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Information for Parents/Carers

Remote Education Provision: Information for Parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents/ carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home. For more detailed information, see the PolyMAT Remote Learning Policy.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this document.

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?

We will set work for your child to complete as assignments via Microsoft Teams. These will be completed independently in the first instance.

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, Physical Education lessons may focus on health & fitness, Art may focus on “dry” techniques such as drawing.

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:

Key Stage 3 and 4 5 Hours
Key Stage 5 5+ Hours

 

Accessing remote education

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

We will deliver remote teaching and learning through Microsoft Teams (https://teams.microsoft.com). Your child will be able to login to this platform using their email address and the same password they use to logon to the school computers. The school may utilize additional platforms when setting work (e.g. Hegarty Maths, Oak National Academy) - this will be outlined in the assignments set via Microsoft Teams.

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 may issue or lend a laptop or tablet to your child. This is subject to availability (which is limited).
  • We may will issue or lend a device that enables an internet connection (dongles) to your child. This is subject to availability (which is limited).
  • We may offer your child a place in our on-site “hub” as part of our provision for vulnerable pupils. This is subject to availability (which is limited).
  • We may provide printed materials for students to study from, if none of the other options are available. In this situation, pupils will be provided with details of how they can return work to their teachers (usually by post).

For further information on any of the above, please contact Ms Lumbis (Assistant Headteacher) - jlumbis@woolwichpoly.co.uk

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

  • live teaching (online lessons in Microsoft Teams)
  • recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
  • independent tasks (e.g. digital assignments in Microsoft Teams)
  • commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
  • printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets) – usually by request
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?

  • Your child is expected to attend all live lessons scheduled in Microsoft Teams according to the published timetable. This includes a remote registration period at the start of each day.
  • Your child is expected to complete and “turn in” all assignments that are set via Microsoft Teams by the published hand-in dates.
  • Your child is expected to abide by our rules for engaging in live lessons, including keeping themselves muted, only using the chat space for work-related discussions, and following teachers’ instructions.
  • Your child should have a paper/ pen (and other resources required) available for the live lesson.
  • You should ensure that your child has a quiet/ organized space in which to work, and encourage them to show you the work they are producing. There is no requirement for you to support them during live lessons.

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

  • Tutors will take a register during the remote registration period each morning, and you will be contacted if your child is not present.
  • Heads of Year will have an overview of daily and weekly live lesson attendance, and you will be contacted if your child’s attendance to live lessons is below average.
  • Subject Teachers will have an overview of task/ assignment completion, and will pass on concerns to Heads of Year, who may then contact you to discuss their concerns.
  • Communication will take place with you via Weduc, or in some cases via telephone calls
  • When concerns are raised, we expect that your child will immediately rectify these.

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:

A mixture of:

  • Regular self-marking quizzes through Microsoft Forms (or other 3rd-party quiz products, such as Doddle, HegartyMaths etc)
  • Whole-class feedback during live lessons following sample marking of the work that students have submitted
  • Regular Q&A, and other formative assessment activities, during live lessons to provide ongoing feedback
  • Individual feedback on specific assignments using a simple grading rubric (mostly used for written work)

Your child will receive feedback via a combination of the above methods from each subject every week. They may also receive personalized feedback on assignments submitted (where this is deemed suitable).

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 provide information, advice and guidance to help you support your child (as required) when accessing remote education. This advice includes:
  1. Ensuring your child understands what is expected of them
  2. Discussing the work set with your child
  3. Encouraging your child to write down key words and sentence starters
  4. Checking your child’s understanding, and if necessary reexplaining
  5. Helping your child with task timing
  6. Giving praise and encouragement
  7. Reading or repeating instructions for your child
  8. Encouraging your child to write down difficult spellings
  9. Avoiding pressuring your child unnecessarily
  10. Encouraging your child to take rest and movement breaks if needed
  11. Build in fresh air breaks/walks to your child’s schedule
  • We may provide your child with paper-based resource packs (where appropriate);
  • We may offer your child a place in our on-site “hub” as part of our provision for vulnerable pupils, where they will continue to receive support from LSAs/ Mentors/ Counsellors and other staff. This is subject to availability (which is limited);
  • We will contact you and/ or your child for regular check-ins to make sure your child is accessing remote education;
  • We will continue to keep in contact with external agencies in order to ensure your child is getting the level of support they require;

For individual strategies and concerns, please contact the SENCO, Ms Val Smith (vsmith@woolwichpoly.co.uk)

For more information about our approach to Remote Education, please see Remote Education Plan 2 or Remote Education Plan 3.

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 a combination of independent tasks, tasks from commercially available websites. and recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy).  Alternatively, in some cases your child may be provided with printed paper packs (usually by request). They will not usually be provided with live teaching during this period. Your child will continue to access the work set, resources required, and any feedback provided via Microsoft Teams. For further information, see Remote Education Plan 1.

Information on remote education for parents can be found here

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