Remote education provision: 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 where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this 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?

In the event of having to move to remote education at any point, children will be directed to find work immediately using their learning platform which are as follows:

• EYFS, KS1 and Year 3 – J2E

• Year 4 and 6 – Microsoft Teams

• Year 5 – Google Classroom

Whilst the transition to Remote Learning is being organised in the first 1-2 days, children will be set more general maths and literacy tasks that they can work on. For those that cannot access work online, learning packs will be made available to these children.

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?

We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, for some subjects and tasks, adaptations may need to be made in order to ensure tasks can be completed at home.

During mornings, there will be a focus on literacy, maths, phonics and reading activities with afternoons being more focused on the creative curriculum. Topics will be the same as would have been covered if children were in school.

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:

Accessing remote education

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

As a school, we are currently using a number of platforms. Whilst older children initially used Microsoft Teams, and some year groups continue to do so, we are transitioning to using Google Classroom. Currently, the platforms we use are below:

• EYFS, KS1 and Year 3 – J2E (this uses Google Classroom within the J2E platform in order to deliver live lessons)

• Year 4 – Microsoft Teams

• Year 5 – Google Classroom

• Year 6 – Microsoft Teams

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:

• For pupils who do not have access to technology at home, school has a number of laptops and Chromebooks that we have set up to be loaned out to families. Initially, parents were asked to fill in a Google Form that was sent out to indicate if they needed support in accessing devices. After this, parents can contact the school at any time if they need access.

• Should families have issues accessing the internet, we have a number of sim cards that give access to mobile data that which would allow mobile phones to be used as a wifi hotspot.

• We will provide any printed materials needed if families do not have online access. These will generally be delivered on a Monday.

• We will arrange to collect completed work from pupils who are working from printed materials.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live teaching (online lessons). These should take place once per day for different subjects. They will be delivered using either Microsoft Teams or Google Meet from within J2E or Google Classroom.

• recorded teaching (e.g. video/audio recordings made by teachers, Oak National Academy lessons,)

• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)

• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences (e.g Times Table Rockstars, MyOn, White Rose Maths)

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?

We hope that all pupils will engage with remote education each day, whether online or using paper packs, and ask that parents/carers support their children as much as you can. You can do this for example by setting routines to support learning and ensuring the safety of their children online.

Parents/carers should endeavour to support pupils’ remote education by creating a positive environment for their child to learn, See below for examples of how you could do this:

• Emphasise the importance of a safe online environment. Set age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices and use internet filters to block malicious websites. These are usually free, but often need to be turned on

• Report any online safeguarding concerns to school immediately

• Be aware of what your child is being asked to do, including: sites they will be asked to use and the school staff your child will interact with

• Encourage your child to work to the best of their ability and praise their efforts

• Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, to separate school life and home life

• Create and stick to a routine

• Provide the correct equipment in order for your child to complete the work given (ask school if you need anything)

• Designate a working space if possible

• Make time for exercise and breaks throughout the day to keep your child active

• At the end of the day, have a clear cut-off to signal school time is over.

School will support in setting routines by providing a weekly timetable at the beginning of the week in order to help you plan your time more effectively.

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

A log is kept of children who attend live lessons as well as any requested work that is submitted. Where children are not engaging and there is no previous reason given, teachers will contact parents each week in order to find out if there is anything further the school can do to support the child with their learning at home.

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 feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

• Some feedback will be given during live lessons directly to your child.

• As well as this, there will be certain pieces of work that will be expected to be submitted (your child will be informed of which these are). For these pieces of work, your child will receive written feedback through either J2E, Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. Your child may also receive verbal feedback using voice recording functions in J2E and Google Classroom.

• Where children have been assessed as needing more support following a live lesson, there may be opportunities for children to take part in live interventions.

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:

• Tasks will be adapted so that they are appropriate for the children’s ability and age

• Resources will be differentiated

• SENDCo will be available to offer additional support and advice

• Children who have an EHCP are welcome to attend school

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?

• If a child is self-isolating then you should still expect assignments set through either J2E, Google Classroom or Teams as mentioned above.

• As your child’s classroom teacher will be with their class during timetabled lessons, they may not be available to respond to queries immediately. They will however maintain communication via the learning platform that your child’s year group uses.