Remote education: information for parents  

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

For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home?

Our aim is to follow the curriculum plan and deliver the same offer no matter how/where the children are being taught.  Due to limitations in teaching remotely, some aspects of the curriculum will be altered, e.g. certain practical science activities.  A pupil’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.  Each child should have workbooks or other resources at home which can support learning in the short term.   

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?

All pupils from Y1 to Y6 have access to the following online resources,

  • Spelling Shed
  • My Maths
  • Purple Mash
  • Times Table Rock Stars

Year 6

All pupils have access to Microsoft Teams.  They have also been provided with workbooks for maths and English.  Work will be set by the class teacher on the first day of closure.  Work will become more formal and structured no later than the third day of closure.

Years 1-5

All children have workbooks at home which they could be immediately directed to. 

If parents have any issues with passwords, school can resend these. If you have an access issue please call the school office.  

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 same curriculum remotely as we do in school.  This will ensure that when the children all do return to school the curriculum coverage will be the same.  
  • Some adaptations for subjects taught may have to be made e.g. you may not have all the resources at home for scientific experiments.  

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.  The hours can be averaged over the week.  At Lingfield, one session, a week, e.g. one morning or one afternoon will be used for making group video calls, along with 1:1 phone calls to specific families for the children who are not in school.  This will limit the chance staff have to provide marking and feedback on this particular session, however we feel that the individual calls home and the interaction on video calls between peers is really important for children who are learning from home.   

Key Stage 13 hours per day  
Key Stage 24 hours per day 

Accessing remote education

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

We have different systems in place depending on the year group your child attends. 

Year 6

We are using Microsoft Teams to deliver our remote learning.  School provides teacher inputs pre-recorded by the class teacher on a daily basis and activities for pupils to complete.  These are supplemented with teaching inputs from other digital providers, e.g. Oak Academy or BBC Bitesize. 

Years 3, 4, & 5

For pupils in these year groups we are using Showbie.  This is a relatively new move for us, having implemented this change the week beginning 25th January.  It is the full package of communication and learning.  Each class has its own individual page where messages can be posted, videos shared and daily work shared.    These are supplemented with teaching inputs from other digital providers, e.g. Oak Academy or BBC Bitesize. 

Reception Y1, & Y2

Work is currently emailed to families on a daily basis.  A daily overview with links to pre-recorded videos by the class teacher provide teacher inputs for pupils.  Also attached are resources and activities for children to complete. These are supplemented with teaching inputs from other digital providers, e.g. Oak Academy or BBC Bitesize. 

Other resources used across school include but is not limited to;

  • White Rose Maths
  • The Oak Academy 
  • Oxford Owl 
  • YouTube 
  • BBC Bitesize
  • TimesTable Rock Starts
  • Purple Maths
  • Spelling Shed
  • My Maths

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:

  • We have applied for laptops from the DfE and will prioritise those pupils who have a Social Worker or in receipt of Pupil Premium. 
  • The Local Authority have introduced a laptop loan scheme.  We will lend laptops to parents as these become available and will ask parents to sign an agreement to say they will return them in good condition when remote learning has ended. We may also be able to provide routers or dongles to enable internet connection if requested.   
  • If required school can support with work packs and work books. Feedback about what is required should be communicated with the school.  
  • Feedback can be emailed or shared during the telephone calls home.  We encourage parents to get in touch if issues arise so learning time is not lost.  

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

  • a recoded summary each morning of the learning for the day 
  • structured approach each day including maths, reading, writing and the foundation subjects
  • recorded teaching inputs and modelling e.g. mathematical calculations 
  • video stimulus for a task e.g. writing a narrative 
  • if requested, printed paper packs produced by teachers 
  • workbooks for Year 1-6 (the children already have these at home) 
  • links to websites may also be used e.g. White Rose Maths 
  • as far as possible the children will follow the curriculum due to be taught over the time frame. 
  • Pupils in Y1 to Y6 will submit work on a daily basis 

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 would like children to engage in remote learning every school day and to do their best to complete all the activities set by the class teacher. Teachers and teaching assistants will be monitoring engagement of pupils and will contact parents if they have any concerns in this respect or to offer support with any technical issues or difficulties for pupils in engaging with remote education.
  • Parents are asked to establish routines for learning and regular breaks, as well as guidance and checking of work that the child has completed. Whilst we encourage children to complete work independently wherever possible we recognise that younger children and older children with special educational needs will need more support from adults e.g. listening to your child read, explaining instructions for a task and providing plenty of encouragement and praise for their efforts. 
  • Parents are also asked to remind their child of the need to follow our e-safety rules and to stay focused on the tasks set. They should report any e-safety concerns to school. There is a section on our website with information on e-safety and how to report concerns.  
  • We are also aware that parents/carers often have more than one child at home and they are also trying to balance their own home working.  Please just do the best you can.  

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

  • Teachers keep a log of the engagement of each child.  Where there are gaps in engagement or a child is struggling to submit work, support will be offered.  
  • School will endeavour to support in any way we can to ensure each child receives a balanced and broad education in line with the curriculum expectation for their year group.  

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

Feedback can take many forms and will depend on the type of work set.  Feedback is not only used to give praise but also to support improvements and move the learning forwards.  Feedback also supports parents and carers in how they can help their child/children.   

  • feedback on Showbie or Teams will usually be given on the same day as the work is submitted.  Teachers try to give timely feedback so the children can respond and improve their work.  
  • response to parental questions will be over Showbie, Teams, the telephone or email 
  • whole class feedback may be given to address common misconceptions
  • individual misconceptions will be addressed when required 
  • work set by teachers will be differentiated where appropriate 
  • work will be aspirational but accessible 

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:

  • Pupils with SEND may require lots of over-learning and repetition to become secure with a skill or concept. Some children will need physical objects to help them to complete a task e.g. using buttons for a counting task or using sweets to learn about number fractions. 
  • They may need learning to be broken down into small steps and the task may be scaffolded, with scaffolds taken away gradually to enable pupils to become more independent. 
  • They may require more teacher direction and this can take the form of voice recordings, which may make it easier for the child to process. 
  • For pupils working well below age related expectations or younger pupils with special needs, a differentiated, more personalised programme of work may be needed to cater for the child’s specific learning needs. 
  • Where applicable, all pupils with an EHCP can access school provision. 

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.   Teachers will do their best to ensure the provision follows the work set in school so the child does not miss any key areas of learning.  On return to school, additional support will be given if needed.  

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

  • Pupils will be given the same work as pupils in class each day as far as possible. This is more straightforward for pupils who can access Showbie or Microsoft Teams. The work will be carefully sequenced and will be both meaningful and ambitious, just as it is for other pupils. 
  • Work will cover a number of different subjects and will be designed to allow children to use recall and practise, to help make learning memorable and to improve understanding. 
  • It may take a little longer for work to be marked due to the competing demands of teaching a class and producing remote learning. Staff will feedback within 48 hours.