Salisbury Sixth Form seeing benefits of lockdown learning
They're finding engagement in lessons is actually improving while they're closed
As we're almost two weeks into the third national lockdown and some families are feeling the pressure of remote learning and home schooling, Salisbury's Sixth Form College is embracing it.
The Tollgate Road college is finding that it's been taken on board by their students, as lecturer Richard Eno explains:
"We're looking at for most classes, getting something like 100% attendance and engagement. In fact in some areas, it's better than when it was on site. Where we have students with quite severe anxiety, they're able to stay at home and still interact with the lessons."
S6C is running their timetable as normal, but virtually at the moment.
That means students log in for their lessons at the same time as they would ordinarily attend in person.
Richard Eno says that means things could also change into the future:
"If there's one thing I've learned from our online experience, it's that there will never be another 'snow day'! If that ever happens again and we have to close the college, we know learning can still happen."
SUPPORT AVAILABLE FOR LEARNERS
While it seems many of the students at S6C are loving 'working from home' for others that's more difficult.
The College is keeping a 'study centre' open for learners, Monday to Friday, whose parents are key workers and they want to be in a classroom environment, as well as vulnerable students and others who might not have access to the equipment for online lessons.
They'll also stick to the same timetable as their peers, and lecturer Richard Eno says that extra support is vital:
"Students who have got some issues at home, or they're particularly vulnerable, are still getting that face-to-face contact. They're still able to come in to College, have that routine, and actually see a member of staff if they need to. Some students actually really struggle with being at home all day, being 'locked in' and they feel a sense of alienation. We want to make sure we're looking after all of our learners."
Most subjects are relatively easy to transfer online, but there are some courses that require a more 'hands-on' approach.
S6C is also helping those students to continue their learning, in areas like art, photography and film-making.
Lecturer Richard Eno tells Greatest Hits Radio Salisbury how that works:
"We are adjusting all of our units and assessments as best we can. We've also set up art and photography resources packs for students and they've been able to collect those from site. That enables them to have an easel, pencils, all sorts of materials that they would normally have in our art department, available to pick up via appointment."