I logged on to our school’s online learning platform with trepidation. 

This was the first Monday of remote learning. Over the weekend, I had set work, asking students to submit responses to five recall questions as a way of checking that they were able to get online and see the work that I had set. 

Although I was uncertain about this new way of working, there was one thing I was sure about: which students would engage with the learning. 

It would be the students always raising their hands and offering contributions; the ones who always hand their work in early; those whose parents offer regular support and always email me. 

Wrong. The first student to submit work (before 9am) was a student in my Year 10 class, who does none of the above - let’s call him John. 

John is the most unassuming and unassertive student in the class. He is what is known, probably unfairly, as a “grey” student.

Although I dislike the term, “grey” is a label used to refer to students who do not stand out. They are the children who sit in lessons and neither put their hand up to answer questions, nor cause any disruption or distraction. They are the students who get told at parents’ evening, “It would be really nice if you would share your ideas more”, because the teacher probably does not have too much to say about them. 

But to my surprise, these are the students who have become the true stars of remote learning. 

Why is this? John, and those like him, are used to sitting in the classroom, waiting patiently for instructions. Once they have those instructions, they are used to quietly getting on with following them. 

Remote learning has made this process much easier for them. They now receive their instructions without delay and can get on with the work straightaway. There are no classmates to distract them and they don’t have to stand out among the crowd to ask for their teacher’s time. They can get feedback just for doing the work and doing it well, rather than having to draw attention to themselves. 

For me, the silver lining of this time in lockdown is that it has shone a light on “grey” students like John. They might not demand our attention as much as others do, but they do deserve it - and I’m not sure that I have always been giving it to them. 

Remote learning has really made it clear to me that I need to do a better job of praising these students for their hard work, both now, and when we return. Here’s how I plan to do that. 

Nominate students for praise

As a department, we have recently started nominating students at key stage 3 who are doing a great job in their remote learning and phoning home to let their parents know.

We have always nominated students deserving of praise on a weekly and termly basis at school, and the names I receive from my team are often familiar. But the list that has been submitted for remote learning is very different - I don’t know these names. 

Arguably, the parents of these students will rarely hear from their teachers; it is wonderful to imagine these households getting phone calls of praise about how their children are engaging with learning during this difficult time. 

Keep a record

In the first week, I contacted each of my normally “grey” students on our learning platform and told them just how well they were doing. Their responses made it clear how grateful they were for this.

It’s important that we recognise the achievements of these students immediately, but I also want to make sure that they are celebrated when we return to school, too.

At our school, we have started to record weekly submission numbers for assignments, but in my department, as well as recording who has submitted, we are also recording a scale of how hard they are working so that we can praise these students for their overall efforts during their remote learning at a later date.

Promote their work 

We’re also coming up with ways to recognise the work these students are doing more widely. 

For example, one year group is doing creative writing and we have asked them to write descriptions of the school, which we have collated and published on our department blog.

We shared the blog link in our headteacher’s weekly bulletin to parents and our views spiked dramatically as a result.

Check in discreetly

When I return to school, I plan to have one-to-one conversations with each of my “grey” students to praise them in person and tell them how impressed I have been. I also want to make a conscious effort of checking in with them more often in lessons and celebrating the work they are doing.

That said, I recognise that I may have to be discreet in my praise of these students, as undeniably, some of them do not seek their peers’ attention and are quite happy going under the radar - that’s why they are “grey” in the first place.

Lockdown has highlighted to me that the students who “just get on with it” really deserve more recognition, celebration and attention. 

That’s why one of the things I plan to do on my first day back in school will be to discreetly let John know just how impressed I’ve been with his commitment to his learning. 

And then I’ll let him carry on getting on with it as quietly as he wishes.

Laura Webb is head of English as Churchdown School Academy in Gloucestershire