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Remote Learning Etiquette
The following guidelines are designed to help all our students as they work at home.
This is not an opportunity for a break! Your teachers will be working remotely also and you are their first priority in terms of preparation and support. You will have everything you need to work successfully from home.
What is expected of me
You are expected to complete and submit all tasks set by your teachers by the given deadlines. Your tasks will be set on Microsoft Teams and your teacher will use this platform to monitor your completion of the tasks and to provide feedback. You will be given ‘hard’ deadlines, meaning that you must meet them.
If your teacher is concerned that you may be falling behind, they will first contact you on Teams and check that you are ok, that you understand and make sure you have enough support to complete the work. This is exactly as they would do at school.
Just like at school, if your teacher is very concerned that you aren’t logging into Teams and completing work, despite them having communicated with you, they will contact your parent or carer and raise the concerns with them.
The best way for you to manage your workload at home is to follow your timetable closely. Your teachers will provide you with plenty of work to help you to do this.
How can I get help from my teacher?
If you have attempted a task and you find you are unable to complete it because you need more guidance, you should first message your teacher on Teams and then by email if you don’t get a response – there is a risk that your message may not have reached your teacher if something has gone wrong.
You can always use the ‘chat’ function in Teams to seek support during lessons. You should never just ‘leave’ the work; you are responsible for managing your work and it must all be completed in full.
How should I communicate with my teacher
This section has guidance about how to communicate with your teacher and other students about schoolwork, school matters or any worries or questions you may have.
You should send messages using Teams and/or email to your teachers to ask questions or for support.
All email communication should be made between the hours 8am – 5pm on weekdays. Your teachers will not communicate with you outside of these times.
Your email communication and all messages should be formal. This means you should follow the below ‘email etiquette’.
Email etiquette
You must only use your school email address and Microsoft Teams to contact staff at the Academy. You must not attempt to contact them using any other method.
Only email/message in the given times of 8am – 5pm Monday to Friday.
All emails/messages to be formally addressed ‘Dear Miss X’ and concluded ‘Kind regards’.
All requests to be made politely: ‘I write to ask you if I could have some guidance with/if you could explain this task to me/when you would expect me to…’
All emails to have a subject written in the subject line, such as ‘Request for Guidance’.
Understanding that emails will be responded to within 24-48 hours, but not instantly; your teachers are helping all of their students and it may take them some time to get to your request.
Only email the one person who you need to ask a question to or send your work to; you should not email lots of people or hit ‘reply all’ if your teacher has emailed your whole class.
Never use slang, informal language or any kind of impolite language such as swearing, insults or anything that may appear offensive.
If you are worried about your safety or wellbeing, or you would like to raise a concern about another student, email your head of house or use the SHARP system on the website so that a member of the school’s safeguarding team can help
Example email
Dear Ms Smith
I write to ask for some more guidance about the task you have asked us to complete for this Friday. I am not sure which of the sources you would like us to use to answer question 5. Could you please tell me which one to use so that I can complete this work?
Kind regards,
Amirah
OR
Dear Ms Smith
I write to raise a concern about my friend. I have noticed that she has sent me a few messages in which she seems to be very worried about how she will prepare for her exams while school is closed. I hope you can help. Her name is Joanne Bloggs and she is in Year 11.
Kind regards,
Amirah
When school shuts, how will I know when it is going to open again?
The best source of information is the school website and also https://harrisadvice.org.uk, and twitter, which we will update with any new information.
We will also email your parents/carers to keep them up to date. Any emails to parents/carers will be copied to the website so that you can see them there.
You won’t easily be able to call the school as there will not be lots of staff on duty. If there are any changes or anything you need to know, we will let you know of this immediately.
