St.Peter’s CE - Remote education provision: information for parents/carers
At St.Peter’s CE Primary School, we aim to continue to provide an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects, underpinned by Christian faith, belief and values, where everybody is given the opportunity to grow and fulfil their true potential, just like the Mustard Seed in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Matthew 13:32. “Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
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.
Remote education, where needed, is of a high quality and aligns as closely as possible with in-school provision and is targeted to the needs of the individual child. We use the term 'blended learning' to reflect the strategies, resources and technology deployed when learning remotely and in the classroom to enhance and supplement our current teaching and learning offer. Interactions online will be combined with our traditional teaching classroom based methods.
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?
Pupils will be provided with a work pack consisting of workbooks, stationary and also links to the school website (where additional Home Learning resources can be found).
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 wherever possible and appropriate.
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:
Key Stage 1 - 3 Hours
Key Stage 2 - 4 Hours
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
•All families have a school Ping account where differentiated tasks and a timetable will be sent out a daily basis.
•Live Zoom Sessions will occur for all classes via our Zoom Education accounts. There will also be an additional Spanish Zoom every Tuesday at 3:30pm and Collective Worship with Reverend Ben on a Wednesday at 1:30pm.
•The daily Ping will have hyperlinks to all the videos/resources needed for each session to ensure they are easily accessible
•Times Tables Rockstars – children from Y1 to Y6 have logins for TT Rockstars and it is an excellent resource for children to use to learn and practice their times tables. EYFS Pupils have access to Numbots.
•Purple Mash – this is a platform containing activities for a range of subjects. Teachers can set tasks for the children on Purple Mash to do and send back to them so that they can provide feedback on the task
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:
•We have a limited number of laptops that we are able to lend to children when they don’t have a suitable device at home for remote learning. Please contact school if you require a laptop loan. We are able to contact mobile data providers on your behalf to increase your data connection if needed so that your child has a suitable internet connection for remote learning. Additional SIM cards are also available. Printed packs of the week’s work are available to collect from a table in each main entrance. We are also able to deliver printed work packs where required, for example if you’re isolating. If children are unable to get online you can bring their work to the school office where it will be passed to their teacher for marking.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
• Each class will have daily Zoom meetings with their class teacher via our school Zoom Account. Pupils do not need to create an account. Staff will send a secure login out via Ping. These meetings will provide opportunities for teachers to talk to the children about what they’ll be doing that day and for children to share their learning with others. Teachers may also provide short inputs of new learning or address misconceptions that have arisen.
• Differentiated Read Write Inc. phonics lesson will be provided using the RWI Virtual Classroom
• Oxford Owl Reading Portal (EYFS and KS1)
• World E- Book Library (KS2)
• Reading Assembly Video Clips
• Weekly Art, PE and Worship 2 Go Resources (sent via Ping)
• Weekly Picture News Assembly Video Link/Resources (sent via Ping)
• Maths using White Rose Maths teaching videos and worksheets
• A different foundation subject lesson each day using Oak Academy
• Rising Stars Handwriting/Spellings (KS1 and KS2)
• Printed packs of worksheets are available to collect from the main entrance of each Monday.
• Children also have access to Times Tables Rockstars which they are encouraged to access daily
• Reading Around the World Passports/Certificates
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?
•Engagement and attendance- we believe in every child’s right to an education. Therefore, the completing work on a daily basis is strongly encouraged. However, we understand that some families are sharing devices and this is not always possible so we will be monitoring attendance daily from pupils.
•If we have no attendance from your child on Zoom or they have not read School Ping, we will be contacting you to discuss your child’s remote learning and how we can support. Our bi-lingual assistants will also be calling families to offer support and advice.
•Parental support - Please encourage your child to watch the learning videos, attend Zoom sessions and complete tasks set by the teacher where possible. A good routine can be maintained through following the suggested timetable uploaded by your child’s teacher. Work can also be shared via Twitter or the Help Email. Home Learning Superstar Awards will be awarded each week.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
• Teachers will be keeping a register of Zoom sessions and will contact parents if children have not attended
• Our Help Email/Twitter will be monitored throughout the day so that teachers can see work that children are submitting
• Teachers will regularly be checking reports on engagement with Ping and TT Rockstars and Numbots and if there are any concerns your child’s teacher will contact you on by the phone or a member of the School’s Leadership Team will carry out a home visit
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 or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others.
Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
•Children should send their work to their teacher via the Help Email. This can either be a photo of their work or by submitting an activity on there that the teacher has set.
•Daily Zoom Sessions and Phone Calls home will also be used to offer feedback and support.
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:
•Teachers will provide work for children with SEND that is appropriate to them. Sometimes this may be differentiated tasks or personalised Zoom Sessions. Additional Welfare Calls/Zoom SALT sessions for SEND pupils will also occur.
•For younger children we are able to provide additional printed worksheets that children can work on independently if it is going to be difficult for a parent to support them with the online learning aspect for example due to working from home. Please contact school to request an additional worksheet pack.
Remote education for self-isolating pupils
Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains 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?
If a child needs to self-isolate they will be provided with a timetable in the same way as if the class or wider school is closed. There won’t be the daily Zoom sessions provided in this instance but all the other online platforms will be available for the child who is self-isolating.