GREAT HORWOOD CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL

REMOTE EDUCATION PROVISION – INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

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. For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this document.

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?

• On day one and two of remote learning teachers will send home a range of activities that can be completed during the day.
• As a minimum this will include an English and Maths activity. A topic related activity will be sent home where possible. Pupils will be expected to read daily and practice timetables and phonics or spellings.
• Learning will either be sent by email, posted on the school website or posted on Google Classroom

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 need to make some adaptations in some subjects to ensure learning can be posted into Google Classroom.
• The daily learning will consist of an English and Maths lesson and one other curriculum subject as a minimum. Other Activities will be provided such as worship, story time, PE and early morning activities.

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:

Accessing remote education

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

• At Great Horwood School we are using Google Classroom as our remote learning platform.
• This can be accessed through your child’s email and login details. 
• Please contact the school office if you need these resetting or any support.

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?

We recognize that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• Pupils who meet the DFE criteria for devices will be offered a Chrome book or laptop on loan for remote education.
• Great Horwood School will be able to loan some Google chrome books and laptops to pupils without appropriate devices at home first, and then offer where pupils do not have enough devices for all children at the school. This will be at the discretion of the headteacher.
• In addition to Google Classroom pupils can access any learning materials from the school website, on the class pages or via email from the class email.
• Paper packs of learning materials will also be provided on request for any pupils without electronic means. These can be collected or posted home weekly.
• Wherever possible pupils will be expected to submit their work via Google classroom. If unable to do this then scanned copies or photographs can be uploaded to Google classroom, or sent via the class email.
• Pupils who are unable to submit work electronically can return paper copies to school. These will be quarantined for three days before being marked.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Some live teaching (online lessons) in KS2. Where possible these will be recorded for later use.

• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, BBC Bitesize, YouTube)
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
• e-reading books, books pupils have at home and books sent home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences, including: Twinkl, Classroom Secrets, and PSHE association
• project work and internet research activities that link to the cross curricular topic
• recorded story time, worship and other relevant clips and information
• PE lessons and signposts to a range of physical activities

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?

• Pupils will be expected to attend morning and afternoon registration everyday via Google Classroom and Google meets.
• Parents are asked to contact the school office daily if their child is absent from remote home learning due to illness or other reasons.
• Pupils will be expected to complete the work set in the given time and submit at lunchtime and at the end of the day. If this is not possible pupils or parents should send a Google Classroom message to the teacher giving reasons for non-submission of work. This will ensure teachers are able to continue to support pupils with their learning.
• Pupils should use the chat facility on Google Meets to raise questions about work to the teacher and not for sending messages to each other during registration and live teaching.
• Parents are asked to support their child by:
• helping them to read any instructions
• reading with their child daily in KS1
• discussing their child’s book with them in KS2
• supporting with learning where required, and contacting the school for further help and support if needed
• providing appropriate equipment and materials where possible to allow for a balanced curriculum.

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

• Teachers will check daily at registration how pupils are engaging with the home learning, and through the submission of work on Google Classroom.
• Work submitted on time will be marked and returned the same or following day where possible. Work submitted late will be marked at a later date.
• Work that is incomplete or not of an acceptable quality will be returned to the pupil to be resubmitted.
• If teachers have any concerns they will contact parents directly on the telephone or via email

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. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

• Work will be assessed through the marking of work submitted, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms, questionnaire forms and verbal or written feedback from the child or parent.
• Where possible pupils will receive some feedback daily, this could be verbally at registration, at Google Meet group chats, via comments on Google Classroom or feedback on an individual’s work.

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 recognize 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:

• At Great Horwood School pupils with EHCP and Higher Needs block funding have been encouraged to attend school.
• For other SEN pupils the SENDco is making contact with children and parents of pupils with SEN to offer support with learning
• The SENDco continues to work with outside agencies to support SEN pupils.
• In EYFS and KS 1 the class teacher is producing differentiated class packs to support all pupils and including those with SEN with remote learning.
• In KS2 learning is differentiated by outcome, due date and learning intention according to individual SEN pupil targets. Paper packs are produced on request.
• Video recordings of story time and phonics lessons are being produced.
• Voice overs on PowerPoint’s and other documents with instructions and guidance to support all children.

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?

• We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we may need to make some adaptations in some subjects to ensure learning can be posted into Google Classrooms.
• As well as work set on Google Classroom:
  • Pupils would be expected to read for 20 minutes daily
  • Pupils in EYFS and KS would be expected to practice their phonics daily
  • Pupils in KS2 would be expected to practice their times tables daily
  • Complete 20-30 minutes of physical activity at home daily