Remote Learning at TMS
What is Remote Learning?
There are different definitions of Remote learning, but as a school, we use the term, Remote Learning, with this understanding:
- Remote Learning: a broad term encompassing any learning that happens outside of the classroom, with the teacher not in the same location as the children.
- Online Learning: Remote Learning delivered through digital technologies
- Blended Learning: a mixture of face-to-face and remote methods
- Synchronous Learning: this is live.
- Asynchronous Learning; this is when the material is prepared by the teacher and accessed by the child at a later date.
- Remote Tutorials: a session whereby the teacher interacts fully with a group of children, with the teacher not in the same location as the children. The teacher constantly uses formative assessment to guide the sessions and is intuitive to the demands of the small group of children.
- Direct Instruction: an explicit teaching of a set of skills, methods of demonstration. This may be done as a pre recorded session, or to a larger number of children. Use of online resources such as White Rose tutorials, will also be shared with children and families.
Remote Learning at Threemilestone School:
- is aligned to the classroom curriculum as much as possible. Key skills are prioritised and other content is prioritised according to the ease of accessibility at home. This will mean that the curriculum in the classroom may be altered as a result in the period after Remote Learning.
- is carefully sequenced and builds on previous learning to move to the next step.
- is recommended to be divided into smaller chunks as it is harder for children to concentrate when being taught remotely. Short tutorials will be followed by exercise to practice the skills taught.
- still has assessment, feedback and practice at the core of the learning. This is why small group tutorials have been chosen from Years 1-6 as the main method of Remote Learning.
- encourages social communication as we recognise the importance of maintaining relationships, we hold to the core of our school ethos.
- will include ‘low-stakes quizzes’ through platforms such as Kahoot and Quizzets
- may mean that the pace of coverage is slower than the classroom curriculum and this will be assessed through the learning in the tutorials.
“Be part of Something …” remains at the core of our approach. Engagement, and feeling part of the school community is important to the school throughout a period of Remote Learning; therefore, cohort assemblies, weekly newsletters, website and Facebook updates, tutorials with the Leadership Team and Family support sessions are also timetabled in.
Remote Learning will never replace the highly skilled and intuitive art of teaching within a classroom. The subtle nuances, rich learning atmosphere, responsive nature and impact can never be replicated. However, at Threemilestone School, we believe that we can work hard at tailoring our approach to pedagogy, so that during a period away from school, we can provide a quality of education that the school can be proud of.
In the first few days, while we implement Remote Learning, resources to support learning are available as they would be if children were isolated for a short amount of time (as in level 1 lockdown provision). During this time, school staff will be finalising arrangements for Remote Learning and, if necessary, providing for children of critical workers and children who are vulnerable .
We believe that learning takes place when there is interaction between child and adult: a constant learning conversation that is responsive to the children’s needs. Therefore, we intend to provide face to face tutorials throughout the day in key areas. Most of these tutorials will take place in small groups, approximately 10 children, where the teacher can be involved in the learning of all children within the group. The teacher is able to respond directly to learning which has been submitted, deliver an input, question effectively and move children on in their learning using ongoing formative assessment.
Children need to practice their skills, or utilise the knowledge that has been acquired and may be asked to complete additional tasks to support the learning. When these tasks are submitted to Google Classroom, emailed into the year 1 or 2 home learning emails or submitted to Tapestry for EYFS, the assessment will inform subsequent planning. The tasks will not be individually ‘marked’ but group feedback will be given to move learning on.
The learning will be sequenced, following the year group progression of skills. The learning will also be scaffolded in the best way that the platform of remote learning offers.
As well as Zoom tutorials, children have access to online platforms:
- Reading – hearing read (fiction and/or nonfiction) and being read to
- Sounds pouches, maths pouches (EYFS and KS1)
- MyMaths
- Spelling Shed
- Times Tables Rockstars or Numbots (KS1)
- NCETM – online maths lessons
- White Rose Maths lessons
- Weekly Spelling lists (Year 2 -6) revision of previous weeks, as well as current
- Homelearning grids (Years 2-6)
- Homelearning grids based on STAR learning
- BBC Bitesize
- Oak National Academy
There is additional information on the year group pages on the ‘Learning’ section on the school website and also on the Discovery section of the website.
- Weekly Spelling lists (Year 2 onwards) revision of previous weeks, as well as current lists, found on the website
- Home learning grids based on STAR learning found on the website
We would insist that reading is prioritised as a family: hearing children read, and reading to your children (regardless of age). It would be helpful if reading continued to be recorded in reading diaries. Reading Books can be collected from the school hall on Mondays, with one parent/carer in school at a time, wearing a mask and using sanitisers.
Engagement, Feedback and Assessment
The expectations of Remote Learning are placed on the school website and will be emailed to families via Parent Pay as soon as the school is directed to close class bubbles, or the whole school. Any amendments to the plan will also be emailed out as soon as plans are finalised. Changes may be necessary to respond to local or national direction.
A register will be taken in every online Zoom tutorial. At the end of the day, the class teacher will make phone calls home if children have not attended any of the sessions. Class teachers will also contact parents if children do not submit any of their learning completed at home in the timeframe of a week. In EYFS, the class teachers will make phone calls to parents/carers who have not submitted any learning to Tapestry.
If children are unwell, parents/carers have a responsibility to inform the class teacher, as they usually do if they were attending school.
The school remains available to support any family who is unable to access Remote Learning and will be able to put together a support plan to ensure that the child is involved in learning and taking up opportunities to make progress.
The online Zoom tutorials are intended for children to take part without the support of their families.
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 learning is as follows:
- questioning and interacting during tutorials
- feeding back on learning submitted during feedback
- planning of subsequent learning is adapted in response to learning submitted and knowledge gained in tutorials
- for EYFS using Tapestry, comments and dialogue following parental feedback
Remote Learning and study time each day
During the time of ‘school closure’, school and parents/carers are accountable for the progress in learning over this period away from school. We expect all children to attend all Zoom sessions for phonics (in Year 1), English and maths. In the Government guidance, it is clear that KS1 children should be learning for 3 hours a day (or less if they are younger) and 4 hours for children in Key Stage 2. This includes reading, learning activities, accessing the resources on BBC Bitesize or Oak Academy, websites on the discovery section of our school website here, as well as attending the Threemilestone School online Zoom tutorials.
Accessing Remote Learning
Once the bubble, or whole school, has been directed to close, the school will establish how many families will require devices to complete Remote Learning. This will be done through emailing the office at secretary@threemilestone.cornwall.sch.uk Our Computing Leader, Mr Bagley and our Deputy Headteacher, Mr Hick, will also be able to support families with devices, and requesting support from ICT4 if needed. Children will be able to pick up the devices within 24 hours of the school being closed. Each adult will need to sign an agreement on collection of the device (see Appendix 6).
For families that do not have the internet at home, the school will provide weekly paper packs for children, which must be collected from school each Monday, and returned on the next Monday. This learning may be similar to the learning covered in the class Zoom sessions, but cannot be identical due to the responsive nature of teaching and learning.
Additional support for children with additional needs
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. Each family has different needs and the school will work with the family to ensure that the children are supported in the best way possible.
Children who have an Education, Health and Care plan are eligible to have a place in school during a period of school closure, apart from when a bubble is isolating due to Covid-19. Each child and their family will be supported in making the right decision for the child. Mrs Ewart (SENDCo) will be working with each family to ensure that there are secure risk assessments and a learning plan in place to suit the needs of the child.
The Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and SENDCo will provide additional learning sessions for children with additional needs through the period of Lockdown.
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Remote Learning for children who are self isolating / waiting for test result, and are well enough to be able to access learning (Level 1)
When informing the school of the absence, the office staff will direct the child to access learning through these means:
- Reading – hearing read (fiction and/or nonfiction) and being read to
- Sounds pouches, maths pouches (EYFS and KS1)
- MyMaths
- Spelling Shed
- Times Tables Rockstars or Numbots (KS1)
- NCETM – online maths lessons
- White Rose Maths lessons
- Weekly Spelling lists (Year 2 -6) revision of previous weeks, as well as current
- Homelearning grids (Years 2-6)
- Homelearning grids based on STAR learning
- BBC Bitesize
- Oak National Academy
Remote Learning for children who are self isolating and are well enough to complete learning (up to 10 days) (Level 2)
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