I know as a teacher how annoying it is to see back to school signs in shops, but come on we all have to face it, the summer holidays are nearly over, it’s time to stop taking “hotdog leg selfies” and banish the afternoon siestas because it is (nearly) time to go back to school
Going back to school after the long summer holiday break can be tough. To make it easier on everyone, I have identified some ways you can use LGfL resources and services to make the reality of going back to work a tad smoother and to help you get the most out of your LGfL subscription.
Make sure you are using our curriculum resources to their fullest: by mapping our resources to your school’s curriculum, browse by subject/key stage to see everything relevant to you at a glance or search for a specific national curriculum statement for a specific lesson need.
Boost your bandwidth: Pledge 2020 is about supercharging connectivity across LGfL schools so they can make use of 4K streaming, virtual reality and cloud computing. The average boost to LGfL schools is 200%; this will place schools at the forefront of digital connectivity in the UK and the world. To find out how much additional bandwidth you will receive free of charge go to www.pledge.2020.lgfl.net. Sign in with your USO account to get a personalised update for your school or MAT. Just click on the “count me in” button to find out about the upgrade (this is a FREE upgrade and there is no requirement to renew your contract). This infographic sets out the rationale for Pledge 2020 – why it was needed for schools and what else LGfL are doing to ensure that your school/MAT can not only meet bandwidth pressures but is also future-proofed.
Read and subscribe to our blogs: to keep up to date with our latest resources, we currently have 4 blogs that you can subscribe to. We have our Curriculum Blog (which you’re reading at the moment!) This blog is updated weekly and offers a mix of topical pieces relating to how best to use LGfL content within your school setting. We also have Safe Blog (offering regular information, commentary and updates to safeguarding), the Inclusion Blog (how you can use our content to support all learners) and our newest blog Let’s get Digital (how cloud-based platforms can help transform teaching and learning).
Check out our Savings Calculator: Using our new savings calculator you can see just how much your LGfL Let’s get Digital subscription is saving your school, whilst providing you with award-winning curriculum resources and high-speed broadband.
Save the date(s) for our upcoming conferences:
Supercloud Conference 2019 - 1st November: Get to know exactly what it means to be 'Cloud-Ready' and deep dive into the latest technology from our major Cloud Partners! Eventbrite page for booking this conference will be live shortly.
The LGfL Inclusion and Wellbeing Conference 2019 - 1st November: Focusing on communication to support inclusion and wellbeing. Eventbrite page for booking this conference will be live shortly.
Safeconf 2020 - Early Bird tickets for SafeConf 2020 on 6th March available here now – we will add an agenda and speakers over the next few months.
Introduce creativity into the classroom with Adobe Creative Cloud: Digital skills and the ability to solve complex problems through critical thinking and creativity, are going to play a huge role in your students’ future success. That's why LGfL has partnered with Adobe to provide creative problem-solving technology to schools. LGfL is offering free Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for schools (120 for secondary schools and 30 for primary and SEND schools) as part of their subscription. Additionally, schools can access an unlimited number of Adobe Spark for Education licenses at no additional cost. Just click here to claim your licences.
Check out our training hub: We have added a huge range of unique training to our Training Hub. Browse and book now, or why not share the link with colleagues? Training is FREE for all LGfL and TrustNet teachers; you can find out more about the courses on offer and how to sign up here. Examples of future courses include: Creative Computing, Supporting Teaching Assistants, Google and Microsoft training, and Online-Safety training featuring CEOP THINKUKNOW introduction and much, much more.
Sign up to our newsletters: Every month we send out a newsletter via email to everyone who has signed up, this is a great way to hear about updates to our online learning resources, updates to education legislation and news on how we can help you to keep your students safe and learn more with LGfL. We have 3 different newsletters LGfL, DSLs and Online Safety Leads and SEND. If you missed a previous newsletter you can find an archive here.
Use your USO: Make sure you and the students have access to all of LGfL content at school and home by ensuring everyone knows their USO and password. Below is a short video to help you in acquiring staff and student USOs (just click on the image below):
Make sure you aren’t paying for a service we already provide for you: Our Broadband and e-mail services are state-of-the-art, made for schools, and approved by selfguiding experts. But there are many other services provided to LGfL subscribers at no additional cost, from discounts on GDPR implementation services, access to the latest Malware software, to Microsoft training/G suite implementation and much more!
Like and follow us on Social Media: For all of the latest news, events and updates to our resources and support.
- LGfL is on Facebook and Twitter
- TRUSTnet is on Facebook and Twitter
- Digisafe is on Facebook and Twitter
- IncludED is on Twitter
- CyberCloud is on Twitter
- Supercloud is on Twitter
Check out our new updated Inclusion Resources Centre: Across LGfL, there are many resources which support inclusion. Our Inclusion resources centre means you can search for resources to support your learners faster than ever before and now has extra information You will also find two of our latest resources here: Learning Through Movement (is a staff training resource focusing on the importance of movement, handwriting & maintaining focus and CPD) and Multisensory Learning (is a resource to support understanding of multisensory learning).
Update your online safety and AUPs: The Digisafe Team have been busy over the summer updating our Online-Safety policy and AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) and have a range of differentiated templates so that all learners can stay safe online. While you are in the Digisafe area have a look at the fantastic new online safety posters too.
Book a free training session: It’s never too late to book a free school session with one of our Learning Resource Consultants. Our expert LRC’s will create a bespoke training session for your staff so that your school can get the most out of the LGfL’s curriculum content. Our consultants offer flexible sessions including after-school sessions; they generally last an hour or we can offer a whole or half day INSET. Just email training@lgfl.net to organise a date for your free session.
How are you going to use LGfL services and resources to help energise your students learning? Do let us know by sharing your hints and tips via our Facebook and Twitter or in the comments below. If we like or retweet your comment you can win an LGfL goodie bag!
However you start the new academic year, the LGfL curriculum team wish you the very best of luck and hope that we can support you and your students throughout the upcoming year.