24th September 2020

• At a recent meeting with representatives from Sheffield College, several parents said that their young person with SEND was having difficulties accessing the virtual learning provided by the college. The college have now sent us the following response:

  • At enrolment we were doing our best to establish IT needs of students. As students are enrolling later this year we are likely to hit some difficulties.
  • Week commencing 7 September at College was an IT induction. In this week students came to College, their log in was checked and their IT access was reviewed. They met their teachers and their ‘bubbles’. Those with poor IT access e.g. do not have a laptop were supported to apply for the funding to access the laptop or whatever device is needed for the area they are studying in. Some students may have enrolled late and missed this week and therefore should follow the advice below*.
  • Week commencing 14 Sept is induction week with online learning beginning. We have processes in place to check the induction was completed so students who missed this will be followed up.
  • Week commencing 21 Sept is week one of learning where blended approaches to study are in place.
  • The IT equipment identified in week commencing 7 Sept is in the process of being distributed and students are being supported to access the online learning.
  • A reporting mecahnism to tell staff that they have problems logging in has been devised by our team. This report is sent to the Assistant Principals who then direct to the correct manager to follow up.
  • The college has invested heavily in bookable IT areas for students who are struggling at home or cannot access online learning e.g. because they are blind. This means that students can book into areas to access IT with staff support and direction.
  • When staff know the IT challenge we are directing them to these bookable IT areas or following up on different areas of support e.g. we are working with a student to access things using his x-box!

  *If there are concerns we suggest speaking to the tutorial mentor or personal tutor in the foundation learning areas. In some cases a family may yet have to identify who this person is for their young person so the other options are:

  • Use the central SEN mailbox wherever possible: ALS-SENDAdvice@sheffcol.ac.uk
  • Call the general enquiries number 0114 260 2600 and ask to speak to the tutorial mentor