Connected, issue 19

18
Connected
The magazine of Creative Education Trust schools
Issue no.19
October 2020
19
Blended &
Remote
Joanna Grant,
Abbeyfield
Before lockdown,
we had been
working continuously
to improve the pace
and challenge of lessons
– pedagogical support in
‘15-minute forums’, planning
sessions in subject faculties, and
individual coaching – and we were starting to see the fruits
of our labour. Then, in March 2020, we were thrown into
lockdown and our teaching and learning priorities changed
overnight. How would we ensure high quality teachers and
students nowhere near the school?
It became clear that our immediate priority was training rather
than development. We all, leaders included, had to learn how
to use the technology that would get us through the next few
months, and fast! It became hugely apparent, that two (or ten)
heads were better than one and we needed to share good
practice. We relaunched the 15-minute forums as remote
events, and staff from across the school offered sessions on
pre-recording lessons, MS Forms, recording verbal feedback,
using Immersive Reader and One Note – things that most
of us hadn’t heard of a few weeks earlier. The willingness of
colleagues to share undoubtedly pushed remote teaching and
The last six months have presented
unprecedented challenges in remote
learning and, as some students have
headed back into school and others
have continued learning from home,
the ‘blended’ learning model has forced
teachers to adapt further. We asked
Joanna Grant, Assistant Principal for
Teaching and Learning at Abbeyfield
and a member of the EduTech
Group (See Still Connected No. 3)
to tell Connected some of the
ways students get the most from
online lessons and resources.
learning on. With the help of Microsoft Stream, we were able
to share pre-recorded and asynchronous lessons.
As staff became more confident with the technology, we
were able to start considering how pedagogy fits into remote
learning. As the weeks went on, we were able to gather
feedback via a questionnaire on which aspects of remote
learning were working for students, and which weren’t.
Heads of faculties continually reviewed any online tools
they were using to ensure we used only the diagnostic tools
that worked. We set some initial clear parameters to ensure
pedagogy was still a driving force behind our lessons:
• Share the learning objectives so the students are
clear about what they should have achieved by the
end of the activity
• Deliver theory in an accessible way – e.g. GCSE POD,
YouTube clips, modelling using videos made via your
visualiser
• Have short AFL activities to ensure that students have
engaged with any resource you have given them
• Use consolidation activities to embed the learning
they have just undertaken
• Review their understanding in a way that will make
it stick, e.g. quizzes through Teams or Kahoot; exam
questions for GCSE / A-Level groups; exit ticket activities
Get the most out of
technology
Top tips for remote learning by the staff of Abbeyfield
Give clear accessible guidance on what is expected of
the students during self-isolation – including instructions
on how to access and use the technology required.
Support low ability students remotely by offering step
by step task plans/tick sheets – breaking the learning
down into small, manageable chunks.
Build independence by setting short term goals.
Teach students to manage their time efficiently –
give students some guidance on how long they should
spend on different sections of the lesson.
Be as explicit as possible in your instructions.
Front load (and dual code) vocabulary required for
the lesson.
Sharing best
practice in teaching
and learning through
MS Teams
‘Watts you question’,
a Youtube channel
created by Mr Watts,
science teacher
at Abbeyfield
Drip feed your content – if you give students too much
content at once they may get confused, which can lead
them to become unmotivated.
Enhance your presentations with visual tools – most
online students will learn best from strong visual content.
Avoid black text on a white screen without imagery.
Back in school we are facing new challenges: classes made
up of some students online remotely and some in the room
in front of us, or teachers at home remotely teaching a class
which could itself be made up of some students in school and
some at home. Teachers are working hard to deliver ‘blended’
learning, planning their in-school lessons in ways that could
be accessed by students without the teacher in front of them
if necessary. We are asking staff to ‘plan well; plan once’, to
ensure the same quality we offer in school is provided at home,
and to minimise the workload implications of blended learning.
Some are making the most out of ‘low-stakes’ assessment
such as MS Forms to monitor progress.
“Thank you for today’s
live lessons, I find them
super helpful and it feels
like we’re all still part of
the class!”
An email from a year 11 student, currently
self-isolating, to her English teacher
We’ve used MS Teams to streamline how teachers receive
work and give feedback, with the intention that eventually
all homework will be done in this way. We’ve created video
tutorials for students and parents and are training them in the
remote learning systems in preparation for their child possibly
having to self-isolate. We’ve deployed ‘learning mentors’ to do
welfare checks and to provide targeted support for students
identified from gap analysis and engagement data collected
over lockdown.
Over the last six months it’s become clear that we don’t know
what’s around the corner. Our goal is to normalise blended
learning so that if we face again what we faced in March, the
transition is seamless and progress is uninterrupted. This is the
reason we’re seeing blended learning in action every day!
Abbeyfield students have quickly adapted to using technology
in their classroom and at home.