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?
We will check for a suitable contact method (phone, or email) and your child will be sent links regularly for online lessons. Also we will endeavour to send a printed work pack home within the first week.
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, sports lessons will take place via a pre-recorded link, and Science practicals would include printed instructions and a change of task.
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 3 and 4: 5 hours a day
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
We will mainly deliver our content via printed home learning packs and live lessons via Zoom. However some extra learning will be provided via BBC Bitesize, First News, MathsWatch and other online resources to ensure a broad offer.
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:
- Depending on your circumstances your child may be eligible for use of a laptop, information is available on request.
- In the main, all students will be provided with a home learning printed work pack, that will be delivered and also collected so that work can be marked by their teachers.
- Students will also be contacted regularly by a teacher to see how they are getting on, they will be able to Whatsapp or email over their work to get feedback quickly and effectively.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
We use a range of approaches to teach students remotely and revise these regularly. Some examples of remote teaching approaches:
- live teaching (online lessons on Zoom)
- teacher 1:1 mentoring contact via telephone calls, emails or texts/ Whatsapp
- recorded teaching (e.g. video/audio recordings made by teachers)
- printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
- textbooks and reading books pupils are sent at home
- commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences i.e. YouTube
- long-term project work and/or internet research activities
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?
- Our expectations are that our students are accessing the Zoom lessons as much as possible, as these are the most responsive ways for them to access classes on their curriculum.
- We also expect them to use the printed home work packs and speak to their teachers when they call so that they can be directed with their learning properly
- We expect our students to follow our behaviour policy and refrain from using bad language or inappropriate behaviour the same as we do in the school setting.
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 in touch with you about your child’s progress at least twice a week, and in most cases for vulnerable students, we will be in touch daily.
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:
- Live instant feedback will be given in our Zoom lessons and also in any contact the student has with a teacher via phone or email, they will receive feedback in this way within 24 hours.
- We will come and collect any completed written work once every two weeks, and again feedback will be given via Zoom, phone or email.
- Any learning completed online via MathsWatch, FirstNews, or any other website will be marked and monitored for feedback by the end of the week.
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 be in touch regularly, at least twice a week, with all of our parents and carers to discuss the best way for your child to access the right support and to see how we might best provide it on a tailored individual basis.
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?
They will be provided with a study guide to work from at home with directions for where to work on to match the curriculum, as well as a printed home learning pack to match all their other subjects.
Phone contact will take place to give them feedback and guidance, and depending on the situation some live lessons may still be offered.