Learning At Home

Remote education provision: information for parents

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 (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.

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.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

The teacher will make direct contact with parents to outline the support that will be provided. This will include:

  • links provided to daily lessons in Phonics, English and Maths. The links will be sent by SMS to the parent and also uploaded to the School’s website;
  • confirmation of the child’s login details to Reading Eggs and Mathseeds;
  • confirmation of the child’s login details for Big Cat eBooks;
  • details of a 1:1 Microsoft Teams meeting with the teacher;
  • confirmation of delivery arrangements of a tailored Learning Pack.

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, in school we continue to teach PE and this will understandably be a different experience for children at home. Also, in Year 1 and Year 2, the Explore Curriculum is taught slightly differently for children at home.

Remote teaching and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

For children in Reception, the school will provide 4 online lessons each day:

  • 9:15 am to 9:45 am – Phonics
  • 10:00 am to 10:30am – Mathematics
  • 11:00am to 11:30am – Story Making
  • 11:45am to 12 noon – Storytime

In Year 1 and Year 2 there are 4 pre-recorded lessons that are provided for children each day:

  • Literacy
  • Maths
  • Phonics
  • Storytime

The lessons then lead on to learning activities that children complete following the lesson. Children are also provided with Learning Packs and Workbooks to consolidate Phonics, Tricky Words and core maths skills.

All children who are learning remotely will meet with their teacher using MS Teams at least once a week. In addition, many children also have Teams sessions with TAs to practice their Phonics and reading knowledge and application.

On average children are undertaking between 3 and 4 hours of learning each day.

Accessing remote education

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

Teachers will provide parents with the links needed to access remote education.

  • School website: https://twertoninfant.school/learning-at-home/ has three separate areas for EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 online resources where the links for the lessons each day are provided;
  • There are two live Facebook broadcasts each morning for children in Reception https://www.facebook.com/twertoninfantschool 9:15am Phonics and 10:00am Maths.
  • The bulk of online lessons provided by teachers are created using Loom, which allows teachers to combine visual slides with an accompanying explanation and demonstrations. The Loom lessons are accessible through any internet browser (e.g. Chrome, Microsoft Explorer, Safari) and can be replayed and reviewed.
  • In Year 1 and Year 2 the Phonics lessons are presented in YouTube: Letters and Sounds for Home and School:
    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP_FbjYUP_UtldV2K_-niWw
    Each child is sent a link to the specific lesson to start at. Each day the next lesson in the series is watched.
  • Children have individual accounts for Reading Eggs and Mathseeds:
    https://readingeggs.co.uk/, accessible through an internet browser.
  • Children have their own account for Big Cat eBooks, accessible through an internet browser.

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:

  • A small number of school laptops and Chromebooks are provided on a loan basis to families who do not have a device available;
  • The LA provided a single internet dongle that has been loaned to a family.
  • The school will deliver a Learning Pack to every child learning remotely which will provide a range of activities that match the child’s development and that continue the learning that children engage with online.
  • In the event of a family not having internet access, the teacher will liaise with the parent to take return of the child’s completed learning activities, so it can be reviewed, enabling the teacher to discuss the progress the child is making over a telephone call.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

  • live teaching (online lessons using Facebook Live for Reception children);
  • recorded teaching (Loom video/audio recordings made by teachers; DfE YouTube videos for Phonics);
  • printed paper packs produced by teachers (including workbooks, worksheets);
  • textbooks and reading books pupils have at home;
  • Reading Eggs and Mathseeds (commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas);
  • A range of activities provided to support learning in the Explore Curriculum in Year 1 and Year.

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?

We expect that children will:

  • engage in the daily online teaching and learning activities which link to paper-based independent follow-on activities (Learning Pack or Phonics Workbook;
  • continue to use Reading Eggs and Mathseeds through the week (ideally 3 times or more).

We expect that parents will support children’s learning by:

  • ensuring that children engage in the online learning sessions provided (by ensuring devices are charged and that the correct link has been used for each session of the day);
  • making sure they attend the 1:1 Teams sessions that have been set up with their child’s teacher;
  • listening to their child read each day;
  • reading a book with (or to) their child, ideally every day;
  • helping the child to establish a routine with breaks, physical activity and a bedtime routine to support good rest and sleep.

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

Teachers will meet with each child and their parent every week. This is an important meeting for the teacher to check how the child is getting on and to look through the learning activities that the child has completed.

This meeting is particularly useful for the teacher to gauge the progress that each child is making in phonics by check the child’s recognition and recall of the current letters and sounds that the children have been taught.

Teacher also monitor the school’s SMS inbox and respond to any queries that are made by parents.

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. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

The main way that teachers provide feedback to children is through the 1:1 Teams meeting that takes place each week with every child.

For some children, there are further Teams meetings with either the teacher or a TA that the child knows well.

Parents are also invited to take photos of their child’s work and to email the photos to the school.

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.

Our school’s SENCo and Inclusion Leader, Mrs Hala Langan, will liaise directly with the parents of children who have special educational needs and disabilities who are finding it difficult to access or engage with the remote education provided.

In many cases, children with SEND will continue to attend school.

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 a child is self-isolating we will endeavour to provide the full range of remote learning support describe above, including a 1:1 Teams session with the teacher.

You can download this information as a pdf.