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 children already have exercise books at home with all their logins for Purple Mash and Times Table Rockstars. The book will ensure parents have paper to use straight away. Resources will be uploaded to the class pages on the school website for children to work through straight away, whilst Zoom links are prepared and sent out to parents.

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 lessons to work well at home; for example, changes to resources and apparatus that children have access to in school.

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 cover approximately four hours of learning each day, in line with current government guidance. Teachers will share a suggested timetable with parents, on the class pages of the school website.

ACCESSING REMOTE EDUCATION

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

Live lessons are taught via Zoom. All of the required resources and activities are shared on the class pages of the school website with each year group having a clear section displaying the daily activities. PowerPoint presentations are shared in PDF format for those families who do not havethe software. Activities and challenges will be set on Purple Mash and Times Table Rockstars.

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.  Working closely with our parent community, we take the following approaches to support these pupils to access remote education:

• We carry out a parent survey to establish families’ access to devices and the internet.
• Where possible, we will send school devices to children at home. If needed following discussion with families, teachers will ensure children have access to paper copies of work.

How will my child be taught remote?

We use a combination of approaches to teach pupils remotely.

Year 3 receive 

• 30 minute English lesson via Zoom, Monday to Thursday
• 30 minute Maths lesson via Zoom, Monday to Thursday 
• 15 minute story time, Monday to Friday
• 15 minute small group catch up meeting to discuss work and identify any problems the children need to work through with the teacher, every Friday. 
   

Years 4, 5 and 6 receive:

• 30 minute English lesson via Zoom, Monday to Friday
• 30 minute Maths lesson via Zoom, Monday to Friday 
• Year 4 has a 15 minute story/catch up time, Monday to Friday
• Years 5 and 6 have a 30 minute catch up/PSHE session, once a week

Once children have received the input for the lesson and the activity is shared and explained with them, resources will be available on the class pages of the school for children to work through.  There will also be a range of foundation subject on the website for the children to work through; these will be topic, music, French etc. The subjects will be similar to those that the children would normally have been learning in school.

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 understand that many parents are working from home whilst simultaneously supporting their children in their home learning. To support parents, we aim to keep to a similar routine each week and live lessons will be at the same time each week.  A visual timetable is published on each of the class pages so parents know what is expected of their children and how to support them. Work is planned so that the majority of children should be able to work independently, however you may still need to support your children with this.  Assignments are set for each week.  Children are encouraged to return their work by uploading it on Purple Mash for teachers to mark and give feedback, which children are encouraged to respond to.  This will also help identify which families require support phone calls.

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

Children’s learning is scrutinised closely with the recording of attendance at every Zoom lesson and the monitoring of work that is uploaded onto Purple Mash.  This information is recorded on a weekly sheet for teachers and the SLT to monitor children’s engagement.  If teachers are concerned that pupils are not engaged, the family will be contacted to discuss what other support can be given and this information will be recorded on the weekly engagement sheet. It must be noted that if teachers are seeing work during live lessons then it is not always imperative that it is uploaded on Purple Mash but this will be monitored case by case.  However,we do urge the importance of uploading work so that feedback can be given.  We continue to work closely with our families and should we have any concerns, families will be contacted directly.

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:

• Written feedback given to work handed in on Purple Mash
• 2dos are resent if children need to try an activity again
• Automatic feedback through quizzes made using Kahoot
• Oral feedback during the live lessons, with children asked sometimes to remain on the call to ensure more help can be offered
• Whole class feedback during Zoom catch-up sessions

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 those 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 work with parents and carers to support those pupils in the following ways:

• A weekly timetable is published each Friday for the following week to ensure parents know ahead of time what is expected of their children.
• We offer differentiated work which can be found on the website and, where needed, extra time during Zoom classes in the form of small breakout groups after the main input.
• The SENCO and Acting Headteacher have regular meetings with teaching staff to discuss SEN children, their engagement and how else they can be supported.  Where it is thought appropriate, staff will ensure extra materials are provided to the families in the form of printed packs of work.

REMOTE EDUCATION FOR SELF-ISOLATING PUPILS

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, the provision of remote education is likely to 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? 

Children who are unable to attend school because they are self-isolating will be taught the same curriculum as children in school, however this will be taught retrospectively. The slides of the day’s lessons will be sent via email that evening ready for the children to complete at home. Work can be emailed to the school office on a Friday to be checked by the teacher. Children will also receive a maths and English workbook which they can work through at their own pace.