Remote Learning
Our Offer
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?
In the first two days of absence, the children will be offered basic age/ year group targeted resources. These can be found following the link above.
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, P.E is taught via videos and manly focuses on fitness and well-being; reading is taught through the Bug Club app and maths is occasionally taught through the Mathletics app. Our teachers will not be offering live virtual lessons – due to the age of our children, lessons over Zoom or Teams will not be advantageous. Research shows that a child’s average focused attention span is their age + 2 minutes. Therefore, even our oldest children can only fully focus for 8 minutes. Virtual lessons take longer to set up and offer more distractions; in which case, we believe that a morning meeting with opportunity to ask questions and pre-recorded inputs is a better offer. This way, children can watch the videos in their own time, when they are focused.
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:
Key Stage 1 |
3 Hours |
EYFS |
1 – 2 hours |
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
All work can be accessed through our website via this page. Clink the year group links above to access your child’s work. The work is dated so you are aware of what to do each week. We will publish the following weeks work on a Friday – this way, you have to weekend to look over it if required.
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:
- If we can, we will provide them with a device to enable them to access the resources. The devices will be loaned to the families. They will need to be signed out and brought back to school by a date agreed.
- We will print the resources out and post them if we are unable to supply devices. These will be posted weekly. When the resources are completed, you should keep hold of the work and return it when the child returns to school or by an agreed date.
Should you need more information about access or want to discuss lending a device, please contact the school office.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
On a Friday afternoon, the following weeks remote learning will be uploaded to this page on the school website. In each year groups planning, there is a suggested timetable to structure your child's home learning.
Children will be allocated work that reflects their ability and the national curriculum.
Some of the planned work will use our online learning platforms, Mathletics, Purple Mash and Bug Club. It will be indicated in the plans where and when to use these platforms. Other parts of the learning will require the use of typical computer software (Microsoft word, PowerPoint etc.) or access to online websites.
Each morning, the class teacher will host a Zoom meeting for all members of the class (meeting details will be emailed to parents prior). In this Zoom meeting they will discuss the days learning, reflect on yesterday's learning and complete daily tasks.
In Early Years, work is not expected to be handed in. Work can be emailed to the class teacher, if the parents or child wish, or it can be shown in the Zoom meeting. Work that is handed in will be acknowledge and in some instances, feedback given.
In KS1, some work should be handed in, this is indicated in the plans. How to hand this in will also be indicated in the plan. Some of the work will be given feedback but not all.
Reading should continue to happen at home every day. Bug Club application will ensure that your children still have access to all of the home learning books from school. Once they have read their book online, they are able to change it/ move on to the next one.
Each week, there will be a whole-school assembly video uploaded to the website.
Several times a week we will upload video's or audio files of staff members reading books.
Each class has their own class email address. Parents who have questions or issues with the remote learning should contact the class teacher through this email address in the first instance.
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 expect your child to attend the daily meeting on Zoom and complete a portion of the work set depending on their ability and needs.
We request that parents support their child as much as possible in attending the Zoom meeting and completing the work, however, we understand that this is not always possible.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
We will be monitoring the engagement to the daily Zoom meetings and the work handed in via the class email addresses. If your child has not attended the Zoom meetings or handed in work for 2 days, the class teacher, key stage lead or headteacher will call you to check that you are able to access it and ask if you are having any issues. We want to support parents as much as possible, if you are having issues, including resistance from the child, please contact us as soon as possible and we will be happy to help.
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:
- We will offer verbal feedback individually, as a group or whole class via the daily Zoom meetings.
- We will offer written feedback via email when work is sent in.
Feedback will not be given for all pieces of work – it will vary and will be at the teachers discretion.
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:
- Our SENCO will remain in regular contact with you to ensure that we are offering the best possible support.
- We have set up class email addresses to ensure that you have access to support from the class teacher.
We have expressed to parents that each family’s situation is different and some will be able to do more ‘work’ than others, however, the most important things are that the children undertake reading each day (or are read to), that they have positive experiences (no matter what it is that they are doing) and that they have social interaction regularly (talk to the children, have conversations, ask them questions and discuss their interests).
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?
In this scenario, the class teacher will upload the work that the class (in school) is going to be set that week. We will call you and discuss the expectations for that work and what you are expected to do.
During periods where remote learning is required, communication is key. We will continue to communicate to you regularly and ensure that the vast amounts of communication channels that we have remain open (including: telephone, email, class email, Twitter and SchoolGateway). We request that you continue to communicate with us during these periods any issues that you have so that we can support you and, as a result, the children.