Home Learning

                           

Remote Education Provision: Information for Parents and Carers

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. As a school we need to make arrangements to continue the education of your child should there need to be any closures in school due to COVID-19.

The remote education at St Bridget’s is as close to the classroom curriculum as possible. And, just like our classroom curriculum, it is carefully sequenced and ensures that children obtain the building blocks they need to move on to the next step.

The Remote Curriculum- The ‘remote curriculum’ is the broad term encompassing any learning that happens outside of the classroom, with the teacher not present in the same location as the children. The way in which our remote curriculum is delivered depends upon what content is being delivered and the age and stage of the children:

• Online learning where the curriculum is delivered via technology such as Class Dojo and Zoom. This can include ‘live’ lessons as well as pre-recorded videos and/or resources to support children’s learning to complete either online or in a paper-based exercise book at home.
• Work packs for those having difficulty with accessing remote learning online.
• Sign posting families to external apps and websites that would further support engagement in remote learning.

 

Timetable- Teachers will provide a timetable with a summary of each lesson that will take place. Links will be provided daily via Class Dojo to where parents and children can find the online teaching videos and resources for each lesson. The expectations of lessons each day will be:

• A maths lesson
• An English lesson
• A phonic lesson (Early Years and KS1)
• Spellings (KS2)
• Mental maths activity (KS2)
• Handwriting
• Fitter Future
• A lesson for one of the foundation subjects (science, history, geography, music, computing, art, RE)

The timetable will be shared with all parents and carers as well as a ‘remote learning pack’ which will consist of a book, pencil, relevant logins to the programs that school subscribes to as well as any additional resources needed. Remote learning packs will be sent home before ‘bubbles’ need to self-isolate as a precaution.

How your child will be taught remotely– In the event of full or partial closure teachers will use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

• Have daily contact with pupils/parents via Class Dojo or Zoom Meetings between the hours of 9am-3pm
• Recorded teaching from class teacher daily
• Access to recorded teaching via educational sites, such as, Oak Academy, White Rose, YouTube, BBC Bitesize
• Printed work packs where necessary
• A weekly phone call with parents who have difficulty engaging with home learning
• A weekly video of teachers sharing a story for pupils in Reception and Year 1.

 

Engagement and Feedback- Children are expected to attend daily Zoom Meetings with their teachers and complete the work set. We follow up remote absences in the same way, in line with school policy on absence and attendance. A timetable is shared with all parents and carers setting out the expectations for the day. Children can contact their teachers via Class Dojo, if further support is needed.

If a child is not engaging in remote learning the class teacher will contact parents via Class Dojo or a phone call. If it continues the teacher will forward concerns to their line manager. If a lack of engagement continues then this will be escalated to the Head Teacher to see what else the school can do to support their learning and encourage engagement. If your child is struggling to access the learning materials online, please contact your child’s class teacher via Class Dojo.

Pupils will receive daily feedback on the work they have completed through Class Dojo. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

– Teachers will comment on the work your child has submitted. It may be a ‘well done’ comment or a comment to ask them to look again at a question. If your child’s teacher thinks that your child needs more support with a question or area of learning they will contact them individually either via the private message tool or through a phone call.
– During the Zoom Meetings, teachers will ask the class questions and will ask children to unmute themselves to provide an answer or ask them to comment in the ‘chat’ function.

It is important the children engage with the remote learning activities to continue their education during periods of self-isolation however we do acknowledge that each family’s home circumstances are unique and there may be factors that affect engagement with home learning. These may include parents working from home or limited access to technology among other factors. Communication is essential and we ask that if parents are finding things difficult to get in touch with their child’s class teacher so we can support and put measures in place.

Individual self-isolation– If a child is self-isolating they will be provided with work on a daily basis via Class Dojo. The work provided will be similar to what the children in class are covering. Where there is significant new learning taking place in class that requires teacher input, the child will be directed to a relevant lesson on Oak Academy, and on their return to school a teacher or classroom assistant will check their understanding and provide further teaching if required.

Access to technology at home– A recent survey completed by parents allowed us, as a school, to provide access to technology and the internet at home enabling us to provide appropriate resources and online learning. If children do require any printed materials please contact your child’s class teacher.

Online Learning Resources and Links                                   

Logins to online learning resources

The school subscribes to a number of online learning resources which can be accessed at home. It is essential that children and parents have access to the relevant login details from the start of the school year so that they are immediately available in the event of a closure of self-isolation. The login details will be sent home inside the ‘remote learning pack’.

Login details that should be included are:

• Class dojo pupil login (Reception- Year 6)
• Purple Mash
• Numbots (KS1)
• Times Table Rockstars (KS2)
• IDL (Year 1- Year 6)
• Charanga
• Curriculum Visions
• Oxford Owl
• Fitter Future

 

Class Dojo- Every child in school, from Nursery to Year 6 will have their own portfolio set up on Class Dojo. Activities will be uploaded to the child’s portfolio where they can be completed and then the teacher can mark and feedback directly to the child.

All parents are connected to Class Dojo across the school community. This will continue to be used as a means of direct communication between the staff and parents using the ‘whole school story’, ‘class story’ and individual messaging. A daily message will be posted on class story with a summary of the lessons that are to be completed each day

Online Learning Resources

 

Times Table Rockstars – All children from Year 1 to Year 6 have a logon for Times Tables Rockstars. This is a fantastic website that supports children in learning their times tables.

Once your child has logged in they should play in Garage mode. This has an automatic training mode which starts with easy times tables and as the children get them correct it adds in more and more times tables. This means that it is pitched at the right level for the children so they’re able to practise getting quicker at tables that they know rather than struggling over many that they don’t know.

Purple Mash is an online portal containing many activities for a full range of subjects. Each child has their own login and teachers can set tasks for the children. When children complete a task on Purple Mash they can submit it to their teacher who can comment on it.

Charanga – Those using the Charanga platform are adopting Yumu to support their students’ music-making and learning at home. Yumu is a secure online space where students learn, play and develop their musicianship by:

• completing assignments that you set using your own favourite resources or Charanga’s.
• engaging in independent learning, chosen from a range of exciting Yumu Packages.

Website Links

 

Oak National Academy– Visit our online classroom to view all of Oak’s free lessons, searchable by key stage, year or subject. Or visit our About Oak pages to find out more about our work.

BBC Bitesize– Explore our best videos, articles and quizzes for primary and secondary students and discover new Primary Catch-Up Lessons to get back on track. BBC Bitesize covers all subjects.

Topmarks– Topmarks has a range of educational resources, games and links to other websites covering all subjects.

Toy Theatre– Toy theatre is a collection of interactive educational games covering a range of subjects.

ICT Games– Educational maths and English games aimed at 5-8 year olds.

ICT in Schools: Learning at Home – ‘ICT in Schools’ based at The Word in South Shields have collated a range of activities and resources that you will find useful for home learning. Resources are easy to find as they are divided into age groups.

English

Phonics Play– Some free phonic games.

Maths

White Rose Maths – Together, we’re building a whole new culture of deep understanding, confidence and competence in maths – a culture that produces strong, secure learning and real progress. No matter what their starting points, we help teachers and learners everywhere to achieve excellence.

Foundation Subjects

PE:

Joe Wicks’ Workouts – Access a variety of different types of workouts to stay active on Joe Wicks’ YouTube site: The Body Coach TV.

Cosmic Kids Yoga –  Cosmic Kids Yoga are interactive adventures which build strength, balance and confidence – and gets kids into yoga and mindfulness early! Each episode is its own story, so you can enjoy the Cosmic Kids series in any order.

Go Noodle for Families– A wide range of fun dances for children to learn and help them stay active.

Geography:

National Geographic Kids – Discover cool fun facts about space, bugs, animals, dinosaurs, and so much more!

History:

Horrible Histories – Horrible Histories is a hit CBBC show that explores the side of history that they don’t teach you about in school! From the Vicious Vikings and Awful Egyptians to the Slimy Stuarts and Terrible Tudors, Horrible Histories covers the funniest, yuckiest and most gruesome bits of history for kids.

Science:

SciShow Kids – SciShow Kids explores all those curious topics that make us ask “why?” Whether conducting experiments, researching new questions, or talking with experts, there’s always something new to discover with SciShow Kids, no matter what your age!

Computing:

Hour of Code– Trying an Hour of Code is a simple and fun way to introduce students to computer science.

 

 

Wellbeing Activities

14 days of wellbeing activities

 

Parent Guides

This link takes you to a YouTube channel which is filled with videos to help parents get online with google tools for schools:

Google tools help guides