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.
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.
In the event that your child’s class has been sent home from school, they will be directed to access online platforms such as Numbots, Times Table Rock Stars or Complete Maths Tutor, as well as asked to read with an adult or independently.
It is very important to us that our children continue to access the curriculum we had planned to deliver at school. We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate.
The children will receive the same work as they would normally be expected to complete at school, with supplementary resources such as the lesson slide deck if the teacher feels it is appropriate.
However, some adaptations in some subjects may be required. For example, in lessons which require specialist equipment, such as PE or art, the children may be given a task which is more accessible for them at home.
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:
In the event that entire classes have to work remotely, the class will be able to access live learning taught via Zoom in the mornings. The science and foundation curriculum learning will be made available to download from OneDrive.
All children in Key Stage 1 and 2 also have access to Numbots and Times Table Rock Stars. The children in Year 5 and 6 have access to Complete Maths Tutor.
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:
The school will offer printed work that reflects the curriculum being taught online. On request, the school office can print these resources for parents to collect. In exceptional circumstances, the school may consider lending a laptop or tablet.
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
During any period of time when schools are only open to children of critical workers or those who are classified as vulnerable children, we will use Zoom as a platform for delivering live remote learning in the mornings to children in all year groups from Reception to Year 6. During the afternoons, the children will have a task to complete which is accessed via OneDrive alongside daily reading and key number work.
Each day, the teachers will deliver maths, reading or phonics, and writing lessons (Years 1 to 6) via Zoom to their classes. Children in Reception will also have daily Zoom sessions with their teacher. They will have short phonics and maths lessons and will also have a story time. For those families who cannot access the live sessions, each session will be recorded and placed into a password-protected OneDrive folder that the family can access at their own leisure. By providing a recording of the morning’s lessons, families will have greater flexibility if a device is being shared with siblings or other family members who are working from home.
During the afternoons, the children will have one task to complete each day with a focus on science and the foundation curriculum. These tasks will be uploaded onto OneDrive for the children to access. We also recommend children spend 20-30 minutes reading each day either with an adult or independently, depending on their age. In Years 1 and 2, we recommend that the children spend 15 minutes each day practising their accuracy and recall speed on key number skills (e.g. number bonds to and within 10, 20 and 100) whilst children in Years 3-6 are to practise their accuracy and recall speed with their times tables up to 12x12. On OneDrive, we will provide worksheets to help parents and children with this. The school has also paid for a subscription to Times Tables Rock Stars to support times table recall. Children can access these from home or at school in order to help with the above key skills.
We expect, providing children are fit and well, that they complete the set work provided each day. We hope that parents and carers can support the facilitation of this by providing a quiet workspace for their child. Where possible, we will always try to set work that can be completed independently.
We are very aware that during normal times, adults aim to restrict the amount of screen time young children have – and this is for good reason. We believe that we should still have the same approach to screen time, even if there is some small unavoidable increase to allow for remote learning. We recommend that children spend no more than 40 minutes at the screen at one time and that they take a break away from the screen of at least 10 minutes; this is why each lesson is no more than 40 minutes long.
By accessing the Zoom lessons, the teachers are engaging with the children on a daily basis. All parents will receive a conduct agreement for the online lessons which the children must adhere to. Where there are concerns over engagement or behaviour, the class teacher will make contact with the families of those children. For the children who are accessing the recordings or paper-based work, the class teacher will make contact once a week to check-in with the child and their family to offer support where possible.
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:
By adopting a synchronous approach (Zoom lessons) to the core lessons of maths, reading, phonics and writing, this allows the teacher the opportunity to give feedback and assess in real time. This includes the teacher giving verbal feedback to the children for anything that is shared verbally or sent via the chat function which allows children to type and submit answers.
For the families who do not access the synchronous lessons, the class teacher will make contact each week to offer support for these families.
For other work that is completed and shared via email, or through being brought in to the school, the class teacher will read it and may provide feedback when they make contact with home.
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:
The SEND team, led by Mrs Hayward (STEP SEND Lead/ SENDCo) and Mrs Cooley (Trainee SENDCo), work very closely with these families to ensure that all children have access to remote education that meets their need. The class teacher or a member of the SEND team will make regular contact with these families to provide support or advice. For children who regularly receive additional support in school through a personalised curriculum, they will receive work which reflects this.
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.
During the period of time when schools are open to all children, for any child that is self-isolating, they will have access to a pack of tasks which reflects the same learning as their peers who are in school. These tasks will be made available on OneDrive and parents will be signposted to these by the school office once the school is aware of the absence.