

Q) Should I respond to pupils’ questions and queries outside lesson times?

A) While colleagues are free to respond whenever they wish, this should not generally happen outside normal working hours. We advise aiming to respond during the usual school working hours where possible. There is no requirement to respond outside of school hours.

Q) Have issues around workload been considered?

A) We remain committed to being reasonable and sensitive to concerns about workload. In developing this guidance, we have considered colleagues workload and have consulted with union representatives. However, this is new territory for all of us so we will be reviewing these procedures regularly and part of that review will be an opportunity for colleagues to give feedback.

Q) How can I get additional support or training around using Google Classroom or Google Meet?

A) Please speak to your manager, who will arrange for support / training as needed.

Home Learning - Code of Conduct for Live and

Pre-Recorded Sessions (Annex 1)

'Live' sessions delivered via Google Classroom follow the same principles as set out in the school’s

behaviour policy. In addition, these are the principles of safe and purposeful learning online for both

live and pre-recorded sessions.

Staff expectations:

Ensure any systems used for online sessions are in line with privacy and data protection/GDPR requirements.
Host any live sessions on Google Classroom, so that only pupils and colleagues within the organisation can access this.
Two members of staff will be present in every live session.
No one-to-one live sessions will be delivered.
Record live sessions so that if any issues arise, the video can be reviewed.
Not allow children to attend the live session if they have not agreed to the Code of Conduct.
Dress and speak in a professional manner.
Keep both live and pre-recorded sessions to a reasonable length of time.
Conduct sessions from school or home.
Be mindful of families sharing technology and timetable live sessions appropriately.
Remove pupils who do not behave appropriately from live sessions and follow this up with families and the head teacher.
Safeguarding concerns will be shared with the Safeguarding Leads in school as per normal safeguarding reporting processes.

Parent Expectations:

Children will only be accepted into a live session with a parent present to login.
Be within earshot of the session but will not be directly involved.
Be responsible for the safety and well-being of your child throughout the session.
Follow up any subsequent activities from the session.
Ensure that there is an appropriate space and time allocated for the session and other members of the family (siblings) do not disrupt it.
Ensure children are wearing appropriate clothes e.g. not pyjamas or nightwear.
Make sure your child knows how they will be expected to behave.
Follow-up reasons if your child is blocked from a live session.
Do not share any meeting code with anyone else and especially not on social media.
If a live session ends unexpectedly due to technical issues, the session will continue to record but your child must leave the session immediately.
You and your child/children must not record or screenshot any part of a live or pre-recorded session and/or distribute it in any form as this is an illegal data breach and will be dealt with accordingly under GDPR.

Child expectations:

Engage as best as you can with the session.
During pre-recorded lessons, pause the video and complete tasks as instructed.
Have your camera and microphone turned off for live sessions, unless instructed otherwise.
Behave in an appropriate way and follow the school rules.
Think carefully about how you speak to the teacher and your peers in live sessions.
Only use the chat function to discuss things relating to the session.
Understand that if the teacher feels that you are not behaving well, that they can block you from live sessions.
Dress properly for live sessions.
Be organised and have equipment at hand.
Make sure you access live sessions in a shared space within earshot of your parents/carers.
Report any concerns about other children’s behaviour to the teacher in charge of the session.

Live Lesson - Teacher Guide (Annex 2)

There is no expectation for staff to deliver live lessons. However, should staff choose to provide live lessons, they must follow the guidance below;

Setting up & preparation

Before starting to give live lessons, teachers should ensure they understand how to organise and run this type of session. See https://support.google.com/a/answer/9784550?hl=en for further guidance.

A key recommendation when setting up your sessions is to turn off “quick access” & don’t use invite mechanisms to ask people to attend. Set up a ‘nicknamed’ session and send the link manually to students, for example via email or as a Google Classroom announcement. Doing this will give you more control over the session.

Before the lesson

Set up where you will not be disturbed, with a neutral background (or Google Background / blurring on, or your camera off)
Make sure you have everything you need ready and to hand
If you have a teaching assistant supporting you with the lesson, make sure they have been briefed on their role during the session
Think about the approach you are going to take e.g. style of delivery for age group (speed of talking, professional & safe language to be used, pauses in delivery for individual work, use of technology to check-in for understanding e.g. hands up, Q&A or polls)

Starting the session

Dial in to the session; switch the record function on
Access to the video meeting can be controlled by setting the Quick Access function to “off” - this means participants must ask to be admitted to the session, so you can control entry and know who is arriving
Ask pupils to switch off cameras / mics as they arrive (or do this for them)

Introducing the lesson

This is intended as a starting point / guide. It can and should be adapted to suit the age group of pupils, subject, personal style of the teacher, etc

Good morning / afternoon everyone, thank you for joining our session.

Before we start, I’d just like to remind you that this session is being recorded - that includes what is said, and what is put into the chat and question areas.

Although we’re not all together in the same room, this is still a classroom and so we’re all expected to behave as if we were in school.

Please make sure that your camera is off and microphone is muted at all times, unless I ask you to switch it on.

I understand the current situation isn’t easy for everyone - if there’s anything worrying you, the school team is here to help and support you. You should contact either myself, Mrs. Day, Miss Hudson or Mr Murphy via Class Dojo if you have any worries or concerns.

And just a general reminder, that you must not share or access any inappropriate material using your school Google account and email.

During this lesson, you can use the “chat function” to communicate with me and ask questions. Please make sure that conversations are appropriate and related to the lesson - you should not be using it to share personal information.

[If appropriate & the Q&A function is turned on] If you’d like to ask a question, please use the “Q&A function” you can find this by clicking on the triangle, square & circle icon on the top right of your screen. If someone else has asked a question you also want to know the answer to, you can vote on this. Please make sure that any questions are appropriate and related to the lesson.

[If appropriate] We’ll also be using the “hands up function”. From time to time I will ask you to “put your hand up if ….” (for example, if you’d like me to repeat something). To do this, you click on the little icon to put your hand up. I will also ask the class “please put your hand down” and you then click on it again to put your hand down.

If you wish to speak please raise your hand, I will unmute your microphone and invite you to speak - once we have finished speaking I will mute your microphone again.

[If appropriate] During the lesson from time to time I will be asking you to vote on some points using the “polls function” - I’d like you to get involved with sharing your views.

Add any other points you want to make.

Right, let’s get started.

Ending the session

Confirm any actions that the pupils need to take to continue the learning (if appropriate).

If you need to contact me after the lesson about your work please get in touch via Class Dojo or Google Classroom.

Thank you for coming. You can dial out now.

Check that all pupils have left the session before you do. To prevent pupils from rejoining a meeting after it ends, you can create a nicknamed meeting. If you are the last person to leave a nicknamed meeting, pupils can't rejoin the meeting. Before you leave the meeting, you can remove any remaining pupils.