Lockdown Remote Education Provision

Google Classroom Remote Learning Guide for Students and Parents/Carers

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How remote learning works at Lipson during lockdown?

At Lipson we use Google Classroom for all our remote learning provision.

All students have been invited to join the ‘virtual classrooms’ for all their lessons and further to this, we have included notifications for parents and carers so if the work has been assigned on Google classroom as an ‘Assignment’ you will receive a notification when the work is set and details of the submission day.

The work for all lessons will be uploaded onto Google Classroom by 9am each morning and your child will be expected to follow their standard lesson timetable from 8.50 every day. 

We know how challenging Remote learning can be and hope the information in this section of the website will help explain:

• How we will support you
• What my child should expect from remote learning
• Typical work expectations
• Engagement expectations
• How we assess the work remotely
• Additional support
• Live lessons expectations
• Additional information

Remote Tutor Time

During lock down tutor times will continue remotely. All students will be expected to log on to their Tutor Google Meet session at 8.50 every morning. A register will be taken at this time and any key information shared with the students to help them in the day ahead.

Remote lesson Timings

When we are working remotely, lessons are 50 minutes long, with ten minutes for submission of work and to allow a little time away from the screen before the next lesson begins.

What will remote lessons look like?

Lessons (where appropriate) will be live, with ten minutes direct instruction followed by a forty minute independent task with teacher/ TA support available throughout.

How we will support you?

We appreciate how challenging this new form of learning and working can be. We want to assure you we are here to help and so have tried to provide what we think you may need.

Help Guides/ Support Resources & Q&A documents

We have also included a range of guides and films to support your use of the platform including:

• How to get the most from remote learning
• How to use Google Classroom
• How to use Google meet.

If you have any problems with accessing remote learning – please contact student services and we will be happy to help.

Parent Drop In sessions

We will also be offering regular ‘Parent/ Carer Drop in sessions to further support you and your child’s use of the platform & access to remote learning. We have already held two in January and the feedback, suggestions and requests have been phenomenal.

We will be post details of the next session on the school website and social media accounts and will send out a school comms message, so please come along and ask any questions – we’re always happy to help.

From these Drop-in sessions, we have a created a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet, we hope it answers any relevant questions.

Film supports

We appreciate that sometimes the written guides can be confusing in themselves, especially if you are a more visual learner, so Mr Philips and Mr Cronin have produced a range of films to help.

You can find them here:

How to use Google Classroom

What my child should expect from remote learning

We offer a live element to the majority of our lessons whilst students are working remotely.

For students in Year 7 -13 lessons may involve:

• The class teacher, teaching live using Google Meet for the first 5-10 minutes explaining the task or content, with students accessing the work in real time.
• The students joining a ‘Google Meet’ at the beginning of the lesson, completing a piece of work independently and returning to the ‘Meet’ at the end of the lesson
• The students watching a filmed presentation or presentation with a voice over, with the teacher supporting in real time on Google classroom, on the stream or via email.

Teachers will be available during the lesson time and will where possible provide real time feedback.

However, please note that in some subjects (such as Core PE) lessons will not be offered or will not be offered in a live format.

Typical work expectations

All students will be expected to complete a tangible piece of work for each subject per week and this should be submitted by uploading it on Google Classroom, sharing it as a document or by emailing it (support with sharing work can be found in the Help section).

How long will work set take my child to complete?

Work set should be completed within the standard lesson time and teachers will expect at least one tangible piece of work to be submitted per subject, per week.

Engagement expectations

Students are expected to attend all lessons that are delivered remotely and complete all work set.

Routines are important particularly during such a time as this and so we recommend that students follow their usual timetable and where possible are given somewhere quiet to work.

How will we monitor engagement?

We take a register in the tutor period each day.

Class teachers will monitor and record student engagement at the end of every lesson.

This will be colour coded on our internal spreadsheet. Students who are coded as Amber or Red and therefore not engaging (or showing limited engagement) will be contacted in the first instance by the subject class teacher or the Teaching Assistant assigned to work with your child. If this is not successful, a school comms message will be sent from our student services department to parents.

Further to this, Heads of Year will monitor engagement and triage students in terms of their needs liaising with parents and carers to support reengagement.

We appreciate that at times working remotely can be difficult and our monitoring of engagement is to support and help your child and family as they work in these challenging times. 

Also please note, if your child is unwell, or unable to attend the online lessons or work remotely that day, please report the absence to student services so we are aware.

How will we assess the work remotely?

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individuals. At Lipson, feedback may be:

• Verbal
• Written – either live on a document, through the stream or via email
• Formative- via a quiz or digital platform.

Due to ‘live’ nature of the lessons this should mirror in class provision, but please note that we are continuing to look at ways to develop our remote feedback to further support your child.

As per our school Feedback & Assessment policy, at the end of each module, students will complete the task as detailed in the End Point plan and will receive summative written feedback.

Going for Gold

We want to celebrate our student’s engagement and hard work during this time, so we have created the Going for Gold initiative.

You can see our video launch of Going for Gold here.

In summary, any students who have attended all tutor times and fully engaged with their lessons will be placed into a raffle.

Students who have worked well over the course of the week will be placed in the Green Raffle and can win a £10 voucher.

Students with 100% Engagement, who have produced high quality work, will be placed in the Gold Raffle and can win the chance to go to Thorpe Park.

Additional support for students with particular needs

We recognise that some students, for example some students with special educational needs, may not be able to access remote education without support from adults at home.

We acknowledge the difficulties this may place on families, and we will work with parents and carers to support those students in the following ways:

• A TA assigned to support your child remotely
• Work packs and additional resources are available should you require further support

We are also happy to arrange a google meet tutorial or if needed, arrange a socially distanced visit to school, where one of our team can go through the systems with your child to enable them to fully access online provision.

Resources & Chromebook access

If your child does not have access to the internet or a Chromebook or needs any relevant resources. Please contact student services and we will be happy to help. If needed we can:

• Issue a Chromebook
• Issue a dongle for access to the internet
• Print and post resources to students who may require paper based resources

Key Live Lesson Information

Live lessons will primarily take place when whole bubbles are self-isolating or when the whole school is having to work remotely.

Live lessons will be accessed via the Google Meet

Accessing any live lessons

Live lessons can be challenging in a different way so please read the following with your child prior to their live session so they appreciate the expectations of the sessions and their behaviour during the lesson.

1. I will treat myself & others with respect at all times; when I am using Google Meet.
2. I will treat everyone as if I were talking to them face to face.
3. I will check with my family that I am in a safe and quiet place for the live lesson.
4. I will tell a trusted adult if I have a problem or am worried about something relating to live lessons, and I will encourage my friends to do so too.
5. I understand that my live lessons may be recorded
6. I will not attempt to record any live lessons I, or someone I know, is part of.
7. I understand that bullying online or using technology is unacceptable
8. The messages I send on stream will always be polite and sensible. I understand that all messages I send reflect on me and the school.
9. If I see, watch, read, hear or receive anything I am unhappy, I will talk to a trusted adult.
10. I know who my trusted adults are at school, home & elsewhere.

Students (and their families) already agreed to our IT policy when they joined the school. The above is an amendment to this policy to reflect this new form of working. However, a copy of our standard usage policy can be found here:

On a basic level,  Our Student Guide for Remote Learning is:

Wellbeing & Screen Time

We know how challenging this new form of working can be and we appreciate that impact too much screen time has on our students; therefore, we have put the following in place, to support them:

• Heads of Year will regularly send out short films and assemblies to keep students informed.
• In order to allow transition between live sessions and accommodate comfort breaks, each session will last 50 minutes. This will also give students time to submit the work for that lesson.
• Wellbeing afternoon – one afternoon a week (alternate Tuesdays & Thursdays, lessons will finish at the end of lesson 4, allowing students time to step away from their screens and complete a wellbeing activity. This can be one that we have suggested/ arranged (Add link) or can be an individual choice. We will review this as we move forward.
• Creative writing club – This will be launched after half term. Miss Bowden will be completing a fun activity each week, so if your child is interested in poetry or prose this is a great opportunity to express themselves through creative writing.
• Art gallery- we know how artistic our students are and have the Lipson Gallery so please send in any photographs of any pieces completed so we can celebrate our students artistic endeavours.

This can be one that we have suggested/ arranged (click here for ideas) or can be an individual choice.

Remote learning for students who are self-isolating

Remote learning for students who are self-isolating will follow the same format as above however, due to the nature of our standard lessons we will be unable to offer live lessons during these sessions. Additionally, whilst staff will provide feedback on work received, this may not be given during lesson time due to their teaching commitments but will be provided as soon as feasibly possible.

Onsite Essential Educational Provision for critical worker & vulnerable students

For those students eligible for this provision, access to the remote learning is available from the school site.

The criteria for eligibility can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision