Remote Learning

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

If the school is required to close to all but vulnerable and key worker children, or if a bubble is required to close due to positive cases of COVID19 in our school, we will make every effort to ensure our children can continue learning from home following the same curriculum as in school. Daily timetables will be shared alongside a weekly overview. We will provide learning opportunities from across the curriculum including core subjects such as maths, reading, writing, science, history or geography and PSHE or RE. Recorded PE, music and art lessons will also be shared weekly, with Spanish for KS2. Further opportunities for independent learning will be provided through Maker Mats.

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

If a year group bubble is closed at short notice, we will upload learning for that day onto Google Classroom for Key Stage 2 pupils and either provide a paper booklet or email work to families of EYFS and KS1 families.

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

We expect that our remote learning package including live and recorded lessons and independent work will take pupils between three and five hours a day depending on the age of the child, the timetable for the day and whether the child chooses to complete additional tasks, such as those on their Maker Mat.

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing and how will my child be taught remotely?

All children in Key Stage 2 are part of a virtual Google Classroom. This enables a single point of access for all lessons and resources, allowing teachers to host recorded and live explanations, lessons and meetings. Whole class and individual feedback will be given to children in response to work uploaded. The chat function in Google Meets, Google Forms, Padlets and a range of online quizzes such as Kahoot! will be used to allow children to share their learning, discuss and ask questions to their teacher and each other and for children and teachers to assess learning and understanding. Teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders have access to Google Classrooms and are able to deliver lessons, tutoring and provide feedback and next steps to pupils.

For pupils in Early Years and Key Stage 1, Google Sites will be used to host daily messages, recorded lessons, storytimes and links to activities. Google Meets will be used for whole class teaching and small group and one-to-one tutoring as well as a platform for children to stay connected to the school and each other. Children will be given discussion topics to prepare in advance of meetings. The meetings will also provide them with opportunities to share creative projects and other home learning with each other.

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:

• Children in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 each have an iPad of their own and are able to take these home to use
• Families with children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 with limited access to devices should contact the school for support. It may be possible for the school to loan families an iPad or Chromebook for the duration of remote learning.
• Families needing support with internet connection should contact the school Finance Officer as we may be able to provide a 4G router or data.
• The school will provide exercise books and stationary as well as printed resources where needed. Families should contact the school office in advance and will be advised of how to collect these.
• Completed work should be submitted on Google Classroom or emailed to the class teachers via the year group email addresses. Where parents prefer to return paper copies of work, they can leave these at the school office and feedback will be given during Google Meets or via a phone call to the family.

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

All pupils are expected to engage with remote learning every day. If a pupil is unwell or there are other circumstances where a child cannot complete their assignments or attend live lessons, families should contact the class teacher or year group leader via the year group email. Alternatively, a message can be left with the school office.

Daily suggested timetables for each year group will be shared via Google Sites and Classroom to support families (and older children) with setting consistent learning routines.

Each week there will be time allocated for off screen activities such as going for a local walk, reading a book or completing a creative project.

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

Children’s engagement with learning will be monitored and tracked daily. This will include records of attendance at live lessons, meeting and  tutoring sessions. Submission of work on Google Classroom for KS2 and via email for KS1 will be monitored and tracked daily. Where we have concerns that children are struggling with engagement, we will make contact with families via a phone call and/or email to try to make clear our expectations for remote learning and  identify any barriers to learning and what further assistance we can offer.

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 during live lessons or Google Meets or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms also support us to assess your child’s knowledge and progress. Children will receive personalised feedback at least three times a week either as a message on Google Classroom or as an email or via a phone call.

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 those 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:

• the class teacher and school SENDCo will contact families each week to check on wellbeing and offer advice and support with accessing home learning.
• where possible additional support from outside agencies such as the local authority SaLT team will continue remotely. Families will be supported to access these sessions.
• small group lessons and one-to-one tutoring will be provided for children delivered by the class teacher or teaching assistant as appropriate.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

For individual Key Stage 2 pupils self-isolating, Google Classroom will continue to be used to send messages, explanations and activities each day. For Early Years and Key Stage 1 pupils, a weekly timetable with links to explanations and recorded teaching videos will be emailed to families. Where possible, live streaming of lessons will occur so that children can join in with their class as usual. Google Meets and/or phone calls will be used to check in with individual children and give feedback.