Open University lessons for teachers as school moves to cyberspace

Teachers have been accessing their own online lessons to help them teach Powys youngsters in cyberspace.

While preparations in England are being made for a return of some classes next week, it is highly likely that children in Powys and the rest of Wales will not be going back to school until September.

Since returning from the Easter break in April, Powys youngsters have been taught online because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Members of the learning and skills scrutiny committee on Tuesday asked whether teachers were properly prepared to deal with their new digital classroom.

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Independent member Margaret Evitts, a former headteacher, said: “This is an amazing transformation, are all staff trained adequately?

“Do staff need further training?”

Interim chief education officer Lynette Lovell said: “It requires a transformation in the way we teach, it’s different to teaching a class of 30.

“In the first two weeks of the continuity of learning plan we gave all our teaching staff access to free online training for teaching from the Open University.

Different levels

“There is lot of working together and helping each other out.”

Ms Lovell added that there had been some problems along the way, as not all teachers were set up on HWB the Welsh Government online teaching portal, and some were less technically adept than others.

Ms Lovell said: “People are at different levels that’s for sure.

“But we have put that package in place to ensure that they have the time they need to understand these new ways of working.”

To prepare for an extended period of online learning, the council has already adapted the Welsh Government continuity of learning plan and produced it’s own document for schools, Powys Distance Learning Plan.

This gives schools guidance and helps share good practice between them.