Using Microsoft Teams for live lessons (Students)

How to join a Teams meeting & settings to use

What do I use to join a Teams lesson?

  • Download and install the Microsoft Teams app onto your device. This will work much better than running Teams in your browser. It also gives you more options during the meetings.
  • Sign in to the app using your school Office365 account. If you sign in as a guest your teacher may not admit you from the lobby and may ask you to leave and sign in again using your school account. This is to ensure the correct students and only Highams Park students are in the online lessons.
  • If multiple people (eg siblings at Highams Park or child & parent) use the same desktop or laptop device, we recommend you set up multiple users on that device (Windows | Mac OS). This way you can keep each other's Teams meetings separate.

What times are the lessons?

  • Your timetable is exactly the same as if you were in school.
  • You have 5 mins between lessons and no registration. So please join your lesson on time. Arriving late makes it difficult for teachers who are already delivering a lesson and have to check who you are and admit you. Registers will be taken as normal.

How do I join a Teams lesson?

  • If everyone is off school (eg snow closure), your teacher will send you the link to join your lesson in a Task on Firefly. Click the link and choose to open the meeting in your Teams app when prompted.
  • If you are an individual student self-isolating at home, your teacher may invite you via Teams directly to join the lesson they are delivering to the rest of the class in school. Simply join the lesson from the invitation within your Teams app or follow the link sent to your school email address.

Should I have my camera and microphone on or off?

When joining a Microsoft Teams lesson students must have their video and microphone turned off. You are only to switch these on if directed by your teacher.

What else will I need?

Everything you would have in a normal lesson (book(s), stationary, calculator etc...)

For many lessons your teacher will need you to use other resources (eg your own version of the PowerPoint slides, worksheets, videos, animations etc...) Your teacher may attach a page containing these to your Firefly task for example. It will be useful to have these running before you join the Teams meeting

What if I miss the live lesson?

Lessons will be recorded and shared with you afterwards via the same Firefly task with the original Teams link. Any questions, please contact your teacher by email.

Will all lessons be live on Microsoft Teams?

Teams is a perfect way for teachers to provide remote support to students. But it may not be possible for all teachers to deliver live lessons due to other commitments. Instead or in addition you may be sent work to do as a Firefly Task or Recommended Bookmark, so make sure you keep track of both of those.

Student Microsoft Teams lessons Code of Conduct

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Student MS Teams lessons Code of Conduct

  • Students are expected to behave in the Microsoft Teams lesson as they would in school and all usual school rules regarding behaviour and etiquette apply.
  • Students must treat others with respect at all times during online lessons. If the code of conduct is not followed appropriately then you may be removed from the online lesson, parents will be contacted and school sanctions applied.
  • Students must ensure they are adequately prepared for their online lessons, having all the necessary equipment available (pen, exercise book, equipment, calculator etc).
  • Students will choose a quiet and sensible place to work from – ideally a living room or shared (quiet) space in your house.
  • If the video setting has been allowed by the teacher students must be appropriately dressed, no pyjamas/nightwear or inappropriate clothing, and ensuring their background is neutral
  • When speaking during the ‘lesson’ only do so when instructed by your teacher. Talk slowly and clearly making sure you are always polite and wait for any pauses or delays that may occur due to connection issues.
  • Appropriate language must be used at all times when communicating with staff, addressing staff with their usual work title (e.g. Miss/ Ms/ Mrs/ Mr).
  • Students should use formal staff-student boundaries at all times when speaking to staff and they should not ask staff questions relating to their private life/ home situation.
  • Students agree that all messages they send during Teams lessons, or information they upload, will always be polite, sensible and relevant and respectful towards all participants in the lesson.
  • Students are not permitted to record or screenshot the meeting. Your teacher may record lessons for safeguarding reasons and will only use the function within Microsoft Teams to do so. All participants will be informed when any recording is taking place.
  • Remember these ‘lessons’ are between teachers and students ONLY. If parents wish to contact the school they should do so through the usual channels (e.g email to Head of Department or Head of Year).
  • Students are aware that Microsoft Teams is a closed school system and only accessible via your school Office365 account and should therefore not invite any guests from outside the class or school to join the system through the misuse of login details.
  • Students, parents/carers should be mindful that they and other family members might be seen or heard within the session by staff. Trying to limit this would be recommended and can be guaranteed if the students microphone and video remain turned off. It is acceptable for a student to participate in the lesson by just listening and can inform the teacher via the messaging facility if they wish to proceed in this way.