Remote Learning Provision

Assuming the student/students in question are healthy enough to work from home the school will provide work for students who are unable to attend in person. If this occurs, the setting of work and communication of this will be coordinated by the student’s subject class teachers, Heads of Department or TLR holders within each department.

Objectives of Remote Education

To enable teaching and learning to continue as effectively as possible during the need for remote learning the school will endeavour to achieve the following:

• Identify pupils not in school who have COVID-19 symptoms or who are isolating to ensure learning opportunities are provided in a timely manner.
• Provide remote learning through MS Teams and monitor engagement.
• Follow up with families where there has been no engagement and offer ways to support them in order for remote learning to take place. • To align the remote education curriculum needs to the classroom curriculum as much as possible. And, just like the classroom curriculum, it needs to be carefully sequenced and ensure that pupils obtain the building blocks they need to move on to the next step.
• Ensure that teachers upload high quality lesson activities and assignments that provides equal access to the learning outcomes happening on in school and to ensure that pupils keep up with current learning.
• Ensure that teachers provide suitable differentiated activities for all pupils, including those with SEND or EAL, to support their planned outcomes as appropriate.
• Ensure that regular assessment and feedback is carried out and communicated effectively as described in the department’s Marking and Formative Feedback: Policy to Practice Documents.
• Teachers will use a variety of assessment and feedback methods in order to understand where individual pupils are along the curriculum journey.

In the event of individual, small groups or partial year groups self-isolating:

• Class teachers will set work on MS Teams for students to complete during their normal timetabled lessons.
• The work will be communicated either through individual chats, tagging the pupil in general channel posts or through the assignments function on MS Teams. All of these will appear in the child’s Activity reminder on MS Teams.
• Pieces of work, for multiple lessons, can be set at the same time but there will need to be clear indications of what the teacher expects to be completed during which timetabled lesson.
• Class teachers can set a variety of different activities using a number of resources, which could range from self-made voice over PowerPoints to using external online/offline resources, Oak Academy lessons, in order to achieve the same learning outcomes.
• Provide suitably differentiated tasks to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Class teachers will ensure that feedback on the work set will be provided in a timely manner.
• Be aware that class teachers will still be teaching the pupils who are onsite so any support or questions will be answered when the teacher becomes available to do so.
• Tutors and class teachers will monitor engagement on a lesson-by-lesson basis. The class teacher will make contact with the individual, or their family, to identify rapidly effective solutions where engagement is a concern. If they are unsuccessful, the class teacher will seek support from the Head of Department. If the Head of Department is unsuccessful in making contact then the Head of Year will be notified.
• The option exists for an MS Teams connection to be made between the pupil/student and the onsite class as long as it does not affect the learning of others. Remote connections in these circumstances must always be on the MS Teams platform.

In the event of whole classes or whole year groups self-isolating:

• Unless self-isolating or ill, staff are expected to be onsite at the start of everyday.
• Tutors will be available to students during the normal tutor time slot to say ‘hello’ to their tutees and to support them with any concerns they may have.
• Subject teachers may revert to teaching remote learning topics previously identified and at the direction of the Head of Department.
• Staff will be available to students on Teams during their normal timetabled periods so that they can help with any issues that students may have with the work that has been set.
• Conduct lessons from a “teaching” location. Primarily this should be the classroom timetabled for the lesson but it could be another available space, which is not communal.
• Staff are able (but not obliged) to support the continuity of teaching and learning for all year groups through live lessons on Teams.

• The class teacher would be expected to be in their normal classroom to deliver the live lesson at the allocated time on the timetable.
• Teachers may decide to be present on the screen or just show the whiteboard with them teaching the lesson and not be visible. Teachers could display PowerPoints with live commentary or use it as a question and answer session. However, it may be more useful as a reactive tool to supporting individuals or groups who contact you during the lesson by “voice” calling through Teams to explain something they are stuck on which will be faster and easier than trying to type it all out back and forth. The format would be down to the individual teacher.
• A question to bear in mind when deciding your approach will be – Is this an effective method to use at this stage in the curriculum?
• Class teachers will need to think about how and when they communicate their intention for using live lessons, as it may need a bit more advance planning in order to ensure that all students/pupils have time to attend the lessons.
• There may be some self-isolating students who are unable to make the live lesson – your planning will need to ensure that these students are also provided with high quality education.
• Teachers may choose to make recordings of their lessons, as a safeguarding precaution, but everyone in the lesson will need to be made aware that this is happening before any recording is started.

• Staff who are at home due to self-isolating will be able to use live lessons as long as they take into account the live lesson guidelines. (See appendix A)

In the event of local, or national lockdown, which involves school being closed to the majority of students:

Updates from the Department for Education (DfE) and the government regarding remote education.

• The DfE states that the remote education provided should be equivalent in length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school and will include both recorded or live direct teaching time, and time for pupils to complete tasks and assignments independently. The amount of remote education provided should be, as a minimum, for Key Stages 3 and 4: 5 hours a day.

Updates from St Anne’s regarding provision of remote education.

• It may be necessary for staff to conduct their lessons from a non-teaching location ie their own homes.
• Staff are able (but not obliged) to support the continuity of teaching and learning for all year groups through the use of cameras during live lessons on Teams.

• For those staff who wish to, cameras may be switched on during live learning for all year groups. There are potential educational advantages for some students but teacher professional judgement remains at the heart of decision-making.
• Do not place yourself at risk and discuss any concerns you have with AMU or JWA. Risk could be increased if you have a small class where you might be alone on call with a student or a class where behaviour is such that your image might prove a distractor. However, remember that students are more used to video conferencing than we are in older generations.
• Some are concerned about screenshots and recording devices. This is covered by the school’s behaviour policy and the analogy is with students recording teachers on their mobile phones during school, which is something we deal with relatively frequently. If a student were to record on Teams, you would be notified and you as the group owner would be in control of any recording. This functionality should be disabled anyway for students.
• If showing your image from a non-teaching space, you need to make it a teaching space by using a professional background or by blurring your background. Be aware of how you are dressed. Please be aware that when blurring your background, you won’t be able to hold things up to the camera as easily, so need to look at alternatives (e.g. Whiteboard, Class Note, Padlet)
• Students may switch their cameras on at the request of the teacher. The educational benefits come in terms of teachers being able to assess faster and more accurately from being able to read body language. Teachers remain in control because they can remove any student from a live call. No member of staff should begin a live call without understanding how to do this. The pastoral benefits from students being able to see their friends and feeling more of a part of community are beginning to be identified in research.
• The following procedures would need to be in place:
• No obligation – students may not want to or be able to for a wide range of reasons and should not feel pressured into switching cameras on.
• Always enter the lesson with cameras off and wait for the request to switch on.
• Students should always alter their background.
• Teachers should feel calm about asking students to change their background or switch their camera off. The analogy would be about inappropriate dress on a home clothes day in school – we would calmly deal with it.
• Follow all other live lesson guidelines (See Appendix A)

• Subject teachers may revert to teaching remote learning topics previously identified and at the direction of the Head of Department.
• Monitor and keep records of engagement for assignments and feedback to the Head of Department and Head of Year by completing the engagement spreadsheet on a regular basis.
• Heads of Departments using specifically designed lessons from Oak academy or other resources of this nature.
• 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:

• Teachers are aware of who their SEND pupils are and will adapt activities, where feasible, to allow them to better access their learning.
• Teaching assistants have daily contact with these pupils to check in on how they are doing from a well-being and curriculum angle.
• Teaching assistants are attached to the classes of these pupils and are working alongside teachers to provide suitable activities for these pupils.
• A good dialogue between parent and key worker will allow the best educational decisions to be made for the young person.
• Where all other support has not resulted in learning to be effective, pupils would be classed as “those who may have difficulty engaging with remote education at home” and are able to come onsite for face-to-face teaching.

The school reserves the right to vary the range of methods used to provide remote learning tasks, feedback and interaction, based on the particular circumstances of any closure and based on our experience. There should be no expectation of any particular balance of one form of lesson or another from pupils/students, teachers or parents.

Pupil/Student Expectations

• Log into MS Teams throughout the day to check the learning activities for their lessons.
• Use MS Teams as a professional platform to support your learning. Do not use it as a form of social media.
• Follow their normal school timetabled day as work will be available to them during these lessons and their teachers will be available for support on MS Teams at these times.
• Teachers may decide to present their main learning objectives through a live lesson format with cameras turned on. There is no obligation for students to turn on their cameras as they may not want to, or be able to for a wide range of reasons and they should not feel pressured into switching cameras on.
• If pupils are happy for their cameras to be turned on then they must follow these simple rules:

• Always enter the lesson with cameras off and wait for the request to switch them on.
• Always alter your background.
• The teacher can ask you to turn off your camera at any point during the lesson and you will respond by doing so in a timely manner.
• You will be expected to uphold the schools behaviour policy during all live lessons – remember this is still a classroom. Make sure you speak clearly and respectfully to all who are in attendance.
• Any misbehaviour will be dealt with using the schools behaviour systems which may result in the teacher removing you from the lesson.

• Take a full and active part in completing all learning activities set for that day.
• Realise that the work set is not optional and there may not be time to repeat it once they return to school.
• Only use MS Teams to communicate with their class teachers.
• Be aware that teachers may not be able to respond to them instantly or out of school hours as they may be part-time, self-isolating or off work for other reasons. Do not expect a reply from a teacher and do not keep asking the same question – just like you would not in class.
• Ensure all assignment work is uploaded in line with the instructions given by the class teacher.
• Feedback from teachers can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others.

Parent Expectations

• Ensuring that their daughter/son has access to the internet and a suitable device or to inform the school if this is an issue.
• Encourage their daughter/son to follow their normal school timetable and to contact their teachers during these times if they need any support in completing the work set.
• Support their daughter/son in setting up clear routines and spaces for them to complete the work being set.
• Supporting the school by making sure that their daughter/son understands the expectations of behaviour during live lessons, as described above.
• Ensuring learning set is completed by the deadlines set by teachers.
• Making sure that their daughter/son realises that teachers may not be able to respond to them instantly or out of school hours, as they may be part-time, self-isolating or off work for other reasons.
• Emphasise that the work set is not optional and will not be repeated in class once they return to normal lessons.
• Being aware, that feedback from teachers can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others.