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 where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home, including during whole or partial school closures.
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?
All pupils who have access to our online learning platforms (Tapestry and Google Classrooms) will be able to access some online learning immediately, as these platforms contain learning uploaded by teachers at least once each week, whether or not pupils are isolating. Any pupils who are unable to access the online learning platforms can be provided with work via emails from the teachers in their year group or by requesting a printed learning pack.
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?
At Gusford, we teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate to do so. However, we may need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, PE, DT and Art are adapted to ensure that most children will be able to participate in the learning without needing resources which may be difficult for many families to obtain, and without needing other children to form a team. All adaptations to the curriculum are made in order to minimise barriers to the learning for all pupils.
Remote teaching and study time each day
How much time can I expect my child to spend on work set by the school each day?
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils approximately the following number of hours each day:
EYFS and Key Stage 1 - 3 hours (or less for our youngest pupils)
Key Stage 2 - 4 hours
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education that the school is providing?
Pupils in the Early Years Foundation Stage (including Nursery) can access their online learning provision via Tapestry. Tapestry can be accessed on any internet-enabled device.
Pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 can access their online learning via Google Classrooms. This will include daily videos from their teachers, links to other online resources, including Learning By Questions, and live year group check-ins at least once each week. Google Classroom can be accessed on any internet-enabled device, including XBox and Playstation games consoles.
Both Tapestry and Google Classrooms are secure online learning platforms. If you are unable to access these platforms due to lost login details, please contact your child’s teacher via the year team email address to retrieve these (eyfsteam@, y1team@, y2team@, y3team@, y4team@, y5team@, y6team@).
If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will the school 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:
- Where access to a parent’s email address is possible, teachers can email learning tasks, videos and support to enable pupils to access the learning content. Pupils can also submit learning to their teachers (via the year team email address) in this way and will receive feedback likewise.
- Where there is no access to the internet or devices in the home, parents can request a printed learning pack. Teachers will try to ensure that this is matched as closely as possible to the learning available on the online learning platform.
- Gusford have been allocated a limited number of Chromebooks from the Department for Education and have also purchased a small number laptops from the Active Learning Trust. Using information gathered from a parent survey, and communication between parents and teachers, a list is being compiled, and prioritised, of families who will most benefit from these devices. Distribution of devices will begin immediately after they have been set-up and families will be contacted directly.
- The school is also able to support families who may need additional mobile phone data in order to access the online learning. This has been offered to all parents, who can contact the school office for further guidance.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- Video recordings of teachers introducing and leading core lessons, including - but not limited to - daily English, Maths and phonics lessons. Some videos are recorded using Loom videos to enable clear presentation of resources.
- Daily Learning by Questions challenges across all Key Stage 2 classes.
- Links to other recorded learning online, including The Oak National Academy, White Rose Maths and BBC Bitesize.
- Live check-in sessions for each year group at least once each week. These are conducted similarly to a year group assembly in school and are led by a teacher in the school building.
- Daily and weekly videos from subject specialists within school, providing extra-curricular whole-school activities in fitness, dance, RE, reading, Music, Spanish and other subjects..
- Printed learning packs produced by teachers for those pupils who are unable to access the online learning provision, or for whom additional or alternative learning is required to meet additional needs.
Engagement and feedback
What are the school’s expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parent and carers should provide at home?
We expect children to engage with learning each day, following a routine matched to their usual school day wherever possible. Teachers provide a weekly or daily schedule, including breaks, to support parents and pupils with this.
Where appropriate, particularly for our Upper Key Stage Two children, we expect students to take some responsibility for their own learning, including accessing challenges and contacting their teachers for support via Google Classroom messages.
We recognise that many of our parents are working from home while their children are isolating and this impacts on their ability to support their child/ren at certain times during the day. Apart from the live check-in sessions, all of our online provision is pre-recorded and therefore available for children and parents at all times, allowing parents to schedule home-schooling around other commitments.
We expect parents to encourage their children to engage with the remote learning provision, using the online platforms wherever possible, and to contact their child’s teachers (via year team email addresses) if support is needed. We also expect parents to support their children when submitting completed learning to their teachers in order to receive feedback and support; this may include photographing learning and uploading it to the online platform or sending it to teachers via email.
How will the school check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Teachers are continually monitoring pupil engagement with online learning and printed learning packs. LSAs and teachers leading on remote learning are contacting all children weekly via telephone, to ask how they are getting on with the learning and to offer support where needed. Children who have not been submitting learning to teachers are prioritised in these calls, in order for teachers to ascertain whether learning is taking place at home. These calls are also an opportunity to speak to parents about their child’s engagement in home learning and what the school may be able to do to support with this.
Gusford School also has a Remote Learning Support Assistant, funded by the Ipswich Opportunity Area, and this role includes contacting children whose level of engagement with remote learning is a cause for concern. He will offer to support these pupils with engagement and completing particular tasks set by their teachers.
How will the school 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, among others. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
Teachers assess all English and Maths learning submitted on Google Classrooms daily, and all other subjects at least weekly. Feedback is either given individually, in written form, or as whole-class feedback in written and/or verbal form using recorded videos. Written feedback is provided via email to students who have submitted learning using this method. Learning by Questions challenges are automatically marked and subsequent challenges adjusted for each individual pupil.
Paper learning packs that are returned to the school will be quarantined for 72 hours before teachers mark this and provide feedback via email or telephone to the parent/s.
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 learning?
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:
Pupils with high level special educational needs and disabilities, who are learning from home, will receive regular telephone and/or email contact from our SEND team in school, as well as from a member of staff within their year group. The SEND Coordinator will discuss additional support needed and, where appropriate, will provide additional printed learning materials. The SEND Coordinator will also signpost and arrange support for families from other agencies, such as County Inclusive Support Services (CISS). For the majority of children with additional learning needs, including Individual Education Plans (IEPs), class teachers will set differentiated and individualised learning challenges and support via Google Classrooms or Tapestry or, if the child is unable to access the online provision, in the form of printed packs. Class teachers will liaise with the SEND team to ensure that provision is meeting the needs of individual pupils.
For children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Year 1, teachers set learning on Tapestry and Google Classrooms with teacher videos and instructions to support parents, as well as pupils. Teachers communicate regularly with parents, via telephone, email and the online platforms, to provide support and guidance to families where needed.
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 delivered 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?
In this situation, class teachers will upload learning challenges for the pupil onto the online learning platform to cover a period of up to five days at a time. This learning will match the learning being delivered to pupils in school as closely as possible, with adjustments made to tasks, as appropriate, to ensure that learning objectives can be met at home. Where the pupil is unable to access online learning, a weekly printed pack will be provided. Class teachers will check the learning daily and will provide feedback for any learning submitted, by the end of each day for English and Maths and by the end of the week for other subjects.