Remote education provision: information for parents

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. In the event of any form of isolation and loss of learning caused by Coronavirus, parents must understand that engagement in home learning is compulsory. 

What should my child expect from remote education?

In the event of any form of isolation and loss of learning caused by Coronavirus, parents must understand that engagement in home learning is compulsory. However, if children themselves are ill then they should not be expected to engage in home learning.

If a child is self isolating because someone in their household is symptomatic or the child tests positive (the rest of the children are still in school) please read the following information. 

Day one remote learning

Please access the following resources while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote learning -  

Day two of remote learning - 

Child needs to isolate because someone in their household is symptomatic or they themselves tests positive

The teachers will be teaching their full class during the day therefore feedback will not be immendiate. It may be later in the day or the following day. A Teaching Assistant may also provide feeback or make a call if needed. 

In the event that your child's class teacher becomes ill, we will endeavour to continue to deliver a programme of home learning led by the year-group's partner teacher or other teachers/teaching assisitants within the Phase.

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 curriuclum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make adaptations in some subjects. 

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:

Key Stage 1 (Reception/Y1/Y2) - 3 hours

Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) - 4 hours

Accessing remote education

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

Reception pupils - 'Tapestry' is the online platform we will use for remote education. This is shared with all Reception parents upon enrolment at Parkroyal.

Year 1 - Year 6 pupils - Google Classroom is the online platform we will be using for remote learning. Our 'Step-by-Step guide to Google Classroom for parents' and the videos linked within it will hopefully answer many technology-related questions. Further support with the remote learning activities is via the class teachers either by email or through the private chat function on Google Classroom (Tapestry for Reception pupils).

If my child does not have a 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 learning:

• We have some devices that we can lend to you. You will need to contact school to let us know and we can talk to you and support you with this issue. 
• We do have some SIM cards (50GB) for phones. You will need to contact school to let us know and we can talk to you and support you with issue. 
• We are able to print materials if you do not have online access

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• recorded teaching (video/audio recordings made by teachers or using other resources such as Oak National Academy)
• printed paper packs for pupils with no access to online learning
• commercially available websites supporting the specific teaching of subjects or areas, including video clips

Engagement and feedback

What are the school's expectations for my child's engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home? 

It is expected that all pupils engage with remote learning. School expects to see daily engagement, whether through posts online and/or submission of work.

Reception (using Tapestry only) - All tasks are placed on at the start of each day with a suggested timetable to support the delivery of these tasks. We expect parents and carers to upload photographs of children carrying out these tasks and these will be responded to each day.

We recognise that everyone's households will be different and we know many of you are working from home and managing remote learning, in some cases with multiple siblings from across the primary and secondary range.If a subject task cannot be completed at the time it is placed on Google Classroom, please do not worry. If it is completed a couple of hours later, that is fine and can still be submitted. Please don't hesitate to call us and we will support you with suggestions and ideas. 

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

We use Google in school and this platform enables us to work remotely very easily. We have a robust safeguarding procedure in school that informs the Safeguarding team with any concerns logged by teachers and teaching assistants. The teaching staff communicate with their Phase leads and the head teacher regularly and will raise any concerns they have with regards any pupil or family. Depending on the concern, contact may be made in the first instance by the class teacher. It may be felt that a member of the Senior Leadership team (SLT) needs to make further contact. In some cases, the teacher may request to talk to your child/ren to support their engagement with remote learning or it may be a phonecall, agreed with yourselves that will support your child's mental well being. Teachers inform SLT where there is little or no engagement and the school will contact those famillies to explore the reasons why this is not happening and to support engagement. 

How will you feedback and assess my child's work and progress?

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

• Feedback will be just for your child's work that they submit where appropriate.
• Ongoing assessment will continue, as it does in whole school. The teachers will use their assessments to amend/update/add or adapt the next days work that is uploaded for your child/ren. 
• Teaching assistants are supporting teachers with remote learning and they may respond, as they do in school, to work submitted by your child. Google classroom allows teachers and TAs to work collaboratively at the same time. 

What can I do to support my child's home learning?

• We would recommend creating a dedicated area for your child to work on their remote education and at the start of the lesson they have access to the appropriate resources (e.g. pencil, paper, log in details).
• Establish a routine that works for your family. School expects that on-line work is not accessed/submitted at unsociable times according tot he age of the child and will contact parents if older children appear to be working at inappropriate times. 
• Some regular time to move, exercise and have a break will be beneficial for your child's home learning experience.
• Having log in details for education platforms will also make this process easier for your child.
• Check in on what your child/ren have achieved on a regular basis throughout the day - only upload the requested activities when you are both happy that the task is completed fully. 
• School understands that parents and children may fall ill during this period or there may be other reasons why a child may not be able to engage short term. Some lack of engagement is expected form time to time; any reasons for lack of engagement should be communicated with school. Please make school aware if your child is sick or otherwise can't complete work.
• Seek help from school if it is needed. 
• School expects families to be respectful of staff well-being and to understand that a response to communication should not be expected outside of the hours of a reasonable working day. 
• Be respectful when making any concerns know to staff. 

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 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 that this may place on famillies, and we will work with parents and carers to support these pupils in the following way:

• The class teacher and/or the child's 1:1 support will contact you to discuss the plan for remote education if your child is staying at home.
• The class teachers will adapt the learning tasks uploaded to Google Classroom.
• In some cases, paper resources or manipulatives will be sent home.
• In some cases, online intervention programmes, for example Nessy, will be used instead of the learning tasks shared on Google Classroom.
• Temporary Provision Plans and Risk Assessments will be written for pupils with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP) who are not in school.

Safety whilst working remotely

For your child/ren to be able to access the live remote learning sessions, you have agreed to Parkroyal's 'Consent to remote learning via live video'. We proactively share information with you about children safely accessing any online platforms and you can find many useful links to external websites on the Staying Safe Online section of our school website.

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