Remote Education

Our remote learning package is still live and will continue to be used as and when necessary. If you need your login details again please contact the school office.

Hatchell Wood will provide remote education if:

Pupils are unable to attend school in person due to unplanned closures, for example, due to adverse weather
The school is required to close or restrict pupil attendance because there are higher than normal levels of staff absence, for example due to strike action
In exceptional cases, a child might also be unable to attend for medical reasons but well enough to learn from home, for example recovering from a short-term infectious illness or preparing for or recovering from an operation.

We will also use the VLE regularly to set homework and ongoing learning throughout the year.

We use the school website for our remote learning provision through the virtual learning environment (VLE) built into it. Pupils can access this by clicking on the Pupil Login button in the top left hand corner. Click below to see how it works.

If your child does not have access to the internet or technology at home then please get in contact with us as there are several ways we can support to make sure that they get access to all the learning that they are entitled to.

How does the School Spider VLE work?

School Spider's pupil area means they can pick up homework, complete it and load it back up for marking, engage in online class discussions and blog with pupils in their class and their teacher. This is under the supervision of teaching staff who will approve comments (it also has an automatic checker which pick up on words or phrases that may cause concern and alerts us).

What sort of work will be set?

The amount of work set will be, on average, three hours per day across all activities for Key Stage 1 and four hours for Key Stage 2. This will be a mixture of watching recorded lessons, completing work (both on the computer and away from it as four hours staring at a screen can get too much) and live check ins and feedback. We say average as sometimes things can take a little longer or sometimes quicker but it should even out over the week. Please just do your best and judge it around your child's mental state. If they are becoming demotivated then encourage them to continue (as we want them to have resilience) but you may have to stop, do something else and then come back to it later.

The work will be uploaded by the class teacher and will continue the learning that either was due to be taught in class (if the bubble is self isolating) or reflects the work being taught in class (for individual pupils self isolating).

This will be a mixture of teacher produced resources and activities as well as commercially available online resources such as Oak National Academy, BBC BItesize, MyMaths and Timestable Rockstars. Whichever activity or resource best fits the learning will be chosen rather than just using one source.

The activities set will be downloadable in formats that will be accessible to all (for example text may be put direct onto the activity page on school spider or converted to PDF rather than in a word document which not every device will be able to read).

There will also be a range of activities to 'go off and do' to ensure that children are not having to sit in front of the screen all the time.

We do not expect children to have to print anything off to be marked. They can type straight into school spider, take a photo or save a document and upload it. They will then get feedback on their work from their teacher and the class can have discussions so that they can talk about what went well and what would be even better if... The teacher can also address misconceptions and difficulties that the pupils may have and plan the next steps of learning.

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:

The academy works with all pupils to ensure there are no barriers preventing them from accessing remote learning. This includes;

Providing appropriate and safe devices for pupils to access the remote learning offer.
Providing data and internet access where needed in order for pupils to sustainably access the remote learning offer.

Providing home packs which include any stationery and reading books, so that all can access and continue to learn through remote learning. These resources are aligned to and mirror, the digital remote learning programme in such a way so that no pupil is disadvantaged or will experience gaps in their learning

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

Attendance of remote learning will be taken at appropriate intervals during the day. At times of absence due to any technological issues or barriers;

The academy will be in touch that day to discuss and support addressing these barriers ahead of the follow day’s sessions.

Where there has been absence not due to technological barriers;

The academy will make a phone call to the home. These checks and calls will be performed regularly in order to check welfare of pupils and support pupils’ engagement in learning in line with expectations.

At all stages we will work together with parents, carers and pupils to support their engagement and attendance. We will offer support and advice to parents and carers whenever it is required.

Additional support for pupils with additional needs

Support for SEND pupils - All provisions for remote learning will be subject to the year group’s age, ability, and/or any SEND. To support teachers, pupils with SEN-D and EHCPs will also be supported by the SEND team and pastoral staff to ensure that any remote learning that takes place meets their needs and individual targets. In exceptional circumstances, the school may reduce its curriculum offer to enable pupils to cope with the workload – the Headteacher and SENCo will assess this need, keeping pupils’ best interests in mind, and will not take the decision lightly.

Feedback

Pupils receive feedback in several different ways. These are balanced and appropriate to support teacher, pupils and purpose. These include;

In the moment feedback during live sessions, through teacher / pupil interaction
General marking of work submitted/ uploaded
Verbal feedback, sent through a recorded message attached to the pupil’s work (deep feedback)

What Parents have said about our remote education offer

I think it's working very well. I think school have adapted very well. Its good that they can see how much work they need to do everyday. Well done
The work is an excellent mix of activity based tasks, recorded lessons by Mr Bond and links to other good resources such as Oak National Academy. It has clearly been very thoroughly planned and feedback to work is always given.
The daily zoom calls are really good. They bring some of the usual daily routine, going through the work required, being able to ask questions and also being able to see and chat a bit with friends is really valuable, as it is a lonely time right now for the children at home.
There is a good mix of video tutorials and working by your self in the home learning packs, which again is helpful, especially for parents working from home.
Structure of the day and lessons is great, Zoom meetings give children a chance to socialise and catch up- a bit of normality.
The Maths with YouTube videos is great and really helpful. … isn’t the most enthusiastic homeschooler and it’s hard to even get her to sit down and engage with work. The videos with Miss Overton help take some of the pressure off me as I’m not a teacher and a lot of what is being taught is totally new to me (reverse factors for two and three figure multiplication???!!!) Miss Overton herself has gone over and above to help me try and prioritise what … needs to concentrate on, rather than us attempting (and failing dismally) to do all of it. The registration call each morning also gives a connection to everyone which is good. I also appreciate the general communication from school which has been helpful in keeping us up to date with developments.
Good communication with the teachers. Quick response
Amount of work seems fair

Files to Download

Remote Learning Policy Frequently Asked Questions Live Remote Working Protocol