Circular 0074/2020

COMMUNICATION/TEACHING & LEARNING PLATFORM
- Circular 74/2020

The recent DE Circular 0074/2020 requires all schools in the country to immediately have a Communication and Teaching/Learning Platform in place. The creation and/or consolidation and development of such a Digital Platform is both an absolute necessity as a contingency measure in the event of a full or partial closure due to Public Health advice linked to COVID-19, as well as being a crucial support tool for communication, teaching, learning and assessment in a ‘face-to-face’ teaching and learning situation.

We can offer advice, support and provide training in the following areas:

Digital Learning Planning, Review and Digital Leadership

“Schools should incorporate planning for remote learning into their Digital Planning to build capacity for delivery of teaching and learning which will also facilitate provision in the context of remote learning if required” (Circular 74/2020)
Our team can help your school reflect and learn from your previous experiences during the last school lockdown and help you integrate your plan for Remote Learning into your overall Digital Learning Plan. We can help you develop your Professional Development Plan for Staff which will integrate the digital skillsets needed for remote teaching, as well as strategies for using digital technologies in Blended and ‘in-person’ teaching scenarios.

Digital Skills Training for Teaching & Learning

“Whatever communication /teaching & learning platform is chosen by the school it is important that whole-school up-skilling on its usage is in place…the development of digital skills of all teachers, to enable curriculum delivery by a variety of means including the use of technology in education, has to be a priority for schools” (Circular 74/2020)
Tara 365 can create a bespoke digital training solution which supports and develops the digital skillsets and pedagogies among staff members, and which will be matched to whatever Digital Learning Platform you decide to use.

Communication

“Ongoing effective communication with parents and pupils/students to successfully adapt to a remote learning model”. (Circular 74/2020)
Our team can help you perform a communications audit among stakeholders in your school and explore how your chosen Learning Platform might be optimized to facilitate effective two-way communication between all school partners. This audit and platform optimization could also be developed as a part of your School Self-Evaluation process.

Managed IT Support & Advice

“Managing in-school and remote learning environments and necessary technologies (school timetable, access to devices, broadband provision, learning platform, digital tools/resources) …access to technology in the school and home is key to engagement with remote learning where the approach adopted includes digital technology and resources”. (Circular 74/2020)
Tara 365 Learning can advise and support your school on how to plan and manage your IT infrastructure, hardware and software so that your systems are ready to work remotely and, in the school, as per circular. Did you know that all your School Desktop Computers. Laptops, Tablets including iPads and mobile phones can be managed from your Microsoft 365 Cloud. We are helping schools around the country reduce their hardware (no more servers) and IT maintenance (Microsoft 365 Cloud manages all security, anti-virus, and software updates from the cloud. Modern desktop managed in the cloud (Azure AD and Intune) and Mobile device management (MDM) where all devices are managed exclusively in the cloud allowing staff and students access to all data from home or in school. Application deployment, single sign on, Email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and device security all available remotely.

Click on this link to book your FREE 30-minute consultation,
or visit our website www.taralearning.ie or  Telephone 01 4408795

Tara 365 Learning can offer support, advice and training to your school as you adapt and develop your existing Learning Platform to conform with the requirements of Circular 0074/2020. We can help you create and develop your Learning Platform using Microsoft 356 and Teams, Google’s G Suite for Education or SchoolWise. We can also offer advice and provide training on how to best use other combinations of digital tools and apps which may make up your existing ‘Learning Platform’, for example using Zoom as a conferencing tool or Class Dojo and Seesaw as communications platforms. For any Digital Platform, digital tools or apps, our starting point is always from an educational perspective - our focus is on how digital technologies support and add value (or not!) to an appropriate pedagogy underpinning any teaching and learning situation in an Irish school and classroom.