Spring term sessions at the Literacy Pirates – Guide for families
Due to current government guidance and after careful consideration, we have decided to hold our learning programme online until February half term. This step is a precautionary measure and we hope to return to in-person sessions after that.
We have excellent experience in this area from running our Virtual Ship, where the Young Pirates have produced the same books, films and exciting projects as the in-person Ship.
Our Literacy Pirates crew should be in contact to arrange a solution if your child needs a laptop to take part in the sessions.
Where? The sessions will take place online on our learning platform, called Vedamo.
How? A link will be sent to your email address, which your child will use to join the sessions every week. Please ensure that they are – joining from a laptop/computer, with an in-built microphone and webcam. Please see this webpage to check if your device is suitable:
https://www.vedamo.com/knowledge/platform-tutorials/technical-requirements/
Time: 4-6pm
Who to contact if have any queries: 07912178037 – Hackney
07706 002254 – Haringey
Please note, you may receive calls from different numbers during session as our staff are working from home.
Structure of each session: 4:00 – 4:15: Young Pirates play one of our fun pirate-themed games
4:00-4:50: Reading from a carefully selected text with their crewmate/volunteer
4:50-5:00- Break + chat
5:00-5:50 – Working on their special project. Supported with their writing with crewmates and pirate-themed literacy resources/
5:50-6:00 – Shoutouts
Common trouble shooting issues:
Technical issues?
Before joining the virtual classroom, you will have an opportunity to test your microphone, wifi and camera. You will be given help on the screen if you need it.
During the mic testing, please speak into the microphone clearly and confirm if you can hear your recording playing back.
Mic not working (permissions)
Please check you are using a supported browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge
Windows 10: Please follow these instructions to turn on microphone permissions to allow Vedamo to function as normal.
1) Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone > Click on the slider for’ vedamo’ to allow microphone permission
AND/OR
2) Click on the padlock next to the address bar > Click on the downward arrow > Change to ‘Always Allow’ next to microphone
3) Close the session and re-join to complete the system checks again
Camera not working (permissions)
Windows 10: Please follow these instructions to turn on camera permissions to allow Vedamo to function as normal.
Start > Settings > Privacy > Camera > Click on the slider for’ vedamo’ to allow camera permission
AND/OR
2) Click on the padlock next to the address bar > (Google Chrome users: click on site settings) > Click on the downward arrow next to camera icon > Change to ‘Always Allow’ next to camera icon
3) Close the session and re-join to complete the system checks again
On Apple devices:
Click on the apple icon at the top left corner of your screen > System Preferences > Settings and Privacy > Check that Vedamo has a blue tick next to your camera and microphone permissions.
Q&A:
Q) I am worried my child won’t engage online.
A) We understand that online learning was a challenge last year. With school’s open, your child won’t feel the same fatigue with screen-time.
We believe we do online learning differently – we have a specialist platform and we still play games and give the excellent volunteer support. Please see this video about our virtual ship:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vX5XwH-ztU.
We are also going to offer some sessions to show the platform. We will be in touch soon, if this is something you have expressed an interest in.
Also, we have families and children on our online programme who weren’t sure their children would enjoy it, but we are receiving messages after our first project saying they’re so glad to be joining us in online sessions.
Q) I am worried about screen time.
A) We understand that concern. We make sure our sessions have breaks and games. Young people want to go online so we think it’s a great time to have some supported and purposeful screen time – it’s fun and supports their learning.
If you would like to discuss a concern with a member of our crew, please get in touch.