Learning from home

1. What is taught to pupils/students at home?

The academy will endeavor to deliver the full curriculum to children, in line with what teaching would be in place should we be at the academy in person. Our curriculum offer will remain broad, balanced, and mirror the EYFS, KS1 and KS2 National Curriculum.

Whilst we will cover the subjects, there may be some adjustments that need to be made to the existing curriculum for more practical subjects (such as PE, Art, Design Tech and Music). These lessons may be taught individually or through a themed approach (e.g. World War 1) We thank you for your support and patience with this.

2. What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first few days?

In the instance that children need to engage in remote learning, due to self-isolation, bubble closure or whole school closure, the academy will work hard to ensure that no child is left without work to do in the immediacy. Pupils will be able to log into and access Microsoft Teams, or if in Early Years – SeeSaw or 2 Simple, and access their lessons and work resources. Pupils will have access to teachers for support and guidance at set times within the normal school day hours. Please see section 2 in accessing remote education below for questions about access at home.

1. How long can I expect work set by the academy to take my child?

The minimum amount of time remote education should be in practice for Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) is 3 hours per day. This may be less for younger children. For Key Stage 2 children (Year 3, 4, 5 and 6) this is increased to 4 hours per day. If a bubble closes, this includes both live lessons and pre-recorded video. Pupils will then be set work to practice their learning. If your child is isolating, the children in Years 1-6 will access the learning slides via teams and will complete all work via Showbie. Children younger than this will access work through SeeSaw. 

1. How will my child access the online remote education?

Pupils will be able to log into and access Microsoft Teams, or SeeSaw if in Early Years, and access their lessons and work resources. Please see the information below for detail of how to access this.

2. If my child does not have access to online learning at home, how will you support us?

The Horizons project means all children now have appropriate devices to access our home learning offer.

Where pupils do not have access to internet at home, please contact the office and we will discuss support we can offer to provide internet access at home through government or our own support schemes.

3. How will my child be taught remotely?

We will use a variety of approaches to teach pupils remotely, best suited to circumstances, topic and age. We will be ensuring that in the case of a bubble closure, Year 6 have daily live lessons and check ins through Microsoft Teams, Years 1 to 5 have a combination of live check-in sessions with their teacher, pre-recorded lessons and Early Years will have lessons delivered through apps such as Teams, or SeeSaw. Please see the information below for detail of how to access this for specific ages.

1. What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide?

We expect every student to engage in lessons as they would in the classroom, and similarly our staff will be checking student understanding in the same manner as well. This could take the form of online quizzes, marking/assessment of assignments or work returned by email or other apps, or in-class engagement.

Student behaviour practices are expected to be in line with those within the academy, and additional rules are in place for things such as microphone and camera use, raising hands, or class conversation through MS Teams. 

We know that strong parental engagement is important to make this successful, and therefore endeavour to communicate regularly with you around how the remote learning is going. We will be there to offer support on how to access the information remotely around resources, lessons and your child’s attendance, behaviour and engagement.

We ask that you support your child by creating a quiet place for them to attend lessons at home, and do not record any lessons for your own use due to GDPR and data protection.

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

We will be checking in with children during lessons and online-check-in sessions to ensure we have a good overview of their understanding and engagement. Online quizzing and assessment tools also help us to see how many children are actively engaging in lessons, and as always we will be monitoring attendance.

If there are any concerns we will ensure we are in contact with you as parents and carers by telephone each week.

3. How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

We will be assessing your child’s progress through work submitted daily via Showbie or SeeSaw, engagement through questions in lessons, using online quizzing/marking tools and other work returned by email/other agreed communication. This will help us identify needs of the individual or needs of the class quickly and effectively. As part of the 30 minute daily check in for bubble closures, teachers will address any misconception from the previous day.

1. How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support 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:

• Differentiated activies for independent work as per normal classroom practice.
• Individual access to specific Apps with individual subscriptions and provision (such as Nessy, Dynamo Maths etc.)
• Emotional and social support from the Academy Inclusion/Pastoral Teams with 1-2-1 support video calls.

1. If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from that of the rest of their class?

The provision for self-isolating pupils may differ in approach, but not in curriculum content. Years 1-6 will have slides or pre-recorded lessons available through TEAMs each week, as well as access to the Oak National Academy site. Reception will have access to learning slides via teams, Nursery will have access to activities via Seesaw.