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IT support

This page has been designed to offer support to students and parents/carers to ensure they can make full use of the IT systems used at TCA, whether they are in school or at home.

On this page you will find Sway newsletters containing 'How to' guides for how to use our IT systems and software applications.

If you cannot find what you're looking for, please contact Dr T Jones or the Office:

Forgotten a student password to 'login' to the school computers and RM Unify?

Contact your Form Tutor or if at home, use the Office email.

Forgotten your PiXL password, Maths Watch password or other apps?

Contact your subject teacher.

Forgotten your Bedrock password?

Contact your English teacher.

To access Satchel, (formerly Show My Homework) login through RM Unify. Having problems?

Our contact for Satchel is Mr J Birch:
jbirch@thomasclarksonacademy.org

Our 'How to' guides provide step-by-step guidance for how to use the academic software applications used here at TCA.

Click on a Sway below and navigate the pages by swiping the screen up/down, scrolling the pages with the mouse wheel, or using the side scroll bars. For optimal viewing, open in full screen using the expand button.

 

 

TCA supporting remote learning - click here
TCA IT systems explained

At TCA we are proud to be a Microsoft Showcase School, part of a global community of schools engaged in digital transformation to improve teaching and learning. Showcase Schools create immersive and inclusive experiences that inspire lifelong learning, stimulating development of essential future-ready skills so students are empowered to achieve more.

Our students have access to modern computer suites and the latest software to support their learning. Year  12 and 13 students are using the latest in hybrid laptop/tablet devices which they can use in lessons and for independent study.

Our teaching is progressive, incorporating digital technology to facilitate hybrid learning, which combines classroom learning with online learning, allowing students to learn anytime, anywhere. Incorporating methods of interaction that foster independence, providing control over pace and engaging students through rich media with tools to support learning such as Immersive Reader and Language Translation.

Students have access to a wide variety of software applications and education websites accessible from within their RM Unify launch pad (above). RM Unify is the landing page for students when they open an Internet browser in the school. Below is a description of some of the software applications available to our students.

  System/app/website

 

Outlook - one of our main communication methods is Email using Microsoft Outlook. Students can send and receive emails and use the calendar feature to plan their year.

Microsoft Teams - is central to many of our academic systems at TCA sporting multiple features to support academia.

 

Subject classroom – A virtual classroom (Team) is setup for every subject a student is studying. This feature enables students to have access to teaching and learning resources, whether it’s a normal day in school or working from home.

Chat/Meetings - our second main communication method providing a chat option for students to contact teachers for support and for staff to provide announcements so that all students are kept up to date with the latest information. The meeting feature allows for remote teaching so that students can join in with lessons from home should the need arise.

Collaboration – teachers can set collaborative work for students to work with their peers, co-author, chat and share resources using Microsoft Office 365 applications.

Assignments/Gradebook – teachers assign work to students with information and links to resources. The gradebook organises and tracks grades across each class assignment. Students use a ‘hand in’ feature to submit their work digitally and receive feedback all within the one app ‘MS Teams’.

OneNote Class Notebook – linked to each virtual classroom provides a one-stop teaching and learning environment where students can access a digital textbook, digital exercise book and collaborative area to work with their peers. If a student is working from home, they can access their Notebook, work through the resources, complete their work, leave comments for the teacher and view teacher marking and comments. OneNote has a rich set of tools, including accessibility features, immersive reader (reading support), audio recorder, dictation, language translation, typing and drawing, maths support, research support, features of a MS Words (word processor) and much more.

Satchel - (formerly Show My homework) is where student homework is assigned and has a parent link feature so that parents can keep up to date with the homework deadlines for each subject and if the homework has been submitted on time, late or not at all.

Bedrock Learning - is a digital literacy curriculum designed for primary and secondary students of all abilities, Bedrock Learning is helping schools and parents to transform learning and literacy, equipping all learners with the knowledge they need to improve their educational outcomes.

PiXL Maths - is a skills-based maths assessment program. The app successfully highlights your strengths and your areas to develop. This is a very useful and accurate tool to use prior to any test to help rank which revision topics are of the most importance.

You will find other PiXL apps on RM Unify for other subjects too.

The Dance Blog provides information on exciting events and all the ‘happening things’ relating to expressive arts.

PiXL English - contains 16 texts and a range of different activities to help strengthen the knowledge of those texts. The activities revolve around gaining a deeper understanding of quotations through testing memory recall of the quotes, reciting who said the quote or who the quote was about, events and happenings and literature terminology. 

Kudos - is the leading career development service helping you to explore, develop and maximise your potential.

Thinkuknow - is the education programme from NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children both online and offline.

TED - is devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics, from science to business to global issues, in more than 100 languages. Independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world. TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world.

How Stuff Works - is an award-winning source of unbiased, reliable, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works.

Online safety 
  • Internet matters - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
  • London Grid for Learning - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
  • Net-aware - for support for parents and careers from the NSPCC
  • Parent info - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
  • Thinkuknow - for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online
  • UK Safer Internet Centre - advice for parents and carers
  • CEOP - Child Exploitation and Online Safety: If you are a victim of online abuse or you’re worried about somebody else, report your concerns securely. 

E-safety guidance for parents/carers

National Online Safety

Click here to view our Safeguarding page.