Remote Education - Information for Parents and Carers

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?

All pupils use Google Classroom in computing lessons.  They have an account and can login to this account from home using the same username and password that is used in school.  Google Classroom can be accessed from any internet connected device including tablets, mobile phones and gaming devices such as Xbox and PlayStation. Staff will ensure that work is uploaded to Google Classroom from the first day of absence.  For those families without access to the internet at home, paper copies will be provided by the school office.  Pupils will not be sent home with workbooks so all work must be submitted via Google Classroom or paper copies retained for submission on return to school or submission in person at any time.

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?

The online curriculum will mirror that taught in school.  Pupils will study all subjects and follow their usual school timetable.  The nature of lessons within some subjects may necessitate a change to the usual style of lessons.  For example, in practical subjects where pupils do not have access to specialist equipment such as in PE, DT, music, science, food technology etc. 

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:

Accessing remote education

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

Google Classroom is used in all lessons.  Please see above for details of access.

Lessons may contain links to other websites.

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:

In the first instance paper copies will be provided to all families without internet access.  These are available from the school office for collection by parents.  If a family is in isolation, then paper copies will be delivered by school staff. 

The school has been provided with a number of Chromebooks by the Department for Education. The school will contact parents to identify which families are eligible for these and with details of how they can be collected from school.  The school will also contact parents with details of how support can be provided with devices that enable an internet connection (for example, routers or dongles).

Pupils using Google Classroom will be expected to submit work online.  For those without access paper copies should be retained and submitted for feedback in school.  Any paper delivered to school will be quarantined before teachers provide feedback and quarantined again before it is available for collection.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Reading, presentations and activities prepared by staff.
• live teaching (online lessons) – at present this is limited mainly to intervention sessions and weekly wellbeing ‘Meets’.
• 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?

It is expected that pupils’ login to Google Classroom each day at 9am.  They should follow the programme of lessons set for that day and submit work on the day that it is set. 

Parents are not expected to replace the role of the teacher or be an expert in subjects taught.  Lessons are set to allow pupils to work independently or with minimal supervision.  Staff are available to answer questions via messages in Google Classroom.  An IT helpdesk will be available by contacting the school office.  Learning mentors and TAs are available for additional support as required.

Parents are encouraged to support pupils by enabling breaks and time for exercise, fresh air and time for hobbies and interests each day. 

Pupils are not expected to be working more than 4 hours and 10 minutes per day (excluding breaks).

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

Subject teachers will monitor the completion of work each day.  They will provide feedback on all submitted work.

If there are concerns about engagement, class teachers will contact pupils in the first instance.

Senior leaders will monitor overall engagement of pupils and contact the parents of pupils where there are ongoing concerns about engagement.

Parents are encouraged to contact the school at any time if they require support or have any concerns.

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:

Feedback will be provided upon submission within one week (more frequently in core subjects).

Feedback will be used to inform planning of subsequent lessons and identification of further support.

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:

The SEND team will contact families on a weekly basis.  The dialogue generated from this weekly contact will be fed back to staff to help inform planning.  Learning mentors are available to provide further support if required and intervention sessions take place weekly in small groups using ‘live lessons’.

Pupils with an EHCP or a social worker will be expected to attend school unless they are isolating.

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.