Lockdown has provided IT benefits for pupils and teachers at a Banbury area school

The difficult period of full lockdown from March for four months caused many children's education to suffer, particularly those without devices at home to use for learning.

That has continued in a different way during the autumn term as many children have been forced to self-isolate for periods of time at home.

However, a silver lining has emerged as their ability to use computers has shot up, as has that of the staff who have learned how to present lessons online.

Dr Annabel Kay, headteacher of The Warriner School, said: "If you had asked me back in February if we would be live streaming lessons into children’s homes I would have thought it pie in the sky but it is now part of everyday life. I am really grateful to staff for bring up for giving everything a go and children and their parents for embracing these new practices.

"In the previous lockdown it very quickly became clear that we needed to deliver effective home learning using ICT but in order to do so we needed to ensure that staff and children had access to appropriate devices to do so.

"In the past it was fine for a family to have one lap top or iPad but when parents and children were all trying to juggle access to limited numbers of devices this was causing a real problem.

"We have set about ensuring that all children have appropriate access. We have done this by a setting up a device purchase scheme for parents that allows them to pay in instalments. For those families where this is not affordable, we have provided them with lap tops free of charge. We have done the same for staff and made sure that every classroom is kitted out to live stream and record lessons."

Dr Kay said staff had been given special training and support had been given to children and parents so they can access home-learning when they are having to self-isolate.

"Staff are now able to stream lessons to those children who are at home. Because lessons are also recorded, all children, be they in school or not, are able to watch lessons over and over again until they fully understand it.

"We recently had to send all of year 8 home and they were able to continue their education. We surveyed them to get feedback on what went well and how we could improve. Their feedback was really positive. Whilst they missed the live contact with their friends and teachers, they found using the chat function really helpful," said Dr Kay.

"We also use the same technology for whole year group parents' evenings. This is something we might continue with as it avoids the issues with parking, parents having to rush to get into school and everything over-running. Again, feedback from parents was that most preferred talking to their children’s teachers from the comfort of their own homes."