The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

A pupil's first day of being educated remotely might look different from out standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote learning. We will send home paper copies of work or e-mail them.  We are aware that printing at home can be difficult and we will support families by preparing and distributing as many resources as possible.

If remote Education continues will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

We aim to teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. The initial focus will be on daily Maths and English learning alongside daily reading. 

Maths 

• Children have Power Maths text books and we may take the decision to send these books home with pupils.  
• We also use White Rose narrated PowerPoints.

English

• Teachers will share stories either online or via recordings
• Children will be expected to complete book reviews or share comments about books they have read.

Where appropriate other activities will also be set such as creative activities such as Art or topic work

Remote teaching and study time each day

We would recommend that families of primary age children aim for around 3 hours a day of learning on average, across the school cohort.  This should include

• Reading for around 20 minutes
• Daily writing 
• Daily maths 

Fluency practice of 20 minutes including where appropriate work on Times Tables Rock Stars

There needs to be some flexibility in this as the sustained focus and ability to concentrate for each individual will vary.  For example, the ability to sit and focus for a reception child (who will be able to concentrate for between 2-5 minutes for each of the years of their age) will be different compared to a child in Year 6.

Accessing Remote Education

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

Classes will access online learning using google classroom

To Sign in for the first time:

https://edu.google.com/intl/en/products/classroom/
Go to classroom.google.com and click Go to Classroom. Enter the email address for your Classroom account and click Next. Enter your password and click Next. 

If there is a welcome message, review it and click Accept.

The school office holds all log in information for each child.  Please contact them if you any issues logging in.

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. If you are having technical difficulties accessing work, we can in some cases supply laptops or iPads.   Please contact the school office if you feel it could be necessary to borrow school equipment on:

01892 770307

Or email: 

office@st-michaels.e-sussex.sch.uk

We will always supply printed materials to support learning if work cannot be accessed online.  Pupils’ work may be submitted to their teachers via the school office, if they do not have online access

How will my child be taught remotely?

We will use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely: During COVID parents and carers  requested a daily introduction to learning to help focus children each day. Once a routine for online learning is established teachers will aim to have in place some of the following:

·      recorded teaching; such as Oak National Academy lessons alongside video/audio recordings made by teachers.

·      printed paper packs produced by teachers, such as workbooks and worksheets.

·      textbooks and reading books pupils have at home or that the school have specifically sent home.

·      websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences.

·      long-term project work and/or internet research activities.

Engagement and Feedback

Unless they are ill children should access learning every day so there is an established routine.  We recommend that children get up at the same time every day similar to that when they would be attending a full school day. Children should access learning daily completing tasks that are set by their class teachers.

You might like to timetable the day focusing on work in the morning, with regular breaks, when children are fresh and receptive.  The afternoons could include exercise, reading and a film, which can then have a written review written about it.   Please have a look at our Home Learning Creative activities page set up with help from our PTA below on this web page. 

Some learning that it is always useful to review and consolidate in short bursts includes the following:

• Number bonds
• Multiplication tables (we subscribe to Times Tables Rock Stars to try and make this a fun way of learning a bedrock of mathematical learning.)
• Learning to tell the time using analogue and digital clocks
• Revising spellings 
• Skills such as using scissors, rulers, folding paper try some origami
• Regular daily reading; if you run out of books try the website below:

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/

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

Teachers will respond to learning within 48 hours giving feedback and making comments on the appropriate platform for the year group.

Teachers will aim to ring families to find out about well-being and if there are any concerns around learning each week.

office@st-michaels.e-sussex.sch.uk

Please e-mail between the working hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm.

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:

Teachers will respond to learning within 48 hours giving feedback and making comments on the appropriate platform for the year group.

Additional support for pupils with particular needs

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:

Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities’ (SEND)

During remote learning ‘the needs of learners with SEN are often not distinctly different from the needs of all learners - rather, they may experience a more exaggerated version of the challenges that we actually all face.’ Abby Osborne Centre for Learning and Teaching University of Bath 

When organising work teachers may consider ways to make information accessible and easier to navigate through:

• Use of bullet points
• space on the page
• bold text 
• use of highlighting

Additionally, teachers may consider:

• Making sure critical information or instructions are explicit so they don’t get missed or overlooked such as use of bold or highlighted text.
• If recording sessions for pupils, limit the length of each session. An hour lesson for example is much harder to concentrate on when viewing online.
• Identify the key concepts and points they would like learners to retain, using a ‘less is more’ approach and a shorter session can be just as powerful 
• Shorter videos which emphasise the key concepts or ideas can be useful and this can really allow pupil to focus on the key points in a shorter time period. 

Timetabling

As an example, an ideal timetable for working could involve starting work at the same time every day and working consistently for structured periods but allowing for the fact that motivation can fluctuate can be more effective. 

Where practical teachers will continue interventions online such as:

• NESSY activities online to support spelling
• Number stacks to support understanding of place value
• Targeted spellings

Learning for Younger Primary Children

Younger children will need routine and regular planned in breaks to ensure learning is effective. 

If you have any concerns around engagement contact class teachers who will always be happy to support learning at home.