Making remote learning work: Mungo Sheppard, headteacher at Ash Green Primary

EPISODE NOTES In this episode, Claire talks with Mungo Sheppard, headteacher at Ash Green Primary School in Halifax, about how remote teaching is currently working and how it has changed over the last year for his school. Reflecting on his school’s experience with the move to remote teaching during the lockdowns, and what they have done to overcome the varied challenges these raised, Mungo discusses what has worked for his school and staff. Mungo also shares his thoughts on the future of education and what the legacies of the lockdown might be following our increased use of technology as a means of facilitating home learning.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Preparation and flexibility are key.While we hope there will be no more lockdowns needed, it is far from certain that it won’t happen again. Having preparations in place for this possibility is important including making sure staff are clear on their roles and making sure the technology is in place should it be needed.Flexibility is also a crucial element because the unexpected can always occur, and a one-size-fits-all approach is rarely a reality. Within reason, and being mindful of workload, allowing staff or parents to find different ways for them or their children to work can mean the outcomes are better for everyone than they might otherwise have been. The future of education. The sudden and significant increase in the use of technology to enable home learning to take place opens up myriad possibilities for the future of education. It is very likely that the systems we have put in place and developed in terms of remote teaching will be expanded and built upon further to improve the ways we work within schools. Once schools return to ‘normal’, there are many opportunities for using these systems to enhance practices such staff development, moderation of work and standards, and continue the use of technology as a way of better reaching parents and allowing different ways of learning in class. BEST MOMENTS “I think, at the moment, where you've got a lot of children and families who you're not seeing each day, you've got to try and come up with interesting ways to still connect and make sure that those relationships are maintained.” “I don't think that actually teaching live all day is that useful. You lose feedback. You lose the work for the children who are not accessing it. You lose the work for the children who are in school. You'll lose some of the other things as well.” “Virtually every child is motivated by praise and reward. Not all, but virtually every child. What are the little things that you can do?” “Morale is still very high amongst the teaching staff, remarkably, and I think that the way we're doing is enabling that to happen. And I have got to give a massive shout out to the support staff at this school because they are phenomenal.” “The things that come my way... people reporting things that are going on in the community? Where does your remit begin and end? It’s a very, very far-reaching job at the moment. It’s very, very challenging.” “Don't get carried away so that this is going to take loads of teachers’ time as well. I've heard some really sad stories. You've got to look very carefully at your staff deployment. Look at work-life balance.” “Be flexible and be individual and personal and all those things you'd do in the classroom. Because you'd never teach the same learning style in the classroom for all of your children so you can't do that through remote learning either.” “I think the big difference this time is every member of staff has got a really defined clear role. Class teachers are being used much better.”   VALUABLE RESOURCES Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshGreenHead Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshGreenPrimary Website: https://www.ashgreen.info/ Classroom Secrets Kids: https://kids.classroomsecrets.co.uk The Teachers’ Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheTeachersPodcast/ Classroom Secrets Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClassroomSecretsLimited/ Classroom Secrets website: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/ LIFE/work balance campaign: https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/lifeworkbalance-and-wellbeing-in-education-campaign-2019/   ABOUT THE HOST 'My mother is a teacher. I will never be a teacher.' - Claire Riley Claire arrived at the end of her performing arts degree with no firm plans to move into the entertainment industry. A fully funded secondary teaching course seemed like the perfect way to stall for a year on deciding what to do with her life. Turns out, teaching was her thing.  Three years in a challenging secondary school - check. Two years in primary schools with over 90% EAL children - check. Eight years doing day-to-day supply across 4-18 - check. If there's one thing she learnt, it was how to identity the best ideas from every school in terms of resources and use that knowledge to create something that would work for teachers far and wide. In 2013, Classroom Secrets was born. Claire had seen other resource sites and wanted to add something to the market that she felt was missing. More choice + More quality = Balance. Claire is a self-proclaimed personal development junkie and is always looking for ways to learn and improve. It's usually centred around business, her new-found passion. In 2019, Claire launched The Teachers' Podcast that hits the charts on launch and is listed in the top 200 educational podcasts most weeks. The Teachers’ Podcast is a series of interviews where Claire meets with a wide range of guests involved in the field of education. These podcasts provide exciting discussions and different perspectives and thoughts on a variety of themes which are both engaging and informative for anyone involved in education.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.