Learning From Home

During lockdown, pupils will continue their learning from home each day. This will take place in virtual classrooms. These virtual classrooms use Microsoft Teams.

Pupils will have access to a range of different learning resources, support materials, extension activities, enrichment opportunities and additional tasks. This means that all pupils can will have the support they need to continue to make fantastic progress while learning from home.

Pupils will be expected to attend all of their sessions in the virtual classroom and to share their learning with their teacher. Pupils may be learning from home, but their learning is just as important as if they were in the classroom in school. We know that everybody in Team Ipsley will rise to the challenge and continue to aspire, believe and succeed throughout this challenging time.

Finally, pupils will be able to keep in contact with all of their teachers for support, guidance and extra learning challenges. Pupils will do this using ePraise, where we will also use RSA Points to celebrate their achievements.

A virtual classroom takes place on Microsoft Teams, which can be accessed via Office365.

Pupils join the virtual classroom in two ways:

Firstly, pupils will join live lessons. In these live virtual classrooms, pupils will be able to interact with their teacher and peers, and will learn from their teacher in the same way as if they were in school. This means that all pupils will benefit from live teaching from their teachers in school while they are learning from home in order to continue to support them in making fantastic progress. Lessons in the live virtual classroom may vary in length as teachers send pupils off to complete different learning activities. Pupils will be set tasks in many of these lessons called ‘assignments,’ and they will be expected to share their learning with their teacher so that we can continue to offer support, challenge all pupils to do their best and celebrate the fantastic learning going on at home.

Secondly, pupils will access a number of pre-recorded lessons from their class teacher. This means that pupils can watch these at any time and learn at their own pace. It will also help those families who we know may have a number of different children needing to access live lessons at the same time. Each lesson will include introductions and explanations from the teacher, alongside support and challenge to make sure every pupil is able to succeed. Similarly to live lessons, pupils will be set tasks by their teachers called ‘assignments,’ and pupils will be expected to share their learning with their teacher.

Pupils can access Office365 by going to www.office.com and using their normal school username + @ipsleyacademy.co.uk (e.g. 21bloggsjoe@ipsleyacademy.co.uk) and their normal school password (e.g. Bird1414) to log in. In Office365, pupils can access all of their files from school. They can also access Microsoft Office software for free, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams. This means that all pupils have access to the software they need to succeed while learning from home. Pupils can use these different software programs in the browser (e.g. Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome) or they can download a copy of Office onto their home device. All pupils who attend Ipsley are entitled to five free copies of Office which can be installed on home devices. This will be essential in supporting pupils while learning from home so that they can access all the files they need to support their learning.

Pupils can log in to Microsoft Teams through Office365. Pupils can access Office365 by going to www.office.com and using their normal school username + @ipsleyacademy.co.uk (e.g. 21bloggsjoe@ipsleyacademy.co.uk) and their normal school password (e.g. Bird1414) to log in. There is a Microsoft Teams option on the left hand side of the page which looks like this.

When pupils click on Microsoft Teams, they will be able to click the ‘calendar’ option to see their live lesson timetable for the week. They will also be able to click the ‘Teams’ option to find pre-recorded lessons and learning resources. Finally, they will be able to click ‘assignments’ in order to find out the learning their teachers are expecting them to submit.

When classrooms go ‘live,’ they will appear in dark purple. Pupils can right click them and ‘join the meeting,’ where they will then wait in a lobby to be admitted by the teacher. Pupils should join the virtual classroom with their microphones off and only unmute at the request of the teacher. Pupils may leave and rejoin the virtual classroom at other times requested by the teacher. Pupils are not required to have microphones or webcams to join the virtual classroom, but they will need speakers or headphones/earphones so that they can hear the teacher’s instructions.

Our expectation of behaviour and conduct in the virtual classrooms is high. Pupils are expected to adhere to the following rules:

• Follow all instructions you are given from your teacher – they will tell you if you can chat, unmute or switch on your camera.
• If you are on camera, your background should be blurred if possible. (Your teacher can tell you how to do this!)
• Behaviour must be excellent at all times – remember Ready, Respectful, Safe!
• At no point can you be in a Teams call without your teacher being there.
• You must not capture or share any images/videos of teachers or pupils.
• Should pupils not follow these rules, we will apply an appropriate sanction in line with our behaviour policy.

Pupils can access live lessons on Microsoft Teams.

After logging in, pupils can click on ‘calendar’ on the left hand side. They will be able to see their calendar for the week, with each of their live lessons marked by a purple box. Five minutes before the beginning of the live lesson, this box will turn dark purple and pupils can click ‘join’ to enter the lesson. If a pupil wants to enter a lesson earlier or at another time, they can right click on the lesson and choose ‘join.’

Pupils will wait in a lobby until they are admitted by the teacher.

Pupils should join their live lessons with their camera off and their microphone muted. They should only turn on their camera or microphone if asked to do so by the teacher.

Our expectation of behaviour and conduct in the virtual classrooms is high. Pupils are expected to adhere to the following rules:

• Follow all instructions you are given from your teacher – they will tell you if you can chat, unmute or switch on your camera.
• If you are on camera, your background should be blurred if possible. (Your teacher can tell you how to do this!)
• Behaviour must be excellent at all times – remember Ready, Respectful, Safe!
• At no point can you be in a Teams call without your teacher being there.
• You must not capture or share any images/videos of teachers or pupils.
• Should pupils not follow these rules, we will apply an appropriate sanction in line with our behaviour policy.

Pupils can contact their teachers between 9AM and 4PM each day using ePraise. Pupils can send teachers a message to celebrate their learning, seek guidance, request support or just to let them know something fantastic which has happened! Teachers love to hear from pupils, so we encourage them to get in touch. Similarly, teachers will also use ePraise to get in touch with pupils throughout the school day, so it’s important that pupils have logged on so that they know if they have any messages. All messages sent on ePraise are monitored and pupils should ensure that they are formal and appropriate when communicating with staff – including using proper English!

Pupils may also be involved in ‘group chats’ with their classes on ePraise. These are monitored by teachers. Pupils should ensure that their communication is formal, appropriate and sensible. If you wouldn’t say it in a classroom, don’t say it on ePraise!

Pupils can log into their ePraise account by going to <a href=”http://www.epraise.co.uk”>www.epraise.co.uk</a> and clicking the ‘log in’ button. Pupils will need to select our school (Ipsley CE RSA Academy) and then click the orange ‘Sign in with Office365’ button. Pupils will then be prompted to enter their log-in details if they haven’t logged in previously. This is their normal school username + @ipsleyacademy.co.uk (e.g. <a href=”mailto:21bloggsjoe@ipsleyacademy.co.uk”>21bloggsjoe@ipsleyacademy.co.uk</a>) and their normal school password (e.g. Bird1414). If you experience any issues logging in, please contact the school.

Pupils can then send messages to their teachers by using the ‘Me’ tab and selecting ‘Messages.’

Pupils can access additional resources, support materials, challenge activities and other relevant learning information in their virtual classroom workspace on Microsoft Teams.

Pupils can find this by logging into Microsoft Teams and clicking ‘Teams’ on the left hand side.

Pupils in KS2 will be able to see a Team for their normal class. Pupils in KS3 will see Teams for each of their different lessons. This means that pupils in KS3 should enter each Team to find materials for each lesson.

Inside a Team, pupils can use the tabs at the top of the window to find learning materials. By clicking ‘files,’ pupils can find additional resources uploaded by their teacher. By clicking ‘assignments,’ pupils can find any learning which their teacher expects them to upload.

When a teacher sets a learning task, they may set this as an ‘assignment.’ This means that the teacher expects pupils to upload their learning so that they can see how pupils are doing. This could be to inform future learning, help correct misconceptions or to provide feedback to classes, groups or individuals.

Pupils can find out what tasks they have been set by logging into Microsoft Teams and clicking ‘assignments’ on the left hand side.

Here, pupils will be able to see any drafts of assignments, assignments they have been set and assignments they have previously submitted. By clicking on an assignment, pupils will be able to see the teacher’s instructions, relevant resources and upload their learning. Pupils will be expected to upload their learning in a timely way so that teachers can effectively plan the next lesson for pupils.

Teachers may provide personal feedback on some learning tasks. When this happens, pupils will receive a notification from their teacher in their assignments and they will be able to view their feedback.

The Department for Education have supplied us with a number of laptops to support pupils learning from home who may not have access to a device or may have to share. Unfortunately, this allocation of devices may not be sufficient to support all families who request a device, but we will provide as many as possible to support learning from home. Pupils log into the devices using their normal school log in details.

We have already contacted families around requesting a laptop. This means that our allocation of devices has been issued. If you require a laptop and have not previously requested one, please contact the school.

Laptops remain the property of the school and all families issued with a device will be required to agree to terms and conditions around damage, loss and unacceptable use.

A survey was shared with families to identify those who would like free school meal hampers to support them during lockdown. These are provided fortnightly.

If you have not received the survey, or would now like to request a hamper, please contact the school.

If you are struggling for food, please contact the school and we will endeavour to support you.

We are keen to avoid the use of paper packs as much as possible because pupils will benefit so much from the live teaching in the virtual classrooms and the fantastic resources available in the Ipsley online curriculum. We know, however, that some families may still request these, particularly if they are unable to secure access to a device.

If you require a paper pack, please contact the school.

Children should only attend school for critical worker childcare if there is no suitable alternative and only on essential days. Pupils who attend critical worker childcare in school will be using computers to join virtual classrooms and access the online curriculum alongside their peers. They will be supervised by an adult, but they will access the same learning in the same way as those learning from home.

If you require a critical worker childcare please, please contact the school.

Click HERE to view out Remote Education Guidance for Parents