Remote Learning
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 in the event of:
- A student isolating
- A bubble or group closure
- A National Lockdown
In each scenario, our approach will be slightly different and depend upon the individual students, Key Stage and Pathway. This document hopes to explain the provision provided in each scenario.
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?
Our remote learning aims to reflect the curriculum students would normally receive in school, with a particular focus on core subjects (English, Maths, PSHE, Employability, Health, Independent Living and Community Inclusion.) Students will continue to access specialist areas of our curriculum, such as our Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy.
Our theme for the spring term is the Digital World. Staff have worked to identify key skills students need to develop under this umbrella topic and will be delivering these through our remote provision. All lessons will encompass a skills-based focus.
Obviously, some lessons will be trickier to deliver remotely and will require our staff to think outside the box! However, there are some skills that simply cannot be delivered remotely - for example, using specific CDT equipment found in the specialist workshop. In this case, these skills will be transferred to the summer term curriculum, when we hope to have all students back in school.
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
Our remote learning day runs from 9am until 2.30pm for all students, with an hour for lunch between 12pm and 1pm. Students will continue to have a morning and afternoon registration session with their form tutor and peers.
We acknowledge that the school day includes lots of ‘screen time’ and would encourage families to use lunchtime and after-school time to access the outside and engage in other activities that don’t use technology.
Below is an example timetable for our remote learning:
How will my child access any remote online education you are providing?
All remote learning at Isebrook will take place via Microsoft Teams.
All students will have a login to our Microsoft Teams platform. Logins have been sent to all parents. The majority of our students should now be confident about logging into Teams, as they have practised this during ICT lessons in the Autumn term. If you have any concerns regarding access to Microsoft Teams, please contact your child’s form tutor or a member of SLT.
If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
We are aware that some families do not currently have access to a device which enables students to log into Microsoft Teams. We are now beginning to issue devices to these families, using laptops provided by the Department for Education.
Isebrook also acknowledges that for some of our students, accessing remote learning is very challenging and can cause distress and anxiety. In this case, staff will work closely with the family to identify the best way to support their young person.
Learning packs are also available for students and can be collected from school directly or delivered by a staff member. The learning packs should reflect the teaching taking place on remote learning for that week, with resources to support learning and tasks set by the subject teacher.
If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
We are aware that some families do not currently have access to a device which enables students to log into Microsoft Teams. We are now beginning to issue devices to these families, using laptops provided by the Department for Education.
Isebrook also acknowledges that for some of our students, accessing remote learning is very challenging and can cause distress and anxiety. In this case, staff will work closely with the family to identify the best way to support their young person.
Learning packs are also available for students and can be collected from school directly or delivered by a staff member. The learning packs should reflect the teaching taking place on remote learning for that week, with resources to support learning and tasks set by the subject teacher.
How will my child be taught remotely?
The majority of learning will take place online through live lessons via Microsoft Teams. All registration and daily review sessions will take place in live lessons, allowing students to interact with their peers and staff. The majority of English and Maths lessons will also take place via live teaching sessions. These may vary in length dependent on the topic, task and class. For example, students may join a live maths lesson for 15 minutes, and then be set work to complete independently, not on a live lesson.
Some lessons will be project based, meaning students do not need to access a live lesson. During project-based lessons, students will receive information from teachers and resources they need to be able to complete the task.
Our remote offer looks different within each key stage and Pathway, to support the different learning outcomes for all of our students.
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Key stage 3 |
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What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?
How will you check whether my child is engaged with their work, and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Staff are keeping an online register of which students are engaging with remote lessons. This is recorded for all live lessons, enabling staff to identify which students are not accessing lessons. If students have not been present for the entire day of remote learning, the class team will contact parents to check if there are any problems.
As always, we will take a personalised approach to supporting engagement in remote learning activities.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
The guidance for remote learning clearly explains that staff will be expected to report on student progress whilst learning remotely.
We will continue to assess the following:
- Progress against EHCP outcomes
- Progress of English, Maths and PSHE skills
- Progress against Preparation for Adulthood framework
At the start of a new unit of work, staff will complete a diagnostic activity - this will capture students' starting point before units of work are completed, allowing us to assess their progress at the end of the unit.
Our daily review sessions at 2.00pm will be used to review students' learning within the day and provide feedback to students.
Teams allows students to ‘hand in’ work and receive marking feedback from staff. In addition, staff may set an assessment criterion to support students in understanding their success criteria for a particular task and then allow staff to mark work using the criteria.
Parents will also be vital to recording students' learning whilst at home. Staff will liaise with parents about the best way to capture progress and learning, using photographs and videos. Staff can then use these to provide evidence against assessment criteria on Evidence for Learning.
How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?
Interventions and support for students will continue throughout lockdown. The pastoral team have identified their caseload and will be in touch with parents, students and teachers to set up regular sessions. The interventions to be continued include:
- Physio (remote and face to face)
- OT (remote)
- Learning Mentor sessions (remote and face to face)
- Communication sessions (remote and face to face)
- SALT (remote)
- Family support (remote and face to face)
- Attendance support (remote and face to face)
- Transitions support (remote)
- Safeguarding support (remote and face to face)
- School nurse (remote and face to face)
All intervention staff will monitor their students' progress in the intervention throughout lockdown and this will be shared with parents and teachers at the end of each 6-week period.
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 scenario, a student who is sent home to isolate, has not attended school due to being symptomatic, or is a close contact, will receive direct communication from the class team. This maybe via Class Dojo, telephone or email. All students should have their Microsoft Teams password at home and staff will invite students to lessons ASAP.
This may take some time to set up initially, so within the first few days, students isolating at home may receive work set by the class teacher via Class Dojo or email. These are likely to be activities such as Mathletics and Bug Club.
However, the expectation is that students will join lessons via Microsoft Teams ASAP.