Remote Learning

This remote learning procedure has been written as guidance for staff and parents during times the school has to close for unavoidable reasons.

It sets out the systems and technology that staff will use to keep the learning experience going for children, and details how they can be used effectively and safely, while allowing for the differing needs of families.

The school’s usual Online Safety Policy and Acceptable Use Agreements still apply at this time but this policy is an addendum in these unprecedented circumstances.

The staff remote learning lead is Mrs Wood and any concerns, questions or feedback can be communicated with her through the school office. If you are unable to access the internet or do not have enough devices then please get in touch, we may be able to help.

A flexible approach:

Keeping regular learning going during the period that schools are closed is of great importance to reduce the impact on children’s education, however we understand that everyone’s circumstances at home will be different. Some families have one child to support while others have several. Some families have one device to share while others may have more – and some things may work differently on different devices. Some parents will have plenty of time to help their children learn, while others will be working from home and may have much less time and some children will be able to work more independently than others or need greater challenge.

Due to this we are providing a flexible approach to remote learning. We will offer a variety of weekly learning activities across the curriculum so that pupils can work their way through as much as they are able, at a time that suits them.

Remote Educational Provision For Individuals Who Are Self-Isolating or Shielding

In the event that individual pupils are confirmed to be self-isolating or shielding due to COVID, Class Teachers will provide access to a daily/weekly timetable of remote learning activities. This will be shared through Class Dojo.

This timetable will, as much as possible, link to our long-term curriculum plans and the learning those in school will be doing, while remaining manageable for staff to prepare on top of their usual weekly workload.

To do this, we will make use of a number of ready-prepared high quality online materials (drawing heavily on units from the national Oak Academy that fit with our school curriculum) and supplement these with our existing subscription packages which children are familiar with.

We appreciate that some families won’t be able to engage with the full timetable, and in this case suggest they focus on key learning priorities to try to reduce the impact on children’s core Maths and English skills.

Staff will endeavour to view and feedback on as much of student’s work as they are able, while balancing their workload inside of school. Students at home should receive feedback at least twice a week.

Remote Educational Provision For Whole Classes

In the event of that a whole class, Key Stage or whole school have to self-isolate, Class Teachers will post daily/weekly timetables on Class Dojo for their class. This will outline a range of learning activities in the full range of subject areas and contain tasks and links to follow (in any order and at a time that suits across the week). Alongside this, we will also deliver some sessions via MS Teams/Zoom including a daily ‘greet’ and upload pre-recorded delivery of lessons e.g. handwriting, phonics. We appreciate that some families won’t be able to engage with the full timetable, and in this case suggest they focus on key learning priorities to try to reduce the impact on children’s core Maths and English skills.

Throughout the day, posts on Class Dojo will add extra detail or examples as necessary and Class Dojo assignments will be set to ‘collect in’ a piece of work. Staff will approve portfolio posts as soon as possible and give regular feedback on a student’s portfolio.

Other optional events and enrichment activity ideas will be spread throughout the week to help keep the children engaged and enthusiastic, as well as supporting their social interaction and physical and emotional wellbeing at this time.

Interaction:

We are keen to make remote learning an interactive experience through the submission and sharing of work by children and delivery of feedback from teachers and arranging opportunities for pupils and families to compete, interact and collaborate.

We will also provide some live face-to-face contact opportunities for children, to maintain a sense for them of being part of a class. We will use MS Teams/Zoom tool to do this. While teaching a primary-age class this way is not practical, we are hoping to use it to provide some safe, supervised and structured opportunities for children to ‘meet up’ with their teacher and classmates.

Communication between staff and pupils / families must be through the authorised school systems above. It should follow the usual rules outlined in the Online Safety Policy and Acceptable Use Agreements.

Due consideration should be put in by staff before sharing photo or video as to whether there are any issues regarding reputation, professional conduct, online safety or other safeguarding. We would strongly recommend that staff avoid using personal devices and should only use school provided equipment.

Use of Video Conferencing technologies (MS Teams/Zoom):

If whole classes are self-isolating, we will arrange meetings for children to connect and interact with their teacher and peers. Further details will follow through Class Dojo.

Like the rest of our online offer, these meetings are not compulsory, so your child does not need to attend and we appreciate that not all families will be able to. If you would like to but are unable to due to technology restraints, please get in touch in case we can help.

The safety of both children and staff when using this technology is paramount and we will be following relevant advice from MS Teams/Zoom, the Children’s Commissioner and the NSPCC.

In order to protect both children and staff, we require that if you wish to take advantage of these opportunities on MS Teams/Zoom, you agree to the following:

A free MS Teams school account can be set up so that we can ensure only registered users can access meetings.

An appropriate adult must remain in the same room as the child during video or conference calls to monitor and ensure they are safe and using it appropriately.

When joining any school meeting you will need to briefly need to be onscreen with your child so we know that they have an appropriate adult nearby. This will also give us a chance to talk with you if we need to.

Children must take part in the meet up in a suitable communal environment (preferably not a bedroom) and be appropriately dressed (uniform isn’t necessary, but they should be fully dressed in clothing that covers top and bottom half of the body).

All members of the household must be aware that the meeting is taking place and make sure they are also suitable dressed and use appropriate language and behaviour when nearby or in the background.

You must make sure you and your child have ‘logged off’ the call correctly once it is finished - before turning off any devices. • You and your child will not try to contact any staff using these online tools outside of the pre-arranged meet ups which will be arranged through Class Dojo. If you need to contact staff for any reason you will do so through Class Dojo as normal.
Screenshots, photos or recordings of MS Teams/Zoom meetings must not be made and the links must not be shared with others.

We will ensure that:

No staff member will contact you or your child using MS Teams/Zoom outside of any pre-arranged meetings and if they do need to contact you they will arrange to do so with you using Class Dojo.

Teachers will ensure appropriate security settings are in place for the meeting. They will ensure that access is only granted to the expected registered users invited with a password or direct link. Screen sharing, file-sharing, annotation and chat will be restricted.

Participants will be held in a virtual waiting room while their identity is confirmed. Your MS Teams account/Zoom link must clearly identify you by name and renaming during the meeting will not be allowed. Participants’ audio or video may be muted until appropriate and they may be removed from the room if rules are not being followed.

In groups of more than one child, a teacher and one other staff member will be present throughout the video call to help safeguard all participants and monitor appropriate use.

Teachers will stay in the meeting until everyone has ‘logged off’.

Teachers and any other adults on the call (or in the background) will use appropriate language / behaviour throughout the call.

Sites and services:

We are currently delivering remote learning through a range of sites and services, most of which are part of our usual online provision for children:

Class Dojo is our main method of communication between school and families and is used for posting daily timetables and text, video and photo updates between staff and families. www.classdojo.com

Differentiated maths activities can be assigned and completed through White Rose Maths and Times Tables Rock Stars (Year 2 to 6) https://ttrockstars.com/

Children in KS2 who have finished their reading books should also complete Read Theory.

We may try and make use of other subscriptions as time goes on. Further details will follow as necessary. If you require login details for any of these, please get in touch with your class teacher via Class Dojo.

Any use of online learning tools and systems is in line with privacy and data protection / GDPR requirements. See our policies.

Safeguarding & Remote Learning:

With the increased use of digital technologies that comes with remote learning, safeguarding implications need careful consideration.

Parents are advised to spend time speaking with their child(ren) about online safety and reminding them of the importance of reporting to an adult anything that makes them feel uncomfortable online. While we will be doing our best to ensure links shared are appropriate, there may be tailored advertising which displays differently in your household or other changes beyond our control.

Online safety concerns should still be reported to the school’s Online Safety Lead (Mrs Wood) as normal. Parents can do this through contacting school directly 01282 813045

The following websites offer useful support: Childline - for support

UK Safer Internet Centre - to report and remove harmful online content
CEOP - for advice on making a report about online abuse

In addition, the following sites are an excellent source of advice and information:

Internet matters - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
Net-aware - for support for parents and careers from the NSPCC
Parent info - for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
Thinkuknow - for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online
UK Safer Internet Centre - advice for parents and carers

If parents have any safeguarding concerns that need discussing, they can contact school and one of our DSLs will get in touch.

Staff should continue to be vigilant at this time and follow our usual online safety and safeguarding / child protection policies and procedures, contacting a safeguarding lead directly by phone in the first instance.