Our Remote Provision

If you do not have a laptop, tablet, smartphone or appropriate device for your child to access lessons, please contact school on contactus@cathedral.trinitymat.org. We have already supported a lot of families with laptop and internet access. Although our resources are obviously limited, we do want to ensure all students have access to their lessons live. Please let us know if you are having trouble.

Students should follow their normal school timetable, clicking into their class Team at the time of their lesson.
Here is a reminder of our school day:

*Y11 students and those on a CAPA pathway should also access their P6 from 14.40 – 15.40.

We believe that live lessons are the best way to replicate the classroom experience whilst students are not able to come to school. This is because they are interactive, we can check for understanding and address misconceptions as they arise. We also believe that the live element motivates students to attend – it takes more self discipline to work completely independently all day, if no one is aware of what you are working on!

However, where it is not possible or appropriate to live stream some practical lessons, there will be pre-recorded challenges. Students access these lessons in exactly the same way, logging into their class Team, where the resources will be shared.

Also, there may be times due to staffing, where a lesson is not able to be taught live. Where this is the case, resources will be shared that students can work through and hand in. This may include pre-recorded video lessons, either made in school or by another educational platform, e.g. Oak National Academy.

To access their lesson, students should make sure they are ready in the class Team area at the designated time – the link to join the lesson will be shared when the lessons starts. (For more help on this see the training videos).

During the lesson, students are encouraged to answer questions in the chat function, join in with all activities, unmute to answer questions or take part in discussion, and ask questions when they need further explanation or support.

Expectations for participation and behaviour in online lessons have been clearly communicated to students. All students discussed and signed a remote learning contract. Teachers are reminding students about these expectations on a daily basis. KS3 students have also received training on how to keep themselves safe online.

Students will be set tasks to demonstrate their learning and teachers will expect students to submit their work to show their progress by the end of the lesson. Teachers will make it clear to students how they should submit their work. They may be asked to use email or assignments on Teams, or may be asked to bring it in next lesson if they are due back at school following self-isolation.

Students have already missed out on too much learning. We are therefore proceeding with the planned curriculum for all year groups and those self-isolating can assess this at home or will be supported to catch up after a period of illness. In order to ensure students do not get behind, we are incorporating lots of retrieval, where we revisit prior learning and make links to what we are studying.

Whilst students are self-isolating at home, teachers will be following our standard Academy Feedback Policy. This means that students will receive regular feedback from their teachers, but does not mean that every piece of work they submit will be marked individually. Rather, by checking the work teachers are able to:

• Plan whole class feedback to address common misconceptions
• Reteach a topic to address the areas students still need support with
• Tailor tasks to the skills students still need practise with.

Your child can expect some form of personalised feedback every 6-8 lessons in each subject, and many staff are providing much more than this. But rest assured, that even when work does not appear to be marked, it does not mean the teacher has not seen it and addressed it through their teaching. If students submit work on Teams, they should look out for personalised feedback in their assignments, as this is where they will be able to see comments from their teachers.

We recognise that sometimes students have Covid symptoms and are not well enough to join live lessons. We are however taking registers in all live lessons and keeping in contact with parents and carers, to offer support, when students have not been able to log in, particularly when we have been informed that they are asymptomatic. We aim to support parents in encouraging their children to join lessons, reminding them about the importance of attending the live lessons and not getting behind while they are learning from home. It has also ensured technology issues are addressed quickly when this is the reason students have not logged in.

All year groups will have a parents’ evening, either remotely or in person this academic year, when parents will be able to speak to their children’s teachers about their progress, and celebrate their many successes during these most challenging of times. Dates and details about these events will be shared with parents in the coming weeks.

We recognise that this is a very difficult time for our young people. Normal life has been disrupted for a significant amount of time now and many young people are struggling to imagine life returning to a pre-covid world. In school, despite health and safety measures which must be in place, we have tried to restart as much of our normal activities as possible. INVOLVE is running again, lots of trips and visits are going ahead, and it is business as usual in lessons.

A period of self-isolation can be a very difficult time. Normal daily routine, physical interaction with others, extracurricular clubs and hobbies are all put on hold. These aspects of day-to-day life are important to all of us, but can be especially significant during teenage years; their absence can have a real impact on mental health and wellbeing. It is really important that we recognise this, make a conscious effort to focus on self-care, and put helpful strategies in place to lift our moods if needed. Showing an interest in what your child is working on and encouraging discussions about their learning will help them to maintain a positive attitude and boost their motivation. Encouraging them to stick to a healthy sleep routine can also be extremely helpful, and some exercise outside each day, even a walk round the block, can make a real difference.

The continuous interaction with others through live lessons will also have a positive impact on students as it ensures a consistent routine.

If students need any help and support they should contact the Student Liaison Officer or Achievement Leader for their year group by email and we will offer direct support as always. Please follow this link for a reminder of staff members supporting each year group: Pastoral care | Trinity Academy Cathedral (trinitymat.org)

The website Young Minds is also a very helpful resource if you are looking for further advice on supporting your child’s wellbeing: Coronavirus and mental health (youngminds.org.uk)

We fully expect exams to go ahead as normal for our Y11 students in the summer. We are working incredibly hard to ensure students are fully prepared for this. Our six period day has been in place since July for this year group which is the equivalent of an extra day’s teaching every week, compared to the provision offered in most schools. Attendance is therefore vital as every lesson really does count. When students are required to self-isolate, please encourage them to attend live lessons as soon as they are well enough to do so, as this is the best way to ensure they do not fall behind.

We are conducting online careers interviews and supporting students with college applications whilst they are at home. Please contact Mrs Coulson-Brown LBrown@cathedral.trinitymat.org or Mr Brooke ABrooke@cathedral.trinitymat.org for any further support or advice needed about Y11.

Remote learning can be particularly challenging for some of our students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, and therefore many of our SEND students attended school during the national lockdowns. To prepare for periods of self-isolation, all of our students with SEND have had a discussion about their feelings about any remote learning they have accessed, and our one page profiles, which summarise the specific needs of each student, have been updated to reflect their perspective. Any students in the SEND cohort, who are required to self-isolate, will receive phone call check ins from a member of the SEND team and support around learning and technology will be put in place.

When a whole class is off, we have ways to utilise the technology to provide specific LSA support for online lessons where students would normally receive this support in schools. Microsoft Teams has a ‘breakout’ room function, and some students will receive 1:1 or small group support from an LSA after the main teacher input, to support them with their independent work.

Please contact our SENDCO Mrs Wilson for more information about our SEND provision: NWilson@cathedral.trinitymat.org