Our remote learning offer has been developed and adapted in line with Government guidance. High quality remote learning, aligned to the teaching and learning taking place in class, will be made available if a pupil or student is not able to attend school.
Remote learning will be accessed using Google Classroom, with staff posting all work within their Year Group class page, enabling pupils and students to access all resources in one place and submit work directly to their teacher for marking and feedback. Pupils and students will also access live lessons appropriate to their age and individual needs. All pupils and students benefit from daily pastoral check-ins such as tutor time and their therapy provision is also delivered remotely in a modified format.
Our current provision
If you are having trouble accessing Google Classroom or would like to learn more about it, click here to view our Google Classroom Guide.
If you would like to read more about how we keep pupils and students safe online, click here to view our E-Safety Procedure.
Devices and technology for every child
This has been a significant focus of our work so far, incorporating the Department for Education scheme and our Pupil Premium funding. To date, pupils and students who do not have devices at home have been provided with technology to enable them to access learning. All pupils and students in Key Stages 4 and 5 have their own Chromebooks to use across school and home.
By April 2022:
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- All pupils in Year 9 will also have their own Chromebook for home and school use
- All pupils in Years 6, 7 and 8 will have dedicated laptops for use in school
- All pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 will have dedicated iPads for use in school
We will continue to work with families of pupils and students who do not have access to appropriate technology at home. The individual’s needs and age will be considered to decide whether an iPad, laptop or Chrome book is the most suitable device and whether any other support is required to access learning from home.
E-safety
We recognise that online safety is paramount to working online and having access to technology. As well as the onsite e-safety measures in place in our school, we have also installed extensive security settings and filters in the devices issued to, and used by, the pupils for use at home. St Dominic’s has successfully completed a comprehensive remote education training programme demonstrating its commitment to providing high-quality remote education, keeping pupils and students safe online and supporting their wellbeing during remote teaching and learning. Consequently, our school has achieved Safe Remote Education Accreditation through National Online Safety (NOS).
Should you have any difficulties or questions, please contact your child’s tutor in the first instance and your query will be signposted if needed.
Our Remote Learning Journey so far…
This section outlines our provision from March 2020 (covering the initial national lockdown), through to July 2021 (including periods when our school was operating a phased model of provision /’bubbles’) and the subsequent January 2021 national lockdown.
In March 2020, when the country went into national lockdown, there was an overnight demand for remote learning. Initially, pupils and students who were considered to be the most vulnerable as well as the children of key workers attended St Dominic’s whilst all others stayed at home. For those learning remotely, work was sent home by email (and posted to those who didn’t have access to a printer). Pastoral contact was carried out via Zoom through tutor check-ins. Some pupils were unable to access the face to face virtual contacts, either due to having limited access to technology or due to the social communications challenges of meeting online, and therefore phone calls were offered as an alternative means of keeping in touch. Devices were delivered to pupils who needed them at home.
Over the course of the 2020-21 academic year, the following milestones were achieved in terms of our remote learning offer.
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- Chrome books were issued to all students in Sixth Form.
- St Dominic’s converted its online learning platform to Google Classroom (Summer term 2020)
- E safety lead appointed and recruited to the Safeguarding Team (Autumn term 2020)
- Phases of operation document produced and circulated to families and staff giving an overview of our provision, including remote learning, in relation to various levels of COVID related restrictions
- Remote education procedure developed (October 2020)
- Pupil e-safety questionnaire rolled out to collate pupil responses about how safe they felt on line (April 2021)
- Staff e-safety questionnaire carried out (May 2021)
- E Safety procedure developed (June 2021)
- Family E Safety Questionnaire (June 2021)
- E safety procedure updated to incorporate feedback and changes in line with Government guidance
