Meadhurst Primary School Remote Learning Contingency Plan

Introduction                                     

At Meadhurst Primary school we are committed to ensuring that all pupils continue to receive the highest quality of education possible in the event that individuals, small groups, or whole classes are unable to attend school due to circumstances relating to COVID 19. Our contingency plan for remote learning is informed by the latest guidance from the Department for Education and stakeholder feedback and is therefore an evolution of the ‘Home Learning Plan’ format offered during lockdown. This Remote Learning Plan is driven by the following overarching principles:

1. Our obligation to ensure the safety of pupils, parents and staff
2. Our commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of pupils and staff
3. Approaching the planning task in a measured and deliberate way
4. Making the best possible decisions on the basis of the evidence we have and within the constrains and parameters we face in our schools and across the Trust

 Through our new online platforms Showbie (KS1 and2) and Tapestry (EYFS), remote learning will be made available for all pupils in all years. Through an internet enabled device, our pupils will have the ability to access resources remotely, upload their work directly to their teacher, and receive individual feedback to support their progress. Where access to the internet or a device presents a barrier, the school will work closely to support families and will ensure that paper copies are made available where this is necessary. Blending the schools existing ‘Home Learning Plan’ format and a range of high quality resources within an online platform, including the hosting of live and pre-recorded content, will allow staff to more closely monitor children’s work output, provide more targeted individual feedback and introduce new curriculum content through high quality modelling and explanations. To support pupils’ wellbeing and their engagement in learning, staff will provide regular ‘conferences’ where pupils can ‘check in’ live with their teacher.

Remote learning will be made available in the following staged approach:

Stage 1: ‘Get going work’

Where a member of the household is awaiting the results of a test (first 48 hours), a range of resources and online learning tools will continually be available to allow children to carry on learning in core subjects.

Stage 2: ‘Isolation work’

Where a household is isolating due to a positive test result or following Test and Trace guidance, a Home Learning Plan will be uploaded to match the planned sequence of learning continuing in class.

Stage 3: ‘Class closure work’ 

Where an individual bubble has had to close, or the whole school has partially closed, a full virtual offer will be made available to all pupils. This will comprise of daily video content for core and foundation learning, delivered by the class teacher, or through high quality pre-recorded materials. Children will receive a regular face to face time with their teacher to support with their learning and wellbeing.   

Reception Stage 2 + 3             Year 1 Stage 2 + 3         Year 2 Stage 2 + 3

Year 3 Stage 2 + 3            Year 4 Stage 2 + 3       Year 5 Stage 2 + 3        Year 6 Stage 2 + 3

How to access work

 All learning will be made available via our online platforms. These can be accessed through a web browser or an app. Where logins are required children will taught how to login, for example with a class code, and this will be recorded in their reading records. Support will be made available where families require technical assistance to access work and will have clear information for how to access that support. Showbie will be used for remote learning in Key Stage 1 and 2 and Tapestry in Reception and Nursery. Alternative arrangements, that may include paper copies of resources, will be made on an individual basis. 

Learning expectations for each stage 

 Stage 1 ‘Get going work’  

 Our teachers will:

• Provide access to a range of resources and online learning tools will continually be available on the website to allow children to carry on learning in core subjects.
• Provide regular feedback to pupil’s work whilst they are learning at home.

Stage 2 ‘Isolation work’

 Our teachers will:

• Provide a weekly ‘Home Learning Plan’ for pupils to follow, allowing for a flexible approach that is supportive of a family’s wellbeing.
• Upload learning activities and tasks onto Showbie/Tapestry to match the planned sequence of learning continuing in class.
• Provide regular feedback to pupil’s work whilst they are learning at home.
• Communicate with pupils at least once a week.

 Stage 3 ‘Class closure work’

 Our teaching staff will:

•  Provide a weekly schedule for pupils to follow, allowing for a flexible approach that is supportive of a family’s wellbeing.
• Upload learning activities and tasks onto Showbie/Tapestry for core and foundation learning.
• Prioritise reading activities and provide a daily story time video.
• Provide clear explanations and modelling of new concepts. 
• Provide regular feedback to pupils work whilst they are learning at home. This will at times be individial feedback but may also be feedback to the wider group. Teachers will not be able to respond to every piece of work that a child produces individually, but they will endeavour to value every contribution made by a child.
• Communicate with pupils at least once a week face to face to support with their learning and wellbeing.

 To enable teaching and learning to continue in the event a class bubble has had to close:

• A blended approach will be taken in planning for remote learning, comprising of online and offline learning resources and activities, high quality video tutorials, pre-recorded teacher videos and live sessions.   
• Live events will feature as part of the plan. This could be in the form of regular ‘check ins’ or conferences to support and review children’s learning. However, teaching will more generally be delivered through frequent and clear explanations of new content using high quality resources and pre-recorded videos.
• We will monitor the engagement of pupils learning and support families where necessary.
• We will make communicate daily with all children via our online platforms. This could be in the form of a typed message or a short, pre-recorded video or audio file.
• We will monitor the pupil contact logs to ensure families are contacted in a timely manner and any issues are followed up.
• The school will communicate regularly with families through our Weekly Newsletters and THPT updates

Our pupils will be expected to:

• Engage with and complete home learning activities that have been set.
• Upload their learning as requested – photo/video of their work output.
• Respond to any feedback given.
• Use online resources such as BBC Bitesize, NumBots, TT Rockstars, Oak National Academy and any other resources provided by the school.
• When accessing learning for stage 3 - watch their story time each day.

 Parents and carers are responsible for:

• Establishing a consistent, positive space for learning with their child. 
• Setting a clear routine with each child using the schedule provided and the set daily learning.
• Reading all communications that come out from the school and the class teacher to ensure they are fully aware and up to date with news.
• Supporting their children to access and complete the learning set.
• Liaising with school staff and seek support on behalf of their child when needed, with class teacher via email.
• Ensuring courtesy and politeness to any member of staff within any communication.
• Providing access to the learning offered for their children via an internet enabled device and alert the school where this presents a barrier.
• Supporting their children by uploading pictures of completed work for assessment and feedback.
• Supporting their children by responding to feedback given to consolidate or deepen learning.
• Ensuring that communication in any format shared by our staff through our online platform is treated with strict confidence and is not to be shared outside of the platform and on any other forms of social media.

Managing these Responsibilities and Expectations:

It is important to note here that the school recognises that a potential lockdown scenario complicates the ability parents and carers have to support their child with home learning, due to personal commitments etc. This is of course also true for the school's teachers who will be balancing their work with other commitments such as childcare as well. The school will endeavour to resolve any challenges that arise with the primary objective to support pupils with their wellbeing, as well as their access to education.

Full Closure Bubble Closure/ National Lockdown

A partial to full school closure, where all our bubbles have had to close, a full remote offer will be made available to children, which as closely as possible matches the planned sequences of learning that the whole school curriculum that Meadhurst has to offer.

‘Live’ sessions will feature as part of the learning plans to enable social interaction between the class and to provide an opportunity for staff to support learning at home. Where interaction is not essential (teacher-led input) staff will provide content such as pre-recorded videos for children to access according to a daily schedule that works for their family. However, daily registration and learning activity sessions will be set at specified times each day to support predictability for pupils and families and promote a sense of routine; see below for the timetable for this if/when all bubbles are closed, such as if there is a national lockdown.

A blended approach of both pre-recorded teacher videos and high-quality online materials will be required to give teaching staff the capacity to simultaneously manage the teaching and learning of critical worker and vulnerable children at school and children learning remotely.

A Remote Learning Timetable will be published by each year group at the start of each week, via the learning platform. This plan will show the learning that needs to be achieved as well as the specified timings of ‘live’ sessions. Links, videos and resources will be made available at the end of each day in a dated folder ready for the following day’s learning.

The teaching and learning plan for each day will typically take the following schedule and there will be time between these sessions for children to apply their learning to independent work; at this time, pupils requiring additional support will be provided with this remotely by their class teacher or other staff members using 1:1 video sessions, phone calls or the chat function on our learning platforms.

Timetable for a Full Lockdown Scenario

Due to the many households where more than one sibling, and other family members, will be using their Wifi to access live sessions and work meetings, it is necessary to implement a timetable to ensure that there are not too many clashes; this is also necessary because some families will be using only one device to attend different live or pre-recorded sessions. The timetable for live sessions is provided below:

Please note, sessions are not restricted to 10/15 minutes but the critical learning points will be covered during this time in case pupils have to log off due to siblings needing to use devices to access another live or pre-recorded session.

Please note that the timetable above, and indeed the management of communication for parents/carers will be adapted to suit individual needs, such as for our pupils who attend our Franklin Centre Provision.

Communication

 The following streams will be used to keep parents and carers up to date:

• School newsletter – weekly
• THPT updates
• School website
• School Twitter feed
• School email

 We value our partnership between our school and parents. The contingency plan set out above relies on our committed and hardworking staff team. The plan may need to be adapted where staff capacity is diminished. Where this is the case, changes will be communicated with parents and carers as appropriate.  

E-Safety 

Please discuss e-safety with your child/ren before they return to the remote Learning programme.  Lots of resources to help you do this can be found on our website under ‘Safeguarding’

Pastoral Support

Meadhurst has a very strong network of pastoral support and this will continue through any period of remote learning.  Our pastoral support team will support learners throughout any lockdown period, by regular contact between families and school. Parents are able to make contact through email. Class teachers will continue to contact home on a weekly basis and will provide the opportunity for pupils to raise any questions or highlight any concerns they may have. 

SEND support

 Our Inclusion lead and the Learning Support Team continue to support students with their remote learning through regular contact home and, wherever possible, inviting students in to school for additional support. Whilst we have high expectations of learners and standards of work, we also realise that remote learning creates specific challenges for some of our learners. We are realistic in our expectations and understand the need to make adjustments where required. 

 Vulnerable and Key Workers

 In the event that the government intervenes with a Tier 4 local or national lockdown, the school will remain open to vulnerable children and children of key workers. These children will continue to access school in their year group bubbles and their learning will continue to be directed by their class teacher along with children learning at home.