Remote Education Provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to parents and carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page. A copy of our Remote Learning Policy can be found here

If you have any questions, suggestions or concerns please contact the school office@shenton.leicester.sch.uk or phone 0116 2628778 during school hours.

The IT leader is Ms Gita, if you have any ESafety concerns or suggestions please email gpatel@shenton.leicester.sch.uk or phone the school and ask to speak to Ms Gita.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

A pupil’s first day 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?

Teachers are given the first day to prepare for online lessons if there is a sudden change and classes have to close. From the second day live lessons will be prepared and children will continue to follow the curriculum as they would have 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, Art will be limited by resources available at home, and Physical Education will be adjusted for limited space.

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:

Accessing remote education

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

The school uses MSTeams, and your child will be provided with a school email address through which you can access live class lessons. All other resources needed are made available through the school website and are used as part of our on line lessons.

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 have a supply of cyber protected tablets and laptops for children to borrow, including internet access. All children are expected to learn on line.

If a child is classified as vulnerable or new to the country, we will support your child to develop the necessary IT skills to ensure they can access online learning.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Live teaching (online lessons) daily.
• The school website is linked to commercially available free websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences as instructed by teachers. All passwords will be provided.

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?

• Ensure your child is up, dressed, had breakfast and ready to log on for 9am.
• Provide a quiet working space preferably at a table.
• Provide/collect any resources from school to enable their child to learn – exercise book / paper, pencils (including colours), ruler, rubber, sharpener, mini white board with own pen/rubber.
• Take care of IT equipment, ensuring tablets etc. are charged and ready.
• Encourage your child to stay on line.

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

• Phone calls will be made to parents if children do not log on and no reason is given.
• Phone calls will also be made if children are not engaging as expected to agree a way forwards.

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 check your child’s work where possible online through children sharing work on white boards, answering questions and using the chat box function to type answers to questions.
• Teachers will also check any work emailed or brought to school as part of our weekly exchange of exercise books.
• Teachers will check scores and improvements for any online games we are using to support children’s learning.

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:

• We will discuss your particular child’s needs and complete a risk assessment.
• If your child is assessed as being unable to access on line learning, we will offer your child a place so they can learn on site, providing a method that suits them.

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?

Your child will be provided with access to the same lessons taking place in school through the MSTeams learning platform.

Lessons will be live, and continuous with regards the curriculum taught in school.

Where lessons cannot be adapted e.g. physical education, alternative ideas will be provided.