Remote Education Provision Information for Parents

This information is to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if school is closed for a period of time, or there may be occasions when a pupil is absent from school due to a medical condition/other reason. 

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 first few days of remote education, all children will receive a pack of home learning resources with any pencils, books and any other equipment they might need. These packs will be delivered to your home.

Where pupils have access to appropriate devices, remote education might include recorded and/or live direct teaching time, as well as time for pupils to complete tasks, reading, and assignments independently, depending on their age and stage of development.

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 aim to teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. There will be some adaptations made to some subjects if, for example, the children do not have the necessary resources at home.

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:

Reception class	Varied depending on the needs of the child
KS1	3 hours
KS2	4 hours

Accessing remote education

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:

We will carry out an audit of technology in every family’s home.

We will lend a device to every family that does not have one. We will also do this if the family has only mobile phones. In families with three or more children aged between 4-11 years, we will provide two devices.

Weekly learning packs will be delivered to the homes of all children. They will contain a variety of learning activities, paper, pencils, books and any other equipment they might need. These packs can be completed by all children, regardless of their ability to access online learning.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Virtual classrooms
• Live lessons at least three times a week in Y1-Y6 with a class teacher (lessons might take place more often, if appropriate). Lessons will be scheduled so they do not clash with any other lessons in the school. This will enable siblings who are sharing devices to attend all live lessons
• Recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons)
• Video/audio recordings made by class teachers and uploaded onto Seesaw
• Links to commercially available websites carefully chosen by teachers to support the key learning of lessons
• Weekly printed learning packs produced by teachers and delivered to children’s homes
• Regular phone calls to support the children’s learning and their health and wellbeing

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 expect every child with technology to log-on every school day to complete the set activities and to respond to the feedback from the teacher
• We expect every child with technology to attend live lessons at least three times a week
• We expect children without technology to complete some of the activities in their learning packs every day
• We ask parents to ensure their child:
  • has a quiet place to work
  • completes their activities each day
  • maintains a regular bedtime, eating and work routine
• We ask parents to contact the school if they require any support with remote education

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

If teachers are concerned about your child’s lack of engagement with the virtual classroom, they will call you as soon as they can to let you know and to ask you to support your child’s learning. If teachers remain concerned about your child’s learning, they will inform the Executive Headteacher/Head of School.

Teachers will call families at least weekly (unless they have already communicated directly with a child on via a live lesson). During those phone calls, a child’s engagement with remote education can be discussed if needed.

For children who are unable to access online remote learning, the weekly phone calls will be crucial in assessing a child’s engagement with their 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 the virtual classroom are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

• Individual feedback will take place on a daily
• When appropriate, whole class feedback will be given via the virtual classroom
• For children without technology, feedback can take place through phone calls and/or by email/text, if appropriate

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:

• We will ensure that all children with SEND either continue to attend school or have access to appropriate technology to enable them to access learning
• Class teachers will set work at the appropriate levels and monitor the children’s work closely
• Teaching sessions with outside agencies (e.g. SENISS, dyslexia support) will take place online
• Meetings with parents and SEND professionals (e.g. Educational Psychologists, physiotherapists, school nurse) will continue online, where appropriate.
• The Inclusion Manager will maintain regular contact with the families of children with SEND who are not attending school
• We will encourage parents to contact the school if they need support

Remote education for pupils

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

Remote education will continue in the same way as above for children who are self-isolating. For children with technology, work will be set through the virtual classroom and the teacher will feedback daily. Where appropriate, live lessons will take place.

Children without technology will be offered access to a device. Support will be provided to enable them to use it at home.

If appropriate, a weekly home learning pack will be sent home with all the resources the child needs to complete the tasks. The teacher will call the parent/child at least weekly and the parent will be encouraged to contact the school if support is needed.