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?

In the instance that children need to engage in remote learning due to whole school closure, bubble closure or self-isolation, Walesby C of E Primary School will work hard to ensure that no child is left without work to do in the immediacy. This may take the form of a workbook, work pack or direct links to online learning for children to work independently. A child’s first day or two of being educated remotely may in some cases look different from our standard approach depending on staffing levels, but will (within 2 days) revert to Microsoft Teams where our children will be able to access their work resources and lesson support. Our curriculum will remain broad and balanced and will mirror the EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 National Curriculum.

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, there may be some adjustments that need to be made to the existing curriculum for more practical subjects such as Science, PE, Art & Design and Music. We thank you for your support and understanding with this.

Remote teaching and study time each day

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

At Walesby C of E Primary School, we will provide meaningful and challenging work across the broad and balanced National curriculum, following the timetable similar to our core offer in school. 

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 children will be able to log into and access Microsoft Teams in order to access their lessons and work resources.  Assessment and feedback will utilise the same platform.

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:

• School will loan small desktops or laptops (if available) to any pupil who is not able to access the online learning.
• Where pupils do not have internet access at home, school will happily support wherever possible with 4G routers or dongles.
• School also has access to data SIM Cards that can be given to families who have limited mobile data access to support online education. These will also support parents to keep in regular contact with school.

Please contact the school office via telephone 01623 860575 or email office@walesby.notts.sch.uk

to arrange a conversation and time for collection.

Children will be able to access any printed materials needed if they do not have online access. Please contact the school office to arrange for a work pack to be collected from school or delivered to home for those that are shielding.

If children do not have online access to submit their work, children can return their work to school where it will be quarantined (72 hours), marked and then a follow up telephone call will be given to provide verbal feedback, by the end of the week.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We will use a variety of approaches to teach pupils remotely best suited to individual circumstances, subject and age.

We will utilise a combination of:

• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, interactive PowerPoints, video and audio recordings made by teachers, BBC Bitesize).
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets if requested).
• textbooks and reading books pupils have at home or reading books for children who cannot access online materials.
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences.
• live timetabled check-ins as and when appropriate through Microsoft teams.
• live teaching if and when we feel it appropriate and supported by parents.
• play ideas to support EYFS curriculum (Class Oak).

Please note, REGULAR break times and activities away from the screen are strongly encouraged.

There might sometimes be problems that arise with technology, either from school or with your own devices and/or WIFI connection at home. Please try not to get stressed. Technology can be very testing when things don’t work. At these times, do what you think is right for your child.

If there is a sound or video problem, please log off and then try again. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your child’s class teacher as they will do their very best to help you get sorted.  

Ideas to support mental health and emotional wellbeing will be provided through each Microsoft Teams Class on a specific channel, alongside our supportive website pages dedicated to mental health, under the “Parents” tab.

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?

• We expect all children to fully engage with the daily sessions that are provided for remote education. All uploads from staff will be completed before 9a.m every day.
• We will be checking in with children/families during lessons and may hold check-in sessions to ensure we have a good overview of our children’s understanding and engagement. As always, we will be monitoring children’s attendance and engagement.
• We expect children’s completed work to be uploaded via Microsoft Teams (where possible) or for parents to send in photographs of completed work to office@walesby.notts.sch.uk
• Weekly ‘Health and wellbeing’ telephone calls will be made to each and every family.
• As always, we strongly encourage parents to contact school at the earliest opportunity for support.
• Daily routines are established by the Class Teacher’s daily Welcome Message and/or on the instructions in the daily assignments on Microsoft Teams. 
• We know that strong parental engagement is vital to make remote learning as successful as possible in order to support your child’s learning and development. We endeavour to communicate regularly with you, providing feedback for your child’s online learning achievements and efforts.
• A timetable is provided for all children to highlight the curriculum areas covered for the week ahead to support parental support in setting routines to support your child’s education whilst managing your own work commitments and deadlines. We understand the difficulties in balancing working from home, but a routine will make the learning easier if it is at regular, set times.
• We appreciate that none of this is easy and are here to support and guide you as best we can, whilst balancing the provision of education in school to children of key workers/critical workers and for vulnerable children during lockdowns.

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

• We would expect all parents to engage fully with remote learning and to support your child as best you can.
• Children’s engagement is checked regularly throughout the day.
• Where engagement is a concern, parents are contacted and support is offered.

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:

Individual feedback is provided by a written comment on all work that is submitted, on a daily basis.

Next steps may be identified for children to reflect upon, review and address.

Whole class guidance, feedback and praise may be posted on posts throughout the day in response to ongoing work.

Quizzes may be provided for children to complete and we ask that parents do not support with the answers. This will support teachers in ascertaining a baseline and further support can be provided.

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:

In some instances, where appropriate, a totally individualised programme of work is made for identified individuals and SENDCo liaises directly and regularly with the family. Work will be set to suit the child’s needs and ability.

For children who have a known difficulty (such as Dyslexia), resources such as coloured overlays and pencil grips will be provided.

SENDCo liaises regularly with families of children who are not in school if necessary and appropriate. Providing advice and support where needed.

For children in EYFS and KS1, work will be set with clear instructions/expectations and support, as much as possible, with verbal explanations/videos to avoid large amounts of text to be read. The teacher will also demonstrate the task set, where possible. Tasks may be set using editable formats such PowerPoint, so that text can be enlarged and resources (such as Tens Frames, Counters etc) can be manipulated on the screen. Children can be supplied with equipment such as maths equipment, stationary, books and any other physical resources required.

Some lessons will make use of non-computer based activities, such as scavenger hunts, practical tasks (drawing, making, creating etc) and investigations. This type of learning can be photographed or videoed and then uploaded for staff to feedback on. 

Microsoft TEAMs also has an ‘Immersive Reader’ function, where families can have text read to them, adjust text font/size, translate text for children with EAL and break text up into smaller chunks. Support on using this feature is available on the school website. 

Feedback from parents and children support and informs our provision and next steps on a daily basis.

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 throughout the document?

Individual pupils who are self-isolating are taught a planned and well-sequenced curriculum with meaningful and ambitious work each day in the same way as all children who are being educated remotely, as far as is practicable, dependent on the subject being taught and the practicality of resources necessary. Feedback will not be immediate but will be timely and meaningful, before the start of the next day.