Remote education provision

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 local or national lockdowns or if individual classes are required to self-isolate, then the school will make every effort to provide remote learning from the first day on which pupils are required to stay at home.

Initially this may be through the setting of activities on Tapestry (EYFS) or Google Classroom (KS1) or through sending learning packs home with the children.

Teachers will quickly move on to providing learning on the year groups’ online platform via recorded lessons. The learning will follow our existing curriculum with some adaptations made to allow it to be delivered remotely in some subjects.

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, we may need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, some practical elements of Science teaching may not always be possible. We will also consider the resources available to our families at home when delivering lesson in Art and Design and Technology.

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 learning) 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?

For pupils in Nursery and Reception, the online platform Tapestry will be used and for pupils in KS1, Google Classroom will be used.

Both EYFS and KS1 will have access to pre-recorded lessons delivered by their class teachers. As a school, we feel strongly that pre-recorded lessons are more appropriate for the age of our children. Live ‘meets’ will be scheduled that include story times, show and tell or a dance along to help keep children connected and support their well-being.

Parents will have access to the Collins E-Book library where class teachers will allocate books, in line with their child’s phonetic ability.

Teachers will also provide parents with recommendations of other useful links and resources available online to support their children’s progress at home.

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:

• Any parent who does not have access to a laptop or other device can contact the school office and request a device. We have a limited number of devices to lend out and should the demand exceed our available devices, we will endeavour to work with our IT support team to make our school devices lendable.
• If parents are struggling with connecting to the internet then the school will endeavour to provide a temporary internet connection.
• If parents require a pack of materials then one will be provided. Packs will be left outside in a plastic wallet for parents to collect. When learning is completed it should be returned to the same place.
• Children with no internet access will be provided with learning packs in line with the curriculum being taught. They will then be contacted by phone to make sure that they know what learning to do and how they should complete it.

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?

Try to set a routine for your child for the time they are at home. We appreciate the challenges this may present if you are ‘working from home’ but it will make the learning much easier if it is a regular, set times. If you watch the pre-recorded lessons, this will help you as parents and carers to understand the learning and the expectations.

We ask that you send in a sample of learning daily so we are able to keep note of pupils’ engagement. If you are struggling to access the learning, please do not hesitate to contact the school for additional support and guidance. We recognise that due to their age, our pupils will require support from an adult to access the learning. This is why we pre-record our lessons for you to be able to set your own routine as a family.

In the case of a whole school lockdown, teachers will contact you via phone once a week to ‘check in’. We ask that you engage with the conversation and spend time speaking to your child’s class teacher about the remote learning taking place at home.

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

We encourage parents and carers to submit, or support their child to submit, completed learning tasks or photos of learning via the relevant online platform or using the class email address. Learning that has been submitted can then be viewed by the class teacher and feedback can then be given. Alternatively, learning completed on paper should be kept safe and returned to school when safe to do so.

Feedback can take various different forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children.

You will be provided with oral feedback about your child’s progress during your weekly phone call with your child’s class teacher. Class teachers are available throughout the week through your child’s online platform the class email address.

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.

If a child has an EHCP and it is safe to do so, we will encourage those children to attend school in the keyworker and vulnerable children bubbles. If that is not possible or a child has SEND without an EHCP, then teachers will differentiate activities so that all pupils can access them.

Pupils with EHCP will receive regular online sessions from a member of their class team to target specific areas.

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?

Pupils self-isolating will be emailed a learning pack to enable them to engage remotely. This will include:

• The weekly Little Wandle phonics planning (Reception and KS1) in line with the teaching in school
• The weekly Spelling Shed planning (KS1)
• The relevant weekly Maths planning using the White Rose Maths online videos (Reception – Year 2) and worksheets (Year 1 and 2)
• Class teachers will signal the recommended English lessons from the external online provider, Oak Academy
• The half termly Enquiry Question with an overview of a suggested learning activity for each of the foundation subjects

If parents are not able to access the learning via email, hard copies will be provided for collection from the school.