Remote education provision

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. For example, some particular units within Art, DT, Science and PE have been adjusted as pupils need particular materials and resources to support their understanding of some of the concepts within these topics and they are therefore best taught when pupils are in school and have access to these.

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day: 

Early Years

To access remote education for Early Years, daily videos and tasks will be distributed to parents by teachers. Once this has been completed, parents are asked to upload this to EexAT so that it can be reviewed by the Early Years team.

Year 1 to Year 6

All pupils will have a Seesaw account, which can be accessed by visiting https://web.seesaw.me/. Seesaw can be accessed using any web browser, as well as via the app store on a phone or tablet. Often, teachers will link work on Seesaw to other platforms, such as Bug Club, Purple Mash and Espresso. Pupils will also have a log in for these websites.

Year 6

As well as using Seesaw, Year 6 will also have live lessons which can be accessed using Microsoft Teams. Every Year 6 pupil has been given a device with Teams already loaded.

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

We have issued individual devices to pupils from Year 3 and aim to ensure every family has a loaned device and internet access that needs it. Where needed, pupils are offered a space in the Community Classroom or a paper workpack will be issued.

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

Recorded teaching
Teachers have pre-recorded lessons which are then uploaded to Seesaw. Once lessons have been
viewed, pupils will have an activity assigned to them. This will be linked on Seesaw and may
include a Seesaw response, a Purple Mash activity, a Mathletics assignment or a Google/Kahoot
quiz.

Live teaching
As all pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 have been given a device, they are able to access live lessons
through Microsoft Teams. These pupils will have access to one live lesson a day; other lessons
will be pre-recorded and accessed via Seesaw

Live check-ins
Every day, year groups will have a live-check in with their teacher through Microsoft Teams,
which can be accessed through a laptop, computer, tablet or mobile device. During these short
sessions, teachers will read to pupils, celebrate everyone’s successes, give class feedback on
learning and much more.

Commercially available websites
Often, teachers link pupils to commercially available websites to further support their learning.
Some of these include: Khan Academy, BBC Bitesize, Google Earth and the Oak National
Academy.

Subscriptions
The school has also subscribed to some online platforms which supplement the teaching and
learning of the curriculum. Most of these websites require pupils to log in. Within these
websites, work can be set by the teacher and progress can be assessed. These websites include:
Espresso, Active Learn (Bug Club), Mathletics, Purple Mash, Nearpod and Pobble. If you have
forgotten your username or password, please contact your Year Group Lead.

Printed paper packs
For pupils with limited remote access who do not wish to attend the community classroom,
printed paper packs have been created by teachers. These reflect the curriculum that is taught
remotely and updated on a fortnightly basis. When workpacks are sent out, age-appropriate
reading books are also included. Teachers make phone calls to these pupils to go through their
learning and support where necessary.

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

Pupils are expected to engage with remote education on a daily basis; 3 hours for KS1 and 4 hours for KS2. Timings are flexible and work may be completed whenever it is convenient for the family within the working day. Learning has been designed for pupils to complete independently, however we recognise that parental support may be needed at times, particularly when setting routines. To reduce this, teachers have recorded instructions on Seesaw for children to play so they are confident in accessing the work. Pupils have also practised using the platforms in school.

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

Teachers check engagement of remote education on a daily basis and record this information for their records. This engagement is tracked through Seesaw and other platforms, by looking at the work that has been submitted to the teacher. In EYFS, engagement is tracked through EExAT. Where paper packs have been provided, engagement will be tracked through phone calls. We appreciate the challenges parents/ carers face when supporting their child at home, particularly those who are working full-time, and therefore we are on hand to support as much as needed. If we notice that children are not engaging with their work/ are not present during the live lessons or checkins, a text message will be sent in the first instance and then followed up with a phone call.

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:

• Whole-class feedback. Whole-class feedback may be given if there is a common misconception or success. This will be done through the morning greeting video uploaded to Seesaw, subsequent teaching videos within a subject or within the daily live check-ins.
• Quizzes. Some lessons include quizzes on platforms such as Oak Academy, Mathletics, Google or Kahoot. In these instances, feedback is provided instantly to the pupil. Teachers will review this feedback to inform further lessons and support where necessary.
• Individual feedback. Pupils will receive individual feedback where appropriate throughout the week. This will be given through Seesaw where teachers may write a comment or add a voice recording of their feedback. Additionally, teachers may use the ‘like’ function on Seesaw. Where pupils require further support, the teacher may choose to make a telephone call to support the pupil with their misconceptions.

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 cause families, and we will work with parents and carers to support those pupils.

Pupils with a diagnosed SEND need have been invited to attend our Community Classroom for face to face learning. Where parents/carers have decided to keep their children at home, bespoke work packs have been created and shared with families. Activities set on Seesaw are monitored by the SENCo. 

Pupils in the EYFS may also struggle to access remote education independently. In this instance, the EYFS team make regular phone calls to their pupils and send home workpacks.

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?

Individual pupils who are self-isolating will continue to receive a planned, well-sequenced curriculum with meaningful and ambitious work each day. This will be provided in a number of ways, depending on the child’s circumstances and may include a blended approach of: 

• A workpack that is created fortnightly to reflect the learning taking place in school • Lessons set on the Oak National Academy that reflect the same learning taking place in school
• Pre-set activities on Seesaw, with input through existing videos such as BBC Bitesize, Espresso or Khan Academy
• Teachers will continue to communicate with the family to provide support and feedback on a regular basis during the self-isolation period.