This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if national/local restrictions require the entire school, year groups, cohorts or bubbles to remain at home.  We have decided to continue to call our remote learning offer 'Home Learning'.

LOCAL/NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

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

A pupil’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach, whilst we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote 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 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 as it is not always possible to provide the same experience as we can in school.

• Teaching staff deliver our core curriculum using a combination of live and recorded lessons by class teachers, pre-recorded lessons from Oak National Academy/White Rose Maths and carefully planned activities and tasks for pupils to complete at home.
• Class teachers upload all lessons onto Google Classroom (Key Stage 2) and SeeSaw (Foundation Stage/ Key Stage 1)
• Pupils at home and at school access these lessons.
• Pupils upload their completed work onto Google Classroom/SeeSaw and the teacher provides feedback.
• Home Learning lessons and tasks will 'mirror' those that are being delivered in school. 

How long are children expected to work at home each day?

Our Home Learning curriculum offer will be a minimum of 3 hours per day for Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 and 4 hours a day for KS2.  Along with daily tasks for the core subjects of reading, writing and maths and twice weekly for Religious Education, there will be additional tasks and activities across other subjects to ensure we continue to offer as broad, balanced and creative curriculum as possible.

Pupils in all year groups are provided with a weekly timetable to ensure that they are given routine to support learning at home. This timetable is located on the child’s Class Page on the school website (www.stmaryangels.co.uk).

Pupils in Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6) learning from home will join live sessions each day and upload their work for feedback. Class teachers will keep a register of who has logged onto Google Classroom and completed activities.

Foundation Stage (Nursery & Reception) and Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) pupils access pre-recorded lessons via SeeSaw, including a daily phonics teaching/book talk sessions, recorded by the class teacher.

Key Stage 1 pupils will also have live ‘check ins’ via Google Classroom.

We believe our approach provides some flexibility for families with children in different year groups where digital devices may have to be shared and where parents and carers are working from home.

How will my child access any online Home Learning provided by the school?

• Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 pupils have access to SeeSaw
• Key Stage 1 and 2  pupils have access to Google Classroom
• A combination of live and pre-recorded lessons are shared with pupils through these platforms.
• Pupils also have log-in details for other online learning platforms the school has subscribed to including Bug Club Reading and Phonics, Cracking Comprehension, Sumdog (maths and spelling) and Times Tables Rock Stars.
• Pupils also have log in details for Wonde which provides access to SeeSaw, Google Classroom and the other platforms mentioned above via a single sign on.
• Every Monday, prior to the start of the school day,  a weekly timetable will be shared for each class via the pupil’s Class Page on the school website.

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

The governing body and school leaders are committed to increasing pupils’ access to digital devices to enable them to fully access Hone Learning. Weekly phone calls home in the first weeks of lockdown will gather information regarding families that have no or limited access to digital devices for Home Learning and parents/carers will be encouraged via newsletters and text messages to contact the school in if they need further support.

The actions the school has taken to increase access to digital devices as of 25^th January 2021 are as follows:

• The school has acquired its full allocation of digital devices from the DFE, as well as additional devices via the Westminster’s Digital Futures programme. These have been loaned to pupils with limited or no access to a digital device, prioritizing pupils eligible for Free School Meals in Years 1 to 6 and families with two or more pupils in the school who have to share a device or who are only able to access remote learning via a smartphone.
• We have used our initial allocation of DFE Catch-up funding combined with donations from the Governing Body and the Parents and Friends Assocation to provide additional Chromebooks for use in school and these will be made available to families to loan if needed.
• Improved internet access for families by providing:
  • SIM cards with free data;
  • Providing information on how to request an increase in mobile phone data allowances;
  • Requesting wireless ruters for families know to have no broadband connection at home (provided by the DFE).
• Tablets donated by Westminster Children’s University have been loaned to pupils in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1
• Laptop scheme put in place for parents/carers to buy a laptop/Chromebook and pay off monthly.
• One to one support provided by the teachers over the phone to support parents/carers and pupils accessing online learning.
• Email Support from admin team in response to parent/carers requests re username and passwords.

Parents/carers may request printed materials if they are having difficulty accessing Home Learning. Exercise books, stationery and other equipment will also be provided, if required.

How does my child access the online learning resources?

Parents/carers are provided with their child’s log in details to the online learning resources the school subscribes to at the start of each school year and as and when new resources are rolled out. These can be accessed via the Home Learning section of the school website which ncludes

• Class Pages which include the weekly timetable;
• Weblinks to all the online resources pupils have access to;
• Suggestions for Prayer and Worship at Home which are updated weekly and linked to the Sunday Gospel and liturgical year.

Parents/Carers can contact the school office for assistance with usernames and passwords.

How will children be taught remotely?

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

• Assignments and tasks set for pupil on Google Classroom and SeeSaw;
• Pre-recorded lessons including videos from Oak National Academy and White Rose Maths;
• Live sessions accessed through Google Classroom;
• Online reading books in Bug Club and Cracking Comprehension followed by tasks linked to the text;
• Commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences;
• Online math activities;
• Internet research activities;
• Printed paper packs produced by teachers (if requested by parent/carers).

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 important the children engage with the Home Learning activities to continue their education during periods of lockdown and self-isolation. 

In the first four weeks of a national lockdown, class teachers will call home weekly to assess access to Home Learning and any additional support or resources required. From week 5, class teachers will only call home if they have a concern about engagement in home learning or in response to a parental request to call home.

While we understand that every family situation is different the school, in line with guidelines from the Department for Education, expects parents/carers to:

• Follow the weekly timetable which can, with the expectation of live Google Classroom lessons, be adapted to fit in with other children and their own work commitments;
• Establish set routines for children to learn regularly at home;
• Ensure their child reads every day;
• Contact the class teacher via the school office if they or their child are finding things difficult so we can support and put measures in place to help.

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

• Parents/carers are asked to contact the school as you would if your child was attending school to let us know why they are unable to take part in the live lessons e.g. through illness or family circumstances;
• Teachers will monitor engagement by registering who has logged on to SeeSaw / Google Classroom each day and the work that has been completed / handed in;
• Attendance at Google Classroom lessons will be monitored;
• The class teacher will ask the office to contact parents/carers if a pupil has not logged in and competed any activities set on a particular day and if there has been no contact from the family to explain why;
• If work is not submitted through Google Classroom/ SeeSaw for two days or more and parents/carers have not responded to the initial contact from the school office, a member of the Senior Leadership Team will contact the parent/carer.

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 submitted online is in line with our school’s marking and feedback policy. Teachers’ response to assigned work submitted online will be may include the following:

• A written comment;
• A recorded voice note on SeeSaw;
• Verbal feedback during a live Google Classroom session and/or written feedback via the chat function;
• Monitoring of assigned activities marked automatically via online learning platforms  such as Cracking Comprehension, Bug Club and Sumdog with feedback given where appropriate.

Teachers will endeavour to respond to completed work that has been assigned to pupils on the same day.

Parents/carers must not use Google Classroom and SeeSaw to contact or communicate with class teachers. All contact should be made via the school office.

What support will children with Special Education Needs receive to access Home Learning?

We recognise that some pupils, for example some pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), may not be able to access online Home Learning 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:

• Staying in regular contact and offering support from the school’s SENCO (Mrs Karen Waine).
• Adapting online activities where appropriate;
• Providing work packs and/or specific resources;
• Continuing to virtually facilitate and support outreach professional sessions;
• Providing personalised home learning plans when required after discussion with the parent/carer, class teacher and SENCO;
• Staff continue to attend professional meetings including EHCP annual reviews and SALT session.

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 will provide a weekly timetable to mirror what is being covered in school including:

• Links to pre-recorded lessons;
• Assigned activities in Gogle Classroom/SeeSaw;
• Reading and maths tasks assigned in online learning platforms.

Appendix-Summary of Home Learning Offer

[pdf 432KB]