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 in circumstances when in-person attendance is either not possible or contrary to government guidance. This might include:
- occasions when the headteacher decides that it is not possible for their setting to open safely, or that opening would contradict guidance from local or central government;
- occasions when individual pupils, for a limited duration, are unable to physically attend their school but are able to continue learning, e.g. pupils with an infectious illness.
For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this document.
Reference throughout has been made to the DfE: Providing remote education – guidance for schools.
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?
Specific remote learning will not be provided in the first 24 hours. Children may be asked to continue with reading, homework tasks or may be sent home with workbooks in the meantime.
After 24 hours, children will be provided with learning activities which reflect the subjects in their normal timetable as far as is practicable.
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?
Wherever possible, we teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. However, we may need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, PE lessons involving specific equipment may be adapted to enable the learner to access a similar activity without the equipment.
Remote teaching and study time each day
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
We will consider providing remote education equivalent in length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school and including recorded or live direct teaching time, as well as time for pupils to complete tasks and assignments independently:
Key Stage 1 – 3 hours a day on average across the cohort for Key Stage 1, with less for younger children.
Key Stage 2 – 4 hours a day
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
Remote learning activities are provided via the Purple Mash website and all children have access to this. Children are able to use the site to email their teachers if they have any questions about the learning.
Please use the following link to access Rosley CE School’s Purple Mash home page and then log in using the details provided by school:
https://www.purplemash.com/sch/rosley#/portal/rosley/child
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:
- we will establish whether pupils have suitable online access.
- we will lend lend laptops to pupils who do not have suitable access at home.
- In the event of poor internet connection, we will arrange for printed materials to be available for collection/drop off and for work to be collected or dropped off once completed.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
- live teaching (online lessons)
- 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 (as per the schools full opening guidance, schools full opening guidance, schools are expected to avoid an over-reliance on these approaches)
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?
At Rosley CE School, we understand the value of each individual lesson and how it is important learning is not lost. We expect pupils to engage with remote education to the same standard as we would see in school and we expect parental support in this. This includes:
- setting a daily routine to support learning
- ensuring sufficient time is devoted to remote education depending on the child’s age
- promoting and celebrating achievements in remote learning
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
- teachers will monitor engagement with remote learning via a register of learning tasks completed.
- if teachers are concerned about a pupil’s engagement, parents will be contacted via email or by telephone to discuss the concerns and provide support.
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:
- teachers will check work submitted on a daily basis and will feedback via Purple Mash, either on the piece of work or via email.
- feedback will be provided within 2 days.
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:
- we will work with families to ensure our approach is tailored to the age and needs of their child/children
- work set will reflect the adaptive teaching normally provided in school wherever possible. This may include setting tasks at an individual’s level, providing templates and models or additiojnal resources to support the learning
- 1:1 live learning sessions may be provided where appropriate
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?
Wherever possible and practicable, we will endeavour to provide the same lessons remotely as children will experience in class. However, it is unlikely this will include live learning. It may include:
- 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 (as per the schools full opening guidance, schools full opening guidance, schools are expected to avoid an over-reliance on these approaches)
We will endeavour to provide feedback within 2 days.