Remote education provision: information for parents
This information is intended to provide clarity to students and parents or carers about the Greenvale School remote education package, where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.
We appreciate that learning from home can be difficult for many of our young people, and encourage families to communicate with Greenvale so that we can be flexible with our approach. We recognise that 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 parents and carers to support those students.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home
Students learning at home will continue to follow Greenvale Schools aspects of the Greenvale Curriculum as selected by the class teacher. As well as core subjects, home learning includes a variety of lessons and activities based on key principles:
Relationships – Building upon current and previous relationships is important. Through having familiar staff who can reach out and greet students the relationships we aim to support the young person to develop and maintain relationships with other staff and stuidents in their class. .
Community – we recognise that curriculum will have been based in the community for a period of time. We need to listen to what has happened in this time, understand the needs of our community and engage students ready for the return to formal learning
Transparent curriculum –our students may have lost time in learning and we must show them how we are addressing these gaps, through working with the students, sharing successes and setting achievable targets in order to heal this sense of loss.
Metacognition – in different environments such as the home, students will learn in different ways. It is vital that we make the skills for learning in a school environment explicit to our students to reskill and rebuild their confidence as learners.
Space – to be, to rediscover self, and to find their voice on learning in this issue. It is imperative we supply opportunities and time for exploration where appropriate and not only focus on linear progression in order to ‘catch up’.
What should my son/daughter expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
A student’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. You receive a home learning pack for 2 weeks, which includes a variety of worksheets and activities for each pathway, as well as:
- Guidance sheets for Reading, Maths, PE, Mindfulness and Movement breaks
- Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) guidance
- Individual Annual Review Targets to work on at home
We teach 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, students in school have 3 curriculum lessons per day, however we only offer 1 curriculum lesson live per day for remote learning. The other daily sessions such as reading and PE are taught live in school, and can be facilitated by families at home.
All lessons will be adapted to meet individual needs.
Remote teaching and study time each day
- live teaching (online lessons accessed via zoom)
- recorded teaching (video recordings made by teachers accessed via youtube?)
- printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets delivered every 2 weeks or as requested)reading books students have at home
- Practical activities and resources such as switches and sensory activities for our Grove students.
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my son/daughter each day?
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take students broadly 3-5 hours per day. It will include some live online sessions and some other adult directed activities.
Accessing remote education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
We will be teaching all live lessons through Zoom or Teams. This can be accessed through an app or web browser. Support can be provided if requested.
If my son/daughter does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
We recognise that some students may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those students to access remote education:
- We have a small number of iPads and laptops we can lend to families. We will prioritise those on FSM.
- Stamped envelopes to post work can be supplied or work collected as requested by parent/carer.
If you require support with accessing online learning, please email schoolcontact@greenvaleschool.co.uk or call the school on 02084650740. During weekly welfare calls we will be asking about home learning, so do raise any issues during that phone call too.
Engagement and feedback
What are your expectations for my son/daughters’ engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?
- We would expect parents/cares and families to support Greenvale students during live lessons, and with their own independent learning throughout the week.
- We would expect parent/cares to get in touch with school if there are any difficulties.
How will you check whether my son/daughter is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
- We will be making weekly welfare calls to all families, which will include a brief discussion on home learning.
- We will continue to write IEP/ILP termly and summative annual reports. Remote parents’ evening will give us a chance to reflect on these reports.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms and needs to be meaningful for our learners. Our approach to feeding back on student work is as follows:
- During live lessons, parents/cares will be present and live feedback will be given
- Work returned to school will be marked and appropriate feedback given to students or parents/carers during weekly welfare call.
- Shared IEP/ILPs / targets
- Work packs provided with appropriate level tasks so parents can also feedback to students where expected outcomes are clear
- Recognise PSD – behaviour / attitude to learning / coping with change If you cannot find the links or need another copy, please get in touch with the school via email or phone.