Covid-19

Remote Education at St. Augustine’s School

Remote education provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity to pupils 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.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

During lockdown pupils at St. Augustine’s are following the same curriculum they would have had they been in School wherever possible and appropriate. There are understandably some adjustments being made due to the nature of remote learning but staff are trying in every way to ensure that the content coverage matches that which would be given in normal circumstances.

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

We are using Microsoft Teams for our online learning. All children have been taught how to access this and have had all the necessary information sent to them in order to begin work.

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:

• Pupils requiring a laptop can ask via the School Office. We were issued just 13 laptops from the government but are lending out those we already had in School in addition to this. If we are able to supply you with a laptop you will need to collect it from the School Office and sign a form to confirm that care will be taken of the laptop and it will be returned when your child returns to school
• We have a number of additional data cards and are happy to give these to parents who require them if your child is accessing remote learning via a phone. Please contact the School Office if you require one of these
• Our lessons will not require worksheets to be printed but if there are materials you require please call the School Office where we will be happy to print any necessary work
• Work completed by children is submitted via Teams in the assignments section

How will my child be taught remotely?

Our class teachers teach three live lessons each day for children from Nursery to Year 6. These lessons take place across all year groups at 9:30am, 11am and 1:30pm. They are taught live but also recorded and available immediately after the lessons has finished. This is for those families with more than one child and limited devices. We strongly encourage children to join the lessons live as this enables interactions with their teacher and their peers. Generally Maths and English lessons take place in the morning and foundation lessons in the afternoon.

What are your expectations for the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

Parents and carers are asked to help their children as much as they can. This will vary depending on the age of the child and time constraints of the parent or carer. Younger children may require adult support to use the technology but most learning tasks can be completed independently though learning could be more successful with adult input.

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

We keep an attendance record of all lessons (this includes those who have accessed the lesson as a recording after it has taken place live) and teachers are recording who does and does not complete and submit work.  If teachers have any concerns regarding a lack of engagement or work submitted they will contact the parent or carer by phone to discuss and resolve. Academic Review Day in February will focus on engagement in remote 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, individually given verbal feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are all valid and effective methods, amongst many others.

How will you work with me to help my child who has special educational needs 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:

• Children with an EHCP are offered a place in our provision for key worker and vulnerable children
• Lessons are differentiated and work set will be appropriate to children of a wide range of abilities within the class
• Work packs may be sent home to children requiring very specific learning

For parents and carers of children working at home, we would like to find out your views on our provision.

The Government has given all maintained schools a Covid Catch Up Premium. Please see how we plan to spend this funding.