Deliver remote learning
- Digital education platform hub The Department for Education expects all schools to use a digital platform to provide remote education for pupils who cannot be in school due to coronavirus restrictions. To help you meet this expectation, you can apply for DfE-funded support to get set up on a free-to-use platform: G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education. Learn what these platforms can do for you and use our impartial feature comparison to help you make a call, then apply for funded support.
- Feature comparison: Google Workspace for Education and Office 365 Education If you're thinking about switching your digital learning platform, compare Google and Microsoft's key features so you can make an informed decision about which to go for. Remind yourself what your current platform can do, and see if you could use it better when pupils are self-isolating or learning from home.
- G Suite for Education: instructions for pupils, parents and staff Share our factsheets for Google Classroom (part of G Suite for Education) with your pupils, parents and staff, so they can easily get set up and start engaging if they need to self-isolate.
- How 4 primary schools are making excellent use of G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education These schools and trusts are using digital education platforms in different ways to keep pupils and teachers connected and support children to learn at home. See whether one of these approaches would work for you, whether you're new to using these platforms or looking to do more.
- How 4 secondary schools are making excellent use of G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education These schools and trusts are using digital education platforms in different ways to keep pupils and teachers connected and support children to learn at home. See whether one of these approaches would work for you, whether you're new to using these platforms or looking to do more.
- How to deliver live lessons to pupils learning from home and in school Learn from computing lead and teacher, Ben Chaffe, about how his school is approaching live lessons to reduce teaching workload and keep pupils at home engaged. Find out how he incorporates pupils who are learning from home into lessons in school – and get practical tips on how to make this work for your school.
- How to make sure you're prepared for remote learning Make sure you're ready to go online at a moment's notice with our practical advice, checklist of everything you need to do to prepare, and template letters to communicate your plans with key stakeholders.
- How to track the quality of your remote learning: strategies and templates Get a clear picture of the quality of your remote provision across your school for pupils who need to learn from home. Learn how to carry out virtual pupil pursuits and remote lesson observations with our downloadable templates, to make sure your staff are getting the support they need.
- Live lessons and 1-to-1 video calls: template risk assessment Use our risk assessment to help you put measures in place to keep pupils and staff safe during video lessons and 1-to-1 video calls.
- Mythbuster: 7 misconceptions about digital education platforms Wary of moving to a digital education platform? Put your mind at ease with this fact-checker on the common concerns we hear about moving to G Suite for Education and Office 365 Education.
- Office 365 Education: instructions for pupils, parents and staff Share our factsheets for Microsoft Teams (part of Office 365 Education) with your pupils, parents and staff, so they can easily get set up and start engaging.
- Remote and blended learning Use these resources to help you deliver remote learning, should you need to.
- Remote learning: cost-effective ways to source IT equipment Get a list of organisations that can help you access devices for your school, either for free or at a reduced cost.
- Remote learning: how 5 primary schools use formative assessment in live lessons From gamified quizzes to treasure-coin rubrics, see if the approaches these primary schools are using could help you check pupils’ understanding during live lessons.
- Remote learning: how 5 secondary schools use formative assessment in live lessons From free whiteboard tools to simulating a walk around the room, see if the approaches these secondary schools are using could help you check pupils' understanding during live lessons.
- Remote learning: how to keep pupils with EAL on track Find out from The Bell Foundation experts about how to provide high-quality remote learning for pupils with English as an additional language (EAL). Learn how to make remote lessons accessible, keep English conversation skills going and get the most out of free online translation tools.
- Remote learning: how to make the best use of small group sessions Whether they're in lessons or having a break, pupils learning remotely can benefit from small group activities. See how video calls and breakout rooms can give your pupils opportunities to talk, play and work together while they're learning at home.
- Remote learning: how to provide effective feedback Small group sessions, real-time feedback, voice notes, emojis and more – get top tips from 8 schools across the country to help you deliver vibrant and engaging feedback, both during and outside of live lessons.
- Remote learning: how to provide opportunities for peer interaction Social interaction is an important part of going to school for pupils, and it has a host of mental health, motivation and learning benefits for them too. Get ideas for how to make sure your pupils are still able to interact with each other, both in and out of lessons, while many are learning from home.
- Remote learning: how to support parents of pupils with SEND It’s going to be harder for some pupils to access your remote learning without support from their parents. Here are some suggestions for helping these families, while remembering that parents are not teachers.
- Remote learning: loaning IT equipment to pupils and staff Read advice on loaning laptops and tablets to staff and pupils so they can work and learn from home. Download our template loan form to keep track of your equipment, as well as our template loan agreement for staff and pupils.
- Remote learning: monitoring pupil engagement Here's how you can work out whether remote pupils are engaging with the work you're setting so that you can provide additional support if necessary.
- Remote learning: requirements and guidance You’re not legally required to provide remote learning, but you should. Be clear on what this provision should look like, and take stock of what you need to keep on top of, so you can continue to offer high-quality education to your pupils.
- Remote learning: strategies to tackle low engagement Find out what steps you can take to help pupils and their parents/carers overcome barriers to engagement.
- Top tips for making blended learning more manageable From making sure teachers don't have to do 2 lots of lesson planning, to working out how to provide live lessons to pupils at home - blended learning can be tricky to manage. Here are some ideas to help make it a little easier.
- What’s your top tip for getting started with G Suite for Education? Share your tips on getting started with G Suite for Education to help thousands of school leaders across the country.
- What’s your top tip for getting started with Office 365 Education? Share your Office 365 Education top tips here to celebrate what you’ve learned and help thousands of school leaders across the country.
- Why every school should use a digital education platform Stay connected, re-create the vibrancy of your classrooms and give children a sense of normality again by moving to a digital education platform. They're simple to set up and use, and you can uphold your school's quality of education – whatever your learning ambitions.
