Remote Learning
Remote education provision
Pupils can access their remote learning via Microsoft Teams.
Information for parents and carers
Pupils may need to learn remotely if they are sent home from school to self-isolate, or if
there is a full lockdown.
The following information is a brief summary of how your child will learn at home. More
detail is included in the school’s Remote Learning Policy.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home
When pupils are sent home to self-isolate, they will be provided with details of how to
access their lessons online. They will also be provided with any materials that they need in
addition to those that they will access through MS Teams.
All pupils will have a personal reading book to continue reading at home.
The expectation is that pupils will access remote lessons as soon as their period of self isolation begins.
Remote teaching and study time each day
We expect that pupils will spend the same amount of time working on a remote education
day as they would in school. This is because they will be following the usual school
timetable for their lessons and completing independent learning / homework that arises
from them.
Accessing remote education
Remote lessons will be delivered using Microsoft Teams (MS Teams). Your son has been
taught how to access the site and how to login for lessons.
We will continue to use learning platforms including: Bedrock (Vocabulary development)
Hegarty maths, Active learn (Maths, Science, French and German) Method maths, Pinpoint maths,
Just maths, Language Nut (Arabic) Tassomai (Science) Seneca (Geog, MFL, Science) Digital Theatre
plus (English and Drama) and Kerboodle (RE) Pupils have been shown how to access these sites.
Materials from Oak National Academy may be used on occasion to support pupils’ learning.
We are very grateful to parents for providing devices on which their children can access
lessons and resources. We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access
at home.
Please inform the school office by emailing info@ebpreston.staracademies.org if your child
does not have a laptop/tablet on which to work, or if you do not have internet access at
home. We will do our best to support you.
Pupils who cannot submit work online will be asked to keep all their work in their exercise
books / workbooks and arrangements will be made for this to be delivered to their teachers.
Remote teaching
Remote teaching will be delivered through live lessons in the vast majority of cases. This will
involve simultaneous direct teaching by subject teachers (who could be teaching from the
physical classroom or from home if self-isolating) to their pupils (who could be learning in
the physical classroom or at home).
Direct input from the teacher may be supplemented with some recorded material (such as
video lessons from Oak National Academy, or videos recorded by class teachers which may
be the most appropriate way of teaching particular aspects of work, such as practical
demonstrations in science).
Pupils will need to spend some parts of lessons writing in their workbooks or completing
activities that involve physical resources. These will be provided by the school. Some
activities will involve pupils completing work on their devices and saving or uploading it.
Some subjects, such as PE, do not lend themselves to online learning in the same way as
others. Teachers will take into account the difficulties pupils may have in completing
physical activity in a confined space and provide alternative suitable learning for pupils who
are learning online.
Where pupils are expected to use textbooks, the relevant material from them will be made
available online.
In some cases, pupils will have textbooks or paper-based resources issued by school to
support their learning and they should use these as directed by their teachers.
Engagement and feedback
We have the same high expectations of pupils’ behaviour when they are learning remotely
as we do when they are learning in school. The STAR values should be consistently
maintained. All pupils have been taught the protocols for working online and staying safe.
Codes of conduct for remote learning have been given to pupils, parents and staff. The
school will alert you in the event of poor behaviour or non-attendance.
We value your support for your child’s wellbeing and learning. Please continue to ensure
that they follow good routines, including getting enough sleep and time away from screens.
We will keep a careful check on your child’s remote learning. We will inform you by phone
call or text if your child misses lessons that they are expected to attend. We will phone your
child at least once per week during their time learning remotely to check on their progress
and wellbeing. We will inform you if we have concerns about your child’s work.
Assessment and feedback
Your child will work in a variety of ways when they are learning remotely. Sometimes they
will submit assessments by uploading to MS Teams and these will be reviewed by their
teacher. Sometimes they will complete work on paper / in exercise books that will be
submitted to school in hard copy form.
Feedback can take many forms. Sometimes your child will receive written individual
feedback. Some feedback will be given on a whole-class basis and sometimes your child may
complete quizzes that are marked automatically via digital platforms.
Feedback is an ongoing part of the learning process and will be provided informally as and
when needed. All pupils in years 7-9 will also be provided with formal, written feedback on
their work once per half term. Those in years 10-11 will be provided with formal, written
feedback twice per half term. This feedback is planned as part of the curriculum and is in
addition to feedback provided following an assessment.
Additional support for pupils with particular needs
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:
Ensure that all learners have access to the necessary hardware and software. This may also
include specialist software programmes which learners usually have access to in school. For
example, screen readers or magnification tools or alt text for images.
Ensure that clear instructions are provided and avoid making assumptions about our
learners’ prior knowledge. Use relevant examples to help engage and motivate learners.
This includes considering ‘how’ to approach a task or learning activity, rather than just
focusing on ‘what’ is being learnt. This will include things like visual prompts and using
virtual space on the page to break up text so that we can reinforce new learning and
support students’ working memory.
Pupils on an EHCP will receive 1:1 support during MS Teams lessons or withdrawal sessions.
Pupils on an EHCP and selected pupils on SEN Support to receive enhanced induction on MS
Teams.
All pupils who are on a EHCP or on SEND Support will have their IEP targets reviewed and
revised to accommodate blended learning.