Information for parents and carers

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students 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.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home

A student’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. We will aim to ensure that students are provided with their exercise books and knowledge organisers where possible.

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

Students will access all of their usual lesson materials in Microsoft Teams Assignments.

Will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

We teach the same curriculum remotely in the Virtual School as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we will need to make adaptations in some subjects. For example, subjects such as technology, PE and science with a practical element may have a more theoretical emphasis.

Remote teaching and learning expectations and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by teachers to take my child each day?

Accessing remote education – The Virtual School

Students will access all learning through their school Microsoft Office 365 account. All live teaching, assignments and messaging will be accessed through the Microsoft Teams application in Office 365.

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. If your household has no access to a device or is experiencing connectivity issues, please contact your child’s Year Team Leader. We will issue devices to households by prioritising need and on a case by case basis. If we are unable to resolve your connectivity or device issue, your child will be given a place in our on site Essential School provision.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach students in the Virtual School. Wherever possible we aim to begin each lesson with a live lesson start with your child’s usual teacher for up to 30 minutes. Lessons will also include recorded teaching episodes and subject specific websites and learning platforms. All links to these will be provided by teachers in Microsoft Teams Assignments. Students will be encouraged to practice recalling their learning through an on-line Virtual School Weekly Attainment quiz in each subject at KS3 and KS4.

Engagement and feedback

What are the expectations and routines in the Virtual school each day?

We have the same expectations of students in terms of attendance and engagement during remote learning as we have of them in school. We would ask all our parents to support their children to be able to meet these expectations.

How can I support my child’s learning in the Virtual School?

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

Parents and carers will be contacted by a tutor or other member of staff as soon as the school identifies a pattern of disengagement from daily and weekly engagement information outlined as follows. We will be monitoring engagement in a variety of ways to give us a rounded picture of a student’s engagement, progress and attainment. Teachers will report every lesson on the engagement of each of their students in the Virtual School based on a range of criteria. Teachers will take a register of students for each live lesson. We appreciate that not all students have constant access to a device or may experience connectivity issues, therefore we will also monitor engagement through the quality and quantity of work that students submit in Assignments in Microsoft Teams. In addition to feedback and assessments in scheduled lessons at KS3 and KS4, student attainment will be monitored by centralised on-line weekly automated quizzes in all subject areas. The resulting student engagement and attainment information from Virtual School Weekly Assessments (VWSA) will be reported to parents each week.

How will my child’s work and progress be assessed in the Virtual School?

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. When teachers ask students to submit their work it will be first and foremost to ensure that the child has completed the work and to a standard that they are capable of achieving. If they haven’t, then the teacher will be able to give them instant feedback to help them complete the work to the expected standard. If students complete work that is exam based, e.g. answering an exam question, completing a practice paper, this will be marked by teachers and feedback given.

In Years 7-9, teachers will use a range of feedback to students including acknowledging submissions with a brief comment about effort or participation, whole class feedback, individual feedback either verbally during live teaching episodes or through Microsoft Teams Assignment, Chat, Forms quizzes or other digital learning platform. Where possible, assessments will follow existing teaching and learning cycle curriculum plans.

In Year 10 and 11 Option subjects, students receive feedback on one high quality piece of work in Microsoft Teams per fortnight. In Core subjects in Year 10 and 11 and for Sixth Form subjects, students will receive feedback on two high quality pieces of work in Microsoft Teams per fortnight.

Support for students with additional needs

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. All pupils on the SEND register are linked with a keyworker from the SEND team. Keyworkers provide additional support to students working remotely in the following ways:

• Frequent contact calls or emails to discuss academic work
• Joining live lessons to support with lesson content
• Posting home printed/ differentiated work where appropriate
• Monitoring engagement and bringing in extra support where needed
• Providing access to literacy interventions online (e.g. Nessy or IDL) and literacy, numeracy and science support materials

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 describes above?

If the majority of teachers and students are attending school, all of the usual curriculum resources and tasks will be accessible to self-isolating students through Microsoft Teams. The main difference is that teachers may not be available for the live lesson start for self-isolating students.