Remote Learning & Information Policy 2020-21
This policy was ratified by the B.O.M. on 07/01/2021
The Department recently issued guidance to parents of primary school children on the ‘Continuity of Schooling’ advising parents to expect the following support from teachers and the school during the Covid Closure.
Encouraging your child to make progress and get involved.
Assigning work and activities that are suitable and interesting.
Feeding back on your child’s work so they stay connected.
Expect the school and their teachers to be in contact daily or at least a number of times each week.
If your child has special educational needs you can expect regular and if necessary daily contact.
How the school communicates with you depends on what is practical for you, your child and the school eg. learning platforms.no device
Taking these guidelines into consideration if another lockdown occurs or if schools are closed for more than 2 days of an exceptional closure, participation by pupils and staff will be expected unless valid reasons apply. Teachers and Principal will monitor engagement. The following platform approaches will be used:
Mainstream Class Teachers will use our School Website to set out a plan of work for their class each week. Teachers can upload answers at the end of the week.
To complement this work, Mainstream Teachers should use ‘Seesaw’ on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for written and oral activities related to the weekly plan eg. decimals from the ‘Seesaw’ bank of resources to set and correct. Pupils and staff log on to this platform at these times. All pupils should be added to a ‘Seesaw Class’ using the class email at the beginning of the school year. Teachers’ emails are available on the website and may also be used for communication.
SET Teachers will contact their pupils at least once each week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays with suitable ‘Seesaw’ activities and lead one ‘Webex Call’ per week on Mondays or Fridays with pupils who have usual access to an S.N.A.
Abbey Class Teacher will contact pupils daily with suitable ‘Seesaw’ activities and lead one ‘Webex Call’ per week with SNAs also on Mondays and Fridays.
Consent for this policy will be included in the Photograph, Video and Remote Learning Consent requested each year. Training will be provided by the PDST each year. These remote learning policy approaches can also be used for exceptional closures from the third day of same eg. snow days. The B.O.M. will pay for any training or sign up costs incurred.
Parents of pupils with access to an SNA will be offered one webex call per week as necessary. A Platform & Photographic Consent Form which includes Webex will be filled in at the start of each year.
To set up ‘Webex’ an email with instructions on ‘How to create an account’ will be sent to the user. The platform seems to work best on a laptop and it is important to download the app. Webex will also work on the phone and other devices although the control functions may be displayed differently. **Please ensure that devices are unmuted and video is started on the bottom left hand side of the screen otherwise you may not be able to be seen or heard.
A timetable is set and the SET / Abbey Class teacher leads the call with the relevant SNA.
A meeting room number and time or email link will be sent by email to the email address supplied.
The SET / Abbey teacher closes the room when everyone has arrived.
The meeting will not be recorded and will not go ahead if both teacher and SNA are not present.
Pupils should go online in an open space and be accompanied by an adult.
All participants should arrive at the time set.
Pupils and staff should remember that they are linking into houses where other people are present and all attempts should be made to respect privacy and confidentiality. Please do not have anything inappropriate visible in the background.
All participants be presentable in their home environment and eliminate unnecessary noises.
Pupils should behave in an appropriate manner online and raise their hands when they want to talk.
Pupils can ask questions to everyone only using the chat feature.
Pupils may leave the meeting but should give a reason.
Pupils / Staff, nor anyone in the household should record or take a photograph of the screen during the call unless permission is sought. Such recordings / photographs must never be shared on social media.
If this rule is breached the privilege of receiving a call will be ended and the matter may be referred to the relevant authorities.
If there are any difficulties with the call it will be ended and pupils may not receive a further call.
The Board of Management may also use Webex for ‘Virtual Meetings’ or for members who are unable to be physically present. Consent will also be signed for board members.
Remote Seesaw & Webex Letter to Parents – September 2020
Following the ratification of our Remote Learning & Webex Platform Policy in June, we will be using ‘Seesaw’ and ‘Webex’ for remote learning this year. In Mainstream Classes during a sustained school closure, Seesaw will be used at least three times per week by Mainstream Class Teachers and once per week by SET Teachers. The Abbey Class Teacher will use it four times per week.
Pupils with access to an SNA / Abbey Class will also get one ‘Webex’ call per week and contact will be made directly with parents to set this up when necessary. Special Class / SET teachers and SNAs will engage with ‘Webex’. Our School Website and teacher emails will also be available for ongoing communication. See ‘Relevant Class’ and ‘Contact Us’ sections of the School Website.
Seesaw (http://seesaw.me), is a secure online teaching app/website where pupils can upload work set by teachers who can in turn acknowledge and correct the work submitted.
To help everyone become familiar with ‘Seesaw,’ teachers will be trialing it out for homework at least once per week in a very short manageable capacity for families to help children get used to the app. This will help your child experiment with the learning app/website and it will teach them how to use it confidently in case it is needed due to a sudden school closure in the future.
You will receive a confidential personal code from your class teacher that allows your child to only access their folder of online work. This code will be distributed via email and you can save it for the year. Your Class / SET Teacher will email this code directly to you. No parent or child can see any other child’s work in the class.
If you haven’t received this letter via email please contact the school immediately as teachers can’t send you the code if you are not receiving school emails.
In order for your child to use Seesaw, the app needs your child’s name in order to be able to associate work like their photos, videos or voice recordings with their account. Seesaw only uses this information to provide the service and doesn’t advertise in Seesaw, create profiles of students, or share or sell your child’s personal information or journal content. Only your child’s first name is used and no other child can see your child’s name or file on seesaw. It is strictly confidential You can read more about their strong privacy promises here: https://web.seesaw.me/privacy. Under an EU law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), in order for your child to use Seesaw, the school must get your consent. For more information on GDPR, please visit https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rights-citizens.
See the attached Download Instructions. Please download ‘Seesaw Class’ Don’t download Seesaw Parent and Family. Teachers may send you further instructions on their specific class use.
Please sign below and return this permission slip so that your child can use Seesaw.
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Please sign below and return the form.
I give consent for my child, listed below, to use Seesaw for class activities.
Student Name: ____________________________
Parent Printed Name: _______________________
Parent Signature: __________________________ Date: _________________
DOWNLOADING SEESAW CLASS APP – INSTRUCTIONS
To download please click on the seesaw class app in either the apple store or google play store. The app will only work on phones, ipads, tablets or chromebooks. This is what the seesaw class app looks like.
If you are accessing it via a computer or laptop, please go to the web address web.seesaw.me. Then click on the blue login button on the top right hand corner of the website. Always click on the I’m a student button and enter your child’s personal seesaw code that the class teacher will have sent via email when needed. The class teacher may give you a written print out of your code home if he/she does not have your email address There sometimes is an I’m a family member option on the seesaw app but please never click on it always log in as I’m a student.
There is a second app called seesaw parent and family in the apple store/google play store. Do not download it please. Our school does not use it and you cannot access your child’s work through it.
Remote Learning Contact email addresses
Anita Gallagher anitagallagher@dooishns.ie
Eileen Houston eileenhouston@dooishns.ie
Eileen O’ Donnell eileenodonnell@dooishns.ie
Megan Rowan meganrowan@dooishns.ie
Fionnuala Diver fionnualadiver@dooishns.ie