Sharing Good Practice teaching quite literally overnight .
We immediately set about solving how we could best deliver schooling , and by March 12 were setting and marking work , planning lessons and sharing content via Firefly Learning and GCSEPod , quickly rolling out the latter beyond our core Year 10 and 11 users to KS3 students .
We didn ’ t initially run live lessons , with teachers instead recording Podcasts and videos . But within days , we were utilising Zoom and running a normal school timetable .
I am proud of the flexible and focused way everyone adopted and adapted to our new way of working . I would be lying if I said it was easy , but on the whole , we are a very tech-savvy school .
Working remotely ( we have deliberately avoided using the term digital learning as whilst we have all been utilising the technology , we also wanted our students to be doing off-line tasks ) didn ’ t stop us from launching our latest teaching innovation : an artificial intelligence platform for Maths , English and the Sciences .
Trialled with our Year 5 students , it allows our teachers to set a diagnostic assessment and create individual learning pathways .
On a personal level , as the Head of Digital , I have had to do a lot of thinking on my feet . The roll-out of Century Tech ’ s AI tool is a case in point . We were only halfway through introducing it when lockdown came . I had two choices : leave employing it until we were back to classroom teaching or continue the implementation . Given how wellinformed , flexible and proficient both our teachers and students are in using technology , I decided we should run with it .
we give ourselves credit for .
Another great success has been GCSEPod . We usually introduce it at the beginning of Year 10 , and the students who were already using it continued to dip into it to progress their learning and knowledge retention .
But it turned out to be ideal for consolidating knowledge amongst our KS3 cohort . It has always been well utilised away from the classroom by our top learners . One of our top boys a couple of years ago over the course of three months used GCSEPod more than 500 times and went on to achieve A * s across the board . It ’ s a good example of how using effective technology can lead to success .
All this , of course , was happening as we were also preparing to move into our new college campus in September . Thanks to a lot of hard work behind the scenes , we were able to open as normal for the start of what has so far been a very different academic year .
As class sizes have been capped at 15 , we have introduced a rotation system with students spending one day in school and one day working from home in a two-week cycle . On the day children are in class , they are benefitting from face-to-face learning and contact with their peers but are then able to seamlessly carry on with their timetabled lessons at home via Zoom live streams and the likes of Firefly and GCSEPod .
The students are very comfortable with this blended approach , and throughout lockdown and the new way of working that has been forced on us , they have shown great maturity and dedication .
As a school , we have learnt much too . We ’ re less fearful about embracing all types of learning , more likely to engage , less nervous about having difficult discussions , and more confident about where technology is going to be taking us in the coming years .
We have seen that a blended approach is valid . Whilst in an ideal world , it isn ’ t something we would want to do all the time , we have come to realise it is a viable option and that we can still successfully connect with our students .
As a history teacher , I know that past disasters have often been a catalyst for improving lives and for innovation and change . For us , putting our belief in technology and each other has been the shining light in what could have been a very bleak situation .
At the beginning of the year , if anyone had said we would be rolling out something like that within three months , during a pandemic and subsequent lockdown , I would have thought it impossible . But I think we underestimate our adaptability sometimes . We are more agile than
I am a highly experienced , passionate teacher of geography and history , and a strong advocate of delivering quality enrichment opportunities for the young people that I teach . I have advanced my leadership and management skills through the delivery of numerous whole school initiatives and accreditations . I am a firm believer in growth mindset , lifelong learning and continuing professional development .
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