Virtual Parents' Evening

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Protocol for Virtual Parents’ Evenings

As virtual parents’ evenings are new to us, we thought it important to establish some ground rules so that all participants are following the same protocol, which should ensure everyone’s well-being.

• Conversations should take place in appropriate rooms e.g. kitchen, lounge, study and not in a bedroom.
• All participants should be appropriately attired as they would be for a real-life face to face meeting.
• No conversations should be recorded.
• If you are using a device with FaceTime or WhatsApp to enable both parents from different households to attend simultaneously, please flag this up to the teacher as a matter of courtesy at the start of the conversation.
• Both teachers and parents have the choice of using audio or video.
• As in real life, your child is welcomed to attend.
• Please try to be on time as the slot times are not flexible at all and will start/finish exactly on time automatically. The teacher is not able to extend this.
• The first 30 seconds of each conversation allows for a short break for the teacher who will initiate the conversation at some point when they are ready during this time.
• Hamstead Hall Academy is often commended for the very positive, constructive relationships between staff and parents/carers and it is important that this continues. Therefore, please note that in the extremely unlikely event of verbal abuse, staff will end the conversation and refer the matter to the Senior Leadership Team.

Tips for the Best Virtual Experience

In order to make video calls you need to have as a minimum:

• A device with a microphone and speaker and ideally a camera
• A compatible web browser which is updated to the latest version:
• - iPhone/iPad: Safari
• - Android: Chrome or Firefox
• - Windows: Chrome, Firefox
• - Mac: Safari, Chrome or Firefox
• - Linux: Chrome or Firefox

We also recommend:

• Using your smartphone for video appointments. If you don't have a smartphone with a front-facing camera, use a laptop or computer with a webcam and microphone.
• Using the link in your confirmation email to directly access the appointment without needing login details.
• Logging on prior to the start of the evening and check you can see “Join Video Appointments”.
• Ensure you are using a suitable browser.
• Make sure your camera and microphone and volume are fully enabled in your settings and that you have allowed the system to access them prior to the video call.
• Better sound is achieved if only one person speaks (closely) to the microphone at a time.
• If one party loses connection, please just wait whilst they log in again - you should be able to resume if there is time remaining.
• If there is a sound/display issue, try clicking the microphone/camera icon off and on again.
• If there is still an issue, try logging off and logging on again or try another device. If possible.
• We cannot do any more on the night so please be forgiving in case of a technical hitch. We are doing our best to make contact at this difficult time. If you miss a conversation or have repeated connection issues the teacher will contact you in the next couple of days.

Parents' Guide

parent guide website.pdf

Video Demonstration