Remote Education Provision: Information for Parents and Carers for whole class or school remaining at home:
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. As a school we need to make arrangements to continue the education of your child should there need to be any closures in school due to COVID-19.
The remote education at St. Catherine’s is as close to the classroom curriculum as possible. And, just like our classroom curriculum, it is carefully sequenced and ensures that children obtain the building blocks they need to move on to the next step.
The Remote Curriculum- The ‘remote curriculum’ is the broad term encompassing any learning that happens outside of the classroom, with the teacher not present in the same location as the children. The way in which our remote curriculum is delivered depends upon what content is being delivered and the age and stage of the children:
- Online learning where the curriculum is delivered via Microsoft Teams. This can include ‘live’ lessons as well as pre-recorded videos and/or resources to support children’s learning to complete either online or in a paper-based exercise book at home.
- Virtual Classroom.
- Sign posting families to external apps and websites that would further support engagement in remote learning.
Timetable- Teachers will provide a timetable with a summary of each lesson that will take place on Micorosft Teams. The expectations of lessons each day will be:
- A maths lesson
- An English lesson
- A phonic lesson (Foundation Stage and KS1)
- A lesson for one of the foundation subjects (science, history, geography, music, Latin, computing, art, RE)
The timetable will be shared with all parents and carers as well as a ‘remote learning pack’ which will consist of a book, relevant logins to the programs that school subscribes to as well as any additional resources needed. Remote learning packs will be sent home before ‘bubbles’ need to self-isolate as a precaution.
How your child will be taught remotely– In the event of full or partial closure teachers will use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- Have daily contact with pupils/parents via Microsoft Teams for Reception to Y6 between the hours of 8.50am-3-15pm
- Live teaching sessions via Micorosft Teams each day with pupils in Reception, Key Stage 1 and 2
- Learning to be shared via Microsoft Teams to access as part of the live lessons.
- Printed work packs for families who have no means to access the internet
- A phone call from teaching assistants for parents/carers of children who are not engaging.
- A daily video for pupils in nursery with direction to specific activities
Timings for Remote Learning- The expectations set out by The Department for Education require schools to set meaningful and ambitious work each day in several different subjects. Schools are expected to provide remote education that includes either recorded or live direct teaching and should be of equivalent length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school. As a minimum that is:
- 3 hours a day for Key Stage 1 (years 1 and 2 when pupils are aged between 5 and 7)
- 4 hours a day for KS2 (years 3-6 when children are aged between 7 and 11)
Those hours include both direct teaching and time for pupils to complete tasks or assignments independently.
Engagement and Feedback- Children are expected to attend online Microsft Teams sessions with their teachers and complete the work set. We follow up remote absences in the same way, in line with school policy on absence and attendance. A timetable is shared with all parents and carers setting out the expectations for the day. Children can contact their teachers via Microsoft Teams during live lessons, if further support is needed.
If a child is not engaging in remote learning teaching assistants, or the class teacher, will contact parents. If it continues the teacher will forward concerns to their line manager. If a lack of engagement continues then this will be escalated to the Head Teacher to see what else the school can do to support their learning and encourage engagement. If your child is struggling to access the learning materials online, please contact your child’s class teacher via admin@st-catherines.bolton.sch.uk.
Pupils will receive daily feedback on the work they have completed through Microsoft Teams. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
– Teachers will comment on the work your child has submitted. It may be a ‘well done’ comment or a comment to ask them to look again at a question. If your child’s teacher thinks that your child needs more support with a question or area of learning they will contact them individually either via the private message tool or through a phone call.
– During the live lesson, teachers will ask the class questions and will ask children to unmute themselves to provide an answer or ask them to comment in the ‘chat’ function.
– At the end of a series of lessons, your child may be asked to complete a quiz so teachers can assess their progress and make adjustments as is necessary.
It is important the children engage with the remote learning activities to continue their education during periods of self isolation however we do acknowledge that each family’s home circumstances are unique and there may be factors that affect engagement with home learning. These may include parents working from home or limited access to technology among other factors. Communication is essential and we ask that if parents are finding things difficult to get in touch with their child’s class teacher so we can support and put measures in place.
Individual self-isolation– If a child is self-isolating they will be directed to Oak National Academy. The work directed towards will be similar to what the children in class are covering. On their return to school a teacher or teaching assistant will check their understanding and provide further teaching if required.
Access to technology at home– A recent survey completed by parents allowed us, as a school, to provide access to technology and the internet at home enabling us to provide appropriate resources and online learning. If children do require any printed materials please contact your child’s class teacher.
Logins to online learning resources- The school subscribes to a number of online learning resources which can be accessed at home. It is essential that children and parents have access to the relevant login details from the start of the school year so that they are immediately available in the event of a closure of self-isolation. The login details will be sent home inside the ‘remote learning pack’.
Login details that should be included are:
- Microsft Teams (Reception- Year 6)
- Purple Mash
- Times Table Rockstars (KS2)
- Charanga
Online Learning Resources:
Times Table Rockstars – All children from Year 2 to Year 6 have a logon for Times Tables Rockstars. This is a fantastic website that supports children in learning their times tables.
Once your child has logged in they should play in Garage mode. This has an automatic training mode which starts with easy times tables and as the children get them correct it adds in more and more times tables. This means that it is pitched at the right level for the children so they’re able to practise getting quicker at tables that they know rather than struggling over many that they don’t know.
Purple Mash is an online portal containing many activities for a full range of subjects. Each child has their own login and teachers can set tasks for the children. When children complete a task on Purple Mash they can submit it to their teacher who can comment on it.
Charanga – Those using the Charanga platform are adopting Yumu to support their students’ music-making and learning at home. Yumu is a secure online space where students learn, play and develop their musicianship by:
- completing assignments that you set using your own favourite resources or Charanga’s.
- engaging in independent learning, chosen from a range of exciting Yumu Packages.
Website Links
Oak National Academy– Visit our online classroom to view all of Oak’s free lessons, searchable by key stage, year or subject. Or visit our About Oak pages to find out more about our work.
BBC Bitesize– Explore our best videos, articles and quizzes for primary and secondary students and discover new Primary Catch-Up Lessons to get back on track. BBC Bitesize covers all subjects.
