Information For Parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home or where individual pupils are self-isolating.

The remote curriculum: What will be taught to pupils at home?

In the event that  school is required to close to all but vulnerable and key worker children, we will make every effort to ensure our children can continue learning from home following the same curriculum as in school. Daily timetables will be shared on Google Classroom alongside a weekly overview. We will provide learning opportunities from across the curriculum including core subjects such as maths, reading, writing, science or history or geography, computing and PSHE or RE. Recorded PE, music and art lessons will also be shared weekly, with French for KS2. Further opportunities for independent learning will be provided through TTRockstars, Bug Club and AR.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education on the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

If a year group is closed at short notice, the children have been given their passwords to online platforms, basic knowledge, spelling/vocabulary booklets, various materials and websites available to them.  All of these will be familiar to the children and can be accessed through the school website or in your child’s basic knowledge wallet.

We will also upload learning for that day onto Google Classroom and provide paper copies to families of children who have indicated that they have no technology.

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

We expect that our remote learning package including live and/or recorded lessons and independent work will take pupils at least three hours in KS 1 and four hours in KS2, depending on whether the child chooses to complete additional tasks/research, on platforms such as their TTrockstars.

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing and how will my child be taught remotely?

All children at Leys Primary School are part of one or two virtual Google Classrooms. This enables a single point of access for all lessons, tasks and resources, allowing teachers to host recorded and/or live explanations, lessons and meetings. Whole class, group and individual feedback will be given to children in response to work uploaded. Google Meets, Google Forms and  Stream and Mote will be used to allow children to share their learning, self – assess, discuss and ask questions to their teacher and each other and for children and teachers to assess learning and understanding.

Google Meets will also be used for whole class teaching and small group and one-to-one tutoring as well as a platform for children to stay connected to the school and each other.

If my child does not have 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 education:

• Completed work should be submitted on Google Classroom.  Any paper packs of work, can be given, in a disposable bag to the school office at the end of a week and feedback will be given during Google Meets or via a text/phone call to the family.

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

All pupils are expected to engage with remote learning every day. If a pupil is unwell or there are other circumstances where a child cannot complete their assignments or attend live meetings, families should contact the class teacher via the school office. 

Daily suggested timetables/assignments for each year group will be shared via Google Classroom to support families (and older children) with setting consistent learning routines.

Each week there will be time allocated for off screen activities such as going for a local walk, reading a book or completing a creative project.

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

Children’s engagement with learning will be monitored and tracked daily. This will include records of attendance at live meetings, assigned question answered, daily task and submission of work on Google Classroom. Where we have concerns that children are struggling with engagement, we will make contact with families via a phone call and/or email to try to make clear our expectations for remote learning and identify any barriers to learning and what further assistance we can offer.  We will sign post further guidelines and expectations on the school website.

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 during live meetings on Google Meets or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms also support us to assess your child’s knowledge and progress. Children will receive personalised feedback either as a message on Google Classroom or as an email or via a phone call.

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 those 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:

• small group lessons and one-to-one tutoring will be provided for children delivered by the class teacher or inclusion manager and  teaching assistant as appropriate.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

For individual Key Stage 2 pupils self-isolating, Google Classroom will continue to be used to send messages, explanations and activities each day. For Early Years and Key Stage 1 pupils, a weekly timetable with links to explanations and recorded teaching videos will be emailed to families. Google Meets and/or phone calls will be used to check in with individual children and give feedback.

For further information contact the school office and ask to read the Remote Learning Policy.