Remote education provision: Information for parents
The information below is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and
parents/ carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local
restrictions require entire cohorts or bubbles to remain at home.

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 and learning.

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or
two of pupils being sent home?
If a child needs to self-isolate, then remote learning work will be set immediately through
the Purple Mash platform and tasks identified for completion in the CGP textbooks –
further details regarding this provision are included in the final section of this document.
In the event of a class bubble closing or a national school closure, remote contact with the
class teacher to support learning will commence as soon as possible. This may be in the
form of support with the lesson content through a Teams meeting, through welfare calls or
by being available virtually for support. In the case that the teacher is unwell themselves,
remote education will revert to what we provide for children isolating individually.

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?

We aim to teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible

and appropriate. If a child is having to self-isolate while the rest of their class are still
in school, there will be similarities in the tasks set across the topics / subject areas
and resources signposted for use in the absence of direct teaching.
In order to meet the needs of particular learners, there may also be some
adaptations made in the tasks offered and the subjects covered.

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:
For infant aged children: Three hours each day, broken down into morning tasks involving
Maths, English and Phonics and afternoon tasks based around foundation subjects
(including Science, History, Geography, Art, RE, PSHE, Technology). Daily exercise /
physical activity / mental well-being activities are also built into the daily timetable.
For Junior aged children: Four hours each day, broken down into morning tasks involving
Maths and English and afternoon tasks based around foundation subjects (including
Science, History, Geography, Art, RE, PSHE, Technology). Daily exercise / physical
activity / mental well-being activities are also built into the daily timetable.

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
We are using the following platforms / tools for our remote learning:

• Microsoft Teams
• Oak Academy
• ‘Letters and Sounds At Home and School’ (EYFS & Key stage 1 phonics)
• BBC Teach
• Purple Mash
• Mathletics
• Other online resources to promote physical activity such as Joe Wicks workouts and

        sessions provided by Chesterfield Sports Partnership.

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
therefore undertook a survey to find out what access families have to technology and
where difficulties lie. We are working with families to respond to any issues raised. In
addition, where issues have been identified by teachers in terms of the return of homework
or remote learning work, further efforts have been made to provide devices to those who
are struggling with access.
School also has limited access to a number of laptops / devices which will be distributed on
a priority based basis for the duration of the isolation, beginning with families eligible for
free school meals. Agreements will be drawn up with parents / carers and signed before
laptops or devices are loaned to eligible families.
We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• Communication via ParentPay has informed parents of expectations for their child

        on a daily/weekly basis. Emails are also sent to the children via the Purple Mash
        platform.

• Teachers have proactively monitored the completion of homework and remote

        learning where pupils have been self isolating. Where there has been lack of
        engagement, teachers have contacted parents and where devices or WIFI access
        has been highlighted as an issue, have informed the headteacher. Parents have
        been encouraged, via communication, to contact school if they have any issues
        including those linked to the use of technology.

• Cutthorpe Primary School has followed government guidance when considering the

        criteria for issuing electronic devices.

• There is no expectation that work be printed off. Each child has a “Lockdown Pack”

        containing blank exercise books and a set of CGP work books covering aspects of
        Literacy and Maths. Work when completed is photographed and uploaded to the
        Purple Mash platform. This is then used by teachers to provide feedback on the
        work submitted.

How will my child be taught remotely in the event of a national school closure or a
bubble closing?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

• A weekly timetable will be uploaded onto Purple Mash, which will show the children

        what lessons they will be completing daily. Children at home and in school will
        complete the same lessons.

• Work will be set on a daily basis and feedback given. Where it is clear that pupils

        are finding the work too challenging or have misunderstood the task, every effort will
        be made by a teacher to provide additional guidance. This could be in the form of a
       phonecall, written feedback or through a Microsoft Teams meeting. However, this
       will obviously depend on the size of the demand.

• To ensure that the learning we provide is synchronised, children in school and those

        working remotely will be taught the same content, using the same resources. We
        will be using the government approved Oak Academy videos and resources for
       English, Maths, Science and some other foundation subjects (when relevant).

• Children at home and school will also be asked to complete activities on Mathletics.
• All children will also take part in the Joe Wicks workouts that can be found online

       and this will be indicated on the timetable. To complement this, we are also
       signposting families to videos provided by Chesterfield Sports Partnership.

• In order that those children at home still feel part of school life and so that they can

       see their teacher, there will be regular opportunities for teachers to meet their class
       via Teams. These will be staggered to support families with more than one child in
       school.

• Celebration assemblies, where children’s achievements are acknowledged at home

        and school, will take place weekly.

• Contact with home will be through a mixture of Microsoft Teams, ParentPay, emails

        through the Purple Mash platform and phonecalls.

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as
parents and carers should provide at home?

Children should attempt all of the work set each day. They should approach

their work as they would if they were in school, including when taking part in
Teams meetings, for example being dressed, having eaten and being suitably
prepared.

 Expectations of parental support
o Parents should support the above by ensuing children are suitably prepared
and ready to learn with the appropriate equipment.
o Parents and children will be made aware of the appropriate protocol when
taking part in a Teams meeting. Anything seen or heard by staff during a
Teams meeting will be dealt with using normal school procedures for
behaviour or safeguarding.
o Parents should support children so that they are ready in order to access
Teams meetings with a teacher at the correct time.
o Parents should discuss the day’s activities with their child, so they know what
to expect. A similar daily routine will help your child to know what to expect
from day to day.
o Wherever possible, parents should be available to support the completion of
tasks in case the child has difficulties. The younger the child the more support
they will need.
o Parents should contact the teacher if they have concerns about their child’s
ability to access and complete the work set.

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

• Staff will check work on a daily basis and will therefore know if there has been any

        difficulties or disengagement.

• Where engagement causes concern, we will work with families to attempt to resolve any

        problems that can reasonably be expected under the circumstances. This may involve
        support through Teams meetings or additional feedback.

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. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:
All work will be acknowledged through feedback but may not be extensively commented
upon. Teachers will, however, provide extra support if they feel it is necessary for the time
period of isolation, or will use the work to provide additional support or intervention when
the child returns to school.

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:

•  We will use the knowledge of our children and families to pre-empt any support that

         may be needed in the event of a child with SEND having to isolate through the
         closing or a bubble or a national school closure.

• We will use phonecalls / emails to establish what additional support is needed and

        work to help address issues to the best of our ability under the restrictions we are
        working with at the time.

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in
school, below is how we intend to provide remote education.

• Five daily Maths activities with accompanying guidance to introduce the concepts,

        one to be completed each day. Answers will be provided to allow pupils and parents
        to self check. For teacher feedback on these activities, parents should return one
        photograph of all completed maths activities at the end of the week, or for shorter
        periods of isolation, at the end of the isolation period.

• Five daily English activities. These may include Reading Comprehension, Grammar

        tasks and/or other writing activities. For teacher feedback on these activities,
        parents should return one photograph of all completed English activities at the end
       of the week, or for shorter periods of isolation, at the end of the isolation period.

• Five daily Foundation subject lessons with accompanying resources (eg

        Powerpoints, video clips). Instructions will be given via an email to the child through
        Purple Mash. For teacher feedback, one photograph should be returned of the
        completed independent activities for the week.

• A reminder of the importance of still being physically active to support physical and

        mental health.

• A phonecall will be made within the first 48 hours of isolation to check on the child

        and to also check on their access to remote learning. This will allow us to help if
       necessary. The number of additional calls made will then depend on the result of
       this first call.

• Where engagement causes concern, we will work with families to attempt to resolve

        any problems that can reasonably be expected under the circumstances.