Tips and tricks from College tutors adapting to remote learning in lockdown 3.

Over the last year our School and College staff have become incredibly resourceful in their quest to ensure that learning continues for our students. We all take extra care to protect our students, and use PPE, social distancing and extra cleaning measures, but the lockdowns have proved just how much we can adapt to new situations and challenges.

In the first weeks after Christmas in the College, we had about half of our students on campus and about half learning remotely at home. Our College tutors have created lessons that can be enjoyed in the classroom and by those shielding at home, or in their residential houses on site.

College tutor Charlotte Jackson has been incredibly creative using Zoom and made her own playlists of YouTube videos to help keep her students busy.  Her lessons include craft activities, seated dance and cook alongs. If you’d like a taste of the action why not try out one of Charlotte’s recipe videos.  From Bubble and Squeak to Biscoff ice cream there’s plenty of tempting recipe choices.

Charlotte has also created Functional skills videos covering addition, subtraction and even fractions.

It’s not just the students who benefit; Charlotte’s instructional videos are a quick and easy reference for supporting our College staff to get to grips with Zoom. If you ever wondered how to tell a story using a green screen background or play a board game via Zoom, have a look through this playlist.

Many of our students stay here during the week as weekly or full-time boarders, so after-college activities are just as important for developing their independence and social skills. Turlough Ducie leads the after College Activity Club for students. Every afternoon after lessons there’s a range of activities to take part in. Monday night is Fantasy Football night, Tuesday is Duke of Edinburgh Award and Thursday evening is Quiz night. The students take turns to write quiz questions. Dungeons and Dragons is very popular with students and we also have an online gaming club.

At Treloar’s emotional well-being and opportunities for social interaction are important parts of the curriculum. Students arrive here at an important time in their personal development and our tutors and support staff work hard to ensure they have opportunities to take part and join in with arts, crafts and sporting activities. We encourage our students to share their experiences of lockdown in poems or through art. Some students in Gemma Ellis’s class have written about their experiences and a selection will be included in a forthcoming book soon to be published by former student Philip Taylor.

While many mainstream schools and colleges have been forced to close their after school activities, at Treloar’s our staff are committed to devising creative ways to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students. Our thanks goes to Charlotte, Turlough, Gemma and all the amazing staff who go above and beyond to ensure that our students have opportunities to learn, to socialise and grow during this difficult time.