Smitham Primary School

Remote Education Information for Parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and support for parents/carers and children in understanding the remote learning offer at Smitham; what is provided by the school and what is expected of the parent/carer and child.

Home Learning

The following applies when a class or bubble has been directed by the school, local authority or DfE, to complete learning from home.

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

Children have their personal logins for the year groups’/class’ online platform; this can be accessed via the school’s website by clicking on the db login in the bottom right hand corner. Learning is placed onto the platform; this is in line with the learning which takes/would take place at school.

2. 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?

Children learning from home can access a curriculum offer that closely matches that which would be offered were they learning in school. 

3. How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

Remote education, including remote teaching and independent work, will take children approximately the following number of hours each day; as a minimum, three hours in Reception and KS1 (Yrs 1 & 2), which may be increased to four hours a day in KS2 (Yrs 3-6).

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

All children have access to the online platform through their logins. Please contact the school office if difficulties are being experienced with this.

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

Where children do not have access to the internet or a device at home, the parent/carer should contact the school to discuss the support available, this may be the loan of a laptop or ipad, support with wifi connectivity, paper based resources or a place at school, if appropriate.

6. How will my child be taught remotely?

There will be a combination of the following approaches:

• daily live learning sessions
• recorded teaching, which may be audio and/or visual
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or focus areas
• a range of activities that offer children the opportunity to complete their work using different approaches (written, pictorial, video, creating presentations, recording sound clips etc.)
• teaching will be underpinned by our principles of SMART learning, to motivate and engage the children

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

• All children will attend the daily ‘live’ session with their class
• All children will engage with the online platform daily
• All children will upload their work daily, by 3.30pm
• Each class’ expectations for the day are outlined on their platform’s home page
• See ‘Remote Learning Live Lessons’ expectations

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

• Every child’s engagement is monitored daily
• Parents/carers will receive a text message, through PING, or a phone call, if their child has not engaged with the platform, uploaded work or attended the ’live’ learning that day
• The school will work with families to overcome any barriers to accessing or engaging with the learning
• See Attendance Policy

9. 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:

• feedback in response to work uploaded or any other pupil queries is provided each day
• teachers interact with the children throughout the day, responding to their queries, addressing individual’s and group’s misconceptions
• in the few circumstances where a child is accessing learning through weekly packs, and is unable to upload work to the platform, the completed pack must be exchanged for the new one so that the work can be marked

10. 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:

• children with SEND have appropriately differentiated learning and parents have access to strategies to support them at home
• families of children with an EHCP are called by their teacher, SEN 1-1 teaching assistant, SALT or SENDCo regularly, to provide guidance and support

Blended Learning

This is when the class is being taught at school, but a child is having to self-isolate as they or a family member has symptoms or potential symptoms.

A week’s learning, related to the year groups’ learning that week, will be available on the year group’s platform at the start of every Monday morning. This will include for years 1-6:

English – writing – the child will be signposted to Oak National teaching resources

English – spelling and phonics work

English – reading activities focused on their home reading book or stand-alone comprehension tasks

Maths – lesson videos and worksheets from White Rose Maths

Foundation subjects – activities focused on the Knowledge Organisers and associated work and research

For Nursery and Reception, the learning will include phonics, number, reading and writing; activities will reflect the contextual, exploratory approach advocated in the Early Years.

When the child returns to school, their completed ‘blended learning’ work should be put in the ‘blended learning’ file in their classroom.

The child’s teacher should call the child during the week to have a personal/well-being conversation and provide feedback or more detailed explanations of the work that has been set.