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A bridge between Home, Hub and Classroom
Graham School are implementing the use of AV1 Robots, a telepresence solution, to support students during reintegration and absence.
Long-term absence from school poses serious implications for children and young people. When attendance anxiety rises in a school setting, staff and leaders face a difficult balance between safeguarding, curriculum continuity and pastoral care. At Graham School, a thoughtful and quietly confident model has been developed to support pupils while they work towards reintegration.
Graham School's pastoral teams provide specialist pathways, an alternative provision hub and both short and long-term support for pupils who struggle to attend regularly.
Their newly-introduced use of AV1 Robots does not function like traditional online learning. Previous methods placed workload pressure on teachers and did not give their students a classroom-standard learning experience. The school wanted something that allowed presence in real time, without teaching staff having to adapt lessons.
How AV1 Robots work
AV1 Robots are a telepresence solution for children and young people to access school and classroom settings from another location. It bridges the gap between home and school, provides access to learning, and improves attainment and progression.
The classroom robots have a unique set of inclusive and secure features, giving the student a sense of belonging at school and the privacy and safeguarding they are entitled to.
Live connection
A camera and microphone connect absent pupils who can speak, see and hear everything through the robot. The camera is one-way, which removes the pressure of being seen for children who are ill, anxious or in pain.
Belonging
The robot is an avatar for the human it represents, so you can name it and customise it. You can carry it around with its handle or backpack to involve the student in all aspects of school life, or even on school trips. The physical presence means the student is not forgotten, even on days when they are too unwell to log on.
Participation
The student can rotate and move the robot, change the eye expressions, and 'raise their hand' by making the robot's head flash green. This means they can ask and answer questions, or show how they are feeling, without disrupting the lesson.
Fatigue-friendly
When a student is particularly unwell and unable to participate, but still wants to attend and listen to the lesson, they can turn the head light blue to indicate ‘passive mode’.
AV1 in action
Graham School first used AV1 with a pupil experiencing a medically related absence. The pupil was unable to attend lessons for several weeks during treatment and recovery. Instead of relying on tutors or simplified work packs, the school placed AV1 directly into lessons and matched the standard timetable so the pupil stayed aligned with classroom learning.
Teachers taught normally and students welcomed the AV1 Robot to the classroom as if it were another classmate. When it was switched on, staff instinctively involved the learner by greeting them, checking engagement and positioning the robot thoughtfully so the screen had a clear view of the board or teacher direction. There was no conscious change to lesson planning.
Family anxiety reduced quickly because parents could see that teaching was consistent and that the pupil did not face a future return to a mountain of missed content.
AV1 Features
- A camera, microphone and speaker on the robots head emits a livestream to the app, with two-way audio.
- The student swipes or taps on the app screen to rotate the robot and their view from side to side, up and down.
- Tapping passive mode turns the robots head blue.
- Tapping 'raise hand' makes the robots head flash green.
- Tapping each emoji is reflected on the robots eyes.
AV1 in the classroom - Video
