Blended Learning

Due to the success of our blended learning approach to support children isolating due to covid-19, we will continue to offer blended learning to support children who are unable to attend school due to illness but are well enough to work from home.

Remote education for children unable to attend school

In the event that your child is unable to attend school due to illness, we will adopt a blended learning approach. We create an online environment which allows the children at home to make the same amount of progress as the children in school. Teachers will set the same work that was planned for the children in the classroom so that they can continue their learning. The class teacher or teaching assistant will deliver the lesson remotely via Teams. This will be done after the teacher input is complete in the classroom, sharing their screen to recreate a similar learning experience to the children in school. The meeting will also be recorded so that your child working from home can access the lesson again and pause at different points to support their learning. Assignments will be set in your childs year group remote learning Team, with written instructions and all resources required to complete the work successfully. Some lessons will require photos of handwritten work to be uploaded to the assignment. Teachers will set some tasks to be completed using applications such as Flipgrid and Whiteboard which will allow children at home to stay connected with the children in school during the school day. 

Remote Education Provision: Information for Parents  

Whenever we transition to remote education, we recognise the importance of continuing the children’s learning journey and maintaining high expectations of progress. Below is an overview to provide clarity and transparency to our pupils and parents/carers about what to expect from your remote education where national/local restrictions require bubbles or the whole school to work from home. 

We are committed to ensuring the very best outcomes for children and supporting their academic and social/emotional well-being throughout any remote learning period. All families will be offered a laptop so that no child is left without remote access. You can access all the information you need to get your child online via our website and You Tube channel. We provide an extensive number of videos and help guides to support parents and pupils with their access to Microsoft Teams. 

What should my child expect from their remote education? 

From the very first day of remote learning, the children will receive online teaching that reflects the school day, via Microsoft Teams. Live Maths and English lessons are taught by the teachers and children can stay on the call for the whole hour to receive support as they would in school. If they feel confident, they can come off the call and work independently. Teaching assistants are on the live calls too, to provide ongoing support to the pupils. The children then receive another afternoon live lesson and one final call at the end of the day to come together for story time or whole class circle time. Our staff share their screens to provide frequent and clear explanations of new content. Children are set daily assignments that are meaningful and ambitious in all subjects in order to maintain a broad and balanced curriculum. The children upload their completed work via Teams and feedback is given. In order for children to continue working through the Maths curriculum, children are given their Power Maths books to complete at home. Any family who does not have remote access will be provided with a school laptop to ensure that no child is left without support. 

Live lessons have multiple benefits for the children, including continuous monitoring and questioning, interaction and regular face to face contact with staff. Where children need additional support, extra intervention calls are provided to support maths, reading, writing and pastoral challenges. All children are taught how to login to Teams from their very first day and children from EYFS to Year 6 all access their remote teaching via Teams.  

Remote teaching and study time each day 

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

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day: 

Click to see examples of our timetables:

Reception

Year 2

Year 6

How will my child be taught remotely? 

During any period of remote learning, children will be taught via live lessons and related online assignments that will then be submitted to teachers for feedback. Inspiring, exciting and innovative lessons are continually provided and we encourage the children to be work creatively. We utilise the very latest Microsoft features and use Breakout Rooms and Flipgrid to enable group work, discussion and collaborative working. When learning remotely, we are concious that children spend significantly more time on screens, so to support this we have introduced Screen-Free Friday afternoons where children are set tasks that encourage them to learn outdoors, be active and creative. In EYFS, the children receive 3 daily live calls and 2 pre-recorded videos which support their Phonics and Maths learning. They are then given practical activities to complete in conjunction with the videos. The children receive a combination of individual, small group and whole class calls and engage in gross and fine motor activities daily, such as our live ‘dough disco’!   

A key aspect of remote teaching is ensuring that we support our children’s mental health and well-being. We provide Forest School sessions online to encourage children to be outside, drumming lessons and virtual Martial Arts sessions. Our Pastoral Support Team make individual calls to children who need additional support in this area and we run ‘Poppy Club’ which is an after school club where children have the opportunity to socialise and play games. We launch specific initiatives to engage and challenge our children, such as the ‘Life Skills Challenge.’ Children are asked to learn and practise new skills that they might not have tried before, e.g. learning to make a sandwich or change their bed; and send us photos or videos of them to celebrate their successes. 

Click to see examples:

Life Skills Challenge KS1

Life Skills Challenge KS2
 

Engagement and feedback 

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

Our expectation is that all children will attend their live lessons and take part in the corresponding assignments. The structure of the day mirrors that which they would receive in school. If a child is unable to complete work or needs extra support, this will be offered by the class teacher or teaching assistant so that each child is able to complete their work accordingly. We understand that these are challenging times for working families and ensure that we provide support for parents through continuous, open communication.  
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns? 

At the start of each live lesson, attendance is checked by the class teacher and a record is kept via an app in Teams called ‘Insights’. In the event of a child regularly missing calls or not handing in assignments, the child will be contacted by the teacher to see if they need any help or support. If necessary, parents/carers will be contacted by the school to offer any support required.  
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. Every piece of work that is handed in will be acknowledged by staff but not all pieces of work will have significant detail in their marking. Progress will be assessed by close monitoring of the work that your child submits and support will be given when there are gaps in your child’s understanding - this will be via a 1:1 video call, group call or through questioning within the lesson. In EYFS, teachers respond to children’s work using voice notes. When the children return to school after a significant period of remote teaching, extensive assessments of where they are working will be conducted and work planned accordingly. 
Additional support for pupils with individual needs 

How will you support my child if they have additional needs? 

We recognise that some pupils may not be able to access remote education without additional support. We work with each child to support their individual needs and tailor their intervention accordingly, in the same way that we would if the child was in school. Extra intervention calls are provided to support Maths, Reading , Writing and Pastoral areas. If the child requires 1:1 support in school, this will be provided daily via Teams calls, to replicate the support they normally receive.