Remote education provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to children and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual children require a remote education for circumstances when in-person attendance is not possible, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to children at home

A child’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 children being sent home?

In key stage 1 and key stage 2 (years 1-6), teachers will set work that the children can access on Rollama, Times Table Rockstars (TTRS), from previous homework and spellings, through Spelling Shed.

In early years, this will include watching Phonics Shed videos, counting and sorting activities, singing nursery rhymes and listening to stories.

 

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 have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects.

In art we may change the task to ensure that children will have access to resources at home e.g. clay modelling altered to junk modelling – this may apply to other subjects where the resources required are not easily accessible for the majority 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 key stage 1 children broadly three hours each day and key stage 2 children broadly four hours each day.

Accessing remote education

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

Children will receive their education through a mixture of videos, live sessions and independent activities set by their teacher and supported where necessary by a parent/ carer. The work will be posted through the Class Dojo website. Teachers may invite children to class meetings which will take place using Microsoft Teams.

Children will be able to submit their work through the Class Dojo App. Parents will also be able to communicate with the teaching staff using the message on Class Dojo.

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

• the academy has a small number of devices that can be issued to children. If a device or internet access is required, parents can contact the child’s class teacher who will pass on the request.
• if printed materials are needed, these can be collected from school by prior arrangement. If this is required, parents can contact the class teacher
• if children do not have online access and use printed materials, this can be brought to school when a new printed materials pack is collected.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live ‘drop-in’ class meetings
• recorded teaching e.g. video/audio recordings made by teachers, Oak National Academy lessons.
• websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
• where required, printed paper packs produced by teachers e.g. workbooks, worksheets

 

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?

• It is important that your child accesses their home learning every day that they would normally be in school and keeps, as far as possible, to what would be their normal routine. However, we appreciate that routines may have to change, so children can complete the work at a convenient time in the day. We will be able to see their responses to the lessons and quizzes to check for engagement
• Honesty and engagement. If you cannot support the activities set, please tell the teacher why. This will enable the teacher to change the approach and suggest alternative activities
• A commitment to support and encourage the completion of home learning
• For parents to communicate with the class teacher on how your child is doing in terms of their home learning. This could be via phone call or Class Dojo messaging option.
• An understanding that the academy has a legal obligation to provide learning for your child whist they are at home

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

Teaching staff will monitor engagement through the work submitted on Class Dojo.  Parents will be informed of any concerns via phone calls.

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. Our approach to feeding back on children’s work is as follows:

• teachers will provide feedback to work submitted through Class Dojo.
• feedback will also be provided through quizzes marked automatically using Microsoft Forms
• feedback will be provided daily in a variety of forms such as whole class feedback and during the class meetings

Additional support for students 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 children, for example some children 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 children in the following ways:

• Class teacher/ teaching assistant will provide work to support individual targets
• The SENCO will monitor arrangements to ensure they meet the needs of the child

Remote education for children where circumstances make in-person attendance not possible

Where individual children cannot attend school due to circumstances where in-person attendance is not possible, but they are able to learn, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching children both at home and in school simultaneously.

If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

Work will be set which reflects the current learning taking place in the class. However, live class meetings and teacher recorded videos will not be available.