REMOTE LEARNING
Information for parents and carers
Pupils can access their remote learning via Microsoft Teams.
Pupils may need to learn remotely if they are sent home from school to self-isolate, or if there is a full lockdown.
The following information is a brief summary of how your child will learn at home. More detail is included in the school’s Remote Learning Policy.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home
When pupils are sent home to self-isolate, they will be provided with details of how they will be taught.
The arrangements are different according to your child’s age.
FS1 – pupils in FS1 will access their daily learning through Tapestry. Staff will upload new daily activities and regular videos to the school You Tube channel
FS2 – pupils will have a combination of remote learning via MS teams and independent learning activities uploaded to Tapestry daily.
Year 1 – pupils will have daily remote sessions over MS Teams including phonics, maths and English and independent learning activities set for foundation subjects.
Year 2 – pupils will have daily remote learning over MS Teams in the morning. The afternoon will be independent learning tasks to cover foundation subjects.
Years 3 – 6 – pupils will have a full day of remote learning in most cases. The teacher will outline daily tasks.
All pupils have been provided with a log in for their specific year group Team site.
All pupils will be provided with any materials that they need, including work packs and stationery items if needed and stationery will be available to collect from school as required.
All pupils will have a personal reading book to continue reading at home. Please continue to listen to your child reading every day and encourage them to talk about their books. Children in FS, Year 1 and Year 2 should continue to access Phonics Play to support their phonics learning. Children in Years 2 – 6 should access Times Tables Rock Stars and Spelling Shed daily.
The expectation is that pupils will start remote learning as soon as their period of self- isolation begins.
Remote teaching and learning time each day
As far as possible, we expect that pupils will spend the same amount of time working on a remote education day as they would in school. This is because they will be following the usual school timetable for their lessons and completing independent learning / homework that arises from them.
In the early years, children’s learning will be more practically based but will follow the same curriculum that is used in face-to-face learning.
Daily remote learning:
All timetables are on the school website: www.highcragsprimary.comunder the Home Learning tab.
FS1 – activities uploaded to Tapestry
FS2 – daily live meeting at 9.15 followed by phonics. Live maths meeting at 1.30
Year 1 – remote teaching from 9.30 until 11.30
Year 2 – remote teaching from 9.00 until 12.00, some afternoons as directed Years 3 to 6 – remote teaching from 9.00 until 12.30, 1.30 until 3.00
Accessing remote education
Remote lessons will be delivered using Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) to all pupils. Your son/daughter has been taught how to access the site and how to login for lessons. Logins have been sent to all parents via text message.
We will continue to use learning platforms including Oak Academy, BBC Bitesize, TTRockstars, Phonics Play and Spelling Shed. The older children will also use Google Classroom and/or One Note where needed. Videos will be uploaded to the school’s You Tube channel.
We are very grateful to parents for providing devices on which their children can access lessons and resources. We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home.
Please inform the school office (office@highcrags.staracademies.org) if your child does not have a laptop/tablet on which to work, or if you do not have internet access at home. We will do our best to support you. We have provided devices to all those who have requested one so far.
If pupils do not have online access, please inform us so we can provide hard copy work packs if needed.
Remote teaching
In Years 2-6 Remote teaching will be delivered through live lessons in the vast majority of cases. This will involve simultaneous direct teaching by class teachers (who could be teaching from the physical classroom or from home if self-isolating) to their pupils (who could be learning in the physical classroom or at home).
Direct input from the teacher may be supplemented with some recorded material (such as video lessons from Oak National Academy, or videos recorded by class teacher) which may be the most appropriate way of teaching particular aspects of work.
Pupils will need to spend some parts of lessons writing in their workbooks or completing activities that involve physical resources. These will be provided by the school. Some activities will involve pupils completing work on their devices and saving or uploading it.
Some subjects, such as PE, do not lend themselves to online learning in the same way as others. Teachers will take into account the difficulties pupils may have in completing physical activity in a confined space and provide alternative suitable home learning such as videoed exercise lessons or links to appropriate PE lessons online. As part of the full and balanced curriculum, children will be given projects to complete in DT for example, art activities to do or research projects. These will take into account the resources available to the children at home. These lessons may link to other online providers.
Engagement and feedback
We have the same high expectations of pupils’ behaviour when they are learning remotely as we do when they are learning in school. The STAR values should be consistently maintained. All pupils have been taught the protocols for working online and staying safe. Codes of conduct for remote learning have been given to pupils, parents and staff. The school will alert you in the event of poor behaviour or non-attendance.
We value your support for your child’s wellbeing and learning. Please continue to ensure that they follow good routines, including getting enough sleep and time away from screens.
We will keep a careful check on your child’s remote learning. We will inform you by text or phone call if your child misses and lessons that they are expected to attend. We will phone your child at least once per week during their time learning remotely to check on their progress and wellbeing. We will inform you if we have concerns about your child’s work.
Assessment and feedback
Your child will work in a variety of ways when they are learning remotely. Sometimes they will submit assessments by One Note or through uploads to Teams and these will be reviewed by their teacher. Sometimes they will complete work on paper / in exercise books that will be submitted to school in hard copy form or through photographs
Feedback can take many forms. Sometimes your child will receive written individual feedback. Some feedback will be given on a whole-class basis and sometimes your child may complete quizzes that are marked automatically via digital platforms.
The teacher will assess the children during the daily lessons through questioning and through their responses in chat. This will inform support and planning.
Additional support for pupils with particular needs
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:
- Individual support on line from teaching assistants who are working remotely
- Timetabled sessions through the week for 1:1 support via Teams
- Differentiated work and activities
- Additional reading/phonics sessions offered for small groups by teaching assistants