This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency for pupils and parents/carers about what to expect from remote education in exceptional circumstances where the school or part of the school is required to close.
 

What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first day or two of pupils being sent home?
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. Work relevant to the year group will be uploaded to Tapestry / Purple Mash / Mathletics / Century depending on the platform being used by each individual year group. Time will be needed to support families with setting up the passwords and troubleshooting. Work will be uploaded throughout the day, but it will be a limited offer.

 

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 will teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible. However, we will need to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, some creative lessons which require a great deal of equipment will not be set for home learning. We do not expect parents/carers to be providing lots of resources to complete remote learning tasks.

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 minimum requirements set by the DfE are:
• 3 hours a day for KS1 (Years 1 and 2 when pupils are aged between 5 and 7)
• 4 hours a day for KS2 (Years 3 to 6 when children are aged between 7 and 11)
Those hours include both direct teaching and time for pupils to complete tasks or assignments independently.
 

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
Each child/family is provided with login details for Tapestry / Purple Mash / Mathletics / Century at the start of the academic year depending on their year group. If you require these details to be sent again, please email admin@merrylands-pri.essex.sch.uk

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. If this is the case, families can have access to printed home learning packs. Contact should be made with the school office if a learning pack is required. Arrangements will be made for the collection of these packs from the school office.

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

• recorded teaching (e.g. White Rose PowerPoints, video/audio recordings)
• online tasks
• practical tasks
• Oxford Owl Online Reading
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences
• printed paper packs where required

 

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents/carers should provide at home?
Where possible, it is beneficial for young people to maintain a regular and familiar routine. Merrylands Primary School and Nursery would recommend that each ‘school day’ maintains a structure. We would encourage parents/carers to support their children’s work, including finding an appropriate place to work and, to the best of their ability, support pupils and encourage them to work with good levels of concentration.
Every effort will be made by staff to ensure that work is set promptly. Should accessing work be an issue, parents/carers should contact the school promptly and alternative solutions may be available. These will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
All children have signed an ‘Acceptable Use Policy’ at school which includes e-safety rules, and this applies when children are working on computers at home.
 

How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
All children’s completed work will be marked / acknowledged, enabling staff to see which children are engaging in the learning. Where remote learning is required for a significant period of time, teachers (or other members of staff) will be calling on a regular basis to discuss the work set and give support where required. Parents/carers can also email the class teacher via admin@merrylands-pri.essex.sch.uk for support if required.

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:
• English and Maths will be marked daily and all other areas of the curriculum by the end of the week. Comments will be made via the piece of work on Purple Mash / Tapestry / Mathletics / Century which the child is able to access.
 

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:
• provide differentiated and specific tasks and resources
• regular contact with class teacher and SENCo
• access to live sessions where appropriate
• more practical activities to engage children in EYFS and Year 1
 

Remote education for individual pupils
Where individual pupils require remote learning, but the majority of their peer group remain 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 the school is open, the child’s remote learning will be set on Tapestry / Purple Mash / Mathletics / Century depending on the year group. Instructions for tasks will likely be through written explanation or PowerPoint.  Feedback on completed work will be provided via comments on the online platform.

Remote learning links: 

Tapestry

Purple Mash

Mathletics

Century