Remote Education

*Attendance in school is extremely important, with a proven clear link between attendance and attainment.
Therefore, remote education is only used in exceptional circumstances to ensure students do not miss out on learning. *

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. For details of what to expect where individual students are self-isolating, please see the final section on this page.

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.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of students being sent home?  - If students are sent home due to having to self-isolate they will be told that work will be set on firefly or in a central folder which pastoral leads will access and send work home.

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, (Practical work for some subjects such as engineering, Drama may be limited.)

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 students broadly the following number of hours each day:

Key Stage 3 and 4	This will be between 4 and 5 hours a day. Students will follow their normal timetable and will either have a live Teams lesson or be set work on Teams or Firefly.
Key Stage 5	Students will follow their normal timetable hand have Teams lessons. Additional work will also be set via Teams.

Accessing remote education

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

The online tools or digital platforms that you are using, are:
Teams
Oak Academy (online lessons )

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

If students do not have access to a device to use for online learning in the first instance they should contact their Pastoral Lead on their school email address. We have a limited number of devices and each case will be considered on an individual basis with the Directors of key Stage making the final decisions. Where there are internet issues we can also provide dongles and or routers.

• how pupils can access any printed materials if needed by contacting their Pastoral Leads who will either deliver materials to provide by parents/ students visiting the school site.
• how pupils can submit work to their teachers by bringing the work into school for it to be scanned and sent to teachers

How will my child be taught remotely? - We use a combination of the following approaches to teach students remotely: 

• Live teaching (online lessons) via Teams – the majority of your child’s timetable will be live lessons following their normal timetable.
• Occasionally there may be or recorded teaching by the teacher or other providers 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
• Commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
• Set work on Teams

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? -
• Students are expected to check their Teams calendar every day for the Teams lessons.
• They should log into their Teams lessons at the appropriate time and follow the code of conduct at all times.
• We would appreciate the support of parents in ensuring that expectations of the code of conduct are met and the setting routines to support your child’s education
• Parents should contact the Academy if they feel that there have been safeguarding issues or have concerns to raise. These should be made to: The Director of Student Welfare kwright@thehinckleyschool.co.uk

How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns? - 
• Registers are taken for every Teams lesson and parents and students are contacted if their child fails to attend lessons.
• Teachers will use formative assessment throughout lessons to ensure that students are engaged and that learning is taking place.
• Where students are not attending or appear not to be engaged contact will be made with parents/carers.
• If it is deemed necessary students will be invited to attend school to ensure they are accessing and engaged in their learning.

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 students’ work is as follows:

• Students will be set work which will be submitted on Teams or Firefly. Teachers will mark the work to check understanding and knowledge and provide feedback to enable students to address misconceptions and be able to make progress the methods you will use to assess and feedback on pupils’ work
• Students can expect feedback inline with what they would normally receive in school

Additional support for students 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 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 in the following ways:

• Students with an EHCP are contacted at the start of each morning to check that they are able to access their online learning and help them plan for the day.
• Where families are finding online learning difficult they are receiving calls from the SEND Team and support has been provided as required
• SEND students have also been given the option to attend school if they are having difficulties accessing lessons/ work at home.

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 described above? - If your child is having to self-isolate while most of the year group is in school they will be set work to complete. This is usually set via Teams or Firefly and students are familiar with how to use these platforms. Sometimes the work will include the use of a pre recorded power point or other learning websites such as Oak Academy or SENECA.