Remote education provision

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 page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

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, we use the government’s Oak National Academy lessons for subjects other than English and mathematics.

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 1	Three hours
Key Stage 2	Four hours

Accessing remote education

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

Our online learning can be accessed from our website, by selecting the ‘HOMEWORK’ tab and then clicking on the phase for your child (EYFS, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2). These are further divided into year groups. Clicking on the year group tab allows access to the online learning.

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 will lend tablets to parents that do not have a device to access home learning. If you require a device for this reason, please contact the school via telephone (0121 464 2369) or email (enquiry@westmnst.bham.sch.uk).
In cases where parents have problems with internet connection, we will provide BT WiFi vouchers or request a data increase via the mobile phone operator. If you require this, please contact the school via telephone (0121 464 2369) or email (enquiry@westmnst.bham.sch.uk).
Where the above are not possible, paper-based work packs will be made available. These packs can be dropped off at the school for marking and assessment.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

For Key Stage 1 and Key stage 2, our teachers record daily English and mathematics lessons themselves.
We also use Oak National Academy lessons for subjects other than English and mathematics. These are carefully mapped out so that they are appropriate for our children and there is no repetition across year groups.
The Nursery teacher records daily phonics and mathematics lessons.
For Reception, teachers record daily phonics, English and mathematics lessons.
Nursery and Reception staff also record weekly story time sessions.
In Reception, each Friday there is an additional lesson provided from the Music Service- ‘Sound Tots’, which focuses on oral rehearsal and language development through singing.
For children with Special Educational Needs, teachers produce printed paper packs to support learning.
Teachers may sometimes use commercially available websites to support the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
Teachers may set long-term project work and/or internet research activities, but this is not used often.

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 all children to engage with remote learning, every day.
We expect parents to support children by setting routines at home, as well as monitoring and encouraging children’s engagement with remote learning.

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

Teachers will call each child’s home over a period of two weeks. During this conversation, they will discuss the level of engagement with remote learning. The teachers will be able to discuss whether they have been receiving completed work via the relevant year group email.
If engagement is a concern, parents will be told about this and we will offer support to resolve any issues.

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:

Children will receive feedback from our teachers via the year group email.
Teachers may also provide general feedback at the beginning of a lesson.
Children will receive feedback about all submitted work.

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?

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:

If your child is on our Special Educational Needs register, you will receive individualised work packs. These will be prepared by your child’s teacher to cater for their specific needs. This work will be linked to children’s individual target plans which are shared with parents.
Children with complex needs will also receive practical resources to support their learning with reference to the individual Education Health Care Plan.
For children in Nursery or Reception class, the activities are designed so that parents can follow the teacher’s model to support children at home.

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 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?

In this case, your child’s teacher will contact you by phone. The teacher will set work, using the Oak National Academy programme. During the phone call, the teacher will explain the work set and you will be able to send your child’s completed work and raise any questions via the year group email. The teacher will call again after one week to ask how your child is getting on. We encourage you to contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns, at any time.

Westminster
Primary School