Remote education provision

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 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?

It is likely that the school will be able to run live lessons immediately via Microsoft Teams, with pupils attending a school day online using the school timetable for reference. In the event that live teaching is not possible, material for lessons will be sent directly to pupils via Microsoft Teams.

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.

•           However changes would be inevitable in more practical subjects: PE, DT, Music, Drama, Art, for example.

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?

Via his or her Microsoft Teams account.

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:

•           We can lend laptops to those who do not have computer facilities at home. to be collected from Reception.

•           We can provide printed materials to pupils who do not have online access, to be collected from Reception.

•           Work will generally be submitted to teachers online, but can be brought into Reception. 

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

•           The vast majority of teaching will be in live online lessons.

•           Where this is not possible work will be sent via teams for pupils to complete independently, taking into consideration what textbooks and reading books pupils have at home.

•           Sometimes teachers will set longer-term project work and/or internet research activities, but this would be rare and only in the event of extended absence of schools. We would also take into account the maturity of pupils in undertaking such tasks independently.

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 100% attendance in online lessons and for pupils’ full engagement with remote education.

•           To that end would ask for parental support, for example, in setting routines to support their child’s education.

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

•           Attendance and engagement would be monitored daily by teachers, tutors and Heads of Year.

•           If we had concerns about either attendance or engagement, we would communicate with parents and carers to ask for their support.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

•           We would use a variety of methods of assessment, including, but not necessarily limited to, written comments for individual children, whole-class feedback, quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms.

•           In this way pupils would be able to expect regular feedback on their work

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:

•           We will happily work with families to deliver remote education for pupils with SEND, including regular contact with our SEND department.

•           If regulations and circumstances allow it we can invite vulnerable children, including those with SEND, to come into school in order to work remotely.

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?

•           We do not provide live broadcasts of lessons that are running at school.

•           However, we will provide work on a daily basis to those who are unable to be at school. In addition, teachers will be able to have online Teams meetings with those pupils to ensure that they do not fall behind or carry misunderstandings into the work they are doing at home.