Information on Expectations for Schooling During Lockdown

Message from The Minister for Education: share information about Peregrinates remote education.

This document designed to help school leaders share relevant information with pupils and parents or carers about how they will provide remote education. It is designed to support understanding of what pupils, parents and carers should expect during periods of school closure or pupil isolation relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).

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 where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, 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?

Learners will be provided with work that they are currently undertaking for completion at home. They will also be made aware of the resources available on our website. As soon as possible, work packs will be made up and delivered to the home.

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?

We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, some resources cannot be made available for home use safely, in particular vocational subjects requiring practical activities.

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?

All online resources and courses are available via our website. Peregrinate.school

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:

Learners will be supported and encouraged to use devices for learning. Zoom lessons have been used successfully in the past, and we anticipate more of these types of lessons. Parents/carers can contact the school with requests for equipment or support.

pupils can access any printed materials needed if they do not have online access and this will be delivered to the home, collected regularly and feedback provided.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• live teaching (online lessons)
• printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
• textbooks and reading books pupils have at home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences.
• long-term project work and/or internet research activities

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?

expectations for pupils’ engagement with remote education will remain high and every effort made to achieve and review targets.

• expectations of parental support, as advised to parents/carers we advise that the usual structure for the school day is followed, i.e. 10am until 2pm. This is the window when teachers are available for support and the help line is open.

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

• Regular texts and daily telephone calls are made with a weekly door step visit to collect and/or distribute work packs
• Action will be taken where engagement is a concern, beginning with informing parents/carers at the earliest opportunity and setting realistic but challenging targets

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. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

• To assess and feedback on pupils’ work we will use the weekly doorstep visit
• Pupils will receive feedback on their work every week as a minimum

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:

• We will work with families to deliver remote education for pupils with SEND by continuing with strategies that have been used during classroom based teaching and learning

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, 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 because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

The main differences between the approaches described in the rest of this document and those we will take to ensure individual pupils self-isolating are taught a planned and well-sequenced curriculum with meaningful and ambitious work each day in a number of different subjects, including providing feedback, will be based on individual needs. A member of the management team will contact parents/carers/learners.