Overview

The guidelines outlined in this document must be read in conjunction with the school’s Social Media and GDPR policies.

Lessons taking place should be normal teaching practice and the video environment should be considered a ‘classroom’. Tutors will have the same expected professional behaviours and safeguarding roles as set out in the teaching protocol policy. There are additional responsibilities and considerations as laid out below. All lessons will take place using the “Google Meet & Classroom” platforms.

MTO Persian School email accounts are only to be used for lessons arranged by MTO Persian School. Staff/students are not permitted to use their MTO Persian School email account for private or social purposes.

Advanced security procedures have been implemented within our set up to ensure the learning environment is safe and secure. These include:

  • Private Chat is disabled
  • By sending an invitation email to the students, the teacher controls who can enter the “Google Classroom”.
  • Teacher can remove anybody from the lesson at any time

All lessons will be accessible for MTO Persian School managers to ‘drop in’ and oversee at any time for the purposes of quality assurance and safeguarding.

Staff, parents/carers, and students will all have MTO Persian School contacts they can report any issues to. Contact channels will be disseminated for both safeguarding and technical issues.

As per our standard safeguarding policy a member of management staff will be on call at all times when teaching is taking place to report any urgent safeguarding concerns.

All tutors taking part in the programme will take part in specific MTO Persian School training. This will cover safeguarding procedures, use of the software and appropriate teaching methods. Training should be renewed every year and will be logged centrally with other safeguarding training.

Information for teachers

Social Media

Staff must:

  • not engage or communicate with children or children’s families via personal or non-school-authorised accounts
  • be aware of their digital footprint – the information about a person that exists on the internet as a result of their online activity
  • only use authorised school accounts to send school communications
  • use staff accounts for professional purposes only, including email, website and social media accounts
  • take steps to avoid being found by children on social media, by selecting strict privacy settings, using a different display name and choosing an appropriate display picture
  • not use social media in a way that would breach other school policies
Session and data management
  • Administrators will have access to all lesson sessions. Tutors will all have individual log-ins to the system as ‘hosts’.
  • The list of tutors who have access to MTO Persian School licence will be monitored regularly by MTO Persian School administration to ensure it includes only those currently delivering online lessons for MTO PERSIAN SCHOOL.
  • Staff should only use an approved MTO Persian School logo on the white board in the background during the recording or the live lesson. Computers and equipment
  • If using their own desktop or laptop computer, tutors should set up a dedicated user account with a clear desktop and only related programmes in order to prevent accidental sharing of unrelated or inappropriate material.
  • Tutors are permitted to use the ‘share screen’ function taking special care to choose specific resources and not their entire desktop. Students are not permitted to use this function.
  • The live lesson must not be recorded on a personal device, nor should any photographs be taken under any circumstance.
  • All other web browsers and programmes not related to the lesson must be closed before starting the lesson. The school Management and IT technician will provide a technical guidance for tutors for further detailed information and guidance. They will also ensure that the operating system of “Google Meet” & “Google Classroom” App are kept updated on all individual devices, to make sure that lessons are protected againstemerging security threats.

Location of lessons

  • Lessons should ideally take place in front of a neutral plain background (applies to both tutor and student).
  • Any furniture, pictures and ornaments visible in the tutor’s teaching space should be non-distracting or school appropriate (e.g. posters, images).
  • Care should be taken to minimise visibility of any personal items (e.g. family photos).
  • Lessons should take place in a suitable quiet space, without intrusions from others, or movement taking place behind the tutor visible on camera.
  • Tutors are advised to situate themselves so that their webcam is not pointing towards a window. This will help to make their video stream clearer.
  • Tutors may wish to invite a MTO Persian School colleague or manager to visit their “Google Meet” & “Google Classroom” space to help risk assess their teaching area.
  • Tutors should know how to act if they have any concerns about a student/ parent/carer.

By signing this form you consent to teaching online using both camera and microphone on the proposed platform. You consent that you will teach in accordance with the protocol outlined above and your lessons be
recorded for safety purposes and in line with GDPR regulations.

Print Name: …………………………………………… Date: ……………………
Signature:

Teacher Guidelines and Declaration