REMOTE LEARNING POLICY AND PLAN 2020

Introduction
Following a period of closure in Spring and Summer 2020. Copnor Primary School have developed a contingency plan, in line with DFE guidelines (Guidance for full opening: schools 27 July 2020) in the need for a further lockdown in Portsmouth or the country.  Children will continue to be provided with an education remotely which is high quality and aligns as closely as possible with in-school provision. 

All learning will be conducted using Tapestry (EYFS) and Google Classroom (EYFS, Year 1 – Year 6), Oak Academy and virtual online lessons. This will allow staff to keep in daily contact in a professional and confidential manner with their class. Teachers will be able to schedule learning in a manner that does not overwhelm our children. Teaching and learning can be tailored, changed and updated as time progresses, allowing for replication of classroom activity to the best of our ability. In all communications we will prioritise the wellbeing of our children.

Successes from previous lockdown (March 2020)
Since March, the school provided a successful model, which included:

• Engagement and communication with parents through phone calls/emails/website/Letters
• Using different mediums to communicate to meet all needs of all parents – videos/Zoom meetings etc.
• Face to Face family house calls for home learning packs
• Support and engagement from all staff
• Easter provision for keyworker children
• All Pupil Premium children contacted regarding their home learning/learning packs etc.
• All families contacted who have not been on their class zoom call
• Communication from parents to teachers via a new email set up during lockdown
• Whole School videos created for events – Assemblies, bedtime reading, Leavers event, Dance videos
• Individual year group messages/videos sent out to parents Via Facebook
  Home learning emails set up for each year group so children and parents can share learning with their teacher and the teacher can support and share news etc

Identified possible lockdown scenarios:

• Individual children who are waiting to be tested/isolating.
• A partial lockdown involving bubbles of children.
• A longer term whole school lockdown.
• Key worker/vulnerable pupils in school only.
• Short term teacher absence
• Long term teacher absence

The Need for Flexibility of Learning

We realise that the circumstances that cause our school to close will affect families in a number of ways. In our planning and expectations, we are aware of the need for flexibility from all sides:-

            parents may have two or more children trying to access technology and need to       

            prioritise the needs of young people studying towards GCSE/A Level accreditation; teachers may be trying to manage their home                  situation and the learning of their own children;

An understanding of, and willingness to adapt to, these difficulties on all sides is essential for success

Expectation Management

We believe that it is in the best interests of our children that we continue to provide structured support to the best of our ability.  It must be noted that the work children engage in during a period of closure will be part of our current planning and so cannot be considered as optional. This is our children’s education and we cannot afford for them to miss out on any further learning time.  Children and parents should consider the arrangements as set out in this document as highly recommended. 

Teaching Staff will:-

• Create a weekly timetable with updated times of online learning and weekly expectations.
• Share teaching and activities with their class through Google Classroom & Emergency Closure section of the website
• Continue teaching in line with current, extensive planning that is already in place throughout the school and adapted for the needs of pupils within the class context
• Plan a range of activities and where possible they will not require the use of a digital device
• Accept the fact that learning remotely will be more difficult, so tasks will be set in smaller steps to allow for this;
• Keep in contact with children through Google Meets via Google Classroom
• Reply to messages, set work and give feedback on activities during the normal teaching hours 8.35 am – 3:20pm;
• Acknowledge and feedback on all work where necessary
• Allow flexibility in the completion of activities, understanding that the circumstances leading to our closure will affect families in a number of ways;
• Take regular breaks away from the computer or iPad to engage in other professional duties as much as circumstances allow e.g. Policy Development;
• If unwell themselves, be covered by another staff member for the sharing of activities. Follow up of messages in Google Classroom during this time will not be undertaken until the teacher is fit to work.
• Contact parents and children if work is not completed or not completed to a satisfactory standard

Teaching Assistants will:-

• Support class teachers in providing learning opportunities for children
• Attend virtual Google Meet calls with class teachers
• Support class teachers in feedback to pupils
• Plan and create personalised learning for identified individuals within the class
• Contact parents and children if work is not completed or not completed to a satisfactory standard
• Take regular breaks away from the computer or iPad to engage in other professional duties as much as circumstances allow e.g. Policy Development
• If unwell themselves, be covered by another staff member for the sharing of activities. Follow up of messages in Google Classroom during this time will not be undertaken until the teacher is fit to work
• Contact parents and children if work is not completed or to a satisfactory standard
• Reply to messages, set work and give feedback on activities during the normal school hours 8:35 am – 3:20pm

Subject Leads will:-

• Work with teachers remotely to make sure the work set is appropriative, consistent and in line with current, extensive planning that is already in place throughout the school and adapted for the needs of pupils within the class context
• Alert teachers to resources they can use to teach their subject remotely
• Monitor the quality of work produced across all year groups and ensure consistent with the high standards and expectations expected

Senior Leaders will:-

• Co-ordinate the remote learning approach across the school
• Monitor the overall effectiveness of remote learning through meetings with teachers and subject leaders, reviewing work set and reaching out to pupils and parents for feedback
• Monitor the security of remote learning systems, including data protection and safeguarding considerations
• Work as a team to ensure the highest quality virtual education is provided for our children at Copnor Primary School

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) will: -

• Identify ‘vulnerable’ pupils (pupils who are deemed to be vulnerable or are at risk of harm) via risk assessment prior to the period of remote learning with the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads and the Local Authority Link Co-ordinator
• Arrange for regular contact to be made with vulnerable pupils, prior to the period of remote learning.
• Make phone calls vulnerable pupils using school phones where possible.
• Arrange for regular contact with vulnerable pupils once per week at minimum, with additional contact, including home visits, arranged where required.
• Contact with vulnerable pupils’ social workers or other care professionals during the period of remote working, as required.
• Meet (in person or remotely) with the relevant members of staff once per week to discuss new and current safeguarding arrangements for vulnerable pupils learning remotely.
• Ensure that all members of staff report any safeguarding concerns to the DSL immediately.
• Encourage contact to the DSL if they wish to report safeguarding concerns, e.g. regarding harmful or upsetting content or incidents of online bullying. The school will also signpost families to the practical support that is available for reporting these concerns

Children will:-

• Be assured that wellbeing is at the forefront of our thoughts and the need for children to take regular breaks, get fresh air, exercise and maintain a reasonable balance between online engagement and offline activities;
• Be given several days to complete a task to allow for sharing of devices within the family
• Only send messages and queries that are in relation to tasks set by the teacher or in response to questions the teacher may ask them directly
• Only access the material shared by their teacher and ask for parental permission to use technology for anything beyond that
• Read daily, either independently or with an adult for at least 15 minutes in KS1 and 20 minutes in KS2
• Consider using the school closure time to learn a new skill, follow their own interests to discover more about the world around us or just be creative.

Parents will:-

• Set up the account in advance to ensure children have access to the learning
• Support their child’s learning to the best of their ability;
• Encourage their child to access and engage with posts from their teacher;
• Refrain from screenshotting or copying any information, messages or posts to share on social media or any other platform outside of the virtual class on Google Classroom;
• Know they can continue to contact their class teacher as normal through Google Classroom, class or year group emails or the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) email on:  slt@copnorprimary.co.uk
• Check their child has completed work each day and encourage the progress that is being made;
• Be mindful of mental well-being of both themselves and their child and encourage their child to take regular breaks, play games, get fresh air and relax

Remote Learning Systems Access Information

All learning will be set on Google Classroom and uploaded by the start of each new week regardless whether children are in school or at home learning. The work uploaded to Google Classroom will be as identical as possible so that children who are self isolating are not disadvantaged compared to their peers. Teachers will use Google Classroom as part of their normal in school teaching methods so that children are confident using the platform.

Each lesson will have a live input (either live on Google Meet or prerecord via Google Classroom or Oak Academy), followed by a activity that will develop understanding, skills and consolidate learning, with feedback being to move learning forwards.

For any child who doesn’t have access to technology, paper packs will be provided. The school has 11 laptops which are available for isolating children. The school has 11 laptops which are available for isolating children with priority given to those children classed as “Pupil Premium”, 

Links with Other Policies

This policy is linked to our:
    
Behaviour Policy
Child Protection Policy and Covid-19 addendum to our child protection policy
Home School Agreement
Feedback Policy
Online Safety Policy
Acceptable use policy