Remote Learning

Remote Learning Plan

When teaching children in school, the basic principles are the following:

• Find out what the children know within a well constructed curriculum (assessment).

• Instruct the children on how to make the next step of learning through worked examples (direct instruction).

• The children practise/apply the concept and the teaching staff provide clear and productive support (feedback).

• Ensure the children remember and retain learning.

Some of these elements are easier to provide remotely than others.

Assessment can be challenging, as the teacher is not directly present to construct tasks and questions. They also don’t know how much support is being provided to the child.

Instruction is challenging, because there isn’t the interaction with the children that you have in the classroom. It is also difficult to provide the appropriate instruction to children with different needs.

Practising concepts is less challenging, as tasks can be provided at the appropriate level, and should be less difficult to support at home. Online platforms also provide good opportunities for the children to tackle set tasks, as well as providing the child and teacher information on progress.

Feedback can be done remotely through marking, comments and follow-up tasks. However, the children are less able to support each other, and the feedback from staff isn’t as dynamic and quick as it is in the classroom.

Remembering and retaining learning is possible through the practising of concepts, as well as applying previous learning within new units.

Our Approach to Remote Learning

After the period of lockdown we learned a lot about remote learning and undertook training on digital learning platforms as well as receiving valuable feedback from you all. Each teacher produces their own plan, which reflects the needs of the children and their age. If these plans are needed, they will be shared with the relevant families immediately. All plans follow these principles:

1. Daily practise tasks

2. Units of learning across the curriculum

3. Feedback mechanisms

4. Communication systems

The chart above shows how this has been planned across the school.

The Oak National Academy videos have been selected so that the children receive instruction (and families too if needed) and explanation, with the added bonus that they can be paused and replayed as many times as is needed. This would not be possible with live virtual lessons, where children could be left behind, or others held back. The units of learning have been put together by experienced teachers, matched to the national curriculum and is funded by the DfE.

Nearly all of the daily practise online platforms can be used at anytime, not just in self isolation, and are very useful in bringing the children on in core skills.

Don’t forget the Learning Zone, Hobby Zone and Relaxation Zone too - there is lots to do!! The Learning Zone has over 100 links (and growing) to other quality resources, which can add to the work provided by the staff. This includes links to BBC Bitesize which is broadcasting primary age lessons on CBBC every morning.

Keeping in Touch

We do want to keep in touch with the children, and they can make contact with their teachers through different mechanisms (within school hours). If your children would like to speak to a member of staff on the phone, we will certainly call them. There is also the opportunity to provide messages etc through Google Classroom, which can be checked by the staff. Class Dojo and the Arbor Parent Portal also allows parents to send messages to school.

The staff will share good examples of home learning through each class dojo account, which can also be viewed from the class pages on the website.

If you need support with translation, remember that pages such as this one can be translated using the button at the top, documents in Google Drive/Docs etc can be translated within the ‘File’ menu and there are apps that can help with translation too. Please get in touch if you need help.

Staff will make regular wellbeing calls with families to see if any help is needed, and importantly to ensure that children are safe and well.

Download: How else we can support familes

Hopefully these plans will not be needed very often, as we know how difficult remote learning is for the children as well as the families.