Please view the Remote Learning Information below, click the login links for direct access to DB Primary:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remote Education: Information for Parents

Updated February 2021

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

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

The school will endeavour to ensure that remote education provision will be made available immediately and we will endeavour to:

• provide all children with an exercise book that they can use for their daily writing and any other paper-based activities that they do at home. Should you require pens / pencils or any other equipment please let us know.
• provide all pupils with a basic resource pack to support remote learning. These packs will be sent home and parents/carers asked to store these for any future needs.  The pack may includes:
  • Basic stationery items
  • Blank exercises books / Home Learning Exercise Book
  • Art Materials
  • Commercial workbooks
  • Login cards for online learning platforms – DB Primary, Doodle, TT Rockstars / Numbots, Accelerated Reader, Lexia
• ensure that all children understand how to access the school’s online learning platform (age appropriate) and support any parents/carers who may have difficulties with this.

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?

Our school will endeavour to:

• teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, we may switch the order in which topics are taught or streamline topics in order that they can be taught effectively remotely.
• provide a curriculum sequence that allows access to high-quality online and offline resources and teaching videos that are linked to the school’s curriculum expectations
• give access to high quality remote education resources
• work with families to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum
• set assignments so that pupils have meaningful and ambitious work each day in a number of different subjects
• 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
• provide a weekly timetable, split into days, detailing the activities to be completed, this will also:
  • provide children with guidance to which work within textbooks/workbooks to complete, if appropriate
  • provide / signpost families to online, high quality lessons, videos and resources daily
• ensure all resources and lessons provided, link to current curriculum objectives within their classroom
• ensure work for each day is uploaded at least the day before
• provide a paper-based work pack mirroring the online learning for those children that have no internet access 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 and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

Early Years / Reception	Three hours
Key Stage 1	Three hours
Key Stage 2	Four hours

Accessing remote education

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?

• Staff will ensure that all children understand how to access the school’s online learning platform (age appropriate) and support any parents/carers who experience difficulties with this.

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?

It is expected that children will access our remote learning through our online provision.  If parents/carers do not have access to an electronic device, we expect them to inform school and we will, in the first instance, ensure that a paper based work pack mirroring the online earning is available. As soon as practically possible, we will endeavour to provide a suitable device for the duration of their child’s absence.

We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• We have a number of SIM cards available for educational data which can be gifted to families.
• We have no devices issued from the government to assist with this situation. Where possible (i.e. not required by the school for teaching those physically attending) school devices will be loaned.
• Pupils accessing paper packs are encouraged to upload their work wherever possible. For those not able to do so they should return all work when collecting their next pack and work will be marked and returned to them at their next visit to school. This will be at least weekly.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• 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 (these can also be made available from school).
• 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 (these types of activities will be minimal)

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?

Parents should endeavour to support children’s remote learning by creating a positive environment for their child to learn, for example:

• Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, to separate school life and home life.
• At the end of the day, have a clear cut-off to signal school time is over.
• Create and stick to a routine.
• Provide the correct equipment in order for your child to complete the work given.
• Designate a working space, if possible.
• Make time for exercise and breaks throughout the day to keep your child active.
• Reinforce the importance of children staying safe online.
• Be aware of what your child is being asked to do, including: sites they will be asked to use and the school staff your child will interact with.
• Emphasise the importance of a safe online environment. Set age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices and use internet filters to block malicious websites. These are usually free, but often need to be turned on.
• Encourage your child to work to the best of their ability and praise their efforts.
• Encourage and support children to access remote education daily.
• Encourage and support children to keep up with the work set by school each day.
• Contact school if they are experiencing problems with accessing remote education.
• Support children to consider feedback on submitted work.

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

If an individual child or a small number of children need to isolate, the school will endeavour to:

• check children’s engagement with remote education daily
• contact parents where there is a concern regarding engagement with remote education
• contact parents/carers who do not have access to the internet (or mobile data), weekly
• contact parents/carers following no work submission or contact through messaging, after two consecutive days
• if the closure extends beyond three weeks, fortnightly welfare calls will be made to each family and it is expected that the child will participate in the phone call – usually via speakerphone with the parent present. Where parents are unavailable to answer the phone, a message will be left asking the parent to contact the school office.

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 pupil work is as follows:

• provide individual feedback of work submitted via the online learning platform, at least once per week per subject
• whole class feedback during recorded sessions
• provide individual feedback on paper-based work
• assess children’s understanding of remote education / key knowledge and skills covered on return to school.

Additional support for pupils 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 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 in the following ways:

• the class teacher will continue to provide appropriate work that your child should be able to access, as would be expected within the classroom
• your family will receive regular phone calls from their class teacher
• your child may receive additional paper based work packs and resources to support their remote learning

Remote education for individual self-isolating pupils

Where individual pupils 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 pupils both at home and in school. As above, wherever possible your child will follow the same timetable and curriculum as in school via DB Primary. We will endeavour to do this so that your child can start work the first morning of their isolation, however, this may take up to 72 hours to put fully in place. Daily engagement will be monitored and you will be contacted after two days should there be no work submission or engagement. Your child’s work and progress will be assessed at least every other day and feedback will be given in the same ways as detailed above. All other aspects of remote education for self-isolating pupils are the same as detailed above.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or Mrs Keenan via the main school office.

Further Support

If parents have any questions or concerns about remote learning, they should contact the following:

Issues in setting work – contact the relevant class teacher via email to the school office

Issues with behaviour – contact the relevant class teacher via email to the school office Issues with IT – contact the school office

Issues with their own workload or wellbeing – contact the relevant class teacher via email to the school office or One Point 03000 26 11 11 or http://www.durham.gov.uk/article/21616/Help-for-parents

Concerns about data protection – talk to the Data Protection Officer, please contact school in the first instance

Concerns about safeguarding – talk to the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mrs Keenan, Mrs Curtis or Mrs Yates or, if you have concerns about the safety of a child or young person phone 03000 267 979. If you are worried about your child’s health please contact your GP or 111. Our health visiting school nursing service is on 03000 263 538.

While we will endeavour to implement the steps outlined above, there may be circumstances beyond the control of the school that could impact on provision.  For example, levels of staff absence or temporary technical difficulties.