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 should national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home in the future.

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 event of local or national lockdowns or if individual classes are required to self-isolate, then the school will make every effort to provide remote learning from the first day on which pupils are required to stay at home. Initially this may be through the setting of activities on Seesaw or through sending work packs home with the children.

Teachers will quickly move on to providing a combination of activities on Seesaw, live or recorded lessons and ‘pen and paper’ work. The work will follow our existing curriculum with some adaptations made to allow it to be delivered remotely in some subjects. For example: some of the practical elements of Science may not be possible in some units of work.

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

In line with the guidance published by the Department of Education in January 2021, we expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

Accessing remote education

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

Our remote learning platform is Seesaw. All pupils will have been issued with a unique code to allow them to log on to this platform. Live sessions will be delivered through Google Meets.

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

Through regular communication with the parents throughout 2020-21, we have been able to loan devices to parents who did not have a device on which pupils could effectively access our learning platform. If parents require support in this area they are encouraged to contact their child’s teacher and the school will endeavor to help to find a solution. Teachers are available on the Year group email addresses (for example year3@yardleyprimary.co.uk) or parents can contact the office on office@yardleyprimary.co.uk or 0208 5293671. Parents are required to sign a document to acknowledge that they have taken loan of a device from the school.

Some parents have chosen to reduce the amount of screen time their child has and in these instances, the school has provided paper copies of the materials. Paper work can be photographed or scanned and submitted via email or dropped off at the school office.

How will my child be taught remotely?

The school uses a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

Some examples of remote teaching approaches:

• live teaching (online lessons and live social sessions)
• 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
• 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?

The school expects all pupils to attend all the live sessions and to attempt each activity that is set for them.

For Reception pupils, teachers will record lessons rather than deliver them live. This means that parents can view the activity at a time that is convenient and pause the video if required.

For younger children, some level of parental support will be required. For older children, teachers will set tasks that pupils should be able to attempt with a good level of independence.

Pupils consistently missing the live lessons or failing to complete tasks will be contacted by the school so we can help to find ways to increase levels of engagement.

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:

• Immediate feedback during live lessons.
• Group discussions in Google Meets.
• Work submitted through Seesaw, marked and returned to pupils also via Seesaw. Comment marking where necessary so pupils can see where they need to make corrections or improvements.
• For younger children, feedback may be in the form of voice messages so that pupils who are still early readers are able to access the information being given.
• Phone calls, emails or messages through Seesaw to help clarify misconceptions with individual pupils.
• 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. If a child has an EHCP and it is safe to do so, we will encourage those children to attend school in the keyworker and vulnerable children bubbles. If that is not possible or a child has SEND without an EHCP, then teachers will differentiate activities so that all pupils can access them. Pupils with EHCP will receive regular online sessions from a SNA to target specific areas.

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. However, the school will attempt to keep the online provision as close to the provision that is being offered in school.

If a child is ill, either because of COVID or other illnesses, and unable to attend online lessons or attempt activities then this will be treated as it would be when the school is open. The child should rest and resume activities once well enough.