Remote learning for COVID-related absence
It is sadly the case that disruption to education relating to coronavirus is continuing in the 2020-21 academic year. There are unfortunate instances where children may need to isolate and therefore access their education remotely. We understand that periods of isolation can be very challenging for children and families. We aim to work together with families to offer the best possible provision for our students which is supportive of their education yet manageable in a remote setting.
This section of our website provides an overview for our remote working arrangements.
Firstly and most importantly, children who are unwell are not expected to complete schoolwork until they are fit enough to do so. Children who are isolating but who are fit should complete school work as outlined below. It is our hope that our remote education provision will support children to access their education such that they are not behind when they return.
The first day of isolation - emergency work provision
Emergency work will be provided for a small number of subjects which your child can engage with for the day, which we believe will be a manageable amount as your child settles into a routine of home learning. Your child can also continue to complete any homework previously set.
For students in years 7-11 this work can be accessed via Satchel One (Show My Homework) and will be communicated in a ‘Classwork task’ (which appears red/pink).
For students in years 12-13 this work can be accessed via Google Classroom.
If your child does not have access to wifi and/or a device from which they can access this work, please inform us by emailing cas-enquiries.tcs@cset.co.uk.
We recommend that students set themselves up for success by:
-
Finding a quiet place to work with access to an internet enabled device, paper and/or exercise books, pens, and a solid work surface such as a table or desk.
-
Maintaining a sleep pattern which will enable them to engage with schoolwork as per their timetable (from 09.00 - 15.00).
From the second day of isolation
We will aim to offer an enhanced remote provision to ensure that high quality instruction/explanation, support and feedback can take place.
Timetable
We ask that parents support their children to follow their normal school timetable from 09.00 - 15.00, completing work remotely for subjects at the times they would be in lesson:
Year 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13
09.00 - 10.00: Period 1
10.00 - 11.00: Period 2
Break
11.30 - 12.30: Period 3
12.30 - 13.30: Period 4
Break
14.00 - 15.00: Period 5
Year 8 and 10
09.00 - 10.00: Period 1
Break
10.30 - 11.30: Period 2
11.30 - 12.30: Period 3
Break
13.00 - 14.00: Period 4
14.00 - 15.00: Period 5
We suggest that students work for approximately 45 minutes of the lesson and take regular short breaks between.
When will there be live lessons for students to access from home?
Where an entire class is isolating, most subjects will be taught via a live remote lesson at the time of the timetabled lesson. Such subjects usually include English, Maths, Science, Geography, History, RS, Health and Art. Depending on the nature of the curriculum there are some (more practical subjects) for which a live lesson may not be suitable. Wherever it is suitable, we will of course endeavour to provide live teaching.
There are some instances where only some of the students in a class are isolating, whilst the rest are in school and in their lesson. Subject teachers therefore will be delivering a lesson to the students in their classroom at the normal timetabled time. Very recent (November 2020) installation of new ICT equipment is now enabling some teachers to live stream their lessons so that students can access the lesson at home. This will involve students being able to see the materials projected on the board and to hear their teachers’ explanations. A text function will be available for them to ask and answer questions, and they will be able to verbally contribute if a teacher selects them for answering questions.
How will live lesson details be communicated?
Teachers will post instructions for joining the live session via a Classwork Task on Show My Homework (year 7-11). Instructions for students in Year 12-13 will be emailed or posted in Google Classroom.
What guidance is available for students and parents to facilitate access to live lessons?
Please find attached the following two documents to support access to live provision. These documents also outline the behaviour expectations of students in such remote settings.
If a student is given the instruction to isolate, we ask that parents go through this guidance with their child(ren) and practice logging into Google Meet.
Remote education - non-live elements
Where live interaction and live support is not possible teachers will supply remote work which has been designed to be accessible from home, with simplified explanations and where possible videos / links to support. This work will appear as a Show My Homework Classwork task (red/pink).
Students are able to ask questions and get support by emailing their teacher or by posting their question as a comment on the Show My Homework Classwork task.
Please note that teachers need time to receive information about students' isolation, to compile and to share learning materials with students. For this reason we refer parents to the section above regarding a manageable amount of work during the first day of isolation whilst staff and students prepare for longer absence.
Support for isolating students
If students struggle to understand learning material we encourage them to contact their teachers for support; year 7-11 students are encouraged to comment on the Show My Homework task and or use email to contact their teachers.
Year 12-13 students are encouraged to use Google classroom and/or use email to contact their teachers.
If a student has difficulty in accessing their Show My Homework account we ask that parents please do get in touch with us so that we can help: cas-enquiries.tcs@cset.co.uk
We welcome your feedback
We have developed our remote provision considerably since the March 2020 lock down. This development has been informed by feedback from parents, students and staff.
Surveys have been conducted with parents and carers at specific intervals. The views shared via these surveys have been hugely helpful in supporting us to continue developing our remote curriculum. We would like to thank all parents and carers who have responded to such surveys and encourage any parents contacted in the future to submit a response.
We have now also begun to conduct focus-group discussions with some students when they return from isolation to gain valuable insights from our learners about their experience of their remote learning.
We welcome your feedback and support with regards to remote learning.