Remote education provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or careers 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 pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

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?

Work will be uploaded to Microsoft Teams – please take the time to ensure that this is accessible from home and please let the academy know if you need support 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?

We 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, in PE and/or Food technology where there is a practical element. Staff will use their professional judgement to make appropriate changes to the curriculum.

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:

Key Stage 3 and 4

5 hours

Accessing remote education

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

All work will be set on Microsoft Teams.

If pupils require further assistance and/or support they are welcome to communicate with their teachers on Teams or through their Academy email address.

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:

If a laptop is required to support online learning, please email Mr S Thornton (Assistant Principal) and Mr D Price (Trust Network Manager) to arrange collection and pick up via the academy office: office@wgacademy.org.uk.

If you require an internet connection, please follow the steps above and if you do not have access to the internet, please call the main office on 01476 405200.

If pupils complete written work for the attention of subject teachers, please ask then to hand this to the member of staff when they return to the academy.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live teaching (online lessons)
• recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets) if online access cannot be achieved
• textbooks and reading books
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences such as BBC Bitesize

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?

It is the expectation that if a pupil is well enough to complete the work set by staff, that they should do so. It is not necessary to keep to the same time restraints as they would normally do so in the academy, but as previously mentioned, the minimum expectation should be 5 hours of work completed.

Where possible, an appropriate location should be sought for pupils to engage with work that is clear of distractions and allows the pupil(s) to complete their work as they would do so in the academy.

If you require further support or guidance on this matter, please contact Mr S Thornton.

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

Members of staff will check for completion of activities by pupils via Teams. They may contact pupils via Teams to offer feedback and guidance.

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:

• Annotation of pieces of set work
• Comments on Teams direct to the pupil(s)
• Quiz results
• Members of staff will offer other suitable feedback, where appropriate, when work has been submitted.

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 careers to support those pupils in the following ways:

If you require any further support related to pupils with SEND need please contact Mrs. E Dobbs (Assistant SENCO) via the main office by email to office@wgacademy.org.uk or by telephone on 01476 405200.

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.

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 set work via Teams that corresponds, wherever possible, with the work being completed in the classroom.

Staff may have slightly different expectations regarding completion due to the nature of the work set, but students should attempt to complete all work and submit for feedback.