FAQ for Parents

Who do I contact if my child does not have access to online learning at home?

If your child is having any problems accessing their work for any reason, please contact their Head of Year or Year Team Assistant.  Reasons could include not enough devices in the household at any one time or limited internet access/data.   They will support in ensuring your child has the knowledge and resources to access their online learning.

My child cannot login to Microsoft Teams, what should I do?

The log in details for Microsoft Teams is the same as the log in that students use for their email (as the whole Microsoft package is integrated). 

If your child is unable to log in, please email  helpme@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk

What if my child cannot log onto the other Online Platforms? 

There are links at the bottom of this page which lists all the online platforms each department currently uses in the school.  The document has simple instructions on how to access the sites.  If there is still a problem, please email helpme@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk

When will my child's learning activities be available?

Teachers will be delivering the lesson live at the timetabled time of the lesson, so students will need to manage their time well during the day.  After the live lesson takes place, the recorded lesson will be available in the Team the lesson took place in.  

My child does not understand what to do. How can they get help?

Teachers will be using school email addresses to keep in touch with classes. 

Students should make sure that they use their school emails if they want to contact their teacher. 

Teachers will not reply to students’ personal email addresses. Teachers and other staff will be communicating regularly with you over any period of school closure.

What are your expectations for my child's engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?  

The expectation is that students attend all remote lessons including tutor time and that they submit the work set by their teacher. This is not optional; registers will be taken for each lesson and any absence will be recorded as part of their attendance record. 

The pastoral teams will be monitoring and supporting with this.  Where a student is not attending remote lessons, the pastoral team will make contact with parents ASAP via text, phone or email. As a minimum, contact will be made to parents within three days of the school closure.   

See below our useful tips for parents and students on how to create the best environment at home for remote learning.  

What do I do if my child is ill and cannot access the remote lessons?  

If you child is sick, which means that they cannot access the remote lessons, please report this to the school in the usual way.

How will you assess my child`s work and progress? 

Students will be provided with feedback to help them progress in their learning and address any misconceptions. This will take a variety of forms: such as whole class verbal feedback, short self-marking online quizzes and self-assessment.  Written feedback on key pieces of work will be submitted by the class teacher as close as possible to our normal assessment timetable.  

How do I get in contact with someone if I have a question? 

All staff emails can be found by clicking here in a variety of groupings for easier access.

Please respect, wherever possible, the school’s working hours when sending emails.

If an email is sent out of hours, it will almost certainly not be opened and responded to until working hours resume. 

Please be mindful that online learning is a significant change for teachers as well as students. We will all adapt as quickly as possible, but the more enquiries we receive, the longer it will take to respond to them. If your enquiry is essential, please don't hesitate to contact us. If it is not urgent, we will aim to respond within 3 working days.

  • If you need to contact one of your child's teachers, you can email the teacher directly using the contact details which can be found below. 

  • If you have a general 'year group' question, please email your child's HOY on the link below. 

  • If it is a different urgent enquiry, please email the most appropriate member of SLT. 

  • Please only use one contact address at a time. Sending a message to several addresses at once is likely to slow our response rather than speed it up. 

What do I do if I feel that my child needs extra help in missed work? 

If you feel that your child needs additional support, please email the Assistant Headteacher for their relevant key stage: 

KS3:Mr Murrell (tmurrell@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk) 

KS4:Mr Robinson (robinson@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk) 

KS5:Mr Richards (richards@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk). 

Please click here to see the kinds of interventions we put in place for identified students. We also have an enhanced package this year to support students catch up with work missed due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Click here to view these.

Please click here to view a range of online platforms that students can access.

GCSE POD is our main online platform that has over 4,000+ 3-5 minute bite size chunks of quality learning across 21 subjects. There is a section for parents which anyone can access which outlines how you can support your child with using GCSE Pod.

I have a safeguarding issue that I would usually discuss with school. What can I do?

You can contact the school’s Safeguarding Team on safeguarding@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk or on 07742 557898 and one of the Safeguarding team (Ms Cozens, Ms Banfield, Mrs Hayward or Ms Dunford) will contact you to discuss and offer support. 

Should you have an emergency, you should contact Children’s Services direct on 020 8901 2690 to discuss with a social worker. 

The Safeguarding Team will be in contact with Children’s Services and will continue to support your child if such support is already in place and is required.

My child has a Learning Mentor. Will they have any contact while school is closed?

Ms Banfield will be contacting her mentees via email to check on their progress and wellbeing at regular intervals.  She is available on dbanfield@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk 

How will SEN / HIP / EAL support operate now?

TAs and Communicators will work alongside teachers to provide resources for the students they would normally be supporting in class and these resources will be available alongside all other work on Teams etc.

SEN / HIP / EAL students will be allocated a Key Worker from the team of TAs and Communicators who will then regularly contact students via email every other day to ensure they are accessing work and to support them however they can. TAs and Communicators will contact their students on Day 1 of closure to set up this contact.

For all of the above, please also ‘cc’ in Ms Cozens on cozens@hatchend.harrow.sch.uk

What Safeguarding measures are in place when students log into a 'live' lesson?

Microsoft Teams is a secure software package, to which only the students and teachers have access.  

Click here to see a range of resources that will support your child with online safety. 

During a live or pre-recorded lesson, the camera will be trained on the teacher and the screen, or just on the screen with teacher’s voice. It is our current policy that pupils should not be visible on screen at any time, however this is under review. 

To mirror what would happen in school, even though the student will not be visible at any time, it is important that students wear appropriate clothing during the live lesson, with an appropriate background. 

As students will be muted for sound and video, other students will not be able to see them on screen. 

There are clear procedures for staff to follow where a child protection issue may arise during a live stream (e.g. the staff member witnesses behaviour which suggests a child may be at risk of harm).

My child is eligible for Free School Meals. Can you help?

The school is currently providing free school meals on site as normal though with a slightly amended menu. If the school is required to move to Tier 2, 3 or 4 then the arrangements for free school meals will be updated. 

The provision will reflect the latest Government Guidance and any national initiative such as the Food Voucher Scheme and this section will be updated accordingly.

When will you reopen fully as normal?

We are in frequent contact with the Local Authority and Public Health Officials and will always keep you fully updated on any changes to the school`s status.

Other useful tips for Parents and Students

  • Establish routines and expectations: start times, breaks and lunch at school are at clear times and the `virtual school day` aims to mirror this. Maintaining this routine can help maintain a positive work ethic. Avoid spending the day in your pyjamas!
  • Identify a clear physical space in which to work: this will make it easier to focus on your learning, without other distractions.
  • Talk about the plan for the day, and the lessons ahead: spending extended time working at home is unfamiliar territory. Talking about how things are going can help pre-empt any problems.
  • Set times to be on and offline: There will be more screen time than normal whilst working at home. You may have to share devices with family members and setting time limits in advance can help manage this successfully. Equally, spending time offline is important to maintain a sense of balance in the day.
  • Remember to exercise: Your wellbeing is enhanced by physical activity, so do make time for this. The PE team have planned some excellent activities. This can really help if you are feeling anxious, which is completely normal whilst you are working from home.
  • Talk about things on your mind: it will be a big adjustment working from home every day. Talk about how things are going. The international situation is highly changeable. It is normal to feel uncertainty about this too. Be conscious of how much of the news you watch and talk about what you are watching. 
  • Read a book: Escape, relax, unwind. Look after yourself.

Where can I find more information on Wellbeing and Emotional Health?

Hatch End High School is committed to ensuring that all our students, their families and our staff can access help and support on Wellbeing & Emotional Health.

Online Safety

Please discuss online safety with your child/children before they start our online learning programme.  

Our resources help you to do this and are all available on our website.