English College staff and students have not only navigated through our second round of distance learning, but also have truly made the most of it in fascinating ways. Drop into online lessons and you’ll see students engaged in teaching and learning that is meaningful and relevant. They’re participating in reciprocal teaching, interactive whiteboard activities, e-quizzes, polling, small-group discussion in breakout rooms, project teamwork, note-taking on work modelled via visualisers and more. Teachers can provide written and verbal feedback on work electronically, as well as give real-time guidance while watching students actually type in a document or collaborate in an online meeting.
In our first lockdown, teachers had only about 48 hours to transfer their practice online, and they did so effectively despite many obstacles; this really is a testament to their professionalism and care for our students. The evolution from the first lockdown to this second bout has been profound, as now we have a revamped Distance Learning Policy, more technological equipment, training opportunities and many weeks of experience to draw from.
Assessment during closure
We have also discussed assessment during remote learning at length, as we want to measure student progress without relying on exams that we cannot provide exam conditions for whilst online. This has led to innovation and variety in how we evaluate student work, and our newly developed guidelines around summative assessment should ensure that we have a firm grasp on student knowledge and understanding despite the absence of formal exams.
Emily Rankin, Deputy Head (Upper School & Teaching and Learning)
Feedback from parents
We are proud of our ECP community and how students and staff have risen to the challenge of distance learning. Our families seem to concur; some comments from a recent English College Parents’ Association meeting are as follows:
“I feel proud of how the school manages the issue.”
“Thank you to all teachers and staff for doing their best!“
“Thank you for the adaptability in these uncertain times.”
“The school has managed the situation very well. Thank you.“
“I feel very proud of how you all deal with the situation and the issues. Thank you so much for your hard work.“
“Thank you for your very good work with kids.“
“I think the ECP si handling the situation in excellent and effective way, with a lot added value. Many thanks and RESPECT!“
“All teachers adapted very well to new challenges and the management was providing us with excellent feedback through the entire pandemic. Thank you very much for all your effort.“
“Thank you very much for all your hard work!”
“It is great that you are using the digital whiteboard as well as the method of breaking into smaller groups. Thank you again for all your great work!”
“Thank you very much for all the work done which is even harder during this lockdown. We really appreciate it!”
“Thank you for everything, for excellent handling of the situation, we all keep our fingers crossed:)”
Look at this video to find out more about about remote learning in the ECP community.
