Weekly Update #3

Welcome to this week’s update from Lourdes IT!

As the school shut downs continue, we have been focusing this week on preparing schools and trust for the return of students and staff and how they can ensure they do not loose the adoption of technology by staff and students when that happens.

This week:

Support/LIT Update
This week’s remote hints and tips and resources
Social Media Stars
Meet the staff: Jake Moran

The future…

As with everyone, this sudden change has meant we have had to react quickly to a new world, but, this world for edu-tech continues to change week to week, and these changes are having a real impact for when we eventually return. Schools are awakening to the need to continue to develop their online resources, as well as making it as easy as possible for the gains in skills and confidence, as well as access to work and tools continue on their return.

We are eager to support colleagues with these challenges, and share good practice.

With the closure, we have for the first time expanded our support to parents and students of our schools, to ensure they can access the remote tools our schools are increasingly providing. This was something new for us, and it has certainly been well used. And indeed, it is something we are looking to continue offering in the future, as part of an expected increase in technology use at home by students, especially with the launch of our Student Device Scheme – with many schools looking to provide 1-1 devices we feel this will be an important feature to encourage uptake.

Other things we are providing:

Our call back system, so you can easily request a call back about your ticket, link on every email
Weekly drop in service – we are open every Wednesday at our office for staff support (Book an appointment online now: https://calendly.com/kelly-382/15min)
Online Training (www.lourdesit.org.uk/videos/)

Hints and Tips

As school leaders, keeping your students and staff accurately informed is a top priority.
@tes and @BenVerinder share their top tips on how to communicate to your teams effectively and sensitively: msft.it/6017Tga7J
Ceop: Have you downloaded and shared our most recent #OnlineSafetyAtHome activity packs for children aged 3-16? New packs will be ready to download next Tuesday. Look out for them here: https://t.co/lnxYxP9C2n?amp=1
NEWS: Thousands of young people are being offered the chance to join a virtual cyber security school as part of plans to make sure the country develops the next generation of professional cyber defenders. Read more: gov.uk/government/new#StayHomeSaveLives | #DigitalSkills
Have you used @PowerPoint for Office365‘s screen recorder tools yet? Learn how useful they can be when facilitating remote teaching sessions. Find more remote learning tools and tips here: msft.it/6014TeQ8k
See more at www.twitter.com/lourdessupport

Social Media Stars!

It has been great to see our schools producing content for pupils to keep in touch, from dancing to stories and more. We can help you get a YouTube channel, a twitter account, or a Facebook/Instagram profile, safely!

Here are some of our favourite from our schools!

St Bede’s Staff Dance: https://t.co/r4mGJq27Gc?amp=1
Webheath’s Staff have been giving shout outs: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE1BZ1jnZZi-IDBzKKVpwog
Mount Carmel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwnq2WAmpD8addv548a2QPA?view_as=subscriber
St Peter’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JptHCb9xmcc&t=1s

Meet our staff

We will be introducing all of our staff over the next few weeks, get to know our ever expanding team!

Hi, my name is Jake. I am one of two Jakes at Lourdes IT and I am a member of the Onsite Team. You will find me out at schools on a set timetable working my way through the day to day problems which are found in schools. You’ll see me changing a projector lamp with my screwdrivers or checking computers are ready for the next week always with a smile on my face. My interests outside of ICT are driving and visiting the gym. I also like cakes!