Our school uses ClassDojo as one of a few ways to communicate with parents and carers. Families have engaged positively with us regularly and it has formed the basis of our home education programme during this time.

During the transition period, we made bespoke home learning packs for our children which included a range of items such as bubbles, and craft materials as well as communication or choice boards and other table top activities.

In the packs, we also included specific equipment that we knew would support the children. For example, a specific cushion we have for a child via occupational therapy.

The home learning packs were sent home with our children at the point of school closure.

Adapting our programme of learning to be taught remotely

Within school, we operate a personalised approach to learning to meet the individual needs of our pupils and this has continued through the programme of home learning.

The senior leadership created a ‘guidance for working at home’ document for all staff, which outlines ways which classes can work with families to support home learning. But also, and most importantly, includes how to support our children and families with their general welfare and how to raise any concerns that arise.

Each child has a designated ‘key worker’ who is a member of the staff team in which they are based, and therefore is someone familiar to them and their needs, and someone who already has a relationship with the family. The class teacher continues to have oversight of the home learning programmes and liaises with class teams on the engagement with families.

A structure of liaison between members of the senior management team and teachers ensures the co-ordination and effectiveness of systems across school. We have regular online senior management meetings which enables us to monitor and evaluate the systems in place and to respond to any issues.

What worked well and how we know

We have combined ‘whole school’ sharing of activities, ideas, weblinks and support using the school ClassDojo page with a more bespoke and personalised programme of activities, ideas and links through key workers to individual pupil ClassDojo pages.

An example of this is a daily themed signing video clip led by one of our teaching assistants on the school page, and a personalised signing video done by a key worker using a child’s name and signs specific to them on a pupil’s own page.

Feedback from families has told us that their children respond really well to seeing faces and hearing voices of staff who are familiar to them. This is an important need for many children with SEND, and it has supported their motivation and engagement in attention and learning.

• Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)
• If you go out, stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people at all times
• Wash your hands as soon as you get home

Do not meet others, even friends or family.

You can spread the virus even if you don’t have symptoms.

• Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)
• If you go out, stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people at all times
• Wash your hands as soon as you get home

Do not meet others, even friends or family.

You can spread the virus even if you don’t have symptoms.

London – Today, the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced the formal launch of trade agreement negotiations between the UK and the U.S.

In light of the ongoing global pandemic caused by Covid-19, the first round of negotiations will be conducted virtually, with UK and U.S. negotiators engaging in discussions over the next two weeks in nearly 30 different negotiating groups covering all aspects of a comprehensive trade agreement.

Both parties agree that a Free Trade Agreement would contribute to the long-term health of our economies, which is vitally important as we recover from the challenges posed by Covid-19.

An FTA is a priority for both countries and we share a commitment to secure an ambitious agreement that significantly boosts trade and investment. We will undertake negotiations at an accelerated pace and have committed the resources necessary to progress at a fast pace.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said:

The US is our largest trading partner and increasing transatlantic trade can help our economies bounce back from the economic challenge posed by Coronavirus. We want to strike an ambitious deal that opens up new opportunities for our businesses, brings in more investment and creates better jobs for people across the whole of the country. As the Prime Minister has said, the UK is a champion of free trade and this deal will make it even easier to do business with our friends across the pond.

United States Trade Representative Lighthizer said:

Under the leadership of President Trump, the United States will negotiate an ambitious and high-standard trade agreement with the UK that will strengthen our economies, support good-paying jobs and substantially improve opportunities for trade and investment between our two countries. This will be an historic agreement that is consistent with U.S. priorities and the negotiating objectives established by Congress in U.S. law.

The UK negotiating team will be led by Oliver Griffiths, Director for US Negotiations at the Department for International Trade; and the US negotiating team will be led by Dan Mullaney, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East. Over 200 staff from UK and U.S. government agencies and departments are expected to take part in the negotiations.

An opening plenary today will kick off the detailed discussions, followed by multiple virtual meetings from Wednesday 6 May to Friday 15 May. The negotiations build on the work conducted through the UK-U.S. Trade and Investment Working Group, which was established in July 2017, partly to lay the ground work for these negotiations.

A comprehensive UK-U.S. trade agreement will further deepen the already very strong trade and investment ties between the UK and United States by creating new opportunities for UK and American families, workers, businesses and farmers through increased access to the other’s market.

The United States and the United Kingdom are the first and fifth largest economies in the world, respectively. Total two-way trade between the two countries is already worth £230 billion a year. Each country is the other’s largest source of foreign direct investment, with over £700 billion invested in each other’s economies. Every day, over one million Americans go to work for UK firms, while over one million Britons go to work for American firms.

The UK-U.S. trade agreement will be a modern agreement designed for the highly advanced and sophisticated UK and U.S. economies. Both governments are committed to maintaining high levels of health, safety, and environmental protection that will serve as a model free trade agreement for the world.