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 if 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?

Exercise books to record their learning in
Maths No Problem workbooks
One (or two) reading books
A list of their logins to appropriate online learning platforms e.g Google Classroom, Spelling Shed, MyMaths, TTRockstars.

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, in subjects that involve practical activities that are impossible at home, we will signpost children to videos of experiments. Instead of PE activities that might involve team games, we will direct children to do individual athletic activities that are possible at home. Only listening and singing activities can be done in music lessons as we don’t have instruments to share with large groups of pupils.

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:

Primary school-aged pupils

Reception: Between 1 and 2 hours

Years 1 and 2: 2 hours

Years 3 and 4: 3 hours

Years 5 and 6: 4 hours

Accessing remote education

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

Pupils will:

Log on to Google Classroom to access the appropriate recorded video sessions each morning and complete the registration task
Watch all of the learning videos/learning sessions, taking a full and active part in them
Complete the learning set by their teacher each day and upload their learning as requested by the teacher – photograph/video on Google Classroom
Watch their story time each day
Use online resources such as Google Classroom, MyMaths, Spelling Shed, TTRockstars and any other resources provided by Our Lady’s

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:

Parents will be surveyed on the first few days of any lockdown to see if they require a school laptop for the duration of the lockdown.
We have access to a bank of Chromebooks all internet-ready to distribute. On the first day of the lockdown, the IT team at school will prepare each chromebook for the individual child.
For any pupils who do not have online access, a paper work pack can be provided.
If children do not have online access, they should bring work that they have done back to school after the lockdown. In this instance, teachers will contact the child daily on the phone.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
textbooks and reading books pupils have at home
commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences such as MyMaths

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?

Pupils should:

Log on to the appropriate remote live or recorded video sessions each morning and complete the registration task
Watch all of the learning videos/join remote live learning sessions, taking a full and active part in them
Complete the learning set by their teacher each day and upload their learning as requested by the teacher – photograph/video on Google Classroom
Watch their story time each day
Use online resources such as Google Classroom, MyMaths, Spelling Shed, TTRockstars and any other resources provided by Our Lady’s
Adhere to the behaviour expectations within our behaviour policy at all times

Parents should

set a clear routine with each child using the timetable and the daily learning set
read all communications that come out from Our Lady’s to ensure they are fully aware and up to date with news.
support their children to complete all of the learning set
liaise with school staff and seek support on behalf of their child when needed, with class teacher via Class Dojo
provide access to the learning offered for their children
support their children by uploading the teacher pictures of completed work or documents for assessment and feedback (for EYFS using Tapestry or younger children unable to work independently)

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

Teachers will monitor children’s engagement on Google Classroom (or Tapestry for Reception)
Where children are not engaging, parents will be contacted through Class Dojo and a phone call

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:

Teachers will acknowledge receipt of every piece of work on Google Classroom. Where appropriate, teachers can comment on children’s written work. Whole-class feedback will be given in the next day’s introduction or in messages to the whole class.
When using systems such as MyMaths, Spelling Shed, Times Tables Rockstars, Quiz Shed or Google Forms, children can receive immediate feedback on quizzes they have completed.
The children will receive feedback within a day of having done the 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:

Weekly contact will be made with children with SEN. This will be by the SENCO and class teacher.
Activities provided on Google Classroom or Tapestry will be differentiated to support the needs of the children with SEND.
The online learning journal, Tapestry, which we use all year will be used to provide activities appropriate for children in Reception.

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 instance, children are directed towards the Oak National Academy lessons. Where work has to be submitted, this is done via Google Classroom.
Children are provided with the resources set out in the first section of this information sheet – the Maths No Problem book, the exercise book and passwords for online systems.
Children will not receive immediate feedback and lessons and activities will not be put on Google Classroom (although this may be used to direct children to Oak National Academy lessons).