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.  A pupil’s first two days 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 two days of pupils being sent home?

​

The following learning will be uploaded onto Microsoft Teams or Tapestry:

 

• Maths Learning: White Rose videos linked to maths being covered in the classroom at that time. Answers will be provided for self-marking at home.

• English Learning for KS2: Work will follow the sequence of learning happening in the classroom. The quantity will be dependent on age/stage of your child.

 

Pupils will be asked to ‘turn’ work in on Teams or email the work to the year group email.

​

• RWI sessions/tasks for KS1: These sessions will work on the sounds your child will be missing. Children should read daily using RWI videos/worksheets and Oxford Owl website.

• Topic task(s): Where possible work will follow the lessons being covered in class that week. If the lessons being taught in class are not able to be delivered remotely (e.g. if it requires additional resources such as art resources e.g. clay or pastels, or geography resources e.g. maps and atlases) then alternative ‘topic’ learning will be sent which may make use of BBC Bitesize and the Government’s ‘Oak Academy’ lessons.

• EYFS (Nursery and Reception) will provide literacy and maths learning as stated above and enrichment activities for the 7 areas of learning. These will be uploaded to Tapestry.

• Year Group Email Account: Parents from nursery to year 6 can email teachers via the year group email (please follow user guidelines)

​

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:

• KS1: 3 hours

• KS2: 4 hours

​

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

​

• Nursery and Reception will use Tapestry (Microsoft Teams will only be used for daily check ins) .

• Year 1 to Year 6 will use Microsoft Teams 

​

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 have surveyed our parents to identify pupils who do not have digital access at home. Using this information alongside pupils who have been identified as disadvantaged we will prioritise on an individual basis. See our remote learning policy for further details.

• If a child has to isolate, parents will be contacted to collect either a technical device or a paper pack (we only have a limited number of devices available to lend). Once the period of isolation is over the device must be returned to school immediately. 

• Parents can collect paper copy packs on Mondays and Wednesdays. Completed work should be returned to the teacher for monitoring and feedback when picking up the paper packs. 

• If pupils do not have access to the internet the teacher/school staff will communicate via telephone at least twice a week until mobile data or a technical device has been sourced for the pupil.  

 

How will my child be taught remotely in the event of a National Lockdown or class bubble closing?

 

Our remote teaching and learning offer is aligned with our Teaching and Learning policy – please refer to full policy for further details.

​

The curriculum will be relevant to your child’s year group and will include:

 

• Daily English Lessons (RWI where appropriate)

• Daily Maths Lessons – Power Maths

• 5 lessons weekly for other subject areas such as science/humanities/creative curriculum

• Weekly PE sessions

• Daily live check ins

 

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

​

• Current online learning portals – Microsoft Teams/Tapestry

• Pre-recorded video or audio lessons;

• Hooks, ice breakers, mystery challenge; 

• Quizzes, low stake retrieval activities, google focus tasks;

• Online materials and videos; Oak Academy and BBC Bitesize

• Educational Websites;

• Various reading tasks – e.g. comprehension, inference and prediction;

• Daily challenges;

• Times Table Rock Stars;

• Read, Write, Inc.

• Gorse Ride writing process;

• Purple Mash;

• Power Maths / White Rose;

• Well-being activities/SCARF (PSHE);

• Tapestry (Nursery and Reception)

 

Not all of this learning will be online, some work can be completed independently on paper or practically away from a device

 

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?

 

Staff expect pupils learning remotely to:

 

• Be contactable during the school day 8.50am – 3.15pm;

• Attend daily live checks ins via Teams;

• Follow the Acceptable Use Agreement (school/online safety rules)

• Complete work daily and send it to their teachers;

• Seek help from the adults at home or teachers if they need it;

• Alert teachers if they’re not able to complete work;

• Read daily;

• Children should have a balance of on-screen and off screen time which should be managed by parents - refer to the principles of the Digital 5 A Day: childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/our-work/digital/5-a-day/;

• Work hard and try their best.

 

Staff expect parents with children learning remotely to:

 

• Make the school aware if their child is sick or otherwise can’t complete work;

• Support their child(ren) as best they can and seek help from the school if they need it via the year group email;

• Where possible provide a quiet work space and ensure children have the equipment/resources they need;

• Access and contribute to Tapestry (Nursery and Reception parents only);

• Be respectful raising any concerns to staff.

 

What else can I do to help my child?

​

• Create a positive environment for your child to learn at home, for example: Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, to separate school life and home life;

• Designate a working space if possible, and at the end of the day have a clear cut-off to signal school time is over;

• Create and stick to a routine, as this is what your child is used to at school. For example, eat breakfast at the same time each morning and make sure they're dressed before starting the ‘school’ day;

• Stick a timetable up on the wall so everyone knows what they should be doing when, and tick activities off throughout the day;

• Make time for exercise and breaks throughout the day to keep your child active;

• Support your child to learn through play and ‘real life’ experiences such as cooking together.

 

 

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

 

• If a child has not engaged in remote learning for 2 days the class teacher or Teaching assistant will make contact via telephone or email;

• Teachers will make daily conduct with pupils via a staggered Class Check-in (registration) from day 3 of a whole bubble, local or national lockdown. This will be a short schedule time where children will check in with their class.  This slot will give the teacher a chance to outline the learning tasks or answer any general questions about the learning via class chat;

• Teachers will use the ‘Insight’ function in Teams to monitor pupil’s digital engagement and task activity;

• Pupils will be expected to complete and return work daily;

 

 

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:

• Work submitted will be acknowledged by the class teacher via Microsoft Team, Purple Mash, Tapestry or the year group email;

• TEAMs feedback functions include: acknowledgement, grading (Rubric) or stickers;

• Feedback will be given on either an individual, group or whole class basis and it will be age appropriate;

• Verbal whole class feedback may be given during the live checks;

• Children will know when they have been successful and any next steps;

• Use Insight function in Teams to monitor pupil’s digital engagement and task activity;

• Teachers will be available via Teams ‘chat’ at certain times of the day to answer children’s questions about the learning during the school day.

 

How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?

​

The inclusion manager and teachers/support staff will work together to coordinate provision for pupils with SEND. During a period of enforced school closure, the teachers and inclusion manager will continue to:

 

• Make regular contact with SEND pupils at home and their families;

• Identify the level of support or intervention that is required while pupils with SEND learn remotely;

• Ensure that the provision put in place for pupils with SEND is monitored for effectiveness throughout the duration of the remote learning period;

• Ensure completion of necessary SEND paperwork and/or applications;

• Communicate with pupils, parents, Head Teacher and other organisations to make any alternate arrangements for pupils with EHC plans and IPPs;

• Liaise with the ICT technicians to ensure that the technology used for remote learning is accessible to all pupils and that reasonable adjustments are made where possible i.e. immersive reader;

 

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 differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.

​

The main differences will be that the staff will not carry out daily live drop ins but they will contact the pupil via Teams or phone if necessary. Teachers at Gorse Ride Schools will not provide pre-recorded teaching videos but they will use appropriate educational resources that are relevant and reflective of what is happening in class at the time of the child’s absence.  See details below:

​

• Maths Learning including White Rose videos linked to maths teaching being covered in the classroom at that time sent via Microsoft Teams. Answers will be provided for self-marking at home.

• English Learning for KS2 sent via year group email uploaded, following the sequence of learning happening in the classroom. The quantity will be dependent on age/stage of your child.

• Completed work should be uploaded to Teams or Tapestry and paper copies given to teachers for monitoring and feedback.

• RWI sessions/tasks for KS1 to work on the sounds your child will be missing and read daily using RWI videos/worksheets and Oxford Owl website.

• Topic task(s) following the lessons being covered in class that week. The resources / worksheets including instruction for practical tasks will be sent via the year group email (if appropriate i.e. if the resources required for the lessons are already at home). If the lessons being taught in class are not able to be delivered remotely (e.g. if it requires additional resources such as art resources e.g. clay or pastels, or geography resources e.g. maps and atlases) then alternative ‘topic’ learning will be sent which may make use of BBC Bitesize and the Government’s ‘Oak Academy’ lessons.

• Where necessary paper packs will be provided weekly or technical devices lent to the pupil isolating which must be returned to school when the period of isolation is over.

​

​

​

​