Education Minister, Peter Weir, has today published guidance for schools on supporting remote learning during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The guidance provides advice and support to schools and the Department of Education has said it “is designed to bring together what we are learning about emerging practice during this unprecedented time for the education system.”
The full document can be found here, but includes key points such as advice to schools and teachers regarding hard copy resources, adding that “it is helpful to send guidance on completion of the activities, model explanations and answers as much as possible in order to assist parents in supporting their child’s learning.”
However, the document advises where possible, to avoid all physical worksheets, and instead to rely solely on e-learning resources if possible.
The Department also said it has not prescribed any specific e-learning tools to be used by schools, “as this will vary according to the pupil profile and the individual subject and task context”.
It suggested that teachers and parents continue to use the C2K system as a base though, as it “provides a secure platform and a range of tools to support teaching and learning.”
The guidance also states that the Department recognises that “all pupils do not have the same levels of home support nor do all households have the same level of access to resources, particularly internet connection and devices such as tablets and laptops.”
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The Education Authority further stated that it is now engaging with schools to lend digital devices to pupils from socio-economically deprived backgrounds, first from existing school resources, and subsequently to provide new devices.
Minister Weir said: “I want to thank all the teachers and staff who are working so hard to ensure our pupils are supported at this time.
“I hope that schools and teachers will find the guidance provided by the Department helpful to support pupils’ learning. It is not intended to be prescriptive but to support schools as they develop and refine their practice around remote learning.
“My Department, working with the Education Authority and other key stakeholders, will add to the guidance during the coming weeks and months. In the coming weeks, we will publish a number of case studies to provide opportunities for schools to learn from each other.”
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