Remote Education policy

Remote education provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if circumstances require entire cohorts to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are required to remain at home, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

A pupil’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.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

In the event of student self-isolation teachers will post any material delivered in the lesson, with an additional explanation if needed, on the Google Classroom by the end of the day. Students will be required to complete and mark as done for teacher review.

All students have access to Google Classroom for each of their classes and in the case of isolation the class teacher will always post any material used in the lesson and any additional explanation needed by the end of the day.

Following the first few days of remote education, will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

In the event of student self-isolation, the school will continue to post the material covered in lessons on the Google classroom for every period in the school day (other than core PE and PSCHE).

In the event of a school closure students will follow their normal timetable and the following will apply:

Remote teaching and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

Accessing remote education

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?

The Academy uses the Google Workspace the key components of this is Gmail, Google Classroom and the use of the associated productivity tools Docs, Slides and Sheets.

All the GSuite apps require students to log in with their Co-op Academies email and password. The format of their emails is as follows:

Year of entry, followed by first initial and last name and two numbers of their unique candidate identifier (UCI)@coopbebington.co.uk.

So if we have a Lisa Hesketh in year 7 with a UCI of 747520171453K the email address will be 20lhesketh53@coopbebington.co.uk

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?

We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

If we know that a household does not have access to a device then we will loan a laptop for the duration of the remote access.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

In the event of student self-isolation teachers will post any material delivered in the lesson, with an additional explanation if needed on the Google Classroom, by the end of the day. Students will be required to complete and ‘Mark as done’ for teacher review.

In the event of a school closure all work will be set in the Google Classroom, students will receive notifications to their email account when new assignments have been created. For live lessons they must check their live lessons timetable and log onto the relevant Google Classroom five minutes before the lesson starts then click on the Google Meet link to join their class.

The following educational tools will be used alongside live lessons to support learning:

• GCSE pod
• Mathswatch
• Seneca 
• The Oak National Academy
• Bitesize Daily
• Kerboodle for Science
• Pearson Activelearn for Spanish
• Unifrog for careers related advice and guidance.

Engagement and feedback

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

We expect students to engage in all of their lessons whether live or set tasks. In a situation where there is only one device in the home and multiple users, absence at a live lesson will be accepted but the work should be complete within 24hrs or the deadline set in Google Classroom by the class teacher.

We would encourage parents to have a set routine for their child with a prompt 8.40am start ready for online learning; breaks and lunch will follow the normal pattern of the school day and end with either live form or PSCHE work, which is posted on the year group Classroom to finish at 3.05pm.

Having a dedicated work area in the home where possible, such as at the kitchen table, will add structure and encourage a strong work ethic.

Parents are expected to sign up for Google Guardians and they will receive either daily or weekly updates. Invites have already gone out to parents and carers.

How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?

The school will use Arbor to track attendance at live lessons and the completion of set tasks. In the first instance teachers will contact home if there is an absence.

Progress and Pastoral Leaders will phone home if a persistent absence or failure to complete work pattern develops.

Home visits may be necessary if we cannot contact home via phone calls or emails.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

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.

Students will receive feedback from teachers in the following ways:

• During live lessons teachers will give feedback verbally.
• Teachers may use self marking quizzes to check understanding of material where it is not set in a live lesson.
• Teachers will respond in either of the two functions within the Google Classroom, a ‘personal message’ which will only go to the student or written comments on the piece of work which will then be returned to the student.
• Teachers will respond in the same format on any homework set within a week.

Additional support for pupils with particular needs

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 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:

Student remote learning with SEN needs are given extra help that may take the form of any or all of the following, dependent on need,

• a TA that works in a breakout room during a live lesson with selected students.
• adapted material
• writing frames
• taught in smaller ability sets
• Same proportion of live lessons as all students so that teachers can assess needs and plan accordingly.
• Core SEN groups are taught remotely by HLTAs who have been working in school with these students.

Remote education for pupils unable to attend school

Where individual pupils are absent, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.

If my child is not in school how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

In the event of student absence teachers will post any material delivered in the Academy based lesson, with an additional explanation if needed, on the Google Classroom. Students will be required to complete and ‘Mark as done’ for teacher review.

Feedback will follow the same format as those in a school closure scenario. See ‘How will you assess my child’s work and progress?’ for more information.