Covid-19 Advice for School Leaders: Pt6 - Home-Learning Paperwork

It's very tempting in a crisis situation like a school closure to head into "live teaching", but it is worth making sure that there are clear protcols in place about how this is going to be conducted.

One of the advantages that we had at Kellett going into the Covid-19 shutdown was that we had experienced a 7-day closure the previous November because of the Protests in Hong Kong. What we realised then that we did not have the necessary paperwork in place to enable us to conduct "live lessons" using video-conferencing. When the Coronavirus struck we were ready . . .

The Issues

Picture the scene 1: a young male teacher has video-conferenced from his apartment into a sixth form girl's bedroom for a one-to-one tutorial. The student is still in bed, not yet dressed for the day. The girl's parent learns about the online tutorial and makes a formal complaint against the school. Whilst both teacher and student were acting honorably, it fails what the Chairman of Governors from one of my previous schools called "the Daily Mail sniff test".

Picture the scene 2: two dynamic teachers in the Prep School dress up in period costume and act out a scene between Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn. The video is published to their Year 6 class, but later is circulating on the parents' WhatsApp group and then is shared on social media. It is sent to friends and family whose schools are not providing the same level of home learning.

Picture the scene 3: A young teacher, in one of his first ever "live lessons" is trying to get a Y11 class discussion going using Zoom. This is unfamiliar territory both for the teacher and the class; the medium is new and it is difficult for the teacher to draw all of the class into the discussion in the way that he would have done face-to-face. The discussion is disappointing; there were lessons learned, and it laid the ground for everyone to be more comfortable discussing a topic next lesson. However, a disgruntled parent recorded the live broadcast and sends it in to the Headteacher using it as evidence that the quality of home-learning is not up to standard.

School leaders have a responsibility to protect students and staff. Live teaching raises questions of safeguarding, the need for online social distancing, the need to protect staff from false accusations, intellectual property issues, and the need for a "safe space" for staff learn to hone their craft in a new context.

With this in mind we put in place a series of protocols for staff, pupils and parents.

Kellett School Guidance on Home Learning - Prep Schools

Kellett School Guidance on Home Learning - Senior School

Teacher Protocols

Kellett School Teacher Protocols for Face-to-face lessons is available on this link.

These include:

• Google Meet / Zoom should take place between 8am and 3pm (Core School Hours) only.
• Schedule any google meets 24 hours in advance and notify parents by email
• Schedule sessions on the whole school shared Google calendar
• Video conference from an environment that is quiet, safe and free from distractions and in school.
• Ensure you are in professional dress. 

Initially we had a rule that there should be a minimum of five children in each face-to-face interaction, but, as the closure ran on, we needed to be able to provide pastoral one-to-one support, so we changed our advice for teachers working in school:

• Size of groups for home learning. We are aware of the increased level of risk around one-to-one video meetings with students, however there are many reasons why they would be helpful and appropriate.
• One-to-one sessions with students should follow the same guidance as one-to-one conversations in school.
• Staff should ensure that the door is open, and that another member of staff is aware and nearby whilst the conversation is taking place. 

The advantage that we had was that we had our teachers in school so they were being conducted from a professional space with colleagues in the vicinity.

Student Responsible User Agreement

The Kellett School Student Responsible User Agreement is available on this link.

The guidelines include:

• Video conferencing from an environment that is quiet, safe and free from distractions (preferably, not a bedroom);
• Be dressed appropriately for learning (no pyjamas, no swimwear);
• Interact patiently and respectfully with your teachers and peers;
• Make sure you end the session as soon as the teacher indicates to do so.  

The rules include:

• I will not record or take photos of my classmates or teachers during a face-to-face session.
• I understand that when using Google classroom and other applications provided by the school that my use can be monitored and logged and can be made available to my teachers.
• I understand that these rules are designed to help keep me safe and that if they are not followed, school sanctions will be applied and my parent may be contacted.

Parental Consent

Kellett School Parental Consent for Online Lessons is available on this link.

To facilitate face to face conferencing during school suspension, parents should support by:

• Providing children with a workspace that is quiet, safe and free from distractions with an adult nearby if necessary
• Making sure your child is dressed appropriately
• Ensuring that face-to-face communication is only between teachers and students. Any parent to teacher communication should be in the usual manner, via email.
• Parents may not record, share or comment on public forums about individual teachers.
• By completing this Google form, you give permission for your child to attend face-to-face sessions with Kellett staff. 

In conclusion, schools should ensure that they have the paperwork on their side before allowing teachers to embark on online learning.

With thanks to the amazing teams at Kellett School Pok Fu Lam Prep, Kowloon Bay Prep, and Kowloon Bay Senior who grappled with the issues and did the heavy lifting here.

Other articles in the Covid-19 Advice for School Leaders Series

1. Pt1: Advice for School Business Managers:
2. Pt2 - What to Expect
3. Pt3 - Communications Strategy
4. Pt4 - Protocol for being allowed onto the school site.
5. Pt5 - Well-being Issues
6. Pt6 - Paperwork for Home-Learning
7. Pt7 - Pace Yourselves?
8. Pt8 - Re-Opening