Remote Learning Offer

 

Westbrook Primary school is committed to ensuring that high quality learning continues even when the school is closed.  Remote learning refers to the provision of work, teacher support, and assessment from teacher to pupils in the event that usual lessons are unable to be delivered ‘face-to-face’. 

 

Situations where this may apply: 

• Pupils unable to attend school due to a period of self-isolation whilst waiting for test results within their household but who otherwise remain well
• Pupils unable to attend school due to a period of advised self-isolation but who otherwise remain well
• An extended period of school closure

 

This may be applicable to: 

• An individual
• A part cohort
• An entire phase/group/bubble
• A whole school

 

(As of 4th January 2021 we have found ourselves in a position where the school is closed for the majority of pupils, with the exception of vulnerable and key worker children.)

 

It is the school and Government’s expectations that all children will engage in learning online and offline on a daily basis. This is vital for their long term future. 

When teaching remotely, the DfE will expect schools to

 

• Plan a programme that’s of equivalent length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school
• Set learning activities so that pupils have learning each day in a number of different subjects, and monitor pupils’ engagement with these tasks
• Teach a planned and sequenced curriculum so that knowledge and skills are built incrementally, with clarity about what’s intended to be taught and practised in each subject
• Provide frequent explanations of new content, delivered by a teacher from school or through curriculum resources and/or videos; consistently across the year groups
• Gauge how well pupils are progressing through the curriculum, using questions and other suitable tasks (e.g. quizzes), and set a clear expectation on how regularly teachers will check work
• Enable teachers to adjust the pace or difficulty of what’s being taught in response to questions or assessments, including, where necessary, revising material or simplifying explanations to ensure pupils’ understanding

 

It is the responsibility of school staff, parents, children and the governing body to ensure that remote learning is monitored and continues to provide effectively. 

Remote Learning Platforms

 

Early Years will be using DB Primary (From April 2021 Early Years will begin to use Google classroom) 

Year 1 - Year 6 will be using Google Classroom and Google Meet 

Remote Learning Plan

Children in years 1-6 are expected to login to Google Classroom by 10am the latest (some teachers may begin lessons earlier; pupils and parents being notified in advance where necessary). They will then find the tasks for the day set out on their page. 

 

• Early Years will be set a minimum of 2 hours of activities per day. They will be able to find the activities on the Reception blog page. They will also have at least 2 live lessons with their teachers every week, which will be via Zoom. 
• KS1 will be set a minimum of 3 hours of work per day.

Year 1 will have at least 3 live lessons per week with their teachers. 

Year 2 will have at least one live lesson each day with their class teachers. These will happen either via Zoom or Google Meet. 

• KS2 will be set a minimum of 4 hours of work per day. They will have at least one live lesson a day with their class teacher. This will happen either via Zoom or Google Meet. 

 

Children will be set learning activities in each subject area. The lessons provided will cater specifically for our children and their differing needs and abilities, with clear instructions/directions provided. Teachers will be planning lessons which will follow what the children would have learnt, if they were still in school, using our long term curriculum plans.

 

As part of this provision, teachers may use a combination of any of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

• Powerpoint presentations
• Instructional guides/plans
• Recorded teaching (eg. Oak National Academy lessons, bbc links, video recordings made by teachers, youtube links)
• Live learning via Google Meet or Zoom

Engagement and feedback

 

Staff will expect pupils learning remotely to: 

• Be contactable at some point throughout the school day - although we acknowledge that they may not always be in front of a device the entire time
• Be logged on to Google Classroom by 10am each day
• Make their best efforts to complete work to the deadline set by teachers
• Seek help if they need it, from teachers or teaching assistants
• Alert teachers if they’re not able to complete work
• Complete all work set each day to the best of their ability (where possible) 
• Read feedback on previous work and respond if needed
• Attend all live sessions each week  

 

Staff can expect parents with children learning remotely to: 

• Make the school aware if their child is sick or otherwise can’t complete work (for school records.)
• Ensure that children are logged on to Google Classroom by 10am each day
• Contact the class teacher via email if this is not going to be possible due to restricted access to technology
• Seek help from the school if they need it, including informing staff/school if they are unable to access ‘remote learning provision’

• Please ensure that your child completes the work set by the school to the best of his / her ability.  Keep in contact with the class teacher via email if there are any problems with the work set 
• Please try to ensure your child attends the live teaching sessions and try to provide an environment which supports learning e.g. quiet space, paper and pencil  
• Please try to ensure that you don't interrupt live teaching sessions, if you have a question or concern please email the teacher separately 
• Be respectful when asking questions or voicing concerns to staff
• Be aware that if work is not being completed regularly, your child’s class teacher or another staff member will call you and your child to discuss
• Be mindful of staff workload – they are available for support between 8.30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. Staff are also still expected to come to school at least once a week to help run the care camp, please be aware on those days, they may take a little longer to reply to emails and questions.  They will not deliver live teaching sessions on these days 
• Please encourage your child to complete work as set by the school but at the same time please be mindful of their mental well-being 

 

Expectations of Staff

• Where possible, teachers will try and mark work submitted before 3.30pm on the same day
• Work submitted after 4pm may not be marked until the next school day
• Staff will ensure that all children have logged in by 10am by checking/taking a register
• Staff will monitor which children are logging on daily and who is submitting work. Where necessary they will contact parents of children who are not completing tasks set for them
• Staff will ensure that daily tasks are uploaded to Google Classrooms and DB Primary so children know what tasks they need to complete
• The learning activities set are age-appropriate and consequently we expect the children to complete most tasks independently to minimise pressure on our families
• Staff are still expected to come into school at least once a week to help run the Care Camp

Guidance for live lessons and remote teaching:  

 

This outlines what we expect of pupils during online sessions. Much of this matches our expectations of pupils in lessons when they are in school and it will help pupils get the most out of their online learning.

 

• Online lessons will be provided via Google Meet or Zoom
• Teachers will initially set their expectations of how children should behave in their live lessons. These rules will be similar to how they are expected to behave in school. 
• The joining link will be published on the class remote learning classroom or sent to parents via email.  
• Children must be appropriately dressed at all times, as should any other household members who may appear in the background  
• Live video lessons should be in the most appropriate room in the house e.g. ideally a quiet room with the door open
• Live lessons will be scheduled at the start of the week and will consist of the teacher delivering the lesson input and information that the children need to complete the independent task set.  Language used must be appropriate, including any family members in the background
• Where possible, at least two members of staff will be present on all live lessons 

Monitoring

Each teacher, alongside their provision of learning materials on the website, provides a clear expectation of how and when work should be submitted. This will be done via Google Classroom or email. Staff will be able to immediately see what has been submitted, and when, and they will be monitoring this daily. Staff will also call or email parents if children are not logging on daily or submitting work. During these calls they may also ask to speak to the children to see how they are doing. Members of the Senior Leadership Team will also be monitoring children logging on and completing work, they may also call if no improvement has been seen after the class teacher has called. 

 

Assessing children’s work

Feedback can take any forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. Staff may record verbal feedback in the form of voice notes as well as written comments or quizzes. Children will be able to comment as well as seeing teachers comments, on all their learning tasks.

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 bubbles and a whole school . This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school. 

 

When there is an individual child who is self-isolating at home due to having been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, tested positive themselves, been contacted by NHS Track & Trace or is returning from a country on the quarantined list, they will be provided with work. This will be uploaded on Google Classroom and be directly aligned to what is being taught in class. Class Teachers may take longer to reply to any questions during this time, but they will reply as soon as they have time.