Remote Learning Provision

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

Children are taught with a mixture of live sessions, pre-recorded sessions and independent tasks.

Will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

Yes, we will teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. However, there will have to be some modifications such as no team games in PE, Virtual pond dipping in Science etc.

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, in line with DfE requirements:

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

Online learning will be delivered through Microsoft Teams. (Please refer to our earlier documents and guidance on how to set up and access online learning through Teams, on a variety of devices.) Teams can be accessed using a laptop, computer, tablet, Xbox and Playstation.

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 will lend laptops to pupils
• We will provide internet top ups
• We will provide dongles

If parents need support with any of these areas, please email school using admin@rodborough.gloucs.sch.co.uk

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Live teaching by the teacher – there will be live contact with each class by their teacher 4 times each day: At the start of the day, mid-morning, the start of the afternoon and the end of the afternoon. Exact times will depend upon the needs of the pupils and teachers will share the timetable with parents via Teams.
• Recorded teaching produced by your child’s class teacher
• Videos to support learning, such as watching a clip from Horrible Histories, online PE workouts, story time etc.
• Children will continue to have access to the websites/subscriptions that are used in school: Mathletics, Bug Club, TTRockStars (Year 3-6 only) Phonics play (Reception to year 2 only) 

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

We are expecting pupils to engage in their learning daily and to hand in the learning as it is completed. We understand that not all pupils will be able to logon to every live session, but we expect them to attend at least 2 live sessions per day, unless the teacher is notified of a reason eg illness. We expect that most of the learning will be completed and handed in.

Pupils are expected to behave in an appropriate manner online as they would in the classroom. They should adhere to other online requirements such as: not muting the teacher, keeping microphone on mute, not starting/admitting/rejecting anyone from a meeting, not messaging each other using the chat facility.

We would like all parents to support their children as much as their job and home life will allow. Ensuring that children can access the online learning and hand in their work daily will be key.

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

The teachers will be keeping a daily register of attendance and at the end of a week, teachers will share any attendance concerns with the SLT. Parents will be contacted by phone, email or Teams if there are attendance concerns for 2 weeks. Teachers will also create a weekly log of what work each child has viewed and handed in, using the analytics tool on Teams. Concerns will be raised with SLT and parents, via email, Teams or phone, regarding low engagement.

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:

• During a live session, teachers and TA’s will give feedback to pupils as they learn.
• Written feedback by the teacher, and occasionally the TA, will be given on the assignments that are handed in.
• All work submitted is read and marked by the teacher and there is written feedback at least twice a week for English, Mathematics and the foundation subjects.

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:

• Staff will tailor approaches or content for those children with SEND needs, on an individual basis.
• Focus will be given to the Cognition and Learning targets on a child’s My Plan, My Plan+ or EHCP.
• Use of breakout rooms will be used to give additional support and intervention for pupils who would benefit.
• With younger children, teachers will have additional conversations with parents of how work is personalised and ways to help parents at home.

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 your child is at home self-isolating for 10 days, when the rest of the pod is in school, the teacher will make contact with the parent to agree the way they would prefer learning to be delivered. It will either be paper copies of work that will take place in school, or electronic copies of the work via Teams. There will be no live teaching or pre-recorded sessions by the teacher. Learning via Teams will be handed in and marked in the same was as described earlier in this document. If paper work is chosen by the family, this will be shared with the teacher on the child’s return and any additional support given. The work that would be set, would follow the work being covered in the classroom.