A Gradual Pathway Back to Lessons Using AV1 Robots

A step between home and the classroom

The school received its AV1 through a Salford Local Authority pilot designed to explore how telepresence could support attendance. While the initial intention was for students learning from home, staff quickly saw another possibility.

Instead of replacing school, the robot could become a stepping stone back into it.

Students accessed lessons from the RBE room: a small, quieter space within the school designed to feel safe and manageable. Through AV1 they could join a live lesson, answer the register and hear teaching, while remaining physically close to support.

“It’s one step up from being at home,” Gemma says. “They’re still part of the lesson but in a smaller, safe environment.”

Some pupils gradually built confidence to walk the robot to the classroom themselves, collect work, and return. Others began by listening and slowly increased participation as their comfort grew.

Supporting a wide range of needs

Over the course of a year, the robot has supported between 20 and 30 students at different times. The cohort has included pupils with autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences and high anxiety linked to attendance.

For many, the classroom environment itself,  noise, movement, unpredictability, is the primary barrier to engagement rather than the curriculum.

AV1 allowed students to access the same teaching without the immediate pressures of physical presence.

“They can cope with the learning,” Gemma explains. “It’s the environment they find difficult.”

One student with ADHD, who found lessons too distracting to manage in person, was able to follow English through the robot, successfully passing his GCSE while gradually building confidence to return to the classroom.

Gradual reintegration

The school does not view AV1 as a permanent alternative to attendance. Instead, it forms part of a structured reintegration plan.

Students begin with full access via the robot, then move in small steps: one comfortable lesson each week, short visits into the classroom, or splitting a lesson between the room and the class. Over time, the balance shifts.

“They might do fifteen minutes in class, then come back and complete the work here,” Gemma says. “Then thirty minutes. Then a full lesson.”

Because the process is gradual and predictable, anxiety reduces and students experience success early. Seeing peers use the robot has also encouraged reluctant students to try it themselves.

Some who initially refused later asked to use it after watching others rebuild confidence.

Building confidence and engagement

Staff were initially cautious, but quickly saw its impact on engagement. The robot, affectionately named “Paddyy” by students, became part of daily school life.

Teachers valued that pupils remained connected to teaching, and students recognised they could still succeed academically even while working towards full attendance.

“It helps them realise they can do it,” Gemma says. “They think they can’t go back into learning, but it shows them they can.”

For staff, the robot provided another practical option when traditional strategies had been exhausted.

“Anything that helps them get back into learning, we’ll try.”

Student and teacher experiences

Alongside staff observations, feedback from pupils and teachers involved in the pilot highlighted how the robot supported both learning and confidence.

Many students described the reassurance of remaining connected to lessons even on days when entering the classroom felt unmanageable.

One pupil explained:

“It was a good way of learning, different and interesting also made me feel included more in the lessons.”  

Another shared how it reduced anxiety about falling behind:

“If I was having an anxious day and was unable to enter a class I then wouldn’t have had to worry about falling behind… I was in my safe space with my safe key person and I was really taking everything in whereas sitting in classes would sometimes send me over the edge.”  

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