Remote Education Provision: Information for parents
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts to remain at home.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home
A student’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching
The Curriculum - will it be the same as they would have been taught in school?
At the beginning of the school year, the school’s Subject Leaders were asked to review the curriculum for their subject and identify which topics and concepts could be more easily delivered via remote education. Having already completed this step, the curriculum that your child will follow during this period of remote education is broadly the same as they would have followed within school although practical elements of some subjects such as Computing, PE, Drama, Music, Food and Nutrition and Design and Technology will not be delivered in the same way.
How much work should my child expect each day?
Each student should follow their daily timetable as if they were in school and should expect to be set work in all 5 subjects for that day. Students should spend one hour on each of these 5 subjects.
If students complete their daily tasks sooner than expected, flexible STEM tasks have been set in addition to the usual work.
Further to this, a list of online resources can be found on the Teaching & Learning section of the website or by clicking on the following link:
How will the work be set?
If normal school is in operation and students in a whole bubble are asked to isolate for a short term, work may be set in booklet form which contains all the resources that the student needs for the period of isolation/remote learning.
During a national lockdown, work will be set for all of our students in the same way using the Show My Home Work platform. Students should log in to SMHW, click on the timetable link to check their lessons for the day and then click on to the calendar in SMHW to see the corresponding work set. SMHW will contain details of what form the work will take and whether it should be submitted to the class teacher. Students should use their timetable as a guide but we understand that family circumstances may mean that the work is completed in a different order or at a different time.
There are lots of helpful guides on our website to help students and parents with Show My Home Work which can be accessed by clicking on the link below:
Getting Started with Show My Homework
Specific help for Parents wanting to link different accounts
What should I do if my child cannot access their remote education?
Sunbury Manor School is very aware that many students may not have access to a digital device to access the remote learning during the school closure period. We have tried to offer a blended learning solution allowing students to complete tasks without being reliant on having their own digital device.
The school has decided to use Microsoft Teams as a mechanism to deliver live input and support sessions as this can be accessed on a range of digital devices - mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, PlayStations and XBoxes.
Support Video - How to access MS Teams on a Playstation and XBox
If your child has technical difficulties with remote learning, whether this be not being able to log in to a specific platform or not being able to access Microsoft Teams please email ITsupport@sunburymanor.surrey.sch.uk
If your child has difficulty with a specific piece of work, please email the class teacher in the first instance and if your issue is not resolved, please contact the Subject Leader.
How will my child be taught remotely?
Our provision has been developed in accordance with good practice advice guides from both the Department for Education and Ofsted which make clear that it is the quality of the lesson/structure of the teaching and learning itself that is far more important than the means of delivery. Therefore, remote learning at Sunbury Manor is a blended package that takes a variety of forms:
- Learning will be supported by teaching through modelling and explanation via the use of voice over PowerPoints or pre-recorded lessons which can be accessed at any time of the day or replayed multiple times if a student is unsure of a concept and needs to seek clarification. These will not necessarily be created for every lesson or for the whole duration of the lesson but wherever students may need something explaining or demonstrating to aid their completion of work. This form of learning removes the barrier of siblings in the same family sharing a device and being unable to access live lessons at the same time alongside those who may have limited data.
- Live feedback sessions are facilitated via Microsoft Teams for students to ask learning focused questions of their teachers about the work they are completing/have completed. These sessions are more likely to be scheduled in examination subjects where students are working on an extended task or project so they can receive guidance at key points.
- In both forms of live provision, students will receive an invitation to join these sessions via email and are expected to adhere to the following protocol:
- All student cameras will be disabled
- All student microphones will be muted unless an individual is asked to speak
- Students will only use the chat function to present learning focused questions to the teacher
- The lesson must not be recorded
- Parents should not participate in the lesson nor communicate via the chat function but should use the usual and appropriate channels of communication to discuss any concerns
- Some tasks may be worksheet or text book based requiring students to work more independently. This will often follow a pre-recorded explanation or live input session
- Learning may take interactive forms such as online quizzes
Learning will be supplemented by the use of pre-recorded videos, not necessarily by their own teacher, but from online resources such as the Oak National Academy. Students may be directed to other learning platforms such as BBC Bitesize or Seneca Learning
What are your expertations for my child's engagement?
All students are expected to:
- log on to Show My Home Work at the beginning of each day
- wherever possible, follow their timetable, attend any scheduled live sessions and complete the associated work for each subject to the best of their ability.
- submit work to their teachers when asked to do so
- mark their own work if the answers are provided
However, we understand that all families are facing different circumstances and that there may be occasions where remote learning cannot be the priority and students need to complete their work at a different time or in a different order, particularly if siblings are sharing devices. If students are unable to submit their work by the expected due date, it is best for them to let their teacher(s) know in advance.
What support could we as parents and carers provide at home?
We understand that learning remotely at home can be challenging for many students and that many parents may be trying to work from home themselves. Each family’s circumstances are different and we understand that not all advice and tips can be followed by all. Nevertheless, below are some suggestions on how students can be best supported at home:
- Organising or clearing a defined space to work at home that is different from a place of relaxation is very important so that students are able to separate the feeling of work from home. In limited circumstances, this might mean simply sitting at a different place at the table from where they would normally sit to eat. Wherever the space is, it should be somewhere they are comfortable to work
- Keeping learning to set times each day will really help young people establish a sense of routine
- Making sure that students have all the equipment they need at the beginning of each session helps eliminate any distractions or avoidance tactics and reduces the need to walk away from the work space
- It is a good idea to make sure that, when working, all other technical devices are not at hand so that their sole attention is on the device they are using and the work in hand
- We’ve all had that experience of not being able to do something then, after having had a small break, finding the solution immediately when we return to it! This is why building in small regular breaks between lessons/subjects is important and if a student becomes stuck on a task or is becoming frustrated by it, it might be a better idea to encourage them to move on to a different subject and come back to it at a later point in the day.
- Building in small rewards is also a good way of keeping young people motivated. This doesn’t have to be anything of material value but could be something as simple as letting them listen to 3 of their favourite songs after completing a piece of work, playing football for 20 minutes in the garden after sitting for a long period of time or gaming for an hour because they attempted all tasks for the day.
- Stay positive when speaking to them. Working from home and motivating ourselves is a challenge for all so try talking to them about their work in a positive way. For instance, saying “You can have an hour on the Xbox when you’ve finished these last two pieces of work” is much more positive than saying “You’re not going on the Xbox until you’ve finished all your lessons”. In a similar way, asking them what they learnt today rather than asking them if they did all their work today is more positive and encouraging. Asking them to show you a piece of work that they thought they did really well and enjoyed is also helpful in keeping conversations about school work positive.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Teachers will use the insight functions within Show My Home Work each lesson to see whether your child has not only viewed the lesson but also accessed the resources. In addition, teachers will keep a record of which students attended live input and or live feedback sessions. If this information suggests there is a clear lack of engagement, the individual subject teacher will contact your child either via email or through the chat function on Show My Home Work. If there is no change following this contact, the teacher will pass on their concerns to your child’s tutor. If this is the only concern, the subject teacher will contact you to make you aware of the situation. If the tutor receives multiple concerns, they will call you to discuss this and will most likely also ask to speak to your child.
Even if there are no concerns, your child’s tutor will make a wellbeing call to you and your child every 2 to 3 weeks to maintain contact between school and home.
As an additional way of keeping in touch with our students, pre-recorded assemblies will be delivered to students by their Heads of Year and/or members of the Leadership Team.
How will you assess my child's work and progress?
Whilst work completed remotely cannot be marked in the usual way, regular feedback will be provided. Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children.
Within the lessons set via Show MyHomeWork, teachers will indicate which pieces are to be submitted to the teacher and whether feedback will be provided
Feedback may take the form of:
- whole-class feedback where the teacher provides general overall comments to the class about work submitted or provides answers to problems that had been explored in the previous lesson
- quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms – as well as being engaging, the teacher may use online quizzes at the end of a sequence of learning to assess the progress an individual is making. The teacher is then able to look at an individual’s scores and guide them to particular areas or steps that may need revisiting or consolidating
- Individual feedback where students receive comments from their teacher regarding a specific piece of work
- Live feedback sessions where the teacher is available to respond to any questions raised with students via the chat function or to guide students in the next steps they need to take with an extended piece of work or project
- Regular emails from the teacher to the students to gain a general feel for engagement and understanding
- Posted comments to individual students via the messaging facility within Show MyHomeWork
Where students are working really well, putting in maximum effort or have produced something really impressive, we will let them and you know by issuing them with commendation certificates.
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 pupils, for example some students 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 students in the following ways:
- through invitation by the SENCO or Inclusion Team to work within school under the supervision of teaching and learning support staff in accordance with key worker provision
- through regular telephone contact between Learning Support staff, parents and students to monitor the home learning situation and provide differentiated or further resources wherever necessary
- for Learning Support staff to update teaching staff of the outcome of any monitoring calls so that the provision can be adapted or tailored to suit the needs of your child.
If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
Where individual students are self-isolating, live input and feedback sessions will not be offered because the teachers will be engaged in face to face teaching of the rest of the students in school. However, teachers will communicate with students via email and will do their best to supply students with the resources used in the lesson. This will be coupled with the use of pre-recorded videos or digital platforms to such as the Oak National Academy to provide explanations and modelling.
Oak National Academy - Key Stage 3
Oak National Academy - Key Stage 4