Clifton College Distance Learning Provision
Contents Term Time Distance Learning •
Accessing the Academic Curriculum
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Academic Timetable
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Co-Curriculum
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Sport
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Music
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Drama
Pastoral Care, Guidance and Support •
Pastoral Care
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Learning Support
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Counselling
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Recording of meetings and lessons
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Keeping your child safe online
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Supporting your child
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Nurturing a learning environment at home
Introduction As a College, we are fully committed to providing the highest standard of education to all our pupils. This applies even when, as at the present time, we are not able to come together within the College itself. I could not be more impressed with how well all of our pupils and staff have adapted to distance learning, showing great commitment, dedication and enthusiasm to explore teaching and learning in this new way. This booklet provides a wide range of information about aspects of our distance learning provision but if you do have any remaining questions or concerns then please do not hesiate to get in touch. For Upper School academic matters, please contact Mr Simmons (Deputy Head, Academic), for pastoral matters, Mrs Kath Jeffery (Acting Deputy Head, Pastoral), and for matters relating to the co-curriculum, Miss Tebay (Deputy Head, Co-Curriculum). For Preparatory School academic matters, please contact Mr Lougher (Deputy Head, Academic) and for pastoral matters, Mr Pafford (Deputy Head, Pastoral). For other matters, please contact the Housemasters / mistresses as usual and they will be very happy to assist and support you and your child.
Dr Tim Greene Head of College
Term Time Distance Learning Accessing the Academic Curriculum For periods of time when teaching at the College is suspended, or when pupils cannot be present for prolonged periods, our approach to teaching and learning is through a range of online platforms, primarily Google Classroom and Zoom video conferencing. Any guidelines issued are done so alongside the existing school rules and we expect all pupils in our community to abide by them. During this time, pupils will access the curriculum through a number of methods: teaching videos, assignments, webinars and face-to-face teaching as well as using Google Classroom to upload work and receive feedback. To enable us to provide the best service, pupils need the facility to communicate via videolink, and for this, a laptop or tablet with camera and microphone works best. All obligatory Preparatory School classwork should be accessed via Google Classroom but for further activities, reading, sport and things to do please see the Lockdown Hub. Hub. We ask that all parents support their child(ren) in accessing the online learning provision and so maintain their academic progress.
Our expectation is that all pupils will engage with home learning and live sessions during the time of the school closure. We do understand that engaging with distance learning may not be possible at all times but our level of provision should ensure that most are able to access it as and when required, and enable students and staff to maintain a routine. In cases where your child will not be able to interact, please contact the Housemaster/Housemistress as usual. All pupils are asked to sign up to the Distance Learning Agreement which makes our expectations of them clear. This exists alongside our IT Acceptable Use Agreement which all pupils sign when they join the College. We ask that you discuss the Distance Learning Agreement with your son/daughter and support them in following the terms of the agreement.
Academic Timetable A pupil’s timetable will continue during times of distance learning with a few changes as we recognise that lessons taught by online conferencing are much more intense, and so we have shortened the length of Upper School lessons to 35 minutes. We are also mindful of our students in different time zones and therefore live online academic lessons only happen in the morning (during periods 0 - 4). In the Upper School, Saturday lessons are redistributed into the Monday to Friday weekly routine on a Tuesday and Thursday. The remaining timetabled slots are used by teachers to set work that may be preparation for the online taught lessons in the morning or other independent study. The Prep will be limited during this time. In order to ensure an effective daily routine, we ask that pupils log in to Google Classroom every weekday by 0830 UK time to see the tasks their teacher has set for the day, and to check which lessons will be live.
Term Time Distance Learning Parental Guidance & Information - Upper School
Parental Guidance & Information - Preparatory School
Co-Curriculum Students are encouraged to participate in one fitness activity and one other enriching activity weekly while distance learning is in operation. A wide range of co-curricular activities, academic enrichment and societies are available. There are also opportunities for individual lessons to take place. Throughout the term there will also be some events taking place, such as charity fundraising, competitions and musical performances. Details of these are accessible to students on the weekly routine.
Co-Curriculum All co-curricular activities are available via the Lockdown Hub.
Sport The Sports Department is keen to ensure that students enjoy the benefits of being physically active whilst at home. There are exercise programmes for students to participate in while away from school. Music There is an online programme of music making for the College community. Individual music lessons also take place via Zoom or Meet and music teachers liaise directly with students by email to schedule these. Any students, or parents, who have any questions about arranging individual lessons should contact the Music Department in the first instance. Drama LAMDA acting lessons take place remotely and are scheduled by the Head of Drama. Any students, or parents, who would like to enquire about LAMDA lessons should contact the Drama Department.
Pastoral Care, Guidance and Support The Wider Pastoral Role of the School Pupil wellbeing and safety remain a key priority of the College. Tutors and Housemasters/mistresses are in regular contact with pupils to maintain the community of the school.
Learning Support Pupils making use of this provision should continue to attend their 1:1 lessons remotely by arrangement with Mrs King.
If you have a pastoral and/or Safeguarding concern about your child or someone else within the community, please contact your child’s Housemaster/mistress and/or Mrs Newman for Upper School by email email.. If the matter is urgent you can reach Mrs Newman on +44(0)117 315 7585.
Counselling The Upper School Counsellor, Mrs Richardson, and Preparatory School Counsellor James Womersley, have continued to provide support remotely to those pupils who they were meeting regularly. Any pupil not currently receiving counselling who feels they would benefit from this support, should contact them directly to arrange appointment times.
For the Preparatory School please contact Mr Pafford by email or +44 (0)117 315 7506.
Pastoral Care, Guidance and Support Keeping your child safe online We are aware that time spent online is enormously important for academic and social reasons but there are risks associated too. Firstly, there should be some balance, and some screen free time in a pupil’s day! Please be assured that we will deal with any issue such as bullying as seriously as we would do during normal school opening. With regards to specific risks, our pastoral team are happy to advise further.
The links below offer useful additional information: •
Clifton College’s E-Safety policy
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Childline has both excellent advice as well as a 24 hour helpline
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Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) (CEOP)
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UK Safer Internet
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Internet matters - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
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London Grid for Learning - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
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Net-aware - for support for parents and carers from the NSPCC
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Parent info - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
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Thinkuknow - for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online
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Karl Hopwood presentation
Supporting your Child During the period of time away from College, it is important that progress in learning does not just stop, but we do recognise how challenging this can be! In an ideal world, all students would be able to select the material they have to learn, find the best sources of information for this and create a study schedule and stick to it! However, young people are likely to need support and monitoring to ensure they stay on top of their work. They may also want to talk to you about what they are learning. Here are a few answers to questions you may have: 1. “How can we keep as ‘normal’ a routine as possible?” Teachers will update specific tasks for learners to complete using Google Classroom by 0830 UK time. There are live lessons for some of the morning lessons and for some other co-curricular options should they choose to take part in them. Afternoon lessons have work set for pupils to complete independently. Students do not need to take longer than the allotted lesson time to complete work. The amount of Prep set is limited. 2. “I don’t have the skills or knowledge of a teacher.” You do not have to be a teacher or an expert in every, or even any, subject to facilitate learning! Advice on creating a productive learning environment in the home later in this document should prove helpful. 3. “What should my child(ren) do with the work they complete?” The work that is completed should be ‘Handed In’ on Google Classroom online unless a staff member has requested it be submitted in another format. It is marked and returned online.
4. “I have to work from home too so I can’t supervise everything.” Work is set on Classroom so it is possible for parents and guardians to see what should have been completed, and by when. With younger pupils, try to see, hear and ask questions about what has been done during the day. Some time talking through what has been done at the end of the day is a good way of holding learners to account for the time they had available to use for learning.
Nurturing a Learning Environment at Home The list below are suggestions to help you guide your children, and some tips for questioning younger members of the community. If you are concerned at any point about your child’s willingness or ability to engage with work set, please contact the relevant subject teacher if it is limited to one or two areas, or their tutor or HoM for more general concerns. •
Please help your child get into a daily routine which enables them to access school work at 0830 UK time, as well as eating, drinking and exercising regularly.
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During lesson times, please help to ensure all distractions are switched off or well out of reach – mobile phones should be switched off / on silent or placed in another room – the TV also should not be on.
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Quiet, calm music in the background might provide a suitable backdrop to independent work being completed.
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Provide a table or suitable flat surface for work to be completed on and a comfortable chair.
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Encourage at least one enrichment activity each week - social interaction and challenging them to do something new is important for their growth.
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Ensure your child takes screen breaks, with more regular screen breaks for younger learners.
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Encourage daily exercise, perhaps in some of the College organised sessions. The self-conscious can turn their cameras off if they want!
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Encourage conversation if you can!
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Once learning has taken place, talk about it – ask your child(ren) what they learned during their last hour or during the day – ask questions – you do not necessarily need to know the answers. If you have more than one child, get them doing this together – there is a lot to be said for peer supported learning. “What do you know now that you did not when you started this task?” “Explain ....... to me” “Tell me about .......”
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Challenge “I can’t do it” or “I don’t understand”. Learning can be difficult, but it is possible to complete tasks, check them, learn information and then return to the information later in order to revisit it (or revise) and then again at some point later.
Together we are Clifton Clifton College 32 College Road Clifton, Bristol BS8 3JH T: +44(0)117 315 7000 cliftoncollege.com