When learning has to be done at home…
When children are required to be at home, and unable to attend school – the learning does not stop at The Avenue. Since October 2020, schools have been required by law to provide effective education to those children who are unable to access face to face teaching.
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to families about what to expect from us in relation to remote education – if required.
The information is organised by the key questions that families may have regarding our online learning offer.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home?
Our aim is to follow the curriculum plan and deliver the same offer no matter how/where the children are being taught. 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. Each child should have workbooks or other resources at home that can support learning in the short term. There is also information and useful sites signposted on the school website and on the class story page of Dojo.
What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
All children have a login for Class Dojo. Information will be shared on here. We would expect children to read their current reading books, practise their ‘sound book’ and complete any outstanding homework which is currently allocated.
Class Dojo will be the main form of communication between school and home for any work-based questions. Children also have access to other learning platforms such as:
- Spelling Shed
- Maths Shed
- Purple Mash
If parents have any issues with passwords, school can resend these. If you have an access issue please call the school office.
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 via Microsoft Teams as we do in school. This will ensure that when the children all do return to school the curriculum coverage will be the same.
- Some adaptations for subjects taught may have to be made e.g. you may not have all the resources at home for scientific experiments.
Remote teaching and study time each day
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
Our remote education offer follows a similar timetable as the children would have in school. All children are expected to be logged on to their first Teams lesson by 9.00am. Recorded instructions and tasks will be conducted right through school and will be shared via Class Dojo. The timetable is set at the beginning of the day (A total of 4 hours teaching). All resources are uploaded onto Class Dojo by 4.30pm the previous day. Any child not uploading the work set by their teachers will receive a welfare call to offer further support.
Nursery and Reception children not attending school are sent a weekly work pack with all work being covered in class together with an explanation for adults on how to support them to complete it. Weekly phone calls are also made to families to offer further support. Videos, presentations and messages are regularly posted on Class Dojo to complement the work going on in class.
Accessing remote education How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
The school is using Class Dojo and Microsoft Teams as its online learning platform. It is the full package of communication and learning.
Other resources will also be signposted on a regular basis:
- White Rose Maths
- Oxford Owl
- The Oak Academy
- YouTube
- BBC Bitesize
- Purple Mash
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 have applied for laptops from the DfE and will prioritise Key Stage 2 pupils and those who have a Social Worker or in receipt of Pupil Premium.
- The Local Authority have introduced a laptop loan scheme. We will lend laptops to parents as these become available and will ask parents to sign an agreement to say they will return them in good condition when remote learning has ended. We may also be able to provide routers or dongles to enable internet connection if requested.
- If required, school can support with work packs and work books. Feedback about what is required should be communicated with the school.
- Feedback can be emailed or shared during the telephone calls home. We encourage parents to get in touch if issues arise so learning time is not lost.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- a structured approach each day – a time table which matches that in school is followed
- our primary approach is sharing recorded teaching inputs and modelling may be used
- if requested, printed paper packs produced by teachers
- workbooks for Year 1-6
- links to websites may also be used e.g. White Rose Maths
- as far as possible the children will follow the curriculum due to be taught over the time frame.
- Children will submit work and feedback will be provided on a daily basis
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?
- We would like children to engage in remote learning every school day and to do their best to complete all the activities set by the class teacher. Teachers and teaching assistants will be monitoring engagement of pupils and will contact parents if they have any concerns in this respect or to offer support with any technical issues or difficulties for pupils in engaging with remote education.
- Parents are asked to establish routines for learning and regular breaks, as well as guidance and checking of work that the child has completed. Whilst we encourage children to complete work independently wherever possible we recognise that younger children and older children with special educational needs will need more support from adults e.g. listening to your child read, explaining instructions for a task and providing plenty of encouragement and praise for their efforts.
- Parents are also asked to remind their child of the need to follow our e-safety rules and to stay focused on the tasks set. They should report any e-safety concerns to school. There is a section on our website with information on e-safety and how to report concerns.
- We are also aware that parents/carers often have more than one child at home and they are also trying to balance their own home working. Please just do the best you can.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
- Teachers monitor the engagement of each child. Where there are gaps in engagement or a child is struggling to submit work, support will be offered.
- School will endeavour to support in any way we can to ensure each child receives a balanced and broad education in line with the curriculum expectation for their year group.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms and will depend on the type of work set. Feedback is not only used to give praise but also to support improvements and move the learning forwards. Feedback also supports parents and carers in how they can help their child/children.
- feedback on Class Dojo will be provided in a timely fashion. Teachers try to give feedback so the children can respond and improve their work.
- response to parental questions will be over Class Dojo, the telephone or email
- whole class feedback may be given to address common misconceptions
- individual misconceptions will be addressed when required
- work will be aspirational but accessible
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:
- Pupils with SEND may require lots of over-learning and repetition to become secure with a skill or concept. Some children will need physical objects to help them to complete a task e.g. using buttons for a counting task or using sweets to learn about number fractions.
- They may need learning to be broken down into small steps and the task may be scaffolded, with scaffolds taken away gradually to enable pupils to become more independent.
- Additional resources and work packs tailored to meet the needs of the child will be provided on request.
- For pupils working well below age related expectations or younger pupils with special needs, a differentiated, more personalised programme of work may be needed to cater for the child’s specific learning needs.
- All pupils with an EHCP can access school provision.
Remote education for 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. Teachers will do their best to ensure the provision follows the work set in school so the child does not miss any key areas of learning. On return to school, additional support will be given if needed.
If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
- Pupils will be given the same work as pupils in class each day as far as possible. This is more straightforward for pupils who can access Dojo. The work will be carefully sequenced and will be both meaningful and ambitious, just as it is for other pupils.
- Work will cover a number of different subjects and will be designed to allow children to use recall and practise, to help make learning memorable and to improve understanding.
- It may take a little longer for work to be marked due to the competing demands of teaching a class and producing remote learning.
Useful Websites
Phonics Websites
Phonics Tracker Games – free games to support our phonics programme
Phonics Play Games – currently free activities to support our phonics programme
Phonics Bloom – some free games to support our phonics programme (some are subscription only)
For support in home teaching phonics – please see our ‘Reading at Cambrai’ page to access additional information and support videos, here.
English learning
Audible – free online reading books and audio books for children
Authorfy – access to masterclasses on texts from a range of authors, including videos from the authors and activities linked to novels.
Book Trust – a site with recommended booklists, categorised by age range and topic, including fiction and non-fiction. Family activities are included in the ‘Home Time’ section.
Literacy Shed – downloadable resource packs with tasks based on video clips on YouTube.
Maths Learning
Hit the button – quick fire mental maths
MathsZone – a huge selection of online maths games
Maths Mastery– downloadable guidance and resource packs for parents and pupils
Number Blocks – videos for numeracy development designed for children aged 0 to 6. There are fun activities that can be applied to everyday life and play.
Top Marks – a range of interactive maths games categorised by age group.
Interactive Visits
Mental Wellbeing
Anna Freud – wellbeing advice for all those supporting children and young people.
BPS – advice on dealing with school closures and talking to children about COVID-19.
The child bereavement network – advice on supporting grieving children during the coronavirus outbreak.
Physical Education
Boogie Beebies – videos that get younger children up and dancing with CBeebies presenters.
Disney 10 minute shakeups – 10-minute videos based on Disney films that count towards a child’s 60 active minutes per day.
Joe Wicks (The Body Coach) – YouTube channel for live and recorded children’s daily workouts
Other Resources – trying to replicate a school experience
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize – you can select the year group your child is in and there is a Maths, English and one other lesson per day
The Oak National Academy- this too tries to recreate a classroom situation and gives access to online lessons and videos.
Keeping your children safe online
This link is for parents and takes you to a wealth of resources linked to different aspects of keeping your child safe with online learning. THESE ARE NOT LINKS FOR CHILDREN.
Parent link to online safety resources
