Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School

What should my child expect from immediate remote education during the first day or two of pupils being sent 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. Every effort will be made to ensure that work is set promptly by the class teachers; this will be sent via the online platform Class Dojo. Parents should contact the school as soon as possible if there are any issues with accessing work so that alternative arrangements can be made.

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?

When teaching remotely, we teach the same curriculum as we do in school, wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects, to support our families that may not have learning equipment or resourcing.We have identified a few key areas of your child's learning that would benefit from regular practice at home so that they become fluent and accurate.

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: 

4 hours a day on average for KS2

3 hours for KS1, and less for younger children – these timings have been set by  the DfE as the  minimum expectations for remote provision.

We do acknlowledge that home learning can be very challenging and that everyone has different home circumstances, health and work commitments etc; We just ask that you do your best.

Our current timetables/guides for remote learning are outlined and displayed in the phase remote learning guides. Links to each phase learning guide are included at the top of this page.

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

Every pupil attending Guestling Bradshaw Primary School will be given a Classdojo login, whereby pre-recorded lessons and independent tasks will all be available using this platform.

Teachers will upload daily lessons via ClassDojo. On the Class Story page here will be a link to Google Drive where the week's activities and challenges are clearly set out. Here you will find daily videos, pre-recorded lessons and other resources for your child's daily learning. Every teacher will aim to provide at least one pre-recorded lesson each day. It could also be a whole class feedback session on a task completed. If, because of technological difficulties, or staff shortage, this is not possible, teachers will notify you and work with the IT technicians to remedy the situation.

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 due to devices or data allowances. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• Support through the offer of a laptop or chromebook  (if possible)
• Support the family to access extra data by applying on behalf of families to the DfE recognised providers for a mobile phone data top-up or allowing devices to connect (hotspot) to mobile phones to access the internet. In addition, we are able to apply for 4G data dongles if families meet the DfE criteria.
• Offer paper versions where possible or an alternative approach that does not require teacher input.
• Offer places at school for vulnerable pupils including those with an EHCP.

If a device is lent to a family/pupil, we will ensure that a user agreement is completed and signed. The devices must be returned to school at the agreed date/time. Devices must only be used for the purpose of accessing virtual learning and must not be lent or used by another person. By signing the agreement, parents take responsibility for any damage or loss and the costs involved and are given guidance about how to store and look after the device securely.

If printed resources are required, the school will provide these for parents by arranging for them to be  collected  at designated times. This learning may not be fully in line with all lessons taught in school as some lessons require a teacher led section of the lessons.

Any work completed by pupils should be uploaded to the portfolio section of Classdojo to allow teachers to give feedback in response. Work completed, for those without online access, can be returned to the School Office and will be marked by teachers. Pupils may choose to upload the work directly or to upload a photo of work. 

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

As always, a good relationship between home and school fully supports a child’s education. Through agreed expectations children can participate successfully in remote learning.

Where possible, it is beneficial for children to maintain a regular and familiar routine. We would therefore recommend that each ‘school day’ maintains a structure. Your child's teacher will clearly set out the daily expectation of learning on Class dojo and Google Drive.

We ask that our pupils:

• Are ready and prepared with pencil/pen and paper for each lesson                                             
• Ask for help as required from both parent(s) and teachers
• Upload work when completed to ClassDojo on a daily basis- if possible throughout the day and not all at the end of the day 
• Respond to feedback- make corrections, proofread and edit their work                                                                                   

We ask that parents:​

• Support their child in accessing live lessons
• Listen to their child read daily or read to their child daily
• Seek help from the school if they need it;
• Be respectful when contacting staff with concerns
• Keeping regular communication with regards to the pupil absence and expected return 
• Organise a quiet, safe space for pupil remote learning
• Contact the school office if there are any issues with remote learning or accessing tasks               

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

Teachers and Teaching assistants will check work on a daily basis. and will contact parents if there are any concerns.

If engagement is a concern, a member of staff will contact the family regularly to discuss and to seek a solution to this. It is vital that you engage with this process so that we can work together to support your child's learning and progress.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

Teachers and learning support staff will be available Monday-Friday 9:00a.m -3:30 p.m to give feedback to your child's learning.

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. For example, whole-class feedback or marking sheets may be provided.  Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

To give effective feedback we:

• Give written feedback on the same day that work has been submitted via Classdojo. ( If work is submitted after 3:30 p.m. we cannot guarantee that it will be looked at until the following day)
• Mark pieces uploaded to Classdojo - either from the ‘portfolio’ or ‘direct message’.
• Award DoJo points in line with our behaviour policy.
• Give whole class feedback which acts as a basis to our planning for upcoming lessons and teaching.

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 extensive 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:

• For pupils on our SEND register, our teachers will contact pupils and parents as with the rest of the class, offering alternative learning, if required
• Our SENDCo will continue to support our SEND pupils with regular contact with pupils and families, to support where necessary.
• Complete risk assessments for vulnerable SEND pupils who could access learning in school - EHCP pupils for example.
• Liaise with families to support effective remote provision