You will be aware that on Monday 4 January 2021, the Prime Minister announced a national lockdown in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, which has now come into effect.

The new restrictions mean that Primary and Secondary schools and colleges will remain open only for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children and young people to attend. All other pupils and students will receive remote education until February half term and must remain at home, in line with national guidance. 

How much remote learning should your child do each day?

The government expectation is that remote education should be provided by schools to be equivalent in length to core teaching pupils would receive in school each day – this will include both recorded and/or live teaching and time for pupils to complete tasks independently. Key Stage 1 pupils should be provided with 3 hours a day on average, with less for younger children. Key Stage 2 should be provided with 4 hours a day. The guidance states Ofsted will inspect schools that do not provide this.

What is our remote learning offer?

Our Remote Learning Offer is available to view on our academy website under the Children Zone > Remote Learning Offer section - There is a timetable for each year group so you know what learning your child needs to complete each day.

What is the easiest way to access?

As a gentle reminder, we would advise the easiest way for your child to access their remote learning and our online learning programmes is via Airhead.io. Remember, airhead.io can be accessed via any internet enabled device. A short video regards how to access airhead can be viewed  here

Using Microsoft Teams

All pupils can communicate (via chat) with class teachers in their class channel within Microsoft Teams (as we have done for the last two years). Teams can be accessed via airhead.io on your child’s Launchpad or by downloading the Teams app onto any device. Download the Teams app here

Live learning Events

As of next week, we will be commencing live learning via the video call function on Microsoft Teams. Your class teacher will share details of dates and times in their class channels. We will always schedule live lessons in advance – they will not take place on an ad-hoc basis. We hope that as many pupils as possible will attend this live direct teaching. There will always be more than one member of school staff present. Please be aware live lessons will always be recorded.

When attending a live learning event, please can we ask all families to abide by the following;

*Ensure your child is sitting comfortably, at a table and chair in a quiet space. Language in the background from family members should be appropriate. Please enter the live lesson with microphone set to mute. Your child must be dressed appropriately (no pyjamas). They may not be in a bedroom. 

How to access Airhead & a live learning session

Devices for pupils

Earlier this week, we offered school devices to all pupils in Years 3 – 6 & vulnerable pupils so that they could access remote learning provided on their school device. If Year 3-6 parents missed this opportunity and still require a device, please email the office and we will make contact regards collection.

We have received notification that we are due to receive some further devices from the government. Once we have received them we will be extending this loan offer to EYFS and Year 1&2 pupils. Further information will follow in due course – hopefully next week.

Using a device appropriately

Please can we remind all parents to check their child is sitting properly and comfortable when using a device – preferable at a desk or table with good back support. Do not allow your child(ren) to work sitting slouched on the sofa or their bed. Please make sure they take breaks from the screen on the hour. Make sure devices are set up where there is good light, ensure the screen is of the right brightness and that there is no flicker or glare.

What will happen if my child does not complete remote learning

The government expectation is that schools must provide remote education in equivalent to length of core teaching pupils would receive in school. As such we expect our pupils to complete the learning that has been carefully planned, set and delivered by our class teachers. We appreciate this may be a challenge for many of our families so we will offer as much support as we can with this. We will endeavour to remove barriers by providing as many devices as possible. We will be monitoring closely through our Insights data levels of pupil engagement. If your child(ren) does not regularly complete work, we will make contact to understand why this is the case and offer support.

We have been very impressed by the positive attitudes of our pupils this week, many have engaged fully with our remote learning offer already – in some cases up to 70% of the class. We need the full support from all our families to ensure 100% of pupils are engaging fully with our remote learning offer moving forward.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to make contact. Thank you for your continued support. Keep home & stay safe.