A child’s first day of being educated remotely will look different from our standard approach. This is 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 children being sent home?

A grid of activities is available on our school website for the first day of isolating. This is updated regularly following periods of isolating. Our Day 1 grids can be found here https://www.st-williams.norfolk.sch.uk/year-pages/

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 to make them work effectively online. Children in Nursery, Reception and Year 1 will have their learning posted to Tapestry and children in Years 2 to 6, Microsoft Teams is used.

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:

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

Tapestry is used to share learning with children in Nursery, Reception and Year 1.

Microsoft Teams is used to share learning with children in Years 2 to 6.

Within the above platforms, there will be a combination of:

• recorded video and messages for start of day registration
• instructional videos and morning messages
• two pastoral zooms sessions a week: one class and one year group
• other digital content including; BBC Bitesize, Oak Academy, White Rose
• Phonics Play, Timestables Rockstars, Espresso, Purple Marsh and other web resources.
• Small live sessions for children with additional needs

Some children may also receive phone calls home and printed learning packs.

Where novels are used in KS2, children will be given their own copy of the novel to use at home. This can either be collected or dropped off.

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 children may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

We have allocated a number of our own stock of laptops for children to use at home which we will allocate to families in need. We also have a growing stock of laptops provided by the DfE as well as support for connectivity. Please contact the school if you feel that your child cannot access the remote provision at home.

Printed packs can be made available, on request. However, we will do everything we can to ensure learning can be accessed online in the first instance.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live teaching for small groups to provide targeted learning (online lessons)
• recorded teaching (e.g., video/audio recordings made by teachers and support staff and Oak National Academy lessons/White Rose Maths videos)
• Assignments created in Microsoft Teams – use of forms, quizzes, PowerPoint
• Resources provided by BBC Bitesize, Oak Academy, White Rose as well as resources directly created by class teachers
• Additional web resources: TT Rockstars, Phonics Play, Espresso, Purple Mash, Sumdog etc.

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

St. William’s Primary School is committed to working in close partnership with families and recognises each family is unique and because of this remote learning will look different for different families in order to suit their individual needs.

Where possible, it is beneficial for young people to maintain a regular and familiar routine.

We recommend that each ‘school day’ maintains structure and provides a clear timetable for children working from home remotely.

We would encourage parents to support their children’s work, including finding an appropriate place to work and, to the best of their ability, support pupils with work by encouraging them to work with good levels of concentration. The way remote learning has been designed, parents should only need to be there to supervise and not provide any teaching. All videos created by staff will explicitly talk the children through their learning. Parents may need to encourage children to re-watch and pause videos to support them to complete their learning.

Every effort will be made by staff to ensure that work is uploaded promptly each day. Tapestry users can access learning in the morning with some learning tasks posted throughout the day. Microsoft teams will have assignments available at different times throughout the day to ensure that children do not rush their learning. Hand in times for core learning is flexible to allow children to complete at a different time, if needed.

It is important that learning is sent back via Tapestry or Microsoft Teams so that feedback can be provided and planning for future online provision is appropriate. Within Microsoft Teams, learning can often be completed directly within the assignment and handed in, using the ‘turn in’ function. Alternative methods, when working on paper or practically is by taking a photo and uploading to Tapestry or Microsoft Teams. Another way can be by emailing using the year group email address:

Year?@st-williams.norfolk.sch.uk

Should accessing work be an issue, parents should contact school promptly and alternative solutions may be available. These will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Parents should contact the school if their child is ill or otherwise can’t complete work.

If a child has become behind with the learning that has been provided, it is important they talk to their class teacher as soon as possible so help can be provided with setting priorities. We do not want a child to become distressed if they haven’t been able to access learning due to factors outside of their control.

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

Staff will monitor children’s learning daily by:

• Providing daily contact with pupils as and when needed between the hours of 9:00 am and 3pm. Every child on Microsoft Teams has a private message channel with the adults in the year group. This facility can be used during the day to provide both learning and pastoral support.
• Providing individual feedback on at least one piece of learning each day.
• Providing two live meetings a week.
• Providing end of the week feedback for the class through a live Zoom session.

If there is a concern around the level of engagement of a child’s, parents will be contacted via phone or an email to assess whether school intervention can assist engagement.

• parents should communicate via the year group’s email address if they have any concerns
• any complaints or concerns shared by parents or children should be reported to a member of SLT– for any safeguarding concerns, refer immediately one of our DSLs (Miss Shirras, Mrs Buxton or Miss Smith).

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:

Staff will provide feedback on children’s learning daily by:

• Providing daily contact with pupils as and when needed between the hours of 9:00 am and 3pm.
• Providing individual feedback on at least one piece of learning each day.
• Providing two live meetings a week via Zoom.
• Providing end of the week feedback for the class via the year group Zoom session.

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 children, for example some children 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 children in the following ways:

Teachers will continue to set work appropriate for the child and meet their individual needs as appropriate to meet their needs as per their One page profile.

Differentiated learning activities will be sent to individual or groups of children where they need a different amount of support to access the learning.

Where possible, specific interventions may still be carried out remotely through the use of small live sessions or digital platforms.

The school’s SENCO: Mr Matt Watts, will provide support for teachers and families where accessing remote learning may cause difficulties.

All children with an EHCP will be offered a place at school, where a national closure of schools is in place.

Where individual children need to self-isolate but the majority of their class remains in school, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole classes. This is due to the challenges of teaching children 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?

Children who are self-isolating will be still be taught online through Tapestry or Microsoft Teams as outlined above. The day 1 isolating grid will be used on Day 1, if a child is well. To access this grid, please go to our website: https://www.st-williams.norfolk.sch.uk/year-pages/ it will also be posted on Tapestry and Microsoft Teams. A phone call/Email contact will also be made via the year group email to check in.

At times it may be necessary with guidance from the class teacher, that another qualified teacher and member of staff will set work at an appropriate level to meet their needs and broadly in line with the curriculum being taught in school to the rest of their class.

Feedback and support during the day may not be as frequent as when whole classes are isolating. However, emails and platforms are monitored before 9am and between 3.30pm and 4.00pm to provide any feedback and support.

Where there are any technical difficulties, the office manager, Mark Bloomfield, is available for any support.

What pastoral support is available for my child and family?

At St. William’s Primary School we have two trained Thrive Practitioners that support families and children at various times.

Mrs Linda Battigan and Mrs Teresa Grix are available during the school day for advice and support for any family in need. They can be contacted using their email address: pastoral@st-williams.norfolk.sch.uk or by telephoning the office 01603 434128.

Within Microsoft Teams, a Team called ‘Bubble and Hive’ is run by Linda and Teresa to support well-being; this is accessible to all children.

In addition, a number of children are supported in school as part of the Thrive programme. When any child is working remotely from home, additional support can be provided.

All year groups have their own dedicated email address for any contact from families.

Every child in Years 2 to 6 has a private channel to message any adult in the year group, if they require any support, both academic and pastoral.

Our school website also provides information that might be useful to any family.