To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence received.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th June 2020.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th June 2020 were approved as an accurate record.

To hear from Headteachers from across RBWM on home learning during the current lockdown.

The Chairman said that he had spoken to various Head teachers from across the borough and was very impressed at the quality of remote learning that was currently being offered to pupils.

Helen Daniels gave a presentation on the background to remote learning and what was being offered by schools. There were a number of different definitions of remote learning and it did not always mean digital. A common myth was that it was a different way of teaching children but the skills remained the same and the curriculum was still taught.

Councillor Shelim joined the meeting.

During the first lockdown there was a variation on the curriculum being taught with the main difference now being the way remote learning was being delivered. Learning platforms like Microsoft Teams were now being utilised to deliver live and recorded lessons and training had also evolved. One of the key concerns from the first lockdown was attendance and ensuring that children of all abilities were still engaged with their learning but this had now moved on to ensuring that children were still being stretched academically and provided support for any work that they needed extra help with. The subject curriculum had in some cases been adapted to focus on important knowledge concepts. The quality of the teaching was the most important thing rather than the medium used and this included making sure that children were receiving feedback and assessment on their work.

It was clear from the progress of remote teaching so far that concentration was generally shorter online than it was in the classroom, which led to greater challenges with motivating and engaging pupils. Communicating and working with parents was also important to ensure that they were supported in helping their children gain the most from remote learning.

The Chairman asked how teacher training for remote learning could be improved by the Department of Education and also how parental support could be improved.

Helen Daniels said that teachers had done well but it always useful to have extra training provided. Some smaller schools which did not have extensive IT knowledge were helped by the boroughs bigger secondary schools to get them get set up to deliver remote teaching, which had been hugely appreciated.

Councillor Del Campo asked how learning was being delivered to pupils who did not have access to a device.

Helen Daniels said that she would answer this question when she updated the Forum on her own schools experience of remote learning.

Sarah Cottle gave an update on her perspective of remote learning at nursery level. The nursery had opened to all families who wanted their child to attend and was currently operating at 50% capacity. Lessons were filmed and then uploaded to the website where they could then be accessed by parents, with group time and activities all part of the content provided. Doing the recordings helped parents to manage with their daily lives and many parents had emailed in things that had been done so communication with parents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

·         June 2021

·         October 2021

·         February 2022

Exact dates to be confirmed after Full Council in March.

The Forum noted that the next meeting would take place in June 2021, with the exact date to be confirmed in due course.

The Chairman said that there would potentially be another meeting of the Forum before June if it was required.