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Remote education provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents/carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.

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. For this time, we will direct our families to their child’s year group section on the Oak National Academy website. The website is www.thenational.academy  However, on the most recent lockdown when we closed at the start of the Spring term, we were able to have our usual curriculum added to the children’s Padlet pages by day 1.

As soon as possible, but after no more than a day or two, all children will be taught the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we may on occasion need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, we may follow the White Rose maths scheme (lower key stage 2) instead of our usual Power Maths.

 

Remote teaching and learning time each day
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

The government expects for schools to provide 4 hours’ worth of remote learning each day. We know that for a variety of reasons, some of our families may not be able to support their child with 4 hours’ worth of learning at home each day and we just ask that you do what you can prioritising English and Maths wherever possible. If you are struggling to get your child to engage, we recommend you focus on the lessons they enjoy learning about.

Children are expected to engage with learning every day, but there is a realistic view that the full day’s learning may not be achievable for all every day. However, this is weighed against the need to continue with education and reach end of year targets.  Teaching staff will be mindful of this in conversations with parents about levels of engagement in home learning. 

Children, who are unwell, are not expected to be present for remote learning until they are well enough to do so. Parents will follow the usual absence procedures in case their child is unwell.  The school will monitor absence in line with the Attendance Policy.

 

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

All work will be uploading to a secure Padlet page. This is effectively an online noticeboard. Years 3 & 4 have a year group learning page. Years 5 & 6 have individual class pages. The links to these are provided on our website here: https://www.loughton.milton-keynes.sch.uk/page/?title=COVID%2D19+updates&pid=154

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them?

We recognise that some children may not have suitable online access at home. If this is the case, we will endeavor to loan these families the technology they need in the form of a laptop or an ipad prioritising children who are in receipt of the pupil premium. If families do not have internet access, we will offer to support them with setting up wifi access or provide paper packs where needed.

How will my child be taught remotely?

Activities will be similar to those ordinarily covered in class, with links to online learning, presentations, worksheets, videos and other resources as necessary.  Activities will be part of a well sequenced curriculum where knowledge and skills are built incrementally, with a good level of clarity about what is intended to be taught and practised in each subject.

There will be an element of recorded teaching every day.  This may be ‘live’ content, either with the teacher live streaming or having pre-recorded content for the children. There will also be use of high quality teaching materials from Mrs C for English and White Rose for maths. This is because they closely follow Loughton’s usual approach to teaching English and Maths.

In addition to this, teachers and learning support assistants will provide children with regular zoom sessions each week to promote contact and engagement with friends, and to support mental health and wellbeing. These will be a range of activities which promote interactivity amongst children such as scavenger hunts around the house, quizzes, class story time etc. This is to lessen feelings of isolation and to promote pupil progress and motivation. These social chats may not always be separate sessions but may be scheduled at the beginning/end of a live lesson. Mrs Green (Headteacher) / Mrs Frost (Deputy Headteacher) will also host a weekly interactive assembly with each year group weekly.

We will also encourage children to regularly participate in school subscriptions we have in place, such as TT Rockstars to the support learning of times tables. Username and password reminders are available from the class teachers.

Where children are expected to follow a text as part of guided reading, staff members will either provide videos of them reading this text aloud or read parts of the story as part of a live lesson so that we are not breaking any copyright restrictions by photocopying large amounts of the book. An occasional paragraph may be uploaded to support retrieval questions but this will stick to the 5% allowance.

Children are always welcome to borrow reading books from school should they not have any reading materials at home.

 

Engagement and feedback

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

  • Each child will ‘sign in’ to their Padlet page and engage with the home learning that is set each day
  • They will send their learning regularly to their class teacher and will receive a reply within 48 hours no later than a Wednesday/Friday afternoon
  • Parents will support their children as necessary to access the learning resources, and provide paper, pens etc as required
  • Parents will get in touch with class teachers if there are any issues with the above

The best way to support your child with their home learning is by ensuring a structured routine is in place for their day, in line with the timetables available on their Padlet page.

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

The child/ family’s response to home learning is the only way we can assure the children are well.  If a child is not completing the work, or the quality of the work noticeably dips, teachers will email the parents.  If there is no response within 48 hours, the class teacher will follow up with an email. If there is no contact made by a family in response to both an email then a telephone call will be made. The last step that may be taken is a doorstep visit with members of our senior leadership and pastoral team.

How will you assess my child's work/progress?

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. In lower key stage 2, the children are encouraged to share any work they are proud of by uploading it to a column in their padlet page. Any work uploaded to Padlet is acknowledged that same day. In upper key stage 2, the class teachers post work that they have received from children which are of exceptional quality on their class Padlet page. Any work submitted directly to a child’s class teacher via email is acknowledged within 48 hours (usually on a Wednesday or Friday afternoon). More in depth comments are given to pieces of writing to support the children to meet their writing targets. We provide answers for all maths’ learning so that children can self-assess their learning in a timely manner, allowing them to identify any areas they would like to improve

Interventions

Where possible, virtual interventions will take place across the school by our LSAs or our intervention teacher. If your child is being offered additonal 1:1 or small group support for reading, spelling or maths then we will notify you directly.

 

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/carers to support those pupils.

There are 2 separate Padlet pages set up, which provide work differentiated appropriately to suit the children’s academic ability.

Our Teacher in Charge of SEND is Mrs Ramsden. She is supported by our SENDCo, Mrs Green. They are responsible for:

  • Ensuring that pupils with EHC plans continue to have their needs met while learning remotely, and liaising with their usual class teachers and other organisations to make any alternate arrangements for pupils with EHC plans and IHPs
  • Identifying the level of support or intervention that is required while pupils with SEND learn remotely and liaising with support staff as appropriate to implement this
  • Ensuring that the provision put in place for pupils with SEND is monitored for effectiveness throughout the duration of the remote learning period
  • Arranging additional support for pupils with SEND which will be unique to the individual’s needs, e.g. via weekly phone calls, virtual meetings etc