Remote Home learning
Welcome to the new working of education and remote learning that we are engaged in as from the beginning of January during this period of national lockdown. Schools are open to those children of critical workers, vulnerable children and those with EHCP's, whilst other children learning remotely from home. There have been many different elements to decide in the planning of this and how they remote learning will be provided.
Statement of intent
At Almondsbury CE Primary School, we understand the need to continually deliver high quality education, including during periods of remote working – whether for an individual pupil or many. The school vision ‘Creating our own Pathways’ is interwoven within our curriculum intent and design. We recognise the importance of maintaining high expectations in all areas of school life and ensuring that all pupils have access to the learning resources and support they need to succeed.
Through the implementation of this policy, we aim to:
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Minimise the disruption to pupils’ education and the delivery of the curriculum.
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Teach a planned and well-sequenced curriculum so that knowledge and skills are built incrementally, with a good level of clarity about what is intended to be taught and practised in each subject.
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Set tasks and activities so that pupils have meaningful and ambitious work each day in a number of different subjects which reflects the curriculum which would be taught in school.
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Ensure provision is in place so that all pupils have access to high quality learning resources and strategies –which are consistently applied across school.
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To be responsive to children’s learning to enable teachers to adjust the pace or difficulty of what is being taught in response to questions or assessments.
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To adapt learning, wherever possible, to ensure the accessibility for all pupils; especially children with SEND.
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Provide printed resources, such as workbooks, for pupils who do not have suitable online access.
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Ensure all pupils have the provision they need to complete their work to the best of their ability, and to remain happy, healthy, and supported during periods of remote learning.
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Remain in communication with parents using Google Classroom, class webpages or email.
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To set work on the learning platforms Google Classroom (Year 1 to 6) and on the class webpages (for Reception) and provide feedback to children around their learning and next steps. For Reception work will be uploaded onto Evidence Me.
It is very important that you are well aware of the expectations and routines, guidance and how the children should be engaging in the learning at home.
Curriculum
We will be providing as much of the normal curriculum as possible to do so. Therefore there will be access every day to the following:
Mathematics and English, including phonics for Reception and Key Stage 1 children. Reading will also be expected and each class will have a reading focus at least once per week.
Topic work - this is mainly based on either History or Geography depending on the topic focus for the term
Science on a weekly basis
Arts and/or DT projects that can be completed over time at home.
Links to music websites to enable you to continue to listen and appreciate music and activities to go alongside
Links to PE activities that can be undertaken at any time during the day or weekend.
The teachers have created a structured timetable for you to follow on a daily basis. This is especially key for those children in Reception where much of the learning is based on short, varied activities. It also suggests break times to coincide with those being taken in school for the key phase as well as different activities for PE, music, etc. Please be kind and patient with the children and help them maintain their enthusiasm and engagement in the learning.
There is government expectation that we set the following hours worth of learning per day.
Reception and Key Stage 1 - up to 3 hours per day.
Key Stage 2 - up to 4 hours per day.
This does not mean that there will be 3 or 4 hours of live or recorded teaching. That element is only part of the learning time allocated as it also includes the time it takes to complete the independent tasks provided by the teachers for your child to complete. There will be one and half hours of live or recorded teaching per day then the added time for tasks at home. Please do not worry if you are unable to follow the suggested time table. We acknowledge that many parents are having to 'juggle' between supporting their child's learning and their own workload from their job. Please do as much as you can. If you are struggling to keep up please communicate this to your child's class teacher.
We will be monitoring the engagement of pupils. If your child is not engaging in the learning by completing work or not logging onto the live sessions the class teachers will be contacting you to check in how things are going and see what else may be needed to support you.
Live lesson timings
Reception |
Times |
Years 1 and 2 |
Times |
Phonics |
10.00am |
Mathematics |
9.00am |
Mathematics |
11.30am |
English/Phonics |
11.00am |
Topic/story time |
2.00pm |
Topic/science |
1.45pm |
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Year 3 and 4 |
Times |
Year 5 and 6 |
Times |
Mathematics |
9.15am |
Mathematics |
9.30am |
English |
10.30am |
English |
11.15am |
Topic/Science |
1.15pm |
Topic/Science |
1.30pm |
We have tried as much we can to stagger the timings so that families with multiple children will be able to access the live sessions if you are sharing one device at home. If you are unable to make those times of the day then the flipchart and resources will be available online to go through later. The teacher will begin using Zoom to start with for the live lessons with the learning uploaded onto the class webpage. From Monday 11 January the learning activities will be placed and set on Google classroom. This will be easier for the children to then complete the tasks and save them to the google drive for their class for the teachers to be able to look at.
Learning and Feedback
Please do send the work back to the class teachers to look at. The work will be looked at but not necessarily marked individually depending on the nature of the activity and age of the child/ren. We will be employing a general feedback approach to encompass celebration of successes in the work plus areas for development and any misconceptions (errors) that need to be addressed to improve the work.
Reception |
As you know, in Reception we learn through play! At school the children have ‘choosing time’ throughout the day where they are able to select their own learning linked to the EYFS curriculum. This can encompass a whole range of activities including playdough, painting, making puzzles, playing games, exploring the sand and water trays and so on. Each week our learning and classroom provision is themed. We will provide a rainbow home learning chart of activities which will enable your children to access all areas of the EYFS curriculum. Please choose at least one activity each day and send us photos of your child’s learning on Evidence Me. In Reception, the children receive regular verbal feedback. We will therefore endeavour to respond to uploaded Evidence Me observations as often as we can. In addition to the home learning activities, please continue to read regularly with your child. All the children have access to our online platform Rising Stars, we will issue new books regularly. Don’t forget the blending bookmarks and keyring words in their reading folders too. There are websites/apps which we recommend to continue your child’s phonics progress: - Teach your monster to read, Phonics Play and Phonics Bloom (focus on phase 2 games please). Please keep using the resources in your child’s maths and home learning folder too. |
Years 1 and 2 |
Children who are home learning are encouraged to share their work via Google Classrooms. This will be read and feedback will be given as a whole class during that subjects next live lesson. We will not be providing individual feedback for work completed at home. Live teaching sessions will start with feedback from the previous lesson, through the sharing of some of the children’s work to celebrate successes and to address any common misconceptions. We will provide answer sheets for parents to use when appropriate. On occasions we may give individual feedback for English work, including next steps. In addition to the home learning activities, please continue to read regularly with your child. All the children have access to our online platform Reading Planet |
Years 3 and 4 |
Children who are home learning are encouraged to share their work via Google Classrooms. This will be read and feedback will be given as a whole class. We will be commenting on:
In addition to the home learning activities, please continue to read regularly with your child. All the children have access to our online platform Rising Stars. |
Years 5 and 6 |
Children who are home learning are encouraged to share their work via Google Classrooms. This will be read and feedback will be given as a whole class. We will be commenting on: In Y5/6 feedback will be given as three points:
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Other websites for independent learning
For the children to be able to continue reading please do log on to the Reading Planet website Reading Planet log on with the log on details that were sent home alongside the explanatory letter before the Christmas holidays. I know you probably had other things to do over the holidays but very few have actually logged on. This is the only way that the children will be able to continue reading, if not coming into school to change books. The class teachers will be monitoring the usage of this and encouraging the children to read daily. There are quizzes at the end of each book they read and they can win points for themselves and their class.
The children can also use Times Tables Rock Stars from Year 1 upwards to keep going with their times table learning. Once again the teachers have placed ‘battles’ between the houses and classes within their key phase. Key Stage 1 children also have the use of Numbots website to keep on with their number understanding.
Protocols of learning and safeguarding
With regards to online protocols please re-read the Home/Remote Learning Policy and Protocols sent out last term and reposted on the Latest News section of the website . It outlines key aspects such as ensuring the children are ready to learning with the resources ie pencils/activity sheets/webpages/dressed (not in pj’s) and not in their bedrooms/having an adult next to them or nearby for assistance/listening and being attentive. As previously stated please be patient and reassure your child/ren that if they are not chosen to answer a question in one session they will have an opportunity over the course of the day/couple of days. Not all the children can offer ideas and answers every time as is the case in school.
Safeguarding is extremely important. We will be monitoring the pupils for their interaction and reactions and will contact parents should we notice anything that is concerning. Children should be ready to learn and not online for the live teaching sessions in their bedrooms or pyjamas.
How we can help you
If you require assistance with paper copies of the learning activities please let your class teachers know in advance and they will have the packs ready for you on a Monday morning from 9.15am. You will be allocated a specific time to collect the packs so to minimise the number of parents on site. If you are having trouble connecting due to connectivity of internet or lack of devices please contact the school to see how we can possibly help. We do not want this to prevent the children from engaging in their learning at home.
If you have a games console ie Xbox or Playstation or mobile phone you can use these to access the remote learning on Google classroom. Please follow this link for information on how to do this.
The government are also working with mobile network providers to supply additional data for devices ie smartphones, for those that need it. As parents, you are not able to apply for this yourselves as it has to go through the school. If you require additional data to aid remote learning engagement please contact myself on Paul.Smith@almondsburyprimary.co.uk and I will work with you to access this.
If you are struggling with the number of children and lack of devices at home then please do get in touch. We may be able to help by providing assistance or loaning laptops from school or gathering pre-owned laptops and tablets.
If you have any questions or queries regarding the remote/online learning offer please contact either your child’s class teachers for specific information or myself for generic ones. We are here to support you all. I am sure you will be amazing supporting your child/ren in the coming weeks. Keep smiling pat yourself on the back for doing a good job.
Worship
As from Monday 11 January we will have key phase worship meetings with children at the following times. These are at different times to the live learning and should be able to fit into the suggested structured day that are set and posted on the class webpages.
Key phase |
Day |
Time |
Zoom |
Reception and Years 1 and 2 |
Monday |
2.45pm |
The codes will be sent out to parents on the morning of the worship for each key phase. These will be the same codes and passwords every week between now and the end of this term. |
Years 3 and 4 |
Wednesday |
11.30am |
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Years 5 and 6 |
Friday |
11.00am |