Keeping your school virtually open.

The weather is proving to be a real challenge to all schools in the borough.

Jonathan Chicken, School Improvement Officer for North Tyneside Council, takes this opportunity to give a timely reminder about the tools and possibilities for learning that NTLP brings to your school community.

In November 2010, learners logged in to NTLP 57226 times to join their school’s community online.

Stephenson Memorial Primary School, kept in touch with their school Community as the bad weather hit.

Meanwhile, Cullercoats Primary School shared a KS1 snow adventure story and images and Marden Bridge Middle School informed Parents it was business as usual.

Recently opened Benton Dene Schools launched their NTLP public website this week to help disseminate information about school access.

Dave Cookson, Deputy Principal at Seaton Burn College said:

The Platform has meant that students from the schools in the cluster can access all of their lesson materials in one place at anytime. This proved invaluable when students have been unable to attend.

Earlier this year, when snow hit the borough, Marden High School students logged in to receive their online learning via NTLP. Their pages received over 1500 hits in just a few days.

To ensure learning continues to take place between snow-play, many schools have issued learning related online tasks.

This week;

• Mr. Tueart from the PE Department at Churchill Community College asked his Students to engage in a discussion forum online.
• Year 9 students at Marden High School were engaged online following their recent work with Mr Murray, Head of Geography using this webquest about Earthquakes.
• The English department at Norham College have also set work beyond the classroom, and enouraged their students to email homework back to their teachers.
• ICT Students at St. Thomas More RC High School, can continue to access their curriculum online since NTLP is used consistently to deliver lessons, homework and collaboration.
• Year 10 Students at Longbenton Community College continued their learning, Writing to Comment, before and after their college day would usually begin.

Communication is a key feature of NTLP and particularly the use of NTLP secure email, shared calendars and collaborative documents and live chat are proving extremely useful in communicating with school communities.

David Baldwin, Head Teacher at Churchill Community College said,

Gmail has revolutionised the way we communicate with each other. We have enabled daily communications through a decision that all staff check e-mails first thing each morning. An example of the swift and effective way we can communicate with staff has been regular updates to all staff both at school and at home through the recent poor weather.

Online Chat has proved useful to staff to explore issues outside normal school time. The system indicates who is available to chat and groups have been able to utilise this.

Dave Cookson, Deputy Principal at Seaton Burn College said,

Google Calendars mean that all staff have instant access to exam schedules and data entry deadlines at the click of a mouse, wherever they are.

The Learning Platform team and the wider ICT team are invariably available to discuss platform use across the school day and often into the evening.

Alex Rutherford, ICT Facilitator for Benton Dene Schools said,

The chat has been invaluable this week for 2 reasons... firstly the weather conditions! It has allowed me to access support from the NTLP team without leaving my desk! Secondly the work related chat has given me not only the technical help with the unexpected early launch of our new website, but also the confidence to go for it!

To find out how develop your use of NTLP collaborative tools, contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Information to support Learning Platform use has been sent to all schools and teachers in the borough. Please consider e-learning as a method of engaging learners beyond school boundaries and particularly during severe weather situations.

Should you wish to discuss these opportunities in more detail, the NTLP team, Ian, Chris and Adam, are available to support, and can be contacted This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or via a secure google chat window from your NTLP mail account (regardless of the weather!!!)