Burnham Market

Primary School

Remote Education

Remote Education provision: Information for parents/carers

The information on this page is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents/carers about what to expect from remote education.

The Remote Curriculum: What is taught to pupils at home

A pupil's first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary action to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching. 

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
From immediate effect, class teachers will provide work through either Class Dojo (via their portfolio) or Google Classroom. Children that we know have limited access to a device or the Internet, will be given workbooks and learning activities to complete. Additional work is sent via the post if needed.

Following the first few days of remote education, will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?
We teach the broadly the same curriculum remotely as we do in school.

  • From Turtle Class upwards, learning will include ; a piece of English, Maths, Reading activities and some topic work, each day.
  • In Seal Class work is posted daily. This will be a piece of Maths or English, Phonics and a topic activity.   Y1 pupils can send work in to their Class Dojo portfolio, YR pupils can send work to their Eexat account.

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, PE, Science and art would be similar activities but adapted for the home environment.

Remote Teaching and Study Time 

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 primary school-aged pupils between 3.5 to 4 hours a day, broken down as follows:

  • 1 hour for Maths
  • 1 hour for English
  • 1/2 hour for Reading
  • 1 hour for Topic

Accessing Remote Education

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
Parents can access the online learning through Class Dojo or Google Classroom, on a tablet, laptop, PC or phone device. Every family in school has access to the Class Dojo app for communication.

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:

  • Where a pupil does not have access to a device suitable to support online learning they will be provided with workbooks, that are returned to school for marking. This will be the same work as the other pupils are receiving online.
  • Printed materials can be collected from the school gate or posted where a family lives in an outlying village or when they are self-isolating.
  • If a child is classed as vulnerable and they do not have a suitable device at home to support online learning, they will be provided with a laptop/ tablet or similar device.

How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

  • recorded teaching (Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by our teachers or teaching assistants)
  • printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
  • reading books pupils have at home
  • commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
  • long-term project work that works alongside daily specific lessons on Maths, English, Reading and Topic.

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 engage with the work that is set.
  • We expect all parents to support their children with the work that is set.
  • Parents to follow the suggested timetable sent home by the class teacher.
  • Parents to communicate via Class Dojo if they are finding it difficult to engage their children in their home learning.
  • We expect parents to help their child to upload work completed throughout the day, or at least by the end of the school day, to enable the class teacher to review the work and feedback in a timely fashion.

How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Teachers will check the returned work daily and will note if they have not heard back from a family. The teacher will communicate via Class Dojo and check on the family’s welfare and if they can help and support in any way possible.

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:

  • Feedback will be provided to individual pupils on English and Maths work uploaded and returned to the class teacher.
  • Not all pieces will be marked in detail, teachers will continue to follow our marking and feedback policy by marking 2-3 pieces of work each week in depth for English and Maths.
  • If and when it is appropriate TI’s (To Improves) may be given to children to complete.
  • Topic work will be marked with more general comments and groups of children or the whole class may be given feedback as a whole.

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/carers to support those pupils in the following ways:

  • Learning set will be adapted accordingly by the class teacher for pupils with SEND.
  • Where specialist equipment and resources are required these can be borrowed from the school to support the pupil at home.
  • Parents are able to contact the school SENDCo through Class Dojo if specific queries or questions arise
  • In specific cases it may be appropriate for teaching/ support staff to visit the family home of a pupil with SEND to support with home learning.
  • In the EYFS and Year 1 a mix of activities for remote learning will be set with a greater use of video recordings by staff to support their learning at home. Activities will include a large practical element and less formal learning.

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?
Our approach to children who are learning at home whether they are self-isolating as an individual, or as a class bubble, is the same and described as above.
If there are any children who are shielding due to medical needs, a bespoke curriculum has been developed between the SENCO and class teacher and delivered online, as well as in person in some cases.