Remote Learning
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.
Remote learning at Benedict Biscop C.E Academy will be accessed via Showbie and MS TEAMS.
All children should have their Showbie and MS TEAMS login details recorded in their home learning diary.
Please see below for our Showbie & MS TEAMS Guide.
Click VIEW to see more
It is expected that this login remains confidential to the family and not shared with other pupils or families. We expect pupils to keep their device secure by logging out if they are away from the device/the device is not in use. Pupils should use their own accounts, not their siblings’ accounts to access home learning. We ask adults to support pupils who require support logging in and accessing ‘live’ remote lessons and school will provide support to any families who require any additional support. We also ask parents/carers to ensure that appropriate filtering settings are in place on the device being used.
Pupils will be reminded by the class teacher, how to access the software required and the safe and appropriate ways to use it, including use of microphone, mute, camera, chat and hands up.
Pupils are expected to adhere to the following principles:
• Attend at the expected time if it is a live check-in or live teaching event. If they are unable to attend, parents must inform the school through the usual methods of non-attendance through the school office. The office will pass this information on to the adult delivering the session.
• Camera should be turned on where possible.
• Mute microphones when logging on and follow teaching adults’ instructions on when to unmute.
• Pupils should follow our usual school rules whilst in the session, including expected behaviour and appropriate clothing.
• Pupils should be in a shared living space, e.g. living room, kitchen, within earshot of another adult so they can be supported when required.
Below are online links that will help parents and carers protect their child whilst they are online and can be shared with parents/carers.
• Childline – for support
• UK Safer Internet Centre – to report and remove harmful online content
• CEOP – for advice on making a report about online abuse Support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online includes:
• Internet matters – for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
• London Grid for Learning – for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
• Net-aware – for support for parents and carers from the NSPCC
• Parent info – for support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online
• Thinkuknow – for advice from the National Crime Agency to stay safe online
• UK Safer Internet Centre – advice for parents, carers and students
• National Safety Online – advice for parents and carers
• Saferinternet – advice on online safety
*Please note, if you do not have access digital device or online access at home, please contact the school a.s.a.p. and we will be able to support you to access a remote device and the internet.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home
A pupil’s first day of being educated remotely will look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching. Parents will be emailed our day one remote learning information on the first day of isolation. This will include remote learning tasks, include guides to access our platforms and online safety guidance.
On day two work will be accessed via Showbie.
If you child is part of a bubble isolating, then we will provide additional information regarding online registration and daily live lessons via our MS TEAMS platform.
Your child will be provided with the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, Physical Education sessions may focus on key skills rather than specific games like hockey, as we are aware that families may not have access to specialist resources at home.
At Benedict Biscop we will provide a combination of both ‘real time’/’live’ lessons, videos, quizzes and activities. Lessons will follow the same elements of the effective teaching we have established at Benedict Biscop historically. Research has shown that there is no clear difference between teaching in real time and alternatives, what matters most is whether the explanation builds onto prior learning and how pupils learning is assessed. Therefore lessons will build on the pupil’s sequence of learning planned [whether they are in school or learning remotely]. Teachers will choose the most effective methods of delivery to enable them to best explain key concepts.
Children will receive feedback on all their learning. During live lessons, pupils are expected to participate in the sessions, answering questions [either verbally or in the comments/chat functions] as they would do in class. Feedback may be given verbally via MS TEAMS or via Showbie. All work that the children complete will be marked in line with the school’s existing policy prior to the next session. Teachers will use this as a form of checking if your child has understood the learning. They will identify what success criteria the children have achieved and what they need to do to improve their learning/what their next steps are. Children are expected to respond and build upon feedback they are given.
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
Primary schools are advised to provide a minimum of 3 hours remote provision. At Benedict Biscop, we aim to provide sessions following your child’s usual school day and their usual class timetable. Lesson videos, presentations etc. and tasks will be uploaded to Showbie for each session usually taught that day.
For bubbles isolating, we will host a live registration at 10am every day. Following feedback, we are starting our school day later, to allow sufficient time for families who may have to take other children to school. As well as providing a social time for pupils to see each other, this time is used by the teacher to answer any questions that pupils may have and to explain the timetable and tasks for that day. Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, this will be slightly different due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.
We advise that pupils take regular breaks and complete what they can. If your child is experiencing any difficulties, please do not worry. You/your child can contact their class teacher using the feedback/chat functions. Your class teacher will respond to you as soon as possible [these are checked daily].
Specific/bespoke intervention sessions may be arranged 1-1 or in small groups to support your child in areas that have been identified. These will take place via our MS TEAMS platform. A member of our team will contact parents to notify them of these sessions a day earlier to being delivered.
If the class teacher is aware that your child is having difficulty accessing or completing activities, they will contact you directly and arrange support.
What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?
From the start of this academic year, we have been using our Showbie platform within class to support the delivery of our lessons and to provide our home learning tasks, as we feel this will better equip our students to access their remote learning more independently if they are required to isolate.
Younger children may be less familiar or may find accessing remote learning more challenging. We would ask parents to support children with logging on and reading/understanding their learning tasks. Where possible we aim to provide tasks that the children should be able to complete independently [as they would do in class].
For our youngest pupils, for example pupils within our Early Years Foundation Stage, we will provide activities that parents can complete with their child, as well as independent activities.
Activities can be completed online, directly into our Showbie platform. However, some children may prefer for activities to be printed or to work directly onto paper. Photographs of the learning may then be uploaded or emailed to school [if parents find this easier]. This can help to reduce the time that pupils are on their device and may help where pupils may find it challenging to engage for longer periods.
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:
- provided differentiated learning support and tasks
- provide work linked to your child’s specific targets and areas of development
- send home additional support resources
- provide live intervention sessions via MS TEAMs
- arrange/co-ordinate intervention from specialist services/agencies
Contacts:
Please contact your class teacher, in the first instance, if you are experiencing any difficulties with remote learning. Alternatively, you can contact the Headteacher via bbinfo@nllt.co.uk.
If you have any concerns regarding your child’s mental health and well- being, please contact Mrs Armstong, Mrs Clark or Mrs Norton [DSLs and Mental Health Leaders].
