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 if local restrictions require entire cohorts 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

Our online curriculum is not separate to our normal in-school curriculum. In extended periods of closure we do not narrow the curriculum; a full range of subjects will continue to be taught such that the curriculum remains broad and balanced. Largely, pupils will continue to be taught the same material at home as they would in school so that they can progress in line with their peers.

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?

If instructed to isolate we recommend that students set themselves up for success by:

Finding a quiet place to work with access to an internet enabled device, paper and/or exercise books, pens, and a solid work surface such as a table or desk.
Maintaining a sleep pattern which will enable them to engage with schoolwork as per their timetable (from 09.00 - 15.00).

Within 24 hours of being instructed to isolate, emergency work will be provided for a small number of subjects which your child can engage with for the day, which we believe will be a manageable amount as your child settles into a routine of home learning. Your child can also continue to complete any homework previously set.

For students in years 7-11 this work can be accessed via Satchel One (Show My Homework) and will be communicated in a ‘Classwork task’ (which appears red/pink). For students in years 12-13 this work can be accessed via Google Classroom.

If an individual child or group of children is in school when they receive the instruction to isolate, they may take home all work and learning materials that they have on their person at the time including materials from the lesson they are in when told to isolate.

If your child does not have access to wifi and/or a device from which they can access work please inform us by emailing cas-enquiries.tcs@cset.co.uk. From the second day of isolation We will aim to offer an enhanced remote provision to ensure that high quality instruction/explanation, support and feedback can take place.

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?

For the most part, we teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptation in some subjects. For example:

Where the school is open but individual students need to isolate, an amended online curriculum will be in place for practical subjects. This is because isolating students are unlikely to have access to specialist equipment (such as DT for example). In such cases supplementary non-practical work will be provided to support students’ access upon their return.
Where there are wider closures (such as whole year groups or the entire school working remotely), some practical subjects will amend their curriculum.

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:

Secondary school-aged pupils not working towards formal qualifications this year	5 lessons (which may include a period of physical activity if PE is timetabled)
Secondary school-aged pupils working towards formal qualifications this year	5 lessons (which may include a period of physical activity if PE is timetabled)

Accessing remote education

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

Communication of work

For students in years 12-13 information will be communicated via Google Classroom.
For students in years 7-11 information about each lesson / subject can be accessed via Satchel One (Show My Homework) and will be communicated in a ‘Classwork task’ which appears red/pink.

If students forget how to access their Satchel One account, please instruct your child to follow these instructions:

Go to https://www.satchelone.com/login
Leave all username and password fields blank. Instead, scroll down and click ‘sign in with Google’
When prompted to enter a Google account username and password, students should enter their school email address and password (ie the account details which they use to access computers in school).

Live Lesson platform

Live lessons will be delivered via Google Meet; students must be logged into their school Google account in order to access these.

Additional platforms for delivery and/or assessment

We use a range of additional platforms, including some subject-specific platforms, to support delivery and/or assessment. These include Hegarty Maths, Educake, Seneca and Oak National Academy.

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 request that parents inform us of such situations by emailing cas-enquiries.tcs@cset.co.uk

We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

We allocate chromebooks or laptops, supplied by the DfE, on a priority basis. Parents/carers are required to sign a loan agreement upon collection.
We can supply dongles to support families with wifi issues. Parents/carers are required to sign a loan agreement upon collection
We identify children, including those who will struggle most to access technology at home, and invite them to attend our in-school provision along with vulnerable children and the children of key workers
Where options 1-3 are not possible we will work with parents to supply some hard copies of work for some key subjects.

How will my child be taught remotely?

In all remote scenarios, students should learn remotely between 09.00 - 15.00 and should follow the lesson timings and subjects according to their normal timetable.

In the case of wider closures where whole year groups are learning remotely, we use a blend of live teaching with remote independent work for students:

Where a teacher is not unwell and is not providing the in-school provision to vulnerable children and children of key workers, an element of every lesson will be live; as a minimum students will be registered, work will be explained, and the teacher will be available to provide support if needed whilst students work remotely on their pieces
In some circumstances, live elements may be longer with live modelling, assessment (via a range of methods including questioning) and/or feedback
Other methods of teaching will be used alongside live elements. These may include but are not limited to recorded videos by teachers, Oak National Academy Lessons, video instruction via educational platforms such as Hegarty Maths and Seneca Learning, pre-prepared examples of successful work etc.
We recognise that students find it more difficult to concentrate when learning from a screen compared to a classroom. We aim to ensure that students are not using a screen for more than 45-50 minutes at a time, with 10-15 minute screen breaks / concentration breaks between lessons. These screen breaks will be in addition to the normal timetabled breaks.

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?

Students who are fit and well during isolation are expected to engage with 5 lessons of learning each day. Students should follow their normal school timetable from 09.00 - 15.00, completing work remotely for subjects at the times they would be in lesson.

Lessons will be structured such that students will work for approximately 45-50 minutes of the lesson. This will enable them to take regular short screen breaks in addition to longer timetabled breaks (see above).

There will not be a remote tutor period between 08.40-09.00.

Parents can support by:

reinforcing the expectations that students engage with their full timetable each day
reinforcing key wellbeing messages such as the importance of screen breaks, remaining hydrated and physical activity
ensuring that children maintain a sleep pattern to enable them to engage with their education between 09.00 and 15.00
checking that their chid(ren) can log into Satchel One and Google Meet as early as possible during isolation, using the guidance documentation which will be provided

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

In the event of wider closures, where every lesson has a live element, a register is taken to identify which students are engaged. Non-engagement is tracked internally.

If we have concerns about a student not engaging with their education, Heads of Year will direct pastoral teams to communicate with parents and carers. You may receive a phone call or email from your child’s teacher, tutor, pastoral support worker or Head of Year.

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

Assessment and feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written tests.

Assessment may for example take the form of:

Online quizzes
Submitted pieces of work which teachers will review
Assessment of pupils’ responses during live elements of lessons
Some summative pieces towards the end of units.

We will use a range of feedback methods which include but are not limited to:

Whole-class feedback from the teacher centered around common misconceptions
Online quizzes via digital platforms
Education platforms such as Hegarty Maths which provide immediate feedback
Verbal feedback to individuals based on their answers in a remote lesson
Where suitable, individual written comments on selected pieces of written work submitted.

The format and frequency of feedback will vary with regards to what is most suitable and appropriate for each subject.

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:

In periods of wider closure, Pastoral Teams collaborate with Learning Support to identify which children would benefit from attending our in-school provision. Parents are contacted within 48 hours with an invitation for their child(ren) to attend.
Where students would receive enhanced support from other members of non-teaching staff, we will endeavour to facilitate a remote version of this where it is appropriate. Examples may involve some remote working with LSAs.
Where it is safe to do so we will endeavour to continue work with outside agencies to support ongoing provision for Children in care (for example mentoring)

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?

For the most part, we teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptation in some subjects. For example an amended online curriculum will be in place for practical subjects in which students at home may not have access to specialist equipment (such as DT for example). In such cases supplementary non-practical work will be provided to support students’ access upon their return.

In the case that the school is fully open but a smaller number of students are learning remotely, we use a blend of live teaching with remote independent work for students.

Where an entire class is isolating, most subjects will be taught via a live remote lesson at the time of the timetabled lesson. Such subjects usually include English, Maths, Science, Geography, History, RS, Health and Art. Depending on the nature of the curriculum there are some (more practical subjects) for which a live lesson may not be suitable. Wherever it is suitable, we will of course endeavour to provide live teaching. There are some instances where only some of the students in a class are isolating, whilst the rest are in school and in their lesson. Subject teachers therefore will be delivering a lesson to the students in their classroom at the normal timetabled time. The provision will take different formats between subjects: Very recent (November 2020) installation of new ICT equipment is now enabling some teachers to live stream their lessons so that students can access the lesson at home. This will involve students being able to see the materials projected on the board and to hear their teachers’ explanations. A text function will be available for them to ask and answer questions, and they will be able to verbally contribute if a teacher selects them for answering questions.

Where this is not possible or suitable, alternative remote work will be provided. Students can seek support from their teachers via the ‘comment function of SMHW or in Google Classroom. They may receive whole-class feedback upon their return to school.

Part of castle school education trust

Downend