Remote Education Provision: 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.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home?

A pupil’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.

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

Class teachers will ensure that children have their log-in details for Microsoft Teams and online resources such as Sumdog, Times Table Rockstars, Mathletics etc. Where available/required, children may be sent home with basic resources required to complete work, for example: an exercise book, Rising stars Maths workbook, pencil, pen etc. Parents can contact class teachers through admin email admin@tennysonroad.school

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. Some tasks and activities may need to be adapted to suit the nature of remote learning. This is to ensure that all children can complete an activity matched to the learning intention, taking into account the resources required and working independently.

Remote teaching and study time each day

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

Remote education will be equivalent in length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school and will consist of direct teaching time. Time is allocated for children to complete tasks and assignments independently. This should be 3 hours a day in Key Stage 1, with slightly less for Early Years pupils (Reception and Nursery), and 5 hours a day in Key Stage 2.

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

Children can access a wide range of teaching resources and accompanying activities through Microsoft Teams. Children have individual login details to access this, and they can complete tasks and activities, then submit them for feedback from their teacher. Class teachers will provide a weekly timetable for their class. In addition to this, parents should expect a daily post on Teams that will detail all the links that will be needed for that day. This will be accessible to parents from 8.30am Monday to Friday.

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. Here at Tennyson, we will work with our families to ensure that each family has access to a device for remote learning wherever possible. If you feel you currently do not have a suitable device to support remote learning (a tablet or laptop per family for example with access to the internet), please contact the school office in the first instance. Word or Powerpoint documents can be directly uploaded to Microsoft Teams. We ask that, where work is completed on paper, parents take a photo of work completed in exercise books or in a paper format and this is uploaded to the child’s folder on Microsoft Teams. This will enable the teacher to provide feedback where appropriate. Where teachers upload tasks for children to complete, we do not expect families to print these out. Children can also complete work using Microsoft Word, using the assignment documents online or Power Point facilities that are available within Office 365. This will, of course, be dependent on the nature of each task. In addition, we can signpost families through the school website and social media to alternative high-quality resources that do not require internet access such as BBC Bitesize television programmes. As and when any other information or resources are provided to schools, we will communicate this with parents through the school website and social media.

How will my child be taught remotely?

• We teach through live teaching (online lessons) – you will be sent notification of these in advance through the Microsoft Teams.
• All children will have a reading book to read at home.

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

Children are expected to access and complete all tasks and activities set by their class teacher in some form. They are expected to submit all work to teachers for feedback. We understand that parents who are working from home and/or who have to manage the remote education of multiple children may find it challenging to provide consistent support and class teachers take this into consideration when planning the remote education provided. Class teachers will provide online teaching through live lessons. Should you have any queries or questions about the work set, class teachers can be contacted via the school admin email or Microsoft Teams for clarification and support. To support the well-being of both the children and staff, we strongly encourage that work should be uploaded during the school week (Mon-Fri) and at appropriate times. Work submitted in the late evening or at weekends may not be reflected by teachers when offering feedback to pupils.

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

Teachers will access their class Microsoft class Team during each school day to review the work submitted. Teachers will also make regular contact by phone with parents checking on progress, answering any questions and addressing any concerns. During these phone calls, class teachers will make you aware if there are concerns about your child’s remote education and support will be offered to remove barriers to accessing remote learning effectively. Where concerns persist, a conversation may be had about whether it would be in your child’s best interests to attend school. Children’s engagement in remote education is crucial to their continued progress in learning while maintaining a sense of routine and structure to the day. However, we do appreciate that particularly for families where parents are working from home or where there are multiple children requesting access to devices and adult support, it may be challenging, so therefore, flexibility in how and when remote learning is completed is acceptable.

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

Class teachers will access Microsoft Teams during the school day to review work submitted and provide feedback. In line with our school’s feedback policy, feedback to home learners will be provided verbally by teachers in the following ways:

• During the live lessons
• Messages to students on the class Teams page
• Discussions with children during phone calls made home
• Small group feedback delivered through Teams

Additional support for children with individual needs

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 children 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. For children with SEND, this will include, where appropriate, providing differentiated learning that matches the needs of individuals or regular contact from the class teacher to provide advice and support. There may also be contact from other adults in school who work closely with your child to provide additional resources, including small group learning sessions using Teams to support them at home. We recognise that for our younger children, remote education may be particularly challenging. Class teachers will carefully consider the nature of tasks and activities set to ensure that they are an appropriate length of time, considering the developing attention

spans of younger children and so many activities will be practical and play based. They may also signpost a selection of high-quality learning-based programmes, such as Busythings, which can be accessed to support learning.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate, but the majority of their peer group remain 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?

Individual pupils self-isolating will continue to be taught a planned and well-sequenced curriculum with meaningful and ambitious work each day in several different subjects through Microsoft Teams. Tasks and support materials will match what is being completed in class to ensure continuity and progression, but tasks and activities may be adapted to suit the needs of children working independently at home.