Remote Education Guidance

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

If you have tested positive for Covid, are isolating and are well enough to take part in remote learning. Please contact c.lazic@ecaterham.net to inform us. We will therefore arrange for lessons through TEAMs. You will need to give us 24 hours’ notice please.

If you have no access to a computer at home, then please also let me know.

The following information is to support understanding of what students, parents and carers should expect during periods of school closure or student isolation relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Remote Curriculum: what is taught to students at home

• During partial or full local or national lockdowns, students are learning from home on Microsoft Teams.
• At all key stages students are following their full 5 period daily timetable and tutor time daily
• At KS3 students’ lessons consist of 40 minutes of taught provision. This enables students and staff to balance screen time and to support independent learning and wellbeing. Homework and assignments are set.
• At KS4 and KS5 lessons consist of 40 minutes of taught provision but there is greater flexibility to determine the structure of lessons given that some subjects deliver double and triple lessons. This enables students and staff to balance screen time and to support independent learning and wellbeing. Homework and assignments are set.
• Additional lesson resources have been placed on Teams for all students to access to stretch and challenge them further and to support students to learn and make progress.
• Tutor time consists of up to 30 minutes, including a weekly assembly, where students follow a pastoral curriculum, a tailored programme to support students with online learning 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?

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching, independent work, homework and assignments) will take students up to the following number of hours each day:

Accessing Remote Education

How will my child access any online remote education the school is providing?

We are using Microsoft Teams for our remote learning which students can access on any device via our school website on the purple “Home Learning” tab. Alternatively, students can access Teams through Google Microsoft 365, logging in using their school email and school password. There are step by step guides on our school website to help students to access Microsoft Teams for remote 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 students may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those students to access remote education:

• We are providing laptops and other devices for students who have free school meals who do not have access to remote learning through other devices. We support priority groups (eg students in exam groups, students with needs) as a priority but aim to support every student where we can.
• Parents and carers are asked to contact us to request remote learning support. Parents/Carers or students are requested to come to the school to receive any assigned laptop or device.  Parents and carers can find more information about this on our school website, including on the letters page.
• We have SIM cards to support parents and students with having more available data for students to learn remotely. Parents and carers are urged to contact us if there is a problem with technology at home. Parents or carers or students are requested to come to the school to receive the SIM card.
• Whilst in a lockdown, we call every parent or carer of every student who is not engaging in online learning. We have conversations with parents or carers about the need for and use of home technology to further support students’ learning from home.
• We are providing printed paper packs for students who do not have online access and are on our waiting list for a laptop or other technology. We are either posting packs out or parents or carers and students are collecting them.
• Once students have completed work in their paper packs they are either posting them to school or parents or carers and students are bringing them into school for their teachers to review.
• Students who are not in receipt of Free School Meals and who are having difficulty in accessing remote education through technology are on a “waiting list”. The school will endeavour to help every child in need.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live teaching (online lessons on Teams)
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
• textbooks and reading books students have at home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
• long-term project work and/or internet research activities
• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers, other websites and apps) are available to students to enhance learning and provide wider resources

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 students to follow their timetable and to engage fully in all lessons
• Our expectations for parental support are that parents and carers ensure students are up and ready to learn and are on time to lessons, to set routines to support your child’s education, to ensure your child actively engages in lessons and to check with your child that all work set is completed.
• Where possible parents and carers should provide a quiet orderly place to learn.
• If parents or carers have difficulties in supporting their child to learn or with a child engaging with remote education at home they should contact the Head of Year.

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

• We take registers for tutorial time and for every lesson daily to check if your child is engaging with their work
• Parents or carers will be called if a student is not engaging in tutorial time or a lesson
• If there are continued concerns with your child attending a live lesson but not engaging or contributing to the lesson, parents and carers will be called.

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 students. 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 student work is as follows:

• Teachers will give feedback to students in lessons either verbally and/or through written feedback
• Teachers may give feedback verbally via Teams and written feedback in a variety of ways including via the Chat function on Teams, assignments on Teams
• Teachers will endeavour to give feedback through marking in line with school policy: eg every 3 weeks
• Teachers will mark returned paper packs every 3 weeks

Additional support for students 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 students, for example some students 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 students in the following ways:

• We liaise with parents and carers to ensure that those SEND students that would benefit from being in school in a lockdown come to school to continue their learning
• Similarly, for bilingual students who are newly arrived to the country we liaise with parents and carers to ensure that those students that would benefit from being in school in a lockdown come to school to engage with the new environment and engage in their learning
• Similarly, for our more vulnerable students we liaise with parents and carers to ensure that those students that would benefit from being in school in a lockdown come to school to continue their learning
• For other SEND students, such as students with an EHC plan or K students, who are learning remotely, the Inclusion Team has regular contact with parents and carers and students by calling home every 24-48 hours to ensure that students are accessing their work online. They talk to the student to ensure they are able to learn well from home and they provide a home learning pack of materials as appropriate to support learning. During lessons Inclusion staff support students on Teams and support them by using the Chat function on Teams.
• Students receive speech and language therapy interventions (as staffing allows in lockdown) and emotional literacy support. Students continue to receive mental health provision.
• Parents and Carers of SEND students are supported with a range of strategies to help their child with learning. Parents and Carers can contact the Inclusion Department in the school for any help they or their child needs with remote learning.

Accessing Remote Education

Students are taught remotely (as above) in lockdowns or partial lockdowns. When students are on site with face to face teaching, arrangements for students who are learning remotely are similar to those of lockdowns. However, parents and carers should be aware that where groups or individual students need to learn remotely, remote education will likely differ from the approach for whole large groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching students both at home and in school simultaneously

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

• If a student needs to be sent home, we ascertain from the students, parents and carers if they have digital and online access at home to be able to learn remotely or we will expect parents or carers to inform us of any difficulties in accessing remote learning.
• We would expect students to follow their timetable and join their 5 lessons, and tutor time, every day from home.
• If students do not have digital and online access at home, a combination of workbooks, textbooks, resources, paper packs are provided for students before leaving the school or will be posted.
• The student is given a guide on how to use Microsoft Teams for remote learning and this information is on the website.

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, there will be some exceptions in some subjects. For example, in practical lessons, such as PE, Drama, Music, D+T, Art there are changes to allow students the flexibility to complete practical work, to watch videos to support lessons and to complete worksheets to boost their learning.

Remote Education for Self-isolating Students

Where individual students need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, remote education is provided. However, parents and carers should be aware that where individual students need to learn remotely, remote education will likely differ from the approach for whole large groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching students both at home and in school simultaneously.

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 student needs to be sent home, we ascertain from the students, parents and carers if they have digital and online access at home to be able to learn remotely or we will expect parents or carers to inform us of any difficulties in accessing remote learning.
• We would expect students to follow their timetable and join their 5 lessons, and tutor time, every day from home.
• If students do not have digital and online access at home, paper packs are provided for students.
• For students who are self-isolating, they follow the same curriculum as students in school, wherever possible and appropriate. There may be some exceptions for some practical subjects, such as PE, Drama, Music, D+T, Art where we have made some changes to allow students the flexibility to complete practical work, to watch videos to support lessons and to complete worksheets to boost their learning.