The Remote Curriculum: What is taught to pupils at home?
Q: What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
Although work can be provided on Seesaw on a daily basis from the first day of children being sent home, a child’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.
Children who we have identified as having accessibility issues will be provided with paper-based work initially containing work on comprehension, handwriting, spelling, times tables and arithmetic. Whilst all other children can access key lessons in English and Maths via Seesaw. Children also have access to Accelerated Reader, Numbots and Timestables Rockstars, as well as a range of learning links on our school website.
Using this pack and key lessons already available on Seesaw, enables to staff to ensure we can get everything set up for longer term remote learning, including:
- Ensuring children have access to devices and a working internet connection
- Ensuring login information for Remote Learning sites are correct, working and parents and children know how to access them
- Reviewing SEND provision where appropriate
- Timetabling and allocating work via Seesaw.
Q: 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?
School Closure/Full Bubble Closure:
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:
- Art and DT activities will be provided and will loosely follow the curriculum, however will be adapted to take into consideration the resources that most children are likely to have at home.
- PE will focus on getting children active and improving fitness, rather than the PE skills that would be being taught within school.
- Where computing is taught and specific software is required, it will be adapted to ensure common access for all children and also to ensure online safety can be maintained within computing lessons when children are accessing via home devices.
Individual isolation:
In cases of individual isolation, work will still be provided via Seesaw and will be the same curriculum as in school wherever possible to enable continuity upon a child’s return. Where this is not possible, work provided will focus on key objectives for each year group, rather than the exact content being taught in class. More details are given in the last section of this page.
Remote Teaching and Study Time Each Day
Q: 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:
Key Stage 1 | A minimum of three hours:
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Key Stage 2 | A minimum of four hours:
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Accessing Remote Education
Q: How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
The primary tool we use for Remote Learning is Seesaw – Guide to Using Seesaw for Remote Learning
We also utilise Accelerated Reader, Numbots and Times Table Rockstars where appropriate.
During whole school closure, live ‘Class Catch Up’ sessions providing a social element for pupils to interact with their classmates and teacher is be provided through Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams Login Guide
Q: If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
We have surveyed parents to gather information regarding device and internet access at home and all those with identified issues have been contacted directly by school.
Laptops/ipads will be loaned to families where access to home devices presents barriers to pupil engagement in remote learning. All families loaning devices will be required to sign an agreement.
Families are encouraged to let school know if circumstances surrounding access to devices/internet usage change using the school email address wolsinghamprimary@durhamlearning.net or via the office on 01388 527457.
Paper packs / workbooks will only be provided unless there is no other option – instead, school will do everything possible to ensure full device and internet access are available as we feel this is the best way to engage our children and maintain regular contact and feedback between children and their teacher.
Q: How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- Pre-recorded teaching – Teaching will be primarily be pre-recorded by staff via the applications in Seesaw. These include phonics lessons for our Reception and Year 1 pupils.
- Oak Academy – The pre-recorded teaching provided by Oak Academy may be utilised where appropriate.
- Live Catch Up Sessions – each week, a class will have at least one Live Catch Up Session via Microsoft Teams. The main focus of these sessions is to ‘check in’ with children and provide an opportunity for them to interact face to face with their teacher and classmates.
- External sites: Accelerated Reader, Numbots and Times Table Rockstars may also be utilised by staff for remote learning, as they would be within school.
- Specialist teaching: Where available, pupils will be directed to specialist teaching activities which class teachers feel would enhance provision for pupils. E.g. PE sessions led by the local secondary school, Chance to Shine cricket activities.
Engagement and Feedback
Q: What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?
We recognise that Remote Learning is challenging for families and encourage children and parents to use Seesaw to communicate with their class teacher as much as possible. Staff are available throughout the school day to communicate with your child: giving feedback, responding to questions, or providing further support for those who are finding concepts difficult.
- We expect children to access lessons daily through Seesaw and upload their work onto the platform during the school day
- Support required from parents will vary depending on the age of the child – generally speaking, the older children are, the less they will require adult support to access their learning from home
Please note: Additional information on effective remote learning, can be found in our ‘Top Tips’ document, including suggested timetables and what to do if your child is struggling.
Q: How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
We monitor children’s engagement with remote learning daily through Seesaw and use this to identify where additional support may be needed.
Check in phone calls, texts and emails from teaching staff to families of children working from home are an opportunity for parents and staff to share any ongoing concerns around children’s engagement.
Additional phone calls will be made if there are specific concerns about a child’s engagement.
Q: 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:
Feedback will be provided on Seesaw by staff from the child’s class, or other staff in school. Feedback will be given daily and will take a variety of forms:
- ‘Liking’ a post – this may be used to acknowledge a piece of work where additional comments aren’t required
- Positive praise – positive comments may be given by staff to help encourage and motivate children
- Ways forward – suggested ways forward with work will be given either through written feedback, or voice feedback on Seesaw. This may require children to adapt or resubmit work for review by their teacher
Staff will aim to provide feedback to all work uploaded, however for work uploaded outside of school hours, including weekends, responses from staff will be limited to within school working hours.
Where staff identify that a child is struggling, they will be signposted to additional resources, e.g. additional teaching videos provided by school staff, or resources to help scaffold the task.
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.
Q: How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?
Pupils with SEND:
- Staff work closely with the SENDCO to plan provision for pupils with SEND
- Support plan targets are reviewed by staff prior to setting work e.g. adapting work, or providing additional learning videos
- Additional resources will be provided where appropriate e.g. practical Maths resources such as Numicon
- Interventions that can be provided remotely will be wherever possible Reception and Year 1
- For Reception and Year 1, we have a focus on Phonics and Early Reading – daily Phonics lessons and resources will be provided through Seesaw, as well as links to the Read Write Inc phonics books through Oxford Owl. This work is differentiated in the same way it would be in school and ensures children can progress through their phonics learning at the same speed they would be in school.
- For Reception children, tasks are shared via Seesaw and are less computer based, mirroring the activities children are completing within school wherever possible.
- For Year 1, work is set via Seesaw, but children are encouraged to record in a variety of ways including with paper and pencil rather than on screen. This allows them to consolidate basic skills of spelling and handwriting, as well as helping limit screen time.
- For Nursery children, a weekly overview is emailed to parents offering suggestions of activities (similar to those that would be provided in nursery) around a theme linked to the different areas of learning.
- Live lessons in Nursery and Reception are used for social purposes – as an opportunity for children to see each other, share news and take part in storytime.
Remote Learning 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.
Q: If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
Content:
In cases of individual isolation, work will still be provided via Seesaw and will be the same curriculum as in school wherever possible to enable continuity upon a child’s return. Where this is not possible, work provided will focus on key objectives for each year group, rather than the exact content being taught in class.
Delivery:
Delivery will be via pre-recorded lessons on Seesaw and the same learning sites mentioned previously will be utilised. Opportunities will be made where possible for self-isolating pupils to ‘check in’ with their classmates through Live Lessons, at least weekly.
Minimum Expectations:
The same expectations for work will apply to children self-isolating: 3 hours for KS1 and 4 hours for KS2.
Feedback:
Feedback will still be provided daily, either by Bubble staff, or other staff within school.