Well, what a start to the new academic year that has been! Thank you for all your efforts regarding opening schools and keeping them safe for the pupils and staff. We know it has been a Herculean effort and many of you feel exhausted, please know that at LGfL we value what you are continuing to deliver in unprecedented times.
Ed Tech Demonstrator Programme
Schools are now expected to have a contingency plan in place (the deadline was the end of September 2020). It is likely that your contingency plan will evolve over time in response to local situations, new technology and access, and teacher experience. It may also include a timetable for change and development; remote learning change can be a long process.
Some of the Demonstrator Schools and Colleges have offered their own contingency plans as examples for you to use and these, together with supporting documentation can be found on the Ed Tech Demonstrator site. (N.B This section and page will be updated very regularly, so it is worth revisiting and perhaps bookmarking).
In response to the DfE's Remote Learning Expectations we have also pulled together advice from the Demonstrator Schools and Colleges in one place. The "Steady, Ready, Go!" page is there to support schools to hit the ground running with remote education planning and delivery.
Don't miss out on the regular webinars and Think Tank Events being delivered as part of the programme; visit the Upcoming Events page for future events and the Events Archive for recordings of past events.
Keep your eye out for the Ed Tech Week of Events - By Educators for Educators during the 9th -14th November (more details to follow soon on the site).
Adobe Education Exchange offers more than 20+ free, self-paced courses (with more to be added soon and some courses currently being updated). The courses cover everything from how to infuse creativity into your class, how to teach digital storytelling, or app-specific tutorials, all tailored to education use cases.
If you are wondering where to start, please take the Adobe Creative Educator, Level 1 course. This course covers what creativity is, why it is important, and how to develop creativity in your students across subjects and Key Stages, from young children through to college students and adult learners.
Please remember, your classes (including you!) can have access to Adobe Spark and the entire collection of Adobe Creative Cloud applications through the partnership between Adobe and LGfL. If your school has not claimed their licenses yet, please click here to do so.
Flash Player and Legacy Resources
A reminder once more that since Adobe's support for Flash Player* ends in 2020 (*software used on the Adobe Flash platform that includes viewing multimedia content and executing rich internet applications, such as educational games and also streaming audio and video) we will be retiring the LGfL "Legacy" resources at the end of the year. If you have any further questions about our legacy resources, please contact contentsupport@lgfl.net.
Re-developed ReadingZone Live
At LGfL, we know that teachers in primary schools are always on the hunt for quality texts and extracts from well-known authors to use in Guided Reading Sessions. The redevelopment of the fantastic ReadingZone Live resource will not only hosts interviews with over 50 authors, but for some of the featured authors there are now extracts from their books with a range of comprehension questions and tasks to complete.
During the COVID lockdown of 2020 the ReadingZone Live website was reorganised; literacy experts from the LEO Academy Trust have lead the way on how to maximise the amazing author insights contained in the 1,000 video clips which combined make a unique archive! This collaboration between LGfL and LEO Academy has meant a new portal has been developed with support materials added to make the resources easier to use and secure improved English (reading and writing) outcomes for learners.
At the point of relaunch in September 2020, nineteen texts have been carefully selected for use by Key Stage 1 (Years 1&2), Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3&4) and Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5&6) including authors such as Michael Morpurgo, Lauren Child and Jaqueline Wilson. Guidance for primary teachers has been designed alongside each of these texts to assist in effectively and accurately teaching each of the content domains for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Reading. By selecting the Key Stage, text or content domain, teachers can access suggested explanations, steps to success and questions for each of the reading content domains. Read this Curriculum blog for further details.
RSHE
Ready for RSHE? Why not share our new RSHE online-safety quiz – designed for RSHE/PSHE/RSE curriculum teams to get them started with this new subject: digisafedigest.lgfl.net
LGfL HomeProtect
'Keeping Children Safe in Education' says schools must have appropriate filtering + address safeguarding considerations, including ‘online at home’. Our new school-safe home web filtering for remote learning is designed to keep children safe at home and is managed Windows devices, Chromebooks or iPads. Find out more and sign up for our FREE 6-month trial at homeprotect.lgfl.net
Upcoming Training
We have new online training for the new academic year. Click the images below to see the information for the highlighted courses and to book them.
You can also check out the whole training portal for training on a wide range of topics.Training events are included in your school's Let's Get Digital subscription and are therefore *free* for LGfL schools staff to attend.
This 1 hour online session designed to fit into a staff meeting slot. We are running the sessions EVERY Monday (4-5pm) during term time.
There are a range of Thursday morning sessions from IncludEd (9:30-11:30am) aimed developing staff understanding and improving inclusive practice.
This 1 hour online session hosted on Wednesday 21st October is designed for primary schools who are new to LGfL.
Google Training
An extensive programme of Google Training has been compiled for the LGfLCommunity. The first session on Tuesday 13th October 3:45-4:45pm will be an introduction to Google Classroom (Getting hands on with Google Classroom as a learner). Other sessions will cover the Admin Console, Chromebooks, Creativity, Quizzes and Assessment. Visitthis form to book.
ACT – supporting children sexually abused online training
The Marie Collins Foundation and LGfL DigiSafe have joined to offer a combined version of the BT-sponsored ACT training course on 22nd October. The aim is to equip school staff to support the journey from discovery (distinct from disclosure) of online sexual abuse to recovery. This includes insights into the work of external agencies such as the courts and social services, in order to ensure schools know how best to work with the children they support as well as their partner agencies. Sign up and find out more at safetraining.lgfl.net
TechSquad Training
For this school year we have over 50 technical training sessions for school technicians covering Google G-suite, Microsoft O365, Webscreen, Neverware, Meraki MDM, Safeguarding & security for school technicians Gridstore online back up, Adobe set up and an overview for schools techs on the added benefits of LGFL. The first online sessions are on 20th and 22nd October, please see the full list on https://www.lgfl.net/training/
