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 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?

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?

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?

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:

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

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?

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

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:

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:

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?

Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership (KCSP) Statement on School Attendance and the Provision of Remote Learning

School Attendance

DfE Guidance for full opening: schools states that all pupils in all years should return to school full time from September 2020, recognising this is vital for academic progress and student wellbeing.  All state-funded schools are required to follow this published guidance and have statutory responsibilities to secure the attendance of pupils in full time education. 

The Guidance specifically outlines attendance expectations; stating parents have a duty to ensure their child attends school regularly and schools have a duty to record attendance and follow up absence, including the appropriate use of available sanctions (in line with the Local Authority Code of Conduct). The guidance makes clear that shielding has paused and all, but a very small number of, children previously required to shield should return to school.  If a child’s health condition is such that they must continue to shield, this is confirmed by their GP or consultant.

Access to Remote Learning

With regard to the provision of remote education the Guidance is clear that where a child is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical or public health advice the school is expected to offer that child access to remote education immediately and the absence will not be penalised.  All other children must attend school. 

KCSP recognises that consistency of approach is helpful for all schools and parents. The agreed position is that where there is an officially confirmed requirement for a child to shield or a child is self-isolating due to suspected Covid-19 (themselves, in their household or by order of the NHS test and trace / local health protection team) remote learning will be made available by our schools.

The provision of remote learning is not a requirement for those who do not fall into these categories including non Covid-19 related illness or absence.  Remote learning is not an alternative to pupils’ full-time attendance at school. 

Principles of Remote Learning

KCSP recognises that there may be key differences between our schools when it comes to the delivery of remote learning to take account of the identified needs of the pupils in our schools and our respective infrastructure and resources.

The following principles for remote learning provision apply across all schools:

• provision is available to the individual or group of pupil(s) from the first day (or as close to the first day as possible) that an approved Covid-19 reason for absence is reported;
• provision offers curriculum continuity and enables pupils to continue in their class learning;
• provision offers a blend of high quality online and offline resources;
• provision ensures there is some opportunity to pupil(s) for teacher interaction, feedback and assessment;
• individual schools will work directly with the families of SEND children unable to access remote education without adult support to ensure their access to a broad and ambitious curriculum;
• pupils without online access will be provided with alternative resources to support the curriculum continuity in their curriculum learning.
   
  KCSP recognises that across its schools remote learning provision may include the selective use of ‘live’ interactions / lessons via Microsoft Teams, My Learning TV, Seesaw or other similar platforms where this has educational merit and is logistically feasible to deliver. However, it is agreed that this will operate as part of a suite of online and offline provision and will not be the exclusive or default method of delivery across our schools. 
   

16^th March 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

We of course hope and pray that all our families will remain well or recover swiftly from the current health issues.  If you become aware of any family who is finding the situation especially difficult and need some practical help you could let us know and we will help if we can. 

If you happen to be shopping perhaps you could consider buying an extra tin or toilet roll and adding it to our food bank box so we can pass it on to the local food banks for distribution .

Following the update from the Government today I am writing to let you know of our current plans for school.

The whole household of someone with any symptoms eg  a temperature or a persistent cough must self isolate for 14 days

We therefore expect that should you contact us to let us know that your child, or someone in your house, has symptoms the children will not be in school for at least the next 14 days. Should we become aware that children are in school who should be self-isolating we will be asking you to come and collect them

If your child is well then we ask that you access our home learning which will be on the class pages of the website www.st-augustines.kent.sch.uk by the end of tomorrow. In the meantime please encourage your child to do any of the following: read, practise their number bonds or times tables, count real objects, carry out some model making, design an Easter garden and take some exercise.

Social Distancing  the recommendations are that people should maintain a distance of 2 metres.

Clearly this cannot apply to the children in a classroom situation, although we will do our best to ensure space and good ventilation whenever possible. 

This obviously has implications for drop off and pick up times.  Please could we ask that you maintain a distance between other families as you make your way down the path and drop your children outside the classroom door.  At collection please make a wide circle outside the doors and the teacher will send the children to you.  We realise this may take longer than usual and trust you will remain patient as we try to manage the situation. If you particularly need to speak to the teacher please email or phone the office so the teacher can reply to you.  The teachers will contact you by email or phone should they need to.

We of course want our community to be able to maintain friendly links so the St Augustine’s smile will hopefully be much in evidence!

All the children are asked to wash their hands on arrival in school and before they go home as well as at regular intervals in between.

At school we are very conscious of maintaining a happy, positive, calm and purposeful environment and thank you for helping the children to understand the current situation.

We will continue to keep up to date with all the latest advice and let you know of any changes.

With all best wishes

Annemarie Whittle

Executive Principal

12 March 2020

Dear Parents and Carers

We continue to take the advice of Public Health England, the DFE and KCSP about steps to be taken to try and delay the spread of COVID-19.  We all agree that the following should be in place from now until further notice:

• schools should remain open
• anyone who has a ‘new and persistent cough’ or a temperature  should self isolate for 7 days and take medical advice should they be concerned
• everyone should continue to wash their hands with soap and water regularly and avoid touching their face
   

At school we are continuing to support all our children and staff in maintaining good hygiene and appreciate your help with this.

Please contact the school office in the usual way should your child not be well enough to attend school.

We look forward to continuing our usual school day with all learning and activities, however should there be staff absence we have a contingency plan to ensure the children remain safe, cared for and learning whilst in school.  We will let you know of any developments which may affect you and your children as they occur.

In the meantime thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Yours sincerely

Annemarie Whittle

Executive Principal