Headteacher
Actions from the Remote Learning Survey
27th January 2021
0

Dear Families,

Survey feedback and next steps

I hope you are well. Many thanks to the many of you who have sent in feedback with regards to remote learning. We have analysed and waded through over 1000 responses from parents and carers, students and members of staff. I am also grateful to those who joined me for the Parents Forum on Tuesday Evening. Your feedback has been invaluable. You will appreciate that there is a range of experiences. We have some families who have multiple devices at home whilst there are others who do not have a single appropriate device. Some parents report that their children are motivated whilst others are really struggling. Some families can provide their children with a quiet learning space but we know that for many, this is not possible. All this feedback has to be considered against the backdrop of the growing realisation that school does not look like it will be back as normal after half-term as originally forecasted. It may be that school does not return until after the Easter break. With this in mind, I need to think about what is practical and sustainable for families, students and staff.

Main findings from the Parents, Carers and Students survey:

  • Amongst parents, 83% report that our provision is significantly better than during the first lockdown in March 2020. The remainder (many in year 7) stated “don’t know” as they were not here last year.
  • 95% stated that the increased live provision is helping their child to keep pace with their learning.
  • 80% stated that they feel their child is receiving the appropriate levels of feedback.
  • Amongst students, 74% report that the live provision is helping them to make progress with their learning, with a similar proportion reporting that they felt they are receiving the right level of feedback. The majority of the remainder stated that they were “not sure” in relation to progress and the effectiveness of feedback.
  • Approximately 75% of students like the idea of broadly keeping to the normal structure of the day.

Key positives:

  • Students and parents have welcomed the following: structure to the day; connection with the teacher; live feedback; a sense of keeping pace with the curriculum; “Taken away the argument of when to do the work.”

Ongoing worries:

  • Socialisation of youngsters, mental health, loss of motivation, practical issues relating to technology, interactivity, uncertainty about exams, keeping pace and opportunities for youngsters to take part in their normal practical subjects.

Feedback from Staff

  • All bar one member of staff felt that the current provision was better than in March 2020.

Most challenging aspects for staff:

  • Finding a break in a 5 lesson day; tricky to monitor what students are up to during lessons; screen time in front of the desk all day; IT issues e.g. wifi; functionality of Teams; student conduct at times especially arriving late, not turning on camera, not contributing to lessons, etc; Balancing teaching with childcare; lower sets attendance and engagement; opportunities for students to access practical learning and interaction with students; growing gap between the most disadvantaged students and the rest; some submitted work is of poor quality; the feeling of isolation; length of lessons; provide appropriate training for the changing context.

Actions following the survey:

  • We will continue with our live learning offer as normal but we will alter the structure of the day – lessons will be shortened to 50 minutes and the length of break and lunch time will be increased during the day. This will give everyone a chance to have a break from the screen every hour. This will commence from the w/b Monday 1st
  • INSET Day set for Friday 5th Feb – no live lessons but whole day of training for staff. Work will be set on Firefly for all students.
  • We will launch an updated assessment and homework policy ready for publication before half-term. This will outline expectations for feedback across all subjects.
  • Suspended “No screen day” with focus on Extra-curricula provision after half-term.
  • We will update our Student and Parents Expectations guide before half-term.
  • We will start year 9 students on their GCSE options courses in the summer term.
  • Online counselling offer for staff.
  • I understand that there is anxiety around exam assessments for this summer. As soon as I know what the DfE plans are, I will let you know. The best things students can do at the moment is log in and participate in lessons as well as submit the set assignments.

Please find a link to the new remote learning school day on:

http://www.tytheringtonschool.co.uk/information/school-day/

As things change, we will need to adapt to new circumstances. With this in mind, I will send out another set of surveys to parents, carers, students and staff in the second week of March to review the effectiveness of the changes.

I understand that the changes above will not please everyone. Having said that, I hope that it will strike the right balance.

Please do not hesitate to get in contact with me if you have any queries or concerns.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Botwe

ebotwe@tytheringtonschool.co.uk

 

Please view the slides and recording from the Parent Forum event by clicking here.

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