Remote Education Provision

Information For Parents / Carers

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency for pupils and parents / carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire classes (or bubbles) to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home?

A pupil’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

All pupils have access codes to our online learning platform ‘Google Classroom’. Learning packs containing printed resources can be picked up from school where a pupil is unable to access online learning. There are a limited number of laptops that may be loaned out to assist access to our learning platform. Parents can request these by contacting the school office. In addition, support will be given, where needed, with accessing the online classrooms and other subscription resources already provided by the school.

Dependant on notice given, teachers will endeavour to get work posted online or make it available in packs, at the earliest opportunity, to ensure continuity. Timetables and routines will then be drawn up and shared with parents and pupils for the forthcoming period of home learning.

Following the first few days of remote education, will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

Yes - we teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate.

Remote teaching and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

This should include a varied approach, with a mixture of screen time / desk based learning and practical fun learning away from the screen. Timetabling creative activities, exercise and wellbeing activities are an important part of pupil’s provision time.

Accessing remote education

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?

Teachers of each class will provide a timetable of planned learning for the week ahead via ‘Google Classroom’.  Within this planning will be all the necessary links to resources, teaching materials and learning activities.

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?

We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• parents will be invited to contact school if they do not have reliable or sufficient devices to access their online home learning;
• tablets and/or laptops from the school curriculum stock will be loaned for the duration of the closure period if enough are available;
• parents may collect extra printed resources from school on a weekly basis if they have continuing problems with online access;
• parents may submit completed printed work to school on a weekly basis if they have continuing problems with online access.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely.

Teachers’ plans will include a range of teaching approaches, including:

• a range of weekly assignments on the ‘Google Classroom’ platform.
• timetabled class ‘tutorial sessions’ using ‘Google Meet’.

• recorded teaching (e.g. White Rose Maths lessons, Reading Eggs, video/audio recordings made by teachers, PE challenges made by sports coaches).
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets).
• text books and reading books can be collected from school if pupils are unable to access online learning. In addition, pupils have an access to online reading platform e.g. ‘Reading Eggs’, and have access to a wide variety of books and related activities.
• Other platforms include Times Table Rock Stars; Purple Mash and Letter Join.
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences i.e. Oak National Academy.
• weekly challenges including creative projects and suggested health and wellbeing activities – e.g. Wellbeing Wednesday, Funfilled Friday and the use of Phunky Foods.

Engagement and feedback

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

Parents should:

• keep in touch with school via their child’s class teacher through ‘Google Classroom’ or through email or phone if this is not possible;
• depending on home circumstances, attempt all or most of the planned activities planned for their child(ren);

• ask for support and feedback as required using the teachers’ dedicated home learning Gmail address;
• submit examples of work on ‘Google Classroom’ at least weekly if possible.

How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?

Teachers will:

• respond to parental emails on a daily basis during the school week;
• keep a weekly record of engagement;
• conduct regular timetabled online tutorial sessions;
• offer extra support by telephone or email where appropriate, if engagement is a concern.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others. Our approach to feedback on pupil work is as follows:

• individual feedback will be provided for work submitted through ‘Google Classroom’ or via the class tutorial sessions;
•  records will be kept of tasks completed on ‘Google Classroom’.

Additional support for pupils with particular needs

How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?

We recognise that some pupils, for example pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), may not be able to access remote education without support from adults at home. We acknowledge the difficulties this may place on families, and we will work with parents and carers to support those pupils in the following ways:

• pupils in the two social groups that operate during school time will be invited to an online video meeting with their teaching assistant or class teacher each week
• pupils who are having difficulties with completing work online will be identified and supported in a range of appropriate ways which may include individual audio / video recordings / extra contact.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.

If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

Self-isolating pupils will be provided with some printed resources and textbooks to take home and will be able to access work on ‘Google Classroom’. This will enable them to complete most of the learning that the class are undertaking.  Support will be offered by email, tutorial sessions or telephone where required.