Remote Education

Providing remote education

Information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if local restrictions require entire cohorts, or individual students, to work at home should that be necessary.

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?

When pupils are required to work from home, they can access work and activities on Google Classroom where pupils should upload completed work for teachers to monitor and provide feedback. Alternatively, if they are working from home for a for short periods only, work will be sent home for them.

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 – the work that is on Google Classroom will be in line with what is being taught in class.

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:

If your child is getting through work more quickly than this, please contact your child’s teacher who will be able to support and advise.

Accessing remote education

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

Pupils will access remote learning via Google Classroom, or have live lessons delivered via Microsoft Teams.  Students will be trained on how to access Google Classroom, and parents will receive information on how to use this platform.

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

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

• Pupils without access to an appropriate device for learning may be able to loan one from school, if one is available at the time, or
• Pupils will be provided with paper copies of the work which will be dropped off at a home visit.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

Some examples of remote teaching approaches:

• live teaching (online lessons)
• recorded teaching and activities  (video/audio recordings made by teachers)
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
• reading books pupils have at home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences

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?

When supporting pupils at home we ask parents to:

• Ensure that their child is available to learn remotely at the times they would usually be in school and that the schoolwork set is completed on time and to the best of their child’s ability.
• Ensure that work completed is uploaded to your child’s portfolio daily to allow the teacher to provide feedback.
• Report any technical issues to the school as soon as possible.
• Ensure that their child always has access to remote learning material during the times they would ordinarily be in school.
• Report any illness or reason for which children are unable to engage with remote learning on the first day of such issue and let school know when your child is well enough to begin to access learning again.
• Ensure that your child uses the equipment and technology used for remote learning as intended.
• Provide children with a quiet, purposeful work space for which to engage in remote learning

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 providing feed-back on pupil work is as follows:

• Acknowledging and praising pupils for engaging in online work.
• Checking work for obvious errors and/or mistakes and providing hints, clues or re-teaching where required.
• Providing a summary of learning at the end of the week to assess progress and providing parents with links to resources which may support any children who are still struggling.

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 some 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:

• Regular contact with a member of the class teaching team or pastoral team.
• Reasonable adjustments made to the work or activities to improve accessibility.
• Remote support from the pastoral team or counsellor.
• Provision of resources to support learners.

Younger children within school will continue to access remote learning in line with the rest of the school with the following adjustments made to support parents and carers:

• Teachers will plan a ‘play based’ activity schedule to support parents when working with their children at home.
• Teachers will direct parents to things in the house and ‘everyday’ activities which will promote learning.
• Learning will be practical and engaging.
• Teachers will provide learners with resources where required in a ‘learning pack’.

In exceptional circumstances, the school may reduce its curriculum offer to enable pupils to cope with the workload – the Executive Headteacher will assess this need, keeping pupils’ best interests in mind, and will not take the decision lightly.

If you require any further information please contact the school office by calling: