Remote education provision

Information for parents

Based on Providing Remote Education: Guidance for Schools, DfE March 2022

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education on:

• occasions when school leaders decide that it is not possible for their setting to open safely, or that opening would contradict guidance from local or central government

• occasions when individual pupils, for a limited duration, are unable to physically attend their school but are able to continue learning, for example pupils with an infectious illness

Where applicable, we are expected to continue to use the digital platform for remote education provision that has been used consistently across the school to allow interaction, assessment and feedback and make sure staff continue to be trained and confident in its use. At St Mark’s this is the Tapestry platform for children in Reception and the Seesaw platform for children in Years 1 to 6.

We would work to overcome barriers to digital access where possible for children by:

• distributing school-owned laptops accompanied by a user agreement or contract if possible;

• securing appropriate internet connectivity solutions where possible;

• providing printed resources, such as textbooks and workbooks, to structure learning, supplemented with other forms of communication to keep pupils on track or answer questions about work and

• develop systems for checking, daily, whether pupils learning remotely are engaging with their work, and work with families to rapidly identify effective solutions where engagement is a concern.

The Headteacher has overarching responsibility for the quality and delivery of remote education.

The remote curriculum: 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. From the beginning:

• Reception: for children in the Reception Class activities will be set by the class teacher via Tapestry. Parents will be able to access the work via their child’s individual account.

• Years 1 to 6: each child in Years 1 to 6 is allocated an account on the Seesaw remote learning platform. From the start of any period of school closure requiring provision of remote education, class teachers will provide activities on the class Seesaw account. These will link to the work already being covered in class and will include the full range of curriculum subjects incorporated in the cross-curricular topic already planned for your child’s year group.

The Curriculum

We would always endeavour to teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we would probably need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example:

• learning in PE will necessitate the use of digitally produced material giving ideas for physical activity in the home environment. Team sports will obviously not be possible in the context of remote learning; and

• investigations in science will need to be adapted to ensure that they can be completed using everyday objects and resources found in the home.   

Study time each day

We would expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

• 3 hours a day on average across the cohort for key stage 1, with less for younger children

• 4 hours a day for children in Key Stage 2

Accessing remote education

We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. We would take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• Lend laptops or tablets to children who do not have access to a device at home. Parents would need to inform the school office of the need and complete a user agreement form. The device would then be delivered to the child’s home.

• Any printed materials necessary to support learning remotely would be copied in school and delivered to a child’s home.

• Work completed on paper by pupils who do not have online access that needs to be submitted to teachers for marking, would be collected from a child’s home.

Approaches to teaching remotely

• recorded teaching (uploaded to the Tapestry or Seesaw learning platforms)

• printed packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)

• textbooks and reading books pupils have at home

• activities set for specific classes or individual children on the relevant year group  section of the Tapestry or Seesaw learning platforms

Engagement and feedback

• Pupils’ engagement with remote education:

  • If a child was well enough to engage in remote learning and had access to all the materials and resources provided, we would expect them to complete all tasks and submit work for marking in the time allocated.

  • Where a child was unable to complete tasks, we would expect them or their parents to contact the class teacher (on the online platform) to explain the reason, discuss the barrier to learning or seek clarification as necessary.  

• Parental support

  • At the very least we would expect parents to support their children by:

    • setting routines for remote education;

    • providing a suitable quiet space for the child to work remotely in the home; and

    • offering encouragement

• Teacher feedback and monitoring

  • Class teachers would:

    • regularly monitor engagement with remote learning

    • mark and provide feedback to children in a timely manner

    • inform the Headteacher of any concerns regarding lack of engagement. Contact would then be made directly with parents to discuss the issue.

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 would work with parents to support those pupils.