Aberdeen City Council is ensuring that pupils without internet access at home are still able to take part in online lessons during the current Covid-19 lockdown. Officers in the Council’s Education Service are preparing laptops and Myfi dongles for children and young people in order that they can easily access the curriculum and continue their studies at home. 800 devices and 300 dongles have already been issued while new requests from parents for further devices are being met.
The Council recently outlined the innovative online approaches to learning introduced by creative support staff, teachers and senior leadership teams to ensure that children and young people are maintaining progress and engagement with their learning despite not being at school. Lockdown journals, online dance instruction and art lessons, maths-based scavenger hunts and digital assemblies are just some of the fun and interactive ways that teaching staff have devised to maintain pupil engagement during the lockdown.
Guidance on delivering a digital curriculum has also been issued to parents to help them support a level of consistency and ensure that both the learning and wellbeing needs of children and young people are promoted. The guidance also includes helpful advice for staff.
Education Operational Delivery Convener, Councillor John Wheeler, said:
“We are absolutely committed to tackling inequalities and ensuring that all of our children and young people have access to the best possible education even during the see most difficult of circumstances.
“My thanks go out to all our Education staff for the hard work they are putting in to help overcome obstacles to home learning and maintaining the curriculum”.