Government guidance for Remote learning can be found here and the school’s approach is guided by this guidance. Providing remote education: guidance for schools – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. On very few occasions, there may be a situation where we will have to provide Remote Learning for pupils. For example, we may have to close the school for a flood or power failure.
In all other cases, all pupils should attend school, in line with our attendance policy. Remote education is not viewed as an equal alternative to attendance in school.
Pupils receiving remote education will be marked absent in line with the Pupil Registration Regulations.
We will consider providing remote education to pupils in circumstances when in-person attendance is either not possible or contrary to government guidance.
Our approach:
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For closures such as the examples above, learning will be placed on our website by 9am of the day of closure. It will be made clear where this learning can be found.
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Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 learning will mainly be based on links to Oak National Academy. Other websites may be used.
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There will be approximately 3 hours of learning for KS1 and 4 hours of learning for KS2.
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For Year R , a bank of activities and links that families can use will be published.
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If your child is struggling to access their year groups learning, do not worry. They can access learning from a previous year group.
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If your child is not well, they will not have to complete remote learning in line with our Attendance Policy.
- Please support your child where remote learning is occurring and let the staff know where you believe that engagement is an issue so that we can support you with this.
Below is additional information regarding our possible approach to remote learning.
Q: 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. However our intention is to provide the learning on the website by 9am (see above).
Q: 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, we will need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, PE will be adapted so that the children can participate without the need to access equipment. DT and art may also be changed to allow the children to participate.
Q: 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 issue or lend laptops or tablets to pupils if we are able to do so (dependent upon demand). Information will be posted on the website and also at the front gates.
- pupils can access any printed materials needed if they do not have online access by contacting the school (and a paper copy will be provided).
- pupils can submit work to their teachers if they do not have online access via the school’s office (with details provided online and at the front gates).
Q: How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely, dependent on the number of pupils requiring this remote learning:
- live teaching (online lessons)
- recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
- printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
- textbooks and reading books pupils have at home
- commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
Q: 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.
A free paper copy of Portsdown Primary School and Early Years’ Remote Learning Policy is available from the school office on request.
Q: 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 wherever possible e.g. by providing differentiated work or signposting to appropriate support documents online.
Q: How will the school ensure that the remote education is delivered safely?
Keeping children safe online is essential. The guidance on safeguarding and remote education provides information on what schools should do to protect pupils online during any period of remote education. The school will follow this guidance when required to operate remote education. The guidance includes a collection of resources which includes support for:
- safe remote education
- virtual lessons
- live streaming
- information to share with parents and carers to support them in keeping their children safe online