07/01/2021 Letter to all parents

Letters Home Hits: 1798

Dear Parent and Carers, 

I hope that you are adjusting to the new regulations and getting support where needed. Please remember that we are here to help as much as we can. Yesterday Mr Gulzar issued a statement regarding devices that can be loaned out to families to support with remote learning. This can be found on our website in ‘latest news’. 

Birchfield are understandably receiving a very high number of requests from parents for devices. Birchfield have so far been allocated 21 Ipads. I anticipate that even with an additional allocation coming through from the Department for Education, there still may not be enough with families working and learning from home and I know how challenging this is for everyone. 

We have learnt that you are able to access Microsoft Teams through an Xbox or a PlayStation and I am aware that lots of our children have a games console. This may be very helpful to some of you. 

Using Xbox to access Microsoft Teams

  1. If you have one, plug a keyboard into the Xbox USB slot. (If not, use the controller to follow the rest of the instructions). 
  2. Go to my games and apps.
  3. Find Microsoft Edge and select it.
  4. Type in Microsoft Teams and then login into your account using your username and password.
  5. You can then access all the online content for home learning and watch live sessions. 
  6. To move around, you use the Xbox controller or plug in a mouse. 

Using a PlayStation to access Microsoft Teams

  1. Go to the library and find options for games and applications.
  2. Go into applications and you will find the internet browser (it’s a WWW with dots around it).
  3. Type in Microsoft Teams and then login into your account using your username and password.
  4. You can then access all the online content for home learning and watch live sessions. 
  5. Use a headset to interact if you have one. 

I have also looked online and found that there are a variety of tablets available for around the £45- £50 mark which would also be suitable for your children to access remote learning, for example the Lenovo M7 7inch Tab or the Alba 7 Inch 16GB Tablet. I fully understand that this may not be an option but wanted to share this information with you if it is helpful.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Z Thewlis

Head of School