Remote Education

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?

• Day 1 of ‘being sent home’ - pupils are to access work on Satchel One, Century learning for Maths, English & Science and GCSEpod to complete work on the topics that have been studying in school.
• From Day 2 onwards - there will be a blended approach to Home Learning. Through your child’s MS TEAMS calendar pupils will be invited to join their ‘normal lessons’ and/or set work to complete independently via Satchel One, if this is deemed more appropriate by the class teacher. The Calendar is the daily organiser for pupils to refer to.

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 will teach broadly the same curriculum remotely as we do in school – this will be achieved by a blended approach to learning. Joining live lessons and completing independent work on the same topics planned for in each subject curriculum.

Remote teaching and study time each day

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

• Pupils follow their timetable at home.
• Live lessons are 45mins maximum in length.
• Independent learning set via Satchel One are set for the full hour.

Accessing remote education

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

• MS TEAMs – your child’s calendar will be updated every Friday for the following week by teachers. This enables pupils/families to organise resources at home.
• Live lessons taught by class teachers take place through MS TEAMS.
• Satchel One contains instructions for independent learning.
• Pupils access Century Learning (Maths, English, Science) & GCSEpod.
• Pupils will be directed to various other websites/on-line resources such as Oak National Academy, BBC education etc…

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:

• Parents will be surveyed about devices and access throughout the period of enforced closures.
• Parents can contact HoY if they have any concerns or issues with home learning and resourcing this in the family home – using the email address offman@burychurch.bury.sch.uk
• As a school we have limited resources provided to us by the government. Each request will be considered according to criterion.
• When a request has been approved the IT team will set up a laptop and/or make dongles available. The staff member liaising with home will arrange a mutually convenient time for collection.
• As the approach to remote learning is a blended approach. Access to IT is essential. Where access is unavailable, these pupils will be supported with a place in school.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely. Here are some examples of the remote teaching approaches we will use:

• live teaching (online lessons)
• recorded teaching (e.g. video/audio recordings made by teachers, YouTube lessons etc…)
• Using textbooks (including revision guides KS4) and reading books pupils have at home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences. (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, GCSEpods, Century Learning etc..)
• long-term project work and/or internet research activities

Engagement and feedback

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

We are aware that some pupils may struggle with organisation whilst working at home, that is why we would strongly encourage you to initially sit with them to understand the MS Calendar – which is the daily timetable.

We would ask that you help and encourage your child to do the following:

• Attend all live lessons via TEAMS.
• Complete all independent work set by teachers.

If your child is unwell or has an appointment which means they cannot attend the online lessons and/or complete work, we would ask you to contact school (as in a normal absence) so that teachers can mark them as ‘excused’ from the lesson/completing the work on the class register.

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

• A register is taken at all live lessons and recorded on the whole school tracker.
• For independent work teachers record on the tracker if the work is completed, late, unsatisfactory, or not submitted.
• If a pupil does not attend a live lesson an email communication will be sent to parents by class teachers. If engagement is identified through the tracker as a problem, then additional procedures will be put in place to try and reengage pupils in their learning – internal referrals/cause for concern will be passed to the Department for Pupil Support and additional contact will be made with home to try and resolve issues.

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

It is important to state that feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children.

• After new learning/to help with retrieval practice (to check the learning has been understood) routine quizzes will be put in place via digital platforms – this includes Satchel One quizzes, Century Learning, GCSEpod in addition to other … These quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are valid and effective methods of feedback, as it helps your child immediately to understand misconceptions, gaps in knowledge etc.… For example - Century Learning, it uses ‘artificial intelligence’ to push a ‘nugget’ to recap learning not quite understood and then will ask further questions to check the gaps.
• Whole class feedback strategies will be used in lessons – such as answering a poll, using the ‘chat’ function, asking direct questions etc.…
• Satchel One and TEAMS assignment provide an opportunity for pupils to submit a piece of work. These platforms allow teachers to provide formative feedback your child on the work submitted.

Additional support for pupils with particular 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 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:

• All pupils with Additional Needs or EHCPs and their parents/carers can access support with Remote Learning via the Department for Learning Support.
• Pupils and parents will be contacted weekly by a member of the Department for Learning Support to check pupils are coping with their work remotely and enquire about their emotional wellbeing.
• Learning Support staff will liaise with teaching staff if there are issues with accessing or coping with the remote lessons/independent learning.
• Modifications will be made as necessary to the remote lessons and online activities to attempt to remove any barriers to learning. These will be discussed with parents/carers as required.
• All routine enquires and issues regarding SEND are still being dealt with by contacting the Department for Learning Support by email at school.
• The Department for Learning Support will continue to run its calendared SEND drop-in days to discuss issues and concerns. The only difference is that these will be held via an online call or by phone.
• As usual, we would strongly encourage parents/carers with concerns to contact school to discuss these with a member of the Department for Learning Support, so that the necessary support and guidance can be provided to both pupils and parents/carers.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

There will be no significant difference to the description of the remote learning described above.

However, as the school will be open and operating ‘as normal’, whilst your child is isolating, then your child will follow the normal times of the school day for lessons and 30minute lunchtime.

The ‘live lessons’ will therefore be one hour in length.