Remote Learning Information for Parents

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

Where there is short notice of a school closure, we will collate a series of online activities that will focus on core subjects.  We will email this as an attachment to your child’s email and upload it to Class Charts so that it is accessible to parents and students. Activities will be designed to be both accessible and manageable.

Where there is a planned closure, teachers will prepare subject specific activities. These will be uploaded to 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?

Following the first day or two, students will follow the normal school timetable and the same curriculum, wherever possible and appropriate. We may need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, subjects of a practical nature will be adapted to suit online teaching methods.

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:

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

We will continue to use Microsoft Teams as our main platform for remote education as well as the many other online resources available to our students (links on our website). Students will access live lessons via Teams, as well as classwork, assignments and homework tasks. Further information and guidance can be found in the Accessing Remote Learning presentation, here.

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:

• • Our goal is to ensure that all students also have the devices and connectivity to access learning. If there are any issues with technology, a parent/carer should contact their child’s pastoral leader.

  • We will adopt a range of options to support those who do not have digital or online access at home. These will include, but are not limited to inviting students into school to access IT resources, loaning equipment such as devices and dongles, or sending paper-based resources. This will depend on both the circumstances of the closure and the individual circumstances of the child.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• • live teaching (online lessons)
  • recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
  • commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

Students are expected to engage in all of the work set by teachers. Where online lessons are available, students should attend all lessons. However, we understand that these are difficult circumstances and there may be various factors that restrict access. Therefore, we will support students to engage in their remote learning. Where possible, lessons will be recorded and shared with students following the live session.

Parents can support their child by:

• • • setting up a practical homework space
    • establishing structured routines
    • setting goals
    • encouraging them to talk about their lessons
    • celebrating wins
    • reaching out for help when you need it

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

• • • Registers will be taken at the start of each session
    • Engagement in lessons will be checked throughout each lesson via questioning
    • Completion or submission of online tasks

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:

Feedback will be given in line with our Teaching and Learning Policy.

Verbal feedback will be a regular feature of all lessons to guide learners towards success, provide support where needed and to deepen knowledge and understanding.

Written feedback may be provided by the teacher comments on via collaborative documents or other electronic means.

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:

• • • Support will be offered on a case by case basis. Where appropriate, we may offer in-school support for small groups of pupils/students, to allow them to access specialist support,
    • How you can access this provision will be communicated to all parents prior to moving to remote learning.

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 offer live lessons for those who are isolating. Work will be set for students via Google Classroom (HMS) or Teams (QEHS) by individual teachers.