This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to families 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 students are self-isolating, please see the final section of this document.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home
There will be a different approach to remote learning dependent on the reason that the cohort (or bubble) has been required to remain at home.
Scenario 1: A cohort (or bubble) are required to stay at home due national restrictions
Will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as if they were in school?
The remote learning students undertake will mirror exactly their normal timetable and as such the curriculum provision is broadly the same with some minor adjustments being make to some of the content covered due to it being delivered remotely rather than face-to-face.
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
We expect that remote education (including attendance at live lessons and independent work) will take all students in Years 7 to 13 around 5 hours a day which would mirror their normal school day.
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
Links to live lessons and independent learning will be provided on the online learning page found in the Student Portal or on the student’s class site or Hub Site.
There is a link attached to each of the student’s lessons on a particular day and these will take a student to a live lesson or to additional resources which they will be expected to work on independently during the lesson time.
Live lessons will be delivered using the Microsoft Teams platform.
If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
If families are having issues with digital or online access at home we request that the contact the Academy by e-mail in the first instance using the following e-mail address:
info@collegiateacadeny.org.uk
We have a number of laptops and dongles that we can provide to families as well as giving them access to the government scheme to top up data packages for students to provide additional connectivity with households.
We would prefer that students are accessing the high quality online provision we will provide during the period of restrictions, however, if for some reason this is just not going to be possible, and a student still requires a work pack, we request that the family contact the respective Head of Year to make this request. Work packs will be posted out with a self-addressed envelope enclosed so that the completed work pack can be returned to the Academy by the date specified. Alternatively, families will be able to return the completed work packs to a ‘drop box’ sited at the Academy.
How will my child be taught remotely?
Students will be taught using a variety of resources including live lessons delivered by their class teachers through the Microsoft Teams platform, commercially available websites such as Century Tech, MathsWatch, GCSEPod, and other resources which are made available to students through their class sites and/or Teams channels.
What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?
We expect that students will engage in all live lessons unless there is a valid reason for them not to. If they do have issues accessing the live lesson then we expect them to catch up on the lesson they missed at a time suitable to them but prior to the next live lesson in that subject.
We expect that all students will complete the independent learning tasks that are set within the timetable for any lessons where a live lesson is not being delivered.
We would ask that families support this by ensuring that students still have a routine that matches their normal school week. We ask that students are up and ready to learn by 8.30am and that they have adequate breaks within the day, these are factored into the remote learning timetable.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Staff will record the attendance of students at every live lesson and monitor the completion of key pieces of work set. Staff will contact families regarding any concerns over engagement in live lessons and/or completion of independent work text message or by making phone calls where appropriate.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
The methods used to assess a student’s work and progress within remote learning will, as far as possible, mirror the current practice within face-to-face lessons. All staff will use the question and answer/chat function with live lessons as an assessment for learning tool as they would do with questioning within the face-to-face classroom. It is important therefore to ask your child to ensure they are engaging as fully as they can in the live lessons.
Staff will identify key pieces of work that they will ask students to submit to them either through the commercially available websites, Teams channels, the dropbox function on class sites or OneDrive. Staff will use these pieces of work to assess the student’s progress and provide feedback.
Students will then receive feedback through a variety of methods e.g. this could be whole class feedback in live lessons, individual feedback using the tools within the commercially available website or individual feedback on pieces of work that have been uploaded to Teams, the dropbox or OneDrive.
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 students, for example some students 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 those families in the following ways:
- we will ensure we make regular contact with families throughout the period students are told to remain at home in order to provide support
- we may, where appropriate, offer individual students the opportunity to attend the Academy and work with staff within a small group setting
- we will provide the same support regarding the allocation of laptops and dongles to overcome any barriers to digital or online access as we would for all other students
Scenario 2: A cohort (or bubble) are required to stay at home due to local restrictions or COVID-19 related staff shortages
The same principles will apply in scenario 2 as in scenario 1 except for the fact that the timetable may not mirror exactly their normal Academy timetable as there may have to be changes made to timings of lessons particularly if the Academy has had to close to students as a result of COVID-19 related staff shortages.
Remote education for self-isolating students
If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
If a student has to remain at home due to self-isolating then we will ensure that they have access to all the learning materials for their lessons either through their class sites and Teams sites. Students should submit their completed work through the digital means available to them or alternatively, they can bring the hard copies of the work they complete back into the Academy on their return.
Due to the need for staff to teach students within the Academy we are unable to provide any live lessons for any individual students who are self-isolating but they are able to contact staff at any time via e-mail to ask for assistance and guidance.
