Remote Education: Information for parents and carers
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils, parents and 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.
Please click below to see our full Remote Learning Provision :-
Kings Hill School Remote Learning Provision
The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home?
Kings Hill School will ensure that where pupils are educated remotely, the curriculum will be, as far and appropriately as possible, the same as if they were in school. Our staff have worked hard, and will continue to do so, to plan and adapt lessons to ensure the school curriculum can be accessed whilst learners are out of school.
Your child will receive a daily recorded video for their English and maths work. The video will talk through the learning of that session with modelled examples and time for children to practise. Following the video, there will be an activity for the children to complete to practise the skills taught in the input. The children can complete these activities on screen and send it back to the class teacher through TEAMs or if it easier for you to take a picture of your child’s work and post it on TEAMs then that is fine.
The lessons for the afternoon sessions will be a mixture of videos and presentations for your child to work through and will include science, RE, PE, art, music, geography or history, PHSE and computing.
In order to increase the interaction between your child and their class teacher, there will be two daily live class calls using Teams. This way your child will feel part of their class even when learning at home and will be more able to set an effective routine to their learning. We are hoping that with live interactions, your child will feel more motivated to complete their home learning and benefit emotionally from seeing their friends and teachers.
What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first say or two of pupils being sent home?
If a whole class is sent home to self-isolate then teacher prepared presentations will be available from the first day of isolation. The presentation will lay out the key knowledge and learning for the lesson and will be followed by an activity for the children to practise their skills. Pre-recorded videos for English and maths will be available from the second day of isolation.
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 infant pupils broadly 3 hours each day and junior pupils 4 hours each day. Exercise books are available so that the children can record their learning.
A typical day could look like this:
8.45am-9.15am: Live call with your teacher
9.15am-10.15am: Maths video followed by activity
10.15am-10.45am: Break time/physical activity
10.45am -11.45am: English video followed by activity
11.45am-12.15pm: Guided reading/reading time/phonics time/ show and tell or quiz live on Teams
12.15pm -1.15pm: Lunchtime/physical activity
1.15pm – 1.30pm: Live call with your class teacher
1.15pm – 3.00pm: Afternoon video or presentation which will include a mixture of science, RE, PE, art, music, geography or history , PSHE or computing
Accessing Remote Education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
We are delivering all our remote learning through Microsoft Teams and all children have a username and password. If your child has lost their details, please email their class teacher. If you are experiencing technical difficulties accessing MS Teams then please email support@kings-hill.kent.sch.uk
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:
- We will provide DfE laptops to families that do not have suitable devices at home. Please contact k.harris@kings-hill.sch.uk for more information if you feel this could benefit your family.
- We will provide school iPads to families that do not have suitable devices at home. Please contact k.harris@kings-hill.kent.sch.uk for more information if you feel this could benefit your family.
- We will provide 30GB data SIMs cards and wireless routers that will enable an internet connection if you do not have an internet connection at home. Please contact k.harris@kings-hill.kent.sch.uk for more information if you feel this could benefit your family.
- There are circumstances where a child may need printed materials needed if they cannot access online learning. Please contact k.harris@kings-hill.kent.sch.uk if you would like to discuss this option.
- There is a drop off and collection point from the small hall where work can be dropped off on a weekly basis so staff can feedback on work.
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- Live calls from your class teacher twice a day to carry out a register and outline the morning and afternoon learning activities. When appropriate, these sessions will share good examples of work and provide whole class feedback
- Recorded videos from your teachers in maths, English, phonics (Reception only) and art followed by related activities to embed the knowledge and practise the skills taught in the video
- Live PE teaching from PASS.
- Presentations prepared by your teacher for all other subjects followed by related activities to embed the knowledge and practise the skills taught in the presentation
- Textbooks and reading books pupils have at home
Extra-curricular
- Recorded assemblies by a member of SLT that are based on our value of the term and some that are based on online safety and emotional and mental well-being.
- Live PE after-school clubs lead by PASS
- Live show and tell and quiz sessions weekly lead by a member of SLT
- Live celebration assembly lead by Mrs Early, the Headteacher
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?
We do expect all children to engage fully with their remote learning by attending the live calls, watching the pre-recorded videos and completing work to the best of their ability. For the younger children, we recommend that a parent watch the videos with their child so that they can pause and discuss the questions asked. Older children should be able to access the learning independently.
We do however ask parents to support the remote learning by:
- Ensuring that your child has access to a device to access MS Teams
- Supporting your child to log in to MS Teams and access their work daily
- Ensuring that your child has a suitable work space at home
- Encouraging your child to maintain resilience and good independent work habits and routines
- Ensuring your child to contact their class teacher through Teams if they are concerned about their work or need extra support
- Ensuring your child follows the usual school expectation and that they have read and understood the Acceptable Use Policy for remote learning
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
It is important that all children engage in their remote learning. We monitor the engagement of children daily using a range of different strategies which include taking a register twice daily, noting the work which teachers receive from children and engagement in Teams chats with their class teacher. If there is a concern that a child is not engaging that week, then the class teacher will try to contact the child through Teams chat. If there is no response, the class teacher will email the parents to offer support with the remote learning. If there is no response from this, then a member of SLT will telephone the family to offer support to access the remote learning.
How will you assess my child's work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms for children whilst remote learning.
Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
- Individual feedback to children that have posted work on Teams page or individual Teams chat page with their class teacher
- Whole class feedback during the daily live calls
- Self- assess work with answers the teachers post at the end of the day
Additional support for Pupils with Particular Needs
How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support form 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:
- Ensure that staff plan suitable work based on the needs of the learners in the class, as they do in school.
- Use recorded videos to allow pupils to work through a lesson at their own pace and at a suitable time, and enabling teachers to emphasis subject specific vocabulary and key information.
- Resources designed for lessons will be adapted and differentiated where appropriate, as they are in school.
- The Head of Inclusion will ‘check-in’ with pupils with special educational needs to monitor progress and identify any additional support required.
- Those children with EHCPs are offered a place in the key worker class in school where they will be able to access their 1:1 support.
- Those children with EHCPs will receive live support from their 1:1 teaching assistant on MS Teams.
- The Head of Inclusion will provide resources to help parents to support children at home, via the newsletter and website.
- The Head of Inclusion will offer parent meetings to enable parents to discuss any concerns they are experiencing.
- Parents and Carers are welcome to contact the Head of Inclusion, Mrs G. Williams at g.williams@kings-hill.kent.sch.uk.
Remote Education for Self-Isolating Pupils
If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, remote education will be provided but will differ from the approach for whole classes. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school. If your child is self-isolating then work will be set via MS Teams. The work will be uploaded to Teams from the first day of isolation and will consist of presentation slides guiding through the learning followed by activities to embed the knowledge and practise the skills taught in the presentation. The lessons given remotely will follow the day’s timetable in school as closely as possible and feedback will be given to the children via teams at the end of the school day.
Resources to Support Remote Education
Writing
Maths
Primary Maths Dictionary for Children and Parents
This is an excellent resource which is a guide to the mathematical terms used at primary school and what they mean.
Physical Activity and Wellbeing
Cosmic Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga. These are a series of children yoga quests which are excellent for physical activity and relaxation. Our children will be familiar with this as we use this a lot in school!
Joe Wicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz0go1pTda8 . Joe Wicks has a variety of short workout videos – you can even relive some of the PE with Joe sessions from the first lockdown
Super Movers: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers Enhance your wellbeing with catchy songs and easy- to-follow dance routines which help children actively learn.
Kent School Games: https://www.kentschoolgames.com/stayhomestayactive/personal-challenge Kent Sport have produced a bank of guidance and resources to help young people stay active and set personal challenges during school closures
