Marcham C of E Primary School

"Where Christian values are integral and learning is fun"

Newsletters

Home Learning Policy

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?

A letter will be sent home explaining how we intend to support pupils in the longer term but interim measures will be highlighted. This includes reading, Times Table Rock Stars and Spelling Shed. Paper packs of work may also be provided and either delivered or made available for collection.

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. Staff may video parts of lessons to aid the understanding of pupils and to supplement other provision. There will also be ‘feedback’ sessions each week.

Please see school newsletter dated 8^th January ‘21 for further details.

Remote teaching and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

Following government guidleines, we expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

Key Stage 1	3 hours a day (with less time for pupils in Reception)
Key Stage 2	4 hours a day

Accessing remote education

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

Pupils in Years 1 – 6 will access remote learning via Google Classroom.

Pupils in Reception will access remote learning via Tapestry.

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:

Chrome books have been made available on loan to those children who have limited online access. The school offers these devices to those families we know who may benefit from having them and information shared about availability on the school newsletter, where parents can phone the school office to enquire.
Information about possible additional provision for those whose internet connection is intermittent or unstable shared on school newsletter.
Some children, for specific reasons, may have work printed out for them. It will either be delivered to their homes of collected from school and should be returned to the school office when completed.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

Work set on Google Classroom/ Tapestry by class teachers, relevant to the class and National Curriculum expectations.
recorded teaching (e.g. video/audio recordings made by teachers; White Rose Maths sessions, Oak National Academy lessons)
live teaching (online lessons). These will be an introduction or feedback session. There will be no teaching for the length of a normal whole lesson.
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
long-term project work and/or internet research activities
creative/physical/artistic activities (in line with SMSC education and PSHE)

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?

Having missed out on schooling in the first lockdown, we want to do all we can to build on our children’s learning - and there are lots of new things to learn. We are expecting that children do all they can to complete the work that has been prepared and we know that you will do your best to support them to do that. However, we are also very conscious that having to facilitate your child’s learning at school ‘from a distance’ is no easy task – especially with children in the younger age groups. We ask that you do all that can be done to keep them engaged – giving the children breaks when and where necessary (it doesn’t have to be like a school day) – and encouraging them with your own positive attitude.

Please see school newsletter dated 8^th January ’21 for further details.

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

You child’s class teacher will monitor your child’s learning and engagement on Google Classroom/Tapestry on a daily basis and will provide feedback regularly.
If there are concerns by staff about the quality or frequency of your child’s work, you will be contacted, usually by phone, by the class teacher or the headteacher to see what further support can be given.
If there are concerns from the parents’ point of view, contact can be made with the school office who will pass the concern on to the person best placed to deal with it.

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:

Regular marking and teacher response comments via Google Classroom/Tapestry.
Feedback sessions for each class each week, where common misconceptions can be addressed and understanding clarified.

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:

Parents of pupils with EHCPs are phoned each week to check on provision and progress. Some of these children may be in school and so such remote scrutiny might not be necessary. Families where children may be vulnerable in other ways will also be contacted.
Some pupils may receive a personalised online programme and may have bespoke online sessions with the member of staff they generally work with.

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?

If a child is ill while self-isolating, then the expectations of work would not be the same as their peers and we would ask that the child does whatever they can and whatever would be deemed reasonable. However, assuming that self-isolation does not mean a child is ill, we would expect them to do the work allocated to them along with their classmates.

Working together, we hope that we can enable and empower our children to thrive.