Remote Education Provision

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 classes, cohorts, or in response to a pandemic, bubbles to remain at home and/or if the country is in a National Lockdown and school is closed.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

Remote Learning Strategy 

Dashwood Banbury Academy aims to provide education and support to our pupils, using in-school teaching, remote learning and/or a combination of both. Our remote learning follows research based evidence which includes facilitating direct instruction, recorded lessons, real-time feedback, teaching skills and knowledge, quizzes, formal assessment, discussion forums and the use of online resources. Teacher contact and pastoral support works alongside this to ensure a sense of belonging and connectivity. Where specific children are identified as needing extra support with their learning and/or wellbeing, regular contact is made via telephone call to them/their family. We aim to provide quality provision for all our children in school or at home. Teaching and learning is tailored, changed and updated as time progresses, in-line with DfE circular 2020/06, allowing for replication of classroom activity to the best of our ability.

The remote learning approach: 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. Following this short period, the remote curriculum will be the same as the curriculum planned for in that term so pupils do not fall behind.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

We have pre-prepared two days’ worth of learning which are in the form of plans with links to websites that enables your child to focus on the core skills and objectives for their year group.  This will provide staff the time needed to set up more detailed online learning going forward based on the learning that would have taken place in school.

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. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, in computing, music or PE where the equipment needed is in school.  For subjects like this, we will focus on the objectives we need to cover and adapt the lessons accordingly.

Remote teaching and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day? How do I sequence my day?

In Primary aged pupils, the Government has stipulated that a minimum of 3 hours of learning should be planned in.  At Dashwood, our aim is to set at least 3 hours for the EYFS and KS1 pupils and KS2 pupils will have a minimum of 4 hours of work set.  We recommend that the pupils complete this following a suggested timetable such as:

Accessing remote education

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

For pupils in EYFS and Year 1, work will be set on Tapestry.

For pupils in Years 2-6, work will be set on Seesaw.

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 have already surveyed parents to find out who may need support with this. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• Paper copies of the lessons will be sent via siblings or posted to your house. Once completed, these should either be sent back via a sibling or family member, posted to the school or brought back when the pupil returns to school.
• If appropriate, we may provide you with a loan device to access the learning (this requires you to have access to the internet). If these are loaned out, a contract will be set up to ensure that all safeguarding protocols are in place.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

• Plans will be provided for all lessons each day explaining the lessons in detail
• Pre recorded teaching made by teachers using Loom – these can be accessed at any time meaning families can make their own appropriate timetable for days at home
• Recorded teaching linked to Oak National Academy lessons and/or White Rose Hub
• Printed paper packs provided by teachers where appropriate
• Online platforms we sign up for such as PiXL, Accelerated Reader and Lexia
• Reading books pupils have at home
• Tapestry/Seesaw is used as ‘live’ platforms for parents/pupils to ask questions or get advice. Staff monitor the accounts every school day during school hours so will respond almost immediately to parents/pupils

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?

We are aware that the younger the children are, the more support they will need at home.  For those in Upper KS2, pupils should be able to complete all lessons and learning independently perhaps only needing some support from home.  They will be able to access support from staff too online.  We do expect all pupils to complete the work set for them if they are off school and are well but are flexible in when this is completed.  By completing the work set, we ensure no child is left behind.

For many parents/carers they will be trying to balance helping more than one child at home and also working from home too which can cause additional stresses and anxieties.  To support this, we recommend that parents prioritise the learning for maths, reading and phonics/spelling as a minimum.  Pupils in Years 1 -6 have access to a Lexia account for reading which is a 1-1 tuition style programme so all pupils can access this without support from an adult.

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

Staff will check Seesaw/Tapestry daily to check for engagement.  Anyone we do not hear from on here will be contacted by phone to check in on how the learning is going and offer further advice or support.  (Please note, if we do not hear from you or your child directly for more than a day, we may complete a safeguarding home visit to check everything is ok.)

Leaders will regularly monitor learning and feedback to ensure that all feedback is effective and that learning is appropriately set for all pupils.  Great ideas will be shared amongst staff to ensure innovative and flexible approaches are used.  Our feedback policy has been adapted to include remote learning opportunities to provide feedback to pupils on an individual basis.

How will you help my child to engage in their learning?

Staff aim to plan work that helps to engage pupils by providing activities which are topic led and through a variety of subjects being taught daily.  We will continue to use platforms like White Rose Hub which the children are familiar with from normal school life.  Learning will be broken down where possible into smaller chunks and expectations for the minimum amount of learning in each lesson will be clearly communicated daily. Staff will reward/celebrations pupils through methods such as names being read in assembly, Stars of the Week shared on Tapestry/Seesaw and work shared on newsletters.  A range of activities will be set including the use of quizzes, games, wellbeing and physical activities.

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

Work will be marked on Tapestry/Seesaw and commented on directly.  If your child is completing paper copies, these will be marked in school when they are brought back to us.  You may be able to take photos of the work and email these in which would also support the marking progress.  Staff will use functions such as the like button and comments to provide feedback to pupils. Our feedback policy has also been adapted to include remote learning opportunities to provide feedback to pupils on an individual basis.  (Progress reports for your child’s overall learning will be sent home in January and May as usual with a parents evening taking place in September/October and February/March.  An end of year report will still be sent home in July too. These will include any remote learning as well as class based learning which has taken place.)

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:

• Setting adapted work that is more appropriate for their stage of development.
• Paper-versions of support tasks and scaffolds will be provided which can be emailed or sent by post.
• Providing support resources such as phonics sound mats, pencil grips etc. which pupils use at school to support their learning at home.
• Checking in with you regularly via Seesaw/Tapestry or phone calls to check how your child is getting on with their learning.
• Virtual meeting and live chat will take place to maintain human connection.

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?

• The same approached as above will be used but work may be checked after school or the next day as staff will be teaching in the day and loom lessons will not be used.
• Work will be set that is the same as that in school or directly linked (such as a practical lesson in school may be given at home in the form of an activity which has the same objective but is accessible to you.)