Praise for Wrexham secondary school’s online learning provision

A Wrexham secondary school has been praised for its online learning provision.

With homeschooling becoming the “new normal” for thousands over the last 12 months, both staff and students in schools, colleges and universities have had to adapt to new ways of learning and teaching.

After the first lockdown in March 2020, Ysgol Bryn Alyn contacted parents and students about their online experiences to help adapt the school’s practices online.

Headteacher Adele Slinn explained: “Students and staff both missed face to face interaction and it was clear that ‘live’ lessons were the way to go.

“We invested heavily in training our staff and students in innovative practices as well as investing heavily in interactive software.

“We made the decision to follow students’ normal timetables to offer stability and a sense of normality in a very difficult situation as well as ensuring the very best learning experiences.”

Alongside the live lessons Ysgol Bryn Alyn has also place high importance on the wellbeing of all of their pupils.

Pastoral Google classrooms and live assemblies and form time have supported students in keeping in touch as well as regular phone calls home from their form tutors.

Parental support has been overwhelmingly positive for Ysgol Bryn Alyn’s online offer, with feedback describing the school as having gone “above and beyond” what parents expected.

Deputy headteacher Alison Kipping said: “Live lessons at YBA are exciting and engaging.

“We have worked hard to ensure students are able to interact with their teachers as well as other students. Staff training has been ongoing to share good practice and ensure we are giving our students the very best learning experience.

“Both parents and pupils have been thrilled with our offer which allows pupils to follow their normal curriculum timetable.

“The interactive lessons also enable pupils to ask questions and be guided through tasks which has raised both engagement and attainment across the board.”

Deputy Headteacher Jo Ebrey added: “The wellbeing of our students was paramount at this difficult time.

“It was important to us to keep in touch and support all of our students during this unprecedented period and our Pastoral team have been fundamental in keeping in touch with every single student. Our wellbeing support is second to none here at YBA.

“We also wanted to boost the morale of students, parents and staff and so have used our Social media pages to both inspire students and motivate and reward their hard work with daily shout outs. These shout outs are sent each day by staff to reward amazing effort from our students and celebrate their success.

“We culminated our shout outs this Lockdown by opening up the nominations to staff, students and our community. We were inundated by responses wanting to praise the work done over lockdown by staff, students and their families. It was amazing to see the positivity it created.”

Ysgol Bryn Alyn has enjoyed welcoming their students back into the school buildings since Monday – Please see their website for further information about their pupils’ staggered return to school.