During these unprecedented times it is more important than ever that we stay connected with our pupils and be prepared for remote learning.

We are committed to ensuring that all our children receive the highest quality at education whether they are at school or at home taking part in remote learning. In the event of a national lockdown or bubble closure, we expect that the children will continue to learn at home. We provide remote learning at home, based around the sequence of learning that they would be taught in school. All children that need one will be provided, by school, with all the necessary equipment to ensure that this is not a barrier to their learning.

Staff have received, and continue to receive, high quality CPD so they can present their remote learning in creative and engaging ways and we continually develop our remote learning offer. As an Academy and Trust, we understand the difficulties that may be faced by families in these difficult times, which is why we are able to offer devices loans (if needed) to ensure that children have the opportunity to engage with their learning.

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:

Number of hours

Reading:

In EYFS and KS1, the children have access to a live, targeted phonics session every day. Targeted interventions take place in an afternoon for those children in Y1, Y2 or Y3 who need additional 1:1 support in order to catch up and keep up. Fresh Start interventions take place every afternoon for those children in Y4, Y5 & Y6.

From Years 1 to 6, teachers also provide a live reading lesson taught through the specified Reading Strategy text. After assessments, the children are grouped to ensure targeted teaching. The live teaching part of the lesson will involve teaching the new skill through an ‘I do’ then ‘you do’ approach. After the lesson, the children complete their task on Seesaw which is assessed and feedback is given.

In EYFS & KS1, the children upload videos of themselves reading via Tapestry or Seesaw. They have access to Oxford Owl, where they can read from a range of phonically decodable books, all at their level. In KS2, the children have their own Reading Plus account, where they read from a huge variety of texts. Children are rewarded regularly for their efforts.

Writing:

In EYFS, writing is taught on Zoom sessions using the RWI phonics lessons, and tasks are set on Tapestry.   Children are set writing tasks every day, such as sounds, their name, and CVC words.  The more able children are challenged to write short captions.  Sways are also used to share videos with fine motor activities for the children to practise, in order to build up strength in their hands to help them with their writing.

In KS1 and KS2, there are three live Zoom Writing lessons a week, which last 30 minutes each.  Following these, a task is set on Seesaw, which is related to or continues the work from each lesson.  Teachers mark the tasks and identify the children’s strengths and/or an area for development.

Teachers use visual images, the class novel, links to the wider curriculum or planning from the Talk for Writing home learning units as a stimulus to help children create and develop their own ideas.  The lessons and tasks are short, bite-sized sessions, which build up to writing tasks such as poems, adverts or descriptions of a character or a setting. 

Teachers are using the Jumpstart Grammar games from the Talk for Writing programme to teach the grammar elements needed for each unit of work an engaging and relevant way.

In KS1, spelling is taught through RWI phonics lessons.  In KS2, spelling is taught via Sways or Seesaw tasks. 

Maths: 

From EYFS to Year 6, maths is taught through a live, daily lesson. The new skill is taught through an ‘I do’ then ‘you do’ approach similar to reading. Lessons often begin with number games to ensure engagement from the very start. An activity is then uploaded to Tapestry or Seesaw, which, after completion, is assessed by the class teacher. 

The children have their own TT Rockstars account, which has been an additional platform to develop times tables. Competitions and challenges have been set throughout.

Curriculum: 

Our online learning within topic lessons is in line with our face to face teaching although not all lessons are taught within a ‘live’ format. Our curriculum is built around a book-led approach, where each lesson begins with a text/extract that the children read alongside their teacher and it equips them with either background knowledge or new learning that will enable them to access the content within the main part of the lesson.

We have also included virtual tours of Jorvik, links with the National Holocaust Museum and other virtual ‘trips’ to enrich topics.

Within EYFS, their version of the book led approach, focuses on a book each week and their activities stem from this.

KS1 topic sessions are taught through Sway four times a week. The Sway also involves the task instructions, which is normally through voice in order to ensure as much independence as possible.
In KS2, the children are taught live topic lessons twice a week and the other two sessions are taught through Sway in the same way as KS1. Follow up work is also uploaded to Seesaw for the children to complete in order to assess their understanding.

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

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:

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: