Remote education

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 where national or 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 webpage.

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?

For children in Early Years, Nursery and Reception, work will be sent home to parents via Class Dojo.  We may send home learning packs home or make them available for collection at a special collection point at school.

The children in Years 1-6 will receive home learning information through Google Classroom.  Year 1 have been introduced to Google Classroom in the Spring Term of 2021, it will be early days for them with this technology and they will need additional support at home with some tasks.  We have moved them to Google Classroom to enable “live” lessons to take place.  Parents will still receive some learning information via Class Dojo.

We use Google Classroom throughout the year for home learning tasks, moving to full teaching and learning on Google Classroom is therefore a natural progression.

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?

The children will be taught the same curriculum as during the school day, however teaching staff have had to adapt the curriculum to meet the demands of children working at home, often working as an individual.  This offers less opportunity for group work and discussion and the learning process can be a little disjointed.  It is not how we are used to working in school, the social element of school is missed.

The core curriculum in English, Maths and RE is less affected than other subjects like science, music and PE where there is less equipment and opportunity in the home.  Our music and French classes continue to be taught online.

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:

Accessing remote education

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

• We use Class Dojo for parents with children in EYFS.

• Children in Years 1-6 use Google Classroom.

• For reading we use Reading Planet from Rising Stars

• In Maths we use Times Tables Rock Stars and Numbots.

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:

Parents are asked to contact office@stcecilias.school if they do not have a suitable device for their child to use at home.  At the present time, with so many keyworker and vulnerable children in school, we are very short of devices and have ordered more.  With the worldwide shortage of good Chrome devices, we have ordered more, they are due for delivery in May 2021.

Parents should still contact us if they need support in accessing online learning.

We have printed materials for parents that have requested it.  Class teachers can support families if children cannot submit work through Google Classroom.

We can arrange broadband support for families where they do not have access to it.  We monitor the children’s access to online classes and will follow up with families to offer support if we suspect that there is some difficulty.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

Live and Recorded Lessons
In this second lockdown, we have asked teachers to provide more lessons that are live or recorded to make use of the technology and skills that we have in place.  Live lessons are recorded to enable children to access them at a later time, this flexibility supports families where there is considerable demand on devices within the family home.

Other sources of recorded teaching
Teachers may refer children to other sources of teaching, from Oak National Academy or from White Rose Maths and Read Write Inc.

Using our regular online tools
Children will be offered a variety of lessons using Google Slides, Google Docs and Sheets and other online tools.  At times, teachers will leave digital voice prints on slides to aid learning.  Teachers will refer children to other sites and sources of information that we regularly use in school.

Online books
We have subscribed to Reading Planet to enable many children to continue with their reading through our main reading scheme.

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 ask for all children in years 1-6 to check in to Google Classroom each day and to attend live lessons when possible.  Teachers send out a learning programme each week, this contains all of the learning tasks with a breakdown for each day.  The lessons can be undertaken flexibly according to the availability of technology in the family home.  

We expect children to work to their full potential and to complete their work with due care and attention, trying their best at all times.

When engaging with others online, your child should always show the same respect as if in school, slang and texting language is not permitted.

Children will need a workspace and equipment for learning setup and ready to go at home.  It’s best if your child works in a regular place which enables some quiet time in a space where you can keep an eye on them.  Please keep background noise to a minimum.  We do not recommend children’s bedrooms for online learning, they should be appropriately dressed and ready to learn from 9am.

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

Class teachers meet virtually with the leadership team each week and we note any concerns and may be in touch with parents if there is a difficulty.

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. Many classes will send home a mark scheme to support self-marking and reflection.

Our teachers will provide feedback through Google Classroom and Class Dojo.

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 have reached out to families of children with SEND and can offer 1:1 support from a teaching assistant during the school week to support with some lessons or learning intervention programmes.

• Many children with SEND are currently in school during lockdown as they have been identified in the vulnerable category of children.

• Please contact send@stcecilias.school, the SEND team are working as usual during the pandemic.

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 school is open and your child is self isolating, we can provide a range of learning activities very similar to the above for you at home.  We cannot replicate the school day in its entirety, but there will be a good match in many subjects.

Please contact the school office to let us know if your child is isolating and the class teacher will be back in touch to make arrangements with you.