UPDATE (02-04-20): HOME LEARNING
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are constantly reviewing the way we provide learning opportunities for our children to access at home during the current emergency.
As part of this we have explored ways of making the children's experience a little more interactive and enabling their learning to be extended and deepened as well as consolidated.
We have therefore decided to make fuller use of Office 365 and in particular, Microsoft Teams.
We will of course continue to share learning activities via our SJF Home Learning Portal, but some of these will direct the children to learning opportunities that they will only be able to access via 'Microsoft Teams'.
Why have we introduced this?
We feel that the main benefits of Microsoft Teams are as follows:
- the children can communicate and collaborate with each other as well as with teachers
- set tasks, challenges and activities can be accessed easily, downloaded and uploaded to the class group or via an email to class email address
- teachers can upload videos more easily to help and guide pupils e.g. to complete activities in a certain area of a subject
- teachers can be contacted, though they will not respond after 5.00pm and at weekends or when they have a statutory holiday
- the children will be able to keep in touch with each other safely using 'video call' through the available secure chat functions
- children will only be able to send and receive emails within the @stjohnfisher.org group - also subject to Admin monitoring
Attached/following are two guides that show you:
- How Microsoft Teams works
- How to login into Office 365
Children will need a unique school email address in order to access the platform and this will will be posted out early next week along with their (AP2) Interim School Report.
Please note that the official launch date will not be until Monday 4th May 2020. This is because teachers have already prepared the second tranche of learning tasks and activities which will be available to you via the 'Home Learning' portal on our website on Monday 6th April 2020. This second set of activities will last until Sunday 3rd May 2020. This will give colleagues time to prepare and incorporate Microsoft Teams into their forward planning.
Please work through the set tasks that are released on Monday, methodically and at your child's pace.
Please do not rush as rushing the tasks will not necessarily be helpful to your child.
Give your child time to really get to grips with new learning and feel free to supplement what we provide with activities available from the BBC or other suitable sites including the 'Twinkl' and 'Classroom Secrets' (log on information shared in an earlier communication).
Taking your time and accessing other sites will support your children by enabling them to practise and repeat things until they are known, understood and remembered full.
Practise and repetition are absolutely key to learning.
Please keep going back to things you have done a few days later, then a week later, then a month later, and so on...
It cannot be stressed enough that repeating things and returning to previous learning constantly, is absolutely key!
Very few people learn something properly and forever if they experience it just once. Repetition and practise really are the best ways to embed and deepen new learning - in manageable 'chunks' that work for your children.
Teachers will release new work at the same time, in two-week stages. PLEASE DO NOT ask colleagues to share anything with you before the official release date. This is very important and I appreciate your cooperation.
Before Monday 4th May 2020 the children will be able to complete some of the work set on the school’s website using Word, PowerPoint, etc. because the email address that we will be posting home next week, comes with free access to Microsoft Office (Office 365 apps) for up to five devices.
I would like thank Mr Broadhead sincerely for all his hard work in researching the different options available to us, and for pulling everything together for you and for colleagues.
Kind regards,
Mr Barratt - Headteacher
