Remote Home Learning Policy

Includes contingency planning for partial or full closure of Westcott Church of England School.

Introduction

At Westcott Church of England School our primary aim is the safety and well-being of our staff and pupils. We recognise that a school closure will impact differently on all of us and we acknowledge that children and families will face a variety of situations and challenges. With this in mind we will take all steps possible to keep school open, but have robust contingency plans should school need to partially or fully close.

We would ask all parents and carers to take the time to familiarise themselves with the information in this contingency plan so that the whole community can support our pupils and ensure minimal disruption to their learning if we should need to close for any reason.

Specific Aims 

• To outline Westcott Church of England Primary School’s approach for pupils that will not be attending school as a result of full or partial school closure.
• To outline Westcott Church of England Primary School’s expectations for staff that, will not be attending school due to full or partial school closure.

DFE guidance says schools should:

• Set assignments so that pupils have meaningful and ambitious work each day in a number of different subjects.
• Teach a planned and well-sequenced curriculum so that knowledge and skills are built incrementally, with a good level of clarity about what is intended to be taught and practised in each subject.
• Provide frequent, clear explanations of new content, delivered by a teacher in the school or through high-quality curriculum resources and/or videos.
• Gauge how well pupils are progressing through the curriculum, using questions and other suitable tasks and set a clear expectation on how regularly teachers will check work.
• Enable teachers to adjust the pace or difficulty of what is being taught in response to questions or assessments, including, where necessary, revising material or simplifying explanations to ensure pupils’ understanding.

Teaching & Learning

Remote learning for pupils that are not able to attend school due to school closure

Our aim is to keep our core purpose of teaching and learning continuing as effectively as possible. Westcott Church of England School has set up Google Classroom as a remote learning platform to ensure that pupils who are not able to attend school due to Coronavirus or other school closure can receive high quality teaching.

During a school closure each pupil will be provided with remote learning to do at home and we have high expectations of all pupils to complete the work set. We do however, recognise that health and wellbeing are paramount. We appreciate that the level of work that might be undertaken by a child will reflect the situation and circumstances at home.

Remote home learning activities and tasks will be shared on the Westcott School website on the children’s class pages, and/or posted on Google Classroom, where work can be submitted for marking and feedback.  Work will be regularly updated to ensure there is sufficient work to allow all objectives of the National Curriculum to be taught.   

Pupils with additional needs:

For children with additional needs we understand this will have an impact on their learning. Additional support, where required, will be given to meeting the individual needs of children and young people with SEN and their families in the event of school closure or partial school closure.

If any child is unable to access a computer, tablet or other devices for remote learning, then activities and resources can be arranged to be collected from school or posted home.

In the following points, an outline of the provision will be made and some guidance given on the role of pupils, teachers and parents should Westcott School have to fully close.

Family (pupil/parent/guardian/carer) role

• Where possible, it is beneficial for young people to maintain a regular and familiar routine. Westcott Church of England Primary School recommends that each ‘school day’ maintains structure.
• Each week, on Monday, a timetable of work for the week, in English, Maths and Topic will be posted on the school website.
• Additional work will be added during the week when required
• Families should view this together, and then make appropriate plans to complete the work. 
• Should anything be unclear in the work that is set, parents can communicate with class teachers via Google Classrooms and class emails.
• Work that children complete at home should be kept safe, either in their home learning book, and brought back to school when safe to do so or submitted via Google Classroom. 
• 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 encouraging them to work with good levels of concentration.
• Every effort will be made by staff to ensure that work is set promptly on Google Classroom and on the Website class pages, but School cannot guarantee that the chosen platforms will work on all devices. Should accessing work be an issue, parents should contact school promptly and alternative solutions may be available. These will be discussed on case-to-case basis.

Teacher expectations

• In addition to their day-to-day roles, teachers from Westcott School will continue to support children that are unable to attend school as a result of school closure.
• Teacher will aim to meet the DFE guidance with the resources and technology available to them and within their IT capability skill set and competence.
• Teachers will plan lessons that are relevant to the curriculum focus for that year group and where relevant and practical to do so, provide video clips and tasks for home learners. 
• Teachers will not be expected to teach live lessons but will consider pre-recording short teaching prompts and sessions.
• Any resources used, including websites and worksheets, should, where possible, be shared with home learners. Staff will do this electronically using Google Classroom and the website. It will be the responsibility of families to print/use these resources at home if needed. 
• To respond, within reason, promptly to requests for support from families at home. This should be done via email or by adding further video guidance for families. Staff and parents should communicate via the office email address or through Google Classroom
• Should a staff member require support with the use of technology, it is their responsibility to seek this support in school and Senior Leaders will ensure that support is given as soon as possible.