A school in Horsham offers its pupils an exemplary remote learning experience that is set up to ensure daily face-to-face contact and a structured day for its students, who have continued to follow their normal timetable throughout each lockdown.
In March last year, when the UK entered its first lockdown, schools across the nation found themselves in completely unknown territory, having to provide education at home for their pupils. But whilst many schools did little more than put in place cover - posting resources and tasks for students to complete and teachers to mark online - Farlington went further.
“We were hugely excited to launch our Virtual School in March 2020,” says David Walker-Smith, Head of Curriculum. “We began planning two weeks before the school was due to close, so we had time to prepare the technology, create policies and train teachers.”
From age seven upwards, Farlington pupils already work with Chromebook laptops as standard, both in and out of school, so with schools closed, teachers are able to deliver whole class lessons face-to-face, following the students’ normal timetables. A full school day of lessons, including all subjects from English, Maths and Science, to Modern Languages, PE and Drama - and even live cooking lessons - means that parents can get on with their own work, without worrying about their child’s learning or progress.
Farlington’s Virtual School was extremely well received by pupils and parents alike, and when the latest lockdown was announced in early January this year, the whole Farlington community transitioned seamlessly back into remote learning.
Parents have endlessly praised Farlington’s Virtual School, with one saying, “The structure and timetable of lessons has been consistent and comprehensive. Apart from the loss of actual physical interaction between pupils, I don't think there has been any meaningful drop in the level or quality of education received via remote learning, which is quite a remarkable achievement by Farlington staff.”
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