Remote Learning
Overview of 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. Further guidance will be published to parents where there is a full school closure.
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. This could include delivering an amended curriculum, different to that of which they would normally follow, and/or signposting students to our Blended Learning Curriculum on Firefly.
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 may sometimes need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, PE will set fitness challenges on the PSHE/PE page instead of running a remote core PE lesson.
Remote teaching and study time each day
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:
|
Key Stage 3 and 4 |
5 hours per day |
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
All of the lessons, work and learning resources will be on Google Classroom. All students have been sent invites to their classes, which they must accept. Live introductions will take place using Google Meets (or in a small number of cases, Zoom) via the relevant Google Classroom page. Each morning, your child should attend registration as normal with their tutor and tutor group.
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 have a number of laptops and internet dongles which we can allocate to students. To apply for a school device, please contact Mrs Anstey: [email protected].
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- live introductions and teaching (online lessons)
- recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
- textbooks and reading books pupils have at home
- commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
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 students to engage with the live elements of lessons and aim to complete all the work set weekly in each subject expectations of parental support, for example, setting routines to support your child’s education
- We expect parents to support their child by helping them settle into a routine with remote learning by following the timings of the school day in conjunction with their normal timetable.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
At the start of each lesson, teachers will take a register and log attendance on SIMs. At the end of the week, teachers also complete the student work tracker on whether a student has completed all the necessary work for that subject. This information is looked at regularly by tutors, CTLs and our student support team, and phone calls will be made to parents where we have any concern over engagement and completion of work.
For students with a special educational need, or those who have been identified as vulnerable, weekly phone calls will be made to check in with parents and carers.
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:
- All work submitted will be at least acknowledged by the teacher
- Opportunities for self-marking of work through providing answers and self-marking online quizzes (low stakes testing)
- Larger key assessment tasks will be marked by the teacher and feedback given in line with department policies and procedures.
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:
Every pupil who is identified as having additional learning needs has been assigned to a member of support staff. The designated member of staff will contact their pupils at least once a week, often more depending on individual need.
The support staff work to help engage pupils with additional learning needs to ensure that they are able to organise their work and engage fully. The support provided is varied in accordance to need but can take the form of 1:1 support, clarification of learning, differentiation of work or just as a support base to ensure the learner is confident, happy and able to engage.
This support is provided either via telephone contact or online through Google Classrooms in a separate support group and parents are updated accordingly.
Vulnerable pupils and pupils with an EHCP are still supported on-site where possible to ensure that they are able to maintain those strong links with their support teacher and to ensure that their needs with regards to their academic progress and wellbeing are still met.
Remote education for self-isolating pupils
Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, remote education 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?
We have developed a Blended Learning Curriculum Plan which is available on Firefly, and which aligns as much as possible with the taught curriculum in school.
Students should follow the amended timetable published to parents, and look at the curriculum plan to locate their work for the relevant week of absence. For example, if a child is isolating in week 4 of term 2, they should look at the work for each subject on the curriculum plan in week 4.
For more information please see the guidance for remote learning due to self-isolation which is available on our website.
Latest Legislation – Covid-19 (5th January 2021)
At the 05/01/2021 none of the statutory duties of local authorities or schools under the Children and Families Act 2014 or Equality Act 2010 have changed.
Please read the following document for up to date guidance on vulnerable children as a result of the January lockdown. www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcare
What are we at Patchway Community School are doing?
Patchway Community School has been open to children of key workers and vulnerable children. All students who are identified as SEND and who have had a risk assessment completed in conjunction with parents and carers and reviewed according to need.
The SENCO, Teaching Assistants and Teachers are in contact with SEND students at least weekly via Google Classrooms or telephone. If a parent has a concern they should discuss it with their assigned Teaching Assistant or Student Support Team in the first instance.
Where possible Annual Reviews will be completed remotely via the phone or an appropriate group call service. Further reviews will of course be available should any adjustments to an EHCP be required upon return to school.
If your child has an EHCP and or has been registered as SEN support and you have any questions or concerns about the support or provision provided then please contact the school directly to discuss:
SENCO: [email protected]
