Home Learning

Remote Education Provision: Information for parents/carers

The information on this page is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students and parents/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 students are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

Please start by looking at our Remote Learning Policy and Guide to Working from Home .

Our Remote Curriculum

What is taught to students at home?

We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. You can find all curriculum maps here.

The curriculum at home will be delivered via a combination of live lessons via MS Teams and work to be completed set on SMHW.

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 students broadly the following number of hours each day:

Key Stage 3 and 4	5 hours
Key Stage 5	5 hours – plus independent study

Students should use MS Teams and SMHW to access their remote learning.

• Students should log into SMHW via this link https://www.satchelone.com/login  

If students are having issues logging into SMHW they should email: SMHW@prendergast-school.com

• Students should log into MS Teams via Airhead using this link https://lsfed.airhead.io/login

If students are having issues logging into MS Teams they should email: IThelpdesk@prendergast-school.com

Please see Guide to Working from Home for information on how to sign into MS Teams with your child’s school account.

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.

• The school has sent out emails and texts to parents to remind them that they can request laptops for students if they do not have a device at home. In addition, our pastoral teams and class teachers regularly track student engagement and students/parents will be contacted if there seems to an issue around IT access. If parents need support with ICT devices please email: ps.reception@prendergast-school.com .

• Students and parents / carers are invited in to collect the laptops which are checked prior to loan and they sign loan agreement forms. 

• The school has signed up to the government scheme that allows students to increase the data allowances on their phones which can then be tethered to the computing device enabling students access to the internet and our online learning resources. Details on how to apply for this scheme have been sent to parents and carers via ParentMail.

• If students do not have online access and are unable to access printed materials  parents/carers should send an email to: SMHW@prendergast-school.com.  The pastoral team will arrange for paperwork to be collated from subject teachers and posted home.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live teaching via MS Teams (online lessons)
• independent activities set on SMHW
• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
• textbooks and reading books students have at home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences such as:

https://www.thenational.academy/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/bitesize-daily-schedules-teach/zdtwjhv

• Some short -term project work and/or internet research activities

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

• Students are expected to start every school day at 8.50. They should join in with their online tutor session at 8.50 and should log onto SMHW and MS Teams to check what work has been set and when they have an online lesson. Lesson 1 starts at 9.15. On Thursdays there is no tutor time and they should start lesson 1 at 8.50.  
• Online lessons will be set during students normal timetabled lessons. If an online lesson has been scheduled all students are expected to join unless an issue with ICT prevents them from doing so.
• There will be points within the online lessons where students are expected to work independently on set tasks and teachers may choose to either stay online to support individual students, resume the online lesson later at an agreed time or finish the online lesson so that students can complete the tasks.
• Teachers will indicate on SMHW if work should be submitted after a lesson and the deadline for doing so. Work should be submitted through the SMHW hand-in facility.  If students are having technical issues using this hand-in facility they can email the work to their subject teacher.
• Break will take place between 10.55-11.15 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It will take place between 10.30-10.50 on Thursdays.
• Lunchbreak with take place between 12.55-1.25 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It will take place between 12.30-1.00 on Thursdays.
• Online delivery of lessons during Period 4 lessons will finish at 12.40.  Students will be given 15 minutes to work independently on a task between 12.40-12.55.  Students may wish to use this time to have a longer lunchbreak. However the expectation is that they return to this task and complete it at the end of the school day. 
• Parents/carers should ensure that students are up out of bed and have had some breakfast so that they are ready to start their lessons at 8.50. If possible you should take some time to discuss the lesson schedule for the day with your child and ensure that they have internet access so that they can join the MS Teams lessons.  Also take time at the end of the day to talk through their lessons and let the school know about any issues with ICT that may have arisen. Please check that they have submitted all the relevant work for the lessons they’ve had.
• Parents/carers should ensure that students are taking regular breaks at rec and lunch times and are eating and drinking properly during the day. Students need a break from screen time and an opportunity to get some fresh air, so additional homework is not being set for years 7-11.  Students’ working days should not be going beyond normal school hours, with the exception of an extra 15 minutes if they have had a longer lunch break. Please contact your child’s Progress Leader if you have any concerns.
• Please see our Remote Learning Expectations found here.

 

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

• We carry out weekly checks to ensure that students are accessing SMHW, submitting work when requested to do so and are attending online lessons. Registers are taken to monitor attendance in MS Teams lessons.
• If your child has not logged on to SMHW for a few days the school will be alerted and you will be contacted by your child’s progress leader to offer support and help resolve any issues.
• We carry out a weekly check of work submission.  If your child is failing to submit work on any given week, you will receive a phone call from a member of the Pastoral Team who will give you more detail on the missed work so that you can support and encourage your child to keep up with their learning.
• Students may be sent messages by their teachers on SMHW or in MS Teams asking them to join a lesson if they are not present.
• As a school we will continue to monitor attendance to online lessons, and we will communicate to parents where we have concerns.

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 student work is as follows:

• For some subjects students may be given written comments and feedback on individual pieces of work they have submitted on SMHW or other digital platforms such as Google Classroom.
• Some teachers will give whole class feedback on submitted work during on online lessons.
• Some teachers will ask students to use mini-whiteboards to share their work during lessons. Students may also be asked to share their screens and answers whilst on line via other digital platforms.
• Some teachers, may have the facility to write written comments on pieces of work and coursework and send scans and photos back to the students via Google Classroom, email or SMHW.
• Some teachers will set quizzes on SMHW and other digital platforms that can be automatically marked in order for students and teachers to be able to quickly track progress.

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:

• All SEND students have been assigned a key member of support staff who will make weekly calls home to check on their wellbeing and progress. Parents should contact their child’s key support teacher if there are any issues that their child is having with remote learning.
• LSAs are able to join online lessons to support individual students as timetables allow. 

Remote education for self-isolating students

Where individual students 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 students 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?

• Work is provided for any student or groups of students who are self-isolating at home because they have a confirmed case of COVID-19 or if they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. For students who do not test positive but still need to self-isolate work will still be provided.

• Phone calls from parents reporting isolation absence will be logged by the Attendance Officer and their name added to the daily isolation spreadsheet. Relevant class teachers are notified of new isolations.

• If individual students are isolating, subject teachers will upload copies of resources that were delivered in missed lessons for students to look over on SMHW. These resources will be shared with students on SMHW on the day after their normal lesson would have taken place. Feedback will be given via SMHW for any work submitted online by the students. Teachers may also look over book work when the students return.

• If a whole class is isolating the subject teacher will either deliver an online lesson or upload a lesson on SMHW for the students to complete on the same day that they would usually be taught that subject. Feedback will be given using the methods detailed previously.

• All periods of whole class isolation are tracked centrally and student engagement is monitored. On the student’s return interventions will be put in place to address any instance where they have not engaged with work set. Parents/carers will also be contacted to ask for their support to ensure that students have caught up.