Remote Education at Tirlebrook Primary School
Remote Education Provision – Information for Parents
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to children and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education at Tirlebrook Primary School where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home. It is important to note that this information, detailing the school’s remote education provision, should be read alongside additional school documentation and communications with parents in order to be most effective. For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating or undergoing a period of quarantine following travel abroad, please see the final section of this document.
The Remote Curriculum
What should my child expect from immediate remote education?
Your child’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 learning. During the initial stages of your child being requested to remain at home, the school will ensure that a meaningful and ambitious balance of maths, English and wider curriculum learning activities are available through Showbie, our online learning platform; this information will be communicated to you via e-mail. Arrangements will be made for learning journals to be delivered, along with other necessary stationery, and this will be communicated with you once organised. Specific information regarding our offer of subsequent remote education will be communicated to you via e-mail as soon as is possible.
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?
Wherever possible and appropriate, we will plan to deliver the same curriculum remotely as we would have delivered in school, however this will not always be possible and adaptations in some subjects and areas of the curriculum will be necessary in order to enable the effective delivery of education remotely.
Remote Teaching and Study Time Each Day
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
In-line with Department for Education expectations, we expect that remote education (including teaching and independent work) will take your child:
- Key Stage 1: 3 hours a day on average across the cohort, with less for younger children
- Key Stage 2: 4 hours a day
Accessing Remote Education
How will my child access any online remote education the school is providing?
While learning remotely, your child will be able to access a bespoke daily learning programme using our online learning platform: Showbie. Further to this, teachers will also provide meaningful learning opportunities for your child using a range of excellent quality applications and websites, including:
- DoodleMaths / DoodleTables / DoodleEnglish / DoodleSpell
- Espresso
- Oak National Academy
- White Rose Maths
- BBC Bitesize
Your child will be provided with a unique username and password to access Showbie and other platforms (where required) to ensure they have full access to the wide range of resources being used. Additionally, teachers will supplement remote learning opportunities with videos – your child will be directed to watch these through Showbie, with most being downloaded for ease of access where possible.
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 access at home. In the absence of appropriate online access at home, there are several possible options we can offer your child to ensure that remote learning opportunities are not missed and that your child’s progress with their learning is not prevented.
Printed Copies
By request, the school is able to print a selection of sheet-based learning tasks and activities to support your child at home; sheet-based learning tasks and activities will not always provide directed teaching or be exactly aligned to the curriculum being taught in your child’s class or year group. The school will make arrangements for sheet-based learning tasks and activities to be collected from the school office at an agreed time or, if necessary, to be delivered. Completed work will be exchanged at this time and will be reviewed and marked on a weekly basis.
Provision of Digital Devices
The school has a small number of digital devices that we can make available to your child in order for them to access remote education and submit their completed work to their teacher. Digital devices will be allocated according to eligibility (please refer to the DfE guidance for further information), as well as at the school’s discretion while stock allows. Digital devices will remain the property of Tirlebrook Primary School and parents will be required to sign a ‘Digital Device Loan Agreement’. The school is unable to provide additional equipment (wireless routers, dongles, etc.).
How will my child be taught remotely?
Our online learning platform, Showbie, allows the school to set and share a bespoke daily programme of learning for all children. Classes will be provided with a suggested timetable to help families structure each day of learning from home.
Wherever possible and appropriate, the school will plan to deliver the same curriculum remotely as we would have delivered in school, however this will not always be possible. Teachers will provide a Medium Term Record of Learning Plan to organise and distribute teaching and learning across all areas of the curriculum.
Lessons will follow a carefully planned sequence that will cover curriculum aims and objectives, enable children to develop knowledge that is built incrementally and teach skills in a gradual and progressive way. Teaching opportunities for your child will provide clear instruction, direction and explanation, opportunities for practice and application, as well as the opportunity for review and feedback. As appropriate, teachers will support the learning requirements of children with differing needs and those of varying abilities.
As part of the school’s bespoke provision, teachers may use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- Recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy, White Rose Maths lessons, video/audio recordings prepared by the teacher)
- Commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas of the curriculum, including video clips or sequences, e.g. Espresso, BBC Bitesize, Twinkl, Classroom Secrets, Teacher’s Pet, DoodleMaths, DoodleTables, DoodleEnglish, DoodleSpell
- PowerPoint presentations
- Regular live information, feedback and review sessions
- Printed sheet-based learning tasks and activities, on request
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?
The school will expect your child to:
- Show they are actively engaged in their learning activities by communicating with the teacher through Showbie, seeking help and asking questions, joining in with and contributing to live sessions, and sharing completed work with teachers (younger children may need your support)
- Join in with all aspects of remote learning and complete work assigned to different learning tasks
- Be ready and prepared for each day of remote education (e.g. making sure that they are wearing appropriate clothing, checking that they are working in an appropriate learning environment, using the correct learning materials – younger children may need your support)
- Try their very best at every learning activity throughout the school day
The school will expect you as parents to:
- Enable your child’s access to online lessons and learning at home using an appropriate digital device, i.e. desktop computer, laptop, tablet, and contact the school if there is an issue with providing these
- Ensure that your child is learning in an appropriate environment, i.e. minimal distractions, appropriate equipment, suitable learning materials, dressed appropriately, etc.
- Ensure that your child has access to their Showbie Class and is able to access their remote education provision
- Ensure your child attends the daily live morning and afternoon registration sessions through the Showbie Class Discussion Video Chat feature – parents should check each class’s timetable or the daily schedule for these timings
- Ensure your child accesses each of the daily online lessons (according to the daily learning schedule) and completes any follow-up practice and application tasks and activities
- Ensure that all work relating to learning for that day is uploaded to your child’s Showbie assignment folder
- Review work with your child that has been marked and commented on by the teacher from the previous day’s learning
- Ensure that your child completes all remote learning activities to the best of their ability
- Make appropriate choices and decisions about your child and their learning – you know your child best
- Contact the school in the usual way to report your child’s illness and therefore absence from that day’s remote education
- Communicate respectfully with the school by contacting the school office or by using ClassDojo to contact the teacher directly
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Teachers will complete a daily record to indicate the level of your child’s general engagement and the level of your child’s engagements with their learning in the form of a colour-coded spreadsheet; this will be accessible to members of the school’s Senior Leadership Team. Throughout the day, teachers will monitor the engagements and well-being of your child during live sessions and through the level of interaction received through Showbie. Additionally, teachers will hold small Showbie live group chats each week that provide another opportunity for the teacher to engage with your child, and vice versa, to discuss matters arising from remote learning and engagements (where deemed necessary and appropriate).
EYFS / Year 1 / Year 2 / Year 3
Where a teacher has an initial concern about your child’s level of engagement, they will contact you through ClassDojo. If after this communication there is still a concern, the teacher will contact you directly by phone to discuss the situation further to see what help can be offered to ensure that your child accesses their remote learning successfully.
Year 4 / Year 5 / Year 6
Where a teacher has an initial concern about your child’s level of engagement, they will contact the child directly through Showbie to ask if there is anything that can be done to help them with their remote learning; this could be a message or an arranged 1:1 video chat. If after communication with your child there is no change to your child’s level of engagement, there is no response from your child or if the level of engagement is inconsistent and there is still a concern, a short message will be sent to you through ClassDojo. If after this communication there is still a concern, the teacher will contact you directly by phone to discuss the situation further to see what help can be offered to ensure that your child accesses their remote learning successfully.
Where a concern is raised by you as a parent about your own child and their levels of engagement, the teacher will attempt to engage your child in discussion through a 1:1 Showbie video chat or telephone call with them.
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:
Teachers will use the features within Showbie to offer a combination of direct marking, comments and feedback to your child on work submitted. Direct marking, comments and feedback could be given in the form of digitally annotating work, leaving text notes at specific locations within a piece of work to draw attention to a key aspect, or leaving voice notes at specific locations within a piece of work to draw your child’s attention to a key aspect. Work that is typed directly into Showbie as a message by your child can be directly responded to by the teacher for precision feedback. Teachers will also leave general comments in the form of written messages or voice notes to recognise the effort your child has made, boost their engagement, encourage positivity and promote well-being.
Your child is encouraged to communicate with the teacher through Showbie and ask for help when it is required (either in the form of a message or voice note). The teacher will then respond as quickly as possible, using an appropriate method of communication to support your child with their learning, correct a misconception or re-teach a point of learning that hasn’t been understood in order to move their learning forward (younger children may require your support in order to make this form of support meaningful and purposeful).
Teachers, where appropriate, will upload and/or share the answers to specific work, enabling your child to reflect on their own level of knowledge and understanding of a particular skill and use a growth mindset approach to either make immediate attempts at correction where a mistake has been made or ask for help from the teacher (younger children may require your support in order to make this form of support meaningful and purposeful).
Teachers will also use the live sessions allocated throughout the school day to provide whole-class feedback where a review and assessment of your child’s learning might take place.
Your child will receive communication from their teacher daily and work completed and submitted to Showbie, our online learning platform, will be marked as soon as is possible on the day of submission, or by the end of the next working day where this has not been possible.
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 the school will work with parents and carers to support those pupils in the following ways:
The SENDCo will arrange a programme of interventions, led by a teacher or teaching partner and conducted over a Showbie video chat, to support your child if they have a MyPlan, EHCP or additional learning needs; these will be communicated with you once the necessary logistical arrangements have been made.
Teachers will be guided by the SENDCo, where appropriate and where it is in their best interests to do so, to ensure the provision of materials will be tailored to the needs of your child.
At the school’s discretion (and if there is the capacity to be able to do so), if your child has additional learning needs, they may be invited to join their peers for on-site education provision with vulnerable children and the children of critical workers.
Teachers will review their remote education provision regularly if your child has special educational needs and disabilities.
Teachers will review their remote education provision regularly if your child is in Reception (EYFS) or Year 1 to ensure they are able to access learning at home with an appropriate amount of your support.
Remote Education for Self-Isolating Pupils and Pupils Undergoing Quarantine Following a Period of Travel Abroad
Where individual pupils need to self-isolate, but the majority of their peer group remains in school, remote education is likely to differ from the approach for whole classes and year groups – this is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school. Please view our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Remote Learning Protocols which describe how remote learning for self-isolating pupils and those pupils undergoing a period of quarantine following travel abroad will be followed.
Our Remote Learning Offer is also available as a PDF document - please check the documents at the top of the page to view or download.
Remote Learning Spring Term (1) 2021
Class Timetables
*Timetables have been provided by the school to support parents with facilitating learning from home during this period of remote education; these are a suggestion only and parents have the flexibility to be able to manage each child's daily learning in a way that is appropriate to the needs, context and circumstances of each child and family for successful remote education.
Remote Learning Spring Term (1) 2021
Medium Term Record of Learning Plans
Year 2 - Willow Class - coming soon
Additional & Supporting Documentation
Letters to Parents
Guidelines for Effective Remote Learning (14.1.21)