Our Provision – Information for Parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

At Town Close we aim for a full timetable of remote education provision to be provided from the outset.

Will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

We follow the same timetable remotely as we do in school.

In both the Pre Prep and Prep Departments, we teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school, wherever possible and appropriate. In some instances, we may need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, some games lessons may need to be adapted and some topics that we feel are best delivered in school. For example, some elements of the RSE curriculum (relationships and sex education) may be postponed and replaced with other units in the meantime.

Remote teaching and study time each day

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

Pre Prep (EYFS and KS1)	A minimum of 4 hours (including registrations, story time and assemblies)
Prep Department (Key Stages 2 and 3)	Daily Registration, Tutor Groups and Assemblies (30 minutes daily) 11 x 30 minute lessons daily Homework (up to 1 hour per day, depending on the year group)

Accessing remote education

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?

Pre Prep

Reception: All learning tasks and resources will be shared on the pupils’ Tapestry accounts. The children’s live lessons will take place on Zoom; the teacher’s Zoom codes will be sent home on a Friday to parents on their weekly timetable for the following week.

Years 1 and 2: All learning tasks and resources will be shared via email to parents and carers. The children’s live lessons will take place on Zoom; the lesson codes will be sent to parents via email.

Prep Department

Pupils’ tasks are set through and resources shared on our school Firefly platform. All lessons, registration periods and assemblies take place on Zoom; the teachers share their account details on Firefly in advance of the lessons.

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?

At Town Close, 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:

• Print paper copies of learning resources for families to collect from the school office on a weekly basis should they not have access to the internet
• Provide school devices for those pupils in Year 5 or below (Years 6-8 already are all issued with their own iPads)
• Speak to parents in the instance of the school needing to issue or lend devices that enable an internet connection (for example, routers or dongles), and where parents or carers can find more information about this
• How pupils can submit work to their teachers if they do not have online access

We also take the following approaches to support those pupils to submit work:

• If pupils are unable to access the internet to submit work, they are welcome to drop off or post any paper copies of learning tasks to the school office
• Staff will make contact with pupils once they have received the hard copy of their work to provide feedback

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

All pupils will be provided with a full timetable of live teaching via Zoom. In addition to these lessons, the following approaches will be employed:

• Resources produced by teachers
• Textbooks and reading books pupils have taken home
• Homework activities following the whole-school homework timetable, which may include long-term project work
• E book platforms

There may be some rare instances in which teachers will pre-record lessons for pupils to access remotely. This information will be shared with parents and carers in advance.

Engagement and feedback

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

We expect all pupils to:

• Access all remote learning lessons
• Have their cameras turned on throughout their lessons on Zoom, unless directed otherwise by their teacher
• Wear their school uniforms whilst on Zoom
• Ensure that they have the necessary resources ready in advance of the lesson that have been shared with them by their teacher
• Submit work to their teachers as requested

We expect all parents to:

• Support their child(ren) to follow their school timetable
• Support their child(ren) to access the correct resources necessary for their lessons and ensure they have a suitable workspace for their lessons
• Support their child to be safe online
• Support their child to engage with lessons online
• Inform the School should their child not be able to attend a lesson
• Inform the School if they are facing any difficulties at home, for example in relation to resources or access to education

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

Pre Prep: Staff will take a register in the morning and afternoon in the Pre Prep Department. In the case of pupils not attending, this will be followed up by the school.

Prep Department: Staff will take a register in the morning and afternoon and at the start of each lesson and will monitor the submission of pupils’ learning tasks. In the instance of work not being submitted, staff will follow this up with pupils and their families.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work is as follows:

A range of feedback techniques will be employed including (but not exclusive to) the following:

• Live in-lesson feedback
• In-lesson whole-class feedback
• Self-assessment
• Peer feedback
• Teacher comments and feedback on work submitted on Firefly (Prep), via email (Years 1 and 2) and Tapestry (Reception)

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:

At Town Close we work closely with families to ensure that remote education is inclusive and accessible for pupils with SEND. Our SENCo and teachers liaise with families and pupils as and when necessary to ensure that provision is appropriate and make adaptations as necessary.

Some of the ways in which we support pupils who need additional support are outlined below:

• Remote counselling sessions continue with our School Counsellor via Zoom
• Specific 1:1 readers are heard by school staff via Zoom
• Lexia interventions continue to be accessed by pupils
• Differentiated resources are provided for learners by staff

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.

If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

During a National Lockdown, pupils who are self-isolating follow the same remote provision as outlined above.

Outside of a National Lockdown, pupils will access a full timetable of lessons via Zoom, with the exception of swimming and some games activities. In some cases, lessons and the teaching sequence may be adapted. In EYFS, pupils will access lessons on Zoom alongside the incorporation of other teaching strategies (as listed above).