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 if 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?

Each year group will upload a weekly timetable to their section of the school website, detailing the outline of the week ahead.  This timetable will mirror that being used in school (during lockdown for vulnerable children and those with Key Worker parents, as well as since September).  Links to websites will appear on this timetable, as well as references to learning platforms, such as Purple Mash.  If no links or references are provided, work will have been uploaded to the year group’s page on the website.

Messages to clarify work and expectations will be sent using Class Dojo, as well as it being utilised for parental questions or concerns.

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. For example, the use of the Oak Academy website for links to Topic lessons.

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:

English lesson: 1 hour.

Maths lesson: 1 hour.

Topic lessons: 2 hours.

Reading/spelling/phonics/Times Table Rock Stars: 20 minutes each.

Accessing remote education

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

As a school, we are transitioning towards using Microsoft Teams for our remote learning.  In the meantime, we are continuing to use:

Class Dojo for parental communications, and for the handing in of work via Portfolios.

Purple Mash, Education City, Times Table Rock Stars, MyMaths, Accelerated Reader and Oak Academy.

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:

• Parents have been asked about their computer and internet and access. This has then informed our next steps with application for the DfE laptop scheme and new data/ router scheme.
• We have access to SIM card data to support families with access issues.
• Teachers maintain regular communication with parents about remote learning materials and will provide paper copies of materials, where required.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Some examples of our remote teaching approaches:
• live teaching (online lessons) via Microsoft Teams
• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
• 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

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?

• Where possible, it is beneficial for young people to maintain a regular and familiar routine. Winslow Church of England Primary School would recommend that each ‘school day’ maintains structure. A copy of the year group timetable will be put on the relevant class web page as a guide.
• If possible, when a year group bubble is isolated, the children will be sent home with their home reading book, in addition to their English and Maths books – this is so that work that children complete at home can be kept safe, ideally in their exercise books, and can be brought back to school when safe to do so.  Jotters will also be sent, as they contain login details for digital platforms.
• Should anything be unclear in the work that is set, parents can communicate with class teachers via Class Dojo, or – when necessary – the school emergency email (they should make clear to which year group and subject the question relates).
• Parents are encouraged to support their children’s work, by viewing the work set together, and then making appropriate plans to complete the work.  This can include finding an appropriate place to work and, to the best of their ability, supporting pupils with work, encouraging them to work with good levels of concentration.
• Every effort will be made by staff to ensure that work is set promptly on appropriate platforms, but school cannot guarantee that the chosen platforms will work on all devices. If accessing work is an issue, parents should contact school promptly and alternative solutions will be made available (e.g. paper copies of work).  These will be discussed on case-to-case basis.

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

All work completed and submitted (currently via Class Dojo Portfolios, with the imminent move to Teams) will be marked/read/appreciated by the year group team, with feedback and comments provided in a timely manner.  Should there be an issue with understanding, a member of the year group team might make a phonecall to the family concerned for clarification.  We will also contact families if it is clear that engagement is limited or non-existent, to offer our help and support.

Weekly phonecalls will be made to vulnerable families, and families of Pupil Premium and children with SEND.

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:

For some pieces of work, we will acknowledge it has been completed with a positive comment.  For others, the answers may be provided so that it can be marked ‘live’ at home, for instant feedback.  Other pieces of work might entail a slightly more detailed comment, with tips for improvement and editing, as we would in school.  Teachers and LSAs will respond to submitted work in a timely manner, and may not be available immediately if in school teaching.  Incomplete work will be returned for completion.

Additional support for pupils with additional 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 recognise that home-schooling your child may be challenging if your child has Special Educational Needs. Your child’s teachers and LSAs will provide additional guidance and support when necessary, to ensure your child can access the remote learning tasks, differentiating work and providing additional resources and guidance where appropriate.  The same is true of younger children, for example those in Foundation and Year 1.

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 feeling unwell and unable to concentrate on their work, children will not be expected to complete any tasks.  If awaiting test results, or are isolating but feeling well, they should receive work from the class teacher and/or LSA (most likely in the form of the weekly timetable with weblinks).