Remote education provision at St John Vianney School: Information for parents
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
What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
At St John Vianney School, parents and carers will be contacted by the School Admin team to identify what work will be required in these initial days. Where possible, learning activities and materials will go home with the child to undertake whilst off. Where this cannot happen, parents will be sent work to complete and instructions on how to support learners through their email contact.
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?
- At St John Vianney we teach a different curriculum remotely to that which we teach in school. For example, to meet the SEND needs of our learners and support their wider engagement at home we feel it would be impossible to provide a replication of the school timetable.
- We intend to send personalised work packs home by post with clear instructions of how a child may need to be supported.
- Work packs will identify daily lessons of high quality Maths, English, and wider learning (Topic, RE, D and T, Science, Art, IT, independence etc). Class teachers are expected to collate these 4 daily lesson activities. We will develop a ‘fair’ schedule for the development of lesson materials, so that all staff will know who is expected to produce which lessons for each class.
- Additionally, we ask staff to ensure that 1 lesson per day (linked to the learning pack) is sent in remote form (this could be on loom/ screencast or another preferred platform). This will be stored on the shared drive in school (T:\REMOTE LEARNING) and these videos will then be uploaded onto our YouTube platform, having shared the link with parents. These will remain stored on the shared drive for class sharing.
- If staff wish to create additional daily lessons by video then that is encouraged also.
- On the daily ‘Cover’ sheet staff will provide links each day, of wider learning opportunities that might be accessible from home eg Literacy links, video books, Joe Wicks’ PE lessons, materials on the BBC education platform.
- The following websites are also signposted. There are additional SEND lessons/materials and videos available to use for free on the Oak National Academy https://classroom.thenational.academy/ and on the BBC’s education platform https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
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: Each lesson sent home should take between 30-40 minutes. This will be the same for each Key Stage in school.
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
- Video lessons will be stored on the School’s shared drive (T:\REMOTE LEARNING) and will then be uploaded onto our YouTube platform. The link will be shared with parents. These will remain stored on the shared drive and may be useful for class sharing.
- The following are also signposted. Additional SEND lessons/materials and videos available to use for free on the Oak National Academy https://classroom.thenational.academy/and on the BBC’s education platform https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
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:
- Where a pupil does not have access to a device in the home, parents should contact the Admin team at School, where loan devices can be made available. admin@stjohnvianneyschool.co.uk
- Any parent who does not have internet access in the home for their child should contact Mrs Griffin, the Family Liaison Officer through the Admin email to secure support in getting data for home learning.
- Any printed materials needed can be requested through the Admin team
- Work packs should be returned to school when the child returns for marking and feedback by staff. If parents wish to return these to the Admin office these will be assessed more frequently during longer periods of Remote Learning.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
Some examples of our remote teaching approaches:
- Recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
- Printed paper packs produced by teachers to be sent home (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
- Long-term project work and/or internet research activities
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?
We are aware that parents will need to support their children in the home environment and some children may find learning at home to be a specific challenge to them. We encourage parents to request pupils to undertake the learning in a scheduled way and build in these routines, into the day, where it best fits their families and the child, acknowledging that this may not always be possible.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
- Class Teachers are requested to make 1 x weekly phone calls with each child, to support their understanding of the learning given and their wider pastoral care.
- Parents are asked to contact school at any point if they feel the remote learning offered is not suitable or to request support in the delivery of learning off the class team.
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. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
- The School’s marking, feedback and assessment practice will be undertaken when work is returned to school.
- Achievements will be recorded on the SOLAR assessment platform to acknowledge progress in learning that is achieved by each child or young person.
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?
- Individual work packs will be sent home by post for any child self-isolating. This will follow the format of the remote learning described earlier.
- We encourage Parents and Carers to contact school through the Admin email to discuss the quantity of this provision and we aim to work with individual families to ensure that the work at home is appropriate and suitable for each family.
