Remote Education Provision

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 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.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

Home learning will be available from the first day, but may be limited to numeracy and literacy in the first instance until staff can fully make the transition from classroom teaching to distance teaching.

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 aim to teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, subjects such as science, music and art may use specialist equipment in school that cannot be replicated at home and so topics may be changed or adapted to allow equity of access to learning.

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:

The School will ensure there is at least an hour of numeracy and an hour of literacy activities each day for each age group. The School would recommend that an hour is spent each day on each of these curriculum areas with particular attention being paid to writing as well as reading activities as part of literacy. The School will provide a range of learning activities covering a broad range of curriculum areas so there is always enough learning to fill a school day.

Accessing remote education

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

The School’s primary method of delivering home learning is through the Seesaw app. This is used extensively on a daily basis in school and so children in particular and parents to some extent are familiar with using the app to engage with learning, submit work and receive feedback from staff. The School will also use apps such as Reading Eggs, Mathletics and Spelling Shed to supplement other provision and to support specific areas of learning. The online video communications Zoom app may be used to enable staff and pupils to remain in touch with each other in real time daily or weekly. Zoom may also be used for some live teaching and for parents’ meetings with staff. Zoom meetings will have established protocols and be recorded for safeguarding purposes only.

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:

• The School has invested heavily in iPads in recent years and Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils are used to having a named iPad in school, of which they have sole use. There are sufficient iPads for all children in the School to have 1:1 use and we encourage all parents to collect an iPad to support their child’s home learning during lockdown or self-isolation. A simple loan agreement should be signed.
• The School will also support any parent requiring additional help with connecting to the internet, either through broadband or mobile phone. Parents should contact Mrs Cranmer in the first instance (finance@mvwacademy.co.uk).
• The School will encourage non-screen based learning activities where possible and will always provide materials for completion (for example, balloons, seeds, clay etc.) available from the school and freely and safely accessible. The School will also facilitate the lending of reading books and provide items of stationery, paper copies of worksheets and work books where necessary. Parents should contact their child’s class teacher in the first instance.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• provision of home learning activities, submission of completed learning and feedback regarding the learning will be carried out via the Seesaw app
• some live teaching (online lessons) in small groups or class groups
• ‘keep in touch’ Zoom meetings with class groups most days for social interaction, home learning surgeries and well-being checks
• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers, BBC Bitesize)
• printed paper packs produced by teachers or available commercially and provided by the School for safe collection at the School during daily exercise (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
• reading books pupils have at home and can return and exchange with School
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences (eg Big Maths, Read Write Inc, Twinkl, White Rose, PlanBee etc.)
• long-term project work and/or internet research activities for topic work
• whole school or whole Key Stage ‘makes’ or creative activities; materials provided by the School for safe collection at the School during daily exercise

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 our pupils to engage with home learning in line with the government’s expectation of 3-4 hours on average per day. Due to the extensive use of the Seesaw app in School, we expect pupils to be able to independently access the learning available and the School is able to loan every child an iPad to facilitate this.

Our expectation of parents is that they support a daily routine and expectation that home learning will be carried out and access the support provided by the School in terms of equipment, materials and services. Pupils should have access to an appropriate space in which to be able to concentrate on the provided learning. We would hope that parents will be able to provide limited, short-term assistance to their child if they become stuck with an activity and encourage their child to seek assistance from the class teacher where necessary.

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

Staff will be able to monitor engagement with home learning on a daily basis through the Seesaw app. Pupils have been trained to upload their learning, showing the work they have completed. Staff will then mark the learning in accordance with the School’s Feedback Policy. We will expect our class teachers to have spoken to your child about their learning in real time at least once a week through a Zoom ‘keep in touch’ meeting or telephone call. If the School has concerns regarding your child’s engagement with home learning this will be discussed with you during a weekly telephone call and may be followed up with a letter.

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:

• Pupils have been trained to upload their learning, showing the work they have completed.
• Staff will then mark the learning in accordance with the School’s Feedback Policy.
• We will expect our class teachers to have spoken to your child about their learning in real time at least once a week through a Zoom ‘keep in touch’ meeting or telephone call.
• Staff will be working to give feedback as soon as possible to correct mistakes and misconceptions and provide encouragement and maintain engagement.

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:

• Staff will seek to differentiate home learning for all ability groups, and for individuals where possible. Pupils with an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) will be encouraged to be in school for some of the school week alongside the children of key workers. Where possible (depending on the guidance relating to bubble numbers) vulnerable (due to SEND or ability to access learning at pupils will be invited
• Home learning for Early Years children will be age appropriate and will inevitably require more adult supervision and assistance. The school will make more use of pre-recorded video content to support phonics (either in-house or commercially produced). Activities will mirror those that children would typically carry out in School and be designed to fit in alongside family routines as much as possible (for example, whilst out during daily exercise, whilst cooking etc.)

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?

If your child is self-isolating due to having been in contact or suspected contact with a positive covid-19 case then learning will be provided through the Seesaw app. Presuming that your child is well enough to have attended school then as far as is possible your child’s class teacher will upload the learning activities being carried out in school to your child at home through Seesaw. There may be some delay due to the class teacher’s requirement to continue to teach full-time in school. The use of apps such as Reading Eggs, Spelling Shed and Mathletics may be more extensive and more independent research alongside the class’ termly topic may be required than would be usual to the approaches described above.