Remote Education Provision

Remote Education Provision

The information below relates to remote education provision provided by Cheam High School in the case of whole school closure where all students are accessing remote learning from home (except for Key Worker or Vulnerable students who will continue to attend and access remote learning from school)

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

  • If the whole school is working from home then teachers will switch from in person teaching to our remote educational provision.
  • We will deliver remote educational provision Monday-Friday, 8.30 to 2.50 in line with the normal school day.  We will try to replicate a ‘normal school day’ as best as possible.  This will include an online tutor time via Google Classroom each morning from 8.30-8.50 followed by lessons in line with the student’s normal timetable.  For sixth form students this may include a period 6 which runs from 2.50 to 3.50. 
  • The majority of lessons will be delivered ‘live’ by teachers via Google Classroom.  Some lessons will involve instructions and work being set for the student to complete.  Research conducted after the last national lockdown showed that a blend of live learning and task-based learning was most effective for students.
  • Live lessons may not involve the teacher teaching for the full hour – often the teacher will teach for the start of lesson, showing students what to do.  The teacher will then close the live video aspect of the lesson so that students can complete the work set but will remain available to answer any questions, and then reopen the video towards the end of the lesson to check students’ progress.  It is very important that the student logs in on time for each lesson so that they can be admitted to the live learning classrooms.

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 and appropriate. However, we will need to make some adaptations in some subjects if there is a whole school closure. For example, Games lessons will involve weekly physical activities set for students on Show My Homework to complete to their appropriate ability, at an appropriate time and in an appropriate space depending on context.  This will be supplemented by a range of fun activities we run through our school social media platforms.

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:

Key Stages 3 and 4

5 hours plus additional tasks

Key Stage 5

An hour for each lesson on their timetable plus additional tasks
  • We will not follow a formal homework timetable during a period of whole school closure. 
  • However, teachers will make it clear during live lessons whether a piece of work should be completed by students before the next lesson, or whether any additional independent work should be carried out.

Accessing remote education

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

We use two key platforms for our home learning provision.  These are Show My Homework and Google Classroom.

  • Show My Homework (SMHW) allows staff to post instructions and learning resources in line with the student’s timetable.  These posts may include a link to a Loom video.  This is a pre-recorded video where the student’s teacher will talk the class through the learning or demonstrate an exercise to students.  The student can pause, rewind or replay the video as often as they need to.  Usually, SMHW posts will include a direction to a Google Classroom.  This is used for live teaching.  Teachers can also use their SMHW posts to upload other links, such as to You Tube videos or newspaper articles, as well as learning resources such as worksheets.
  • The student is able to communicate with their teachers through either sending them messages on Show My Homework, speaking to them live through Google Classroom or through using the Google Classroom text chat function.

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 will take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

  • In both the first lockdown and at present, the school has issued a significant number of laptops for parents/carers in need of devices at home.  We have been issued over 100 DfE laptops which are being used for this purpose.  Parents/carers have also been given information about how Smart TVs and games consoles can be used as a tool to access platforms like Google Classroom and have offered and issued mice and keyboards to students for this purpose.  Parents/carers can request a laptop by contacting the School Office through the usual channels and their child’s name will be added to the waiting list, whilst a device is configured.  Parents/carers can then pick up this device from the School Office once the Year Team contacts them to say it is ready.  Staff members will also make contact with Year Teams where students have identified to them that they do not have a device to be able to access their online learning.
  • The school has a small number of routers that it can lend to allow access to an internet connection.  These can be requested by contacting the School Office and the Year Team will contact parents/carers once the router is ready to be collected.  The school can also request increased mobile data allowances for families where there is no access to a fixed broadband connection and there is not the means to purchase the additional data needed to access educational resources. In such situations, parents/carers can contact the school through the School Office or Year Teams.

How can pupils access any printed materials needed if they do not have online access?

  • If students need printed materials in the unlikely event of online access problems, parents/carers should contact the relevant Year Team who will organise any printed materials as needed.   Parents/carers can find a full list of email contacts by clicking here.  The school office will remain open to receive phone calls and messages if parents/carers would prefer to communicate with us this way.

How can pupils submit work to their teachers if they do not have online access?

  • In these circumstances arrangements will be made between the student and the relevant Year Team.  As above parents/carers should contact the Year Team.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We will teach live lessons via Google Classroom – teachers will usually remain on line for the full lesson time even if students are completing an individual written task.

We will also at times use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:

  • recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, Loom videos)
  • printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets)
  • reference to textbooks and reading books pupils have at home
  • commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences e.g. Linguascope for MFL or Educake for Science

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?

  • Our expectations are that every student logs into their live lesson offer for each period of the school day and submits work online as per their teachers’ instructions.
  • We also expect students to submit work on either SMHW or Google Classroom as requested – support guides are on our website to help students to do this successfully and parents/carers to support them.

What are your expectations of parental support, for example, setting routines to support your child’s education?

  • We encourage parents/carers to help their child by ensuring they follow the timings of the school day and check SMHW before each lesson for instructions.
  • This includes ensuring students are ready to start their day with 8.30am tutor time.
  • We also encourage parents/carers to help students to take relevant breaks from screen time as per the normal school day.

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

  • If we note that your child is not present for lessons, we will contact you.  Please be assured that we know there may well be a legitimate reason why your child was not present such as, for example, the need to share technology in the household.  Often this will just be an email so that you are aware that your child has missed some learning time but, if there are ongoing issues, we will contact by phone to discuss matters with you and see how we may be able to help.  Who contacts you will depend on the particular situation – it may be your child’s Year Team, a teacher or a Subject Leader. 

How, and how often, will you check pupils’ engagement with remote education?

  • We will monitor attendance to tutor time and live lessons and provide reports to Year Teams daily to enable them to follow up any concerns.

What action will you take where engagement is a concern, including how will you inform parents and carers?

  • Parents/carers will be contacted on the day or the following day if students have not logged in and attended live lessons or tutor time.  This contact could be via email or a phone call.
  • If engagement continues to be a concern Year Teams will encourage students to attend school as lack of engagement with remote learning makes students vulnerable and more likely to fall behind their peers.

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:

  • Students can submit work by uploading typed work to SMHW or Google Classroom. 
  • They can also upload photographs of written or practical work. 
  • Teachers can then provide feedback to students through these platforms where appropriate. 
  • Not all lessons will require work to be submitted. 
  • Teachers will make clear whether work should be submitted and how.

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 these pupils in the following ways:

  • Teachers will differentiate their lessons as much as they can for students with SEND.
  • The SEN team will phone the parents of EHCP students once a week to check in and offer support with any issues.
  • LSAs will continue to deliver Speech and Language remotely in line with EHCP plans.
  • Our Assistant Psychologists will continue to offer their interventions remotely.
  • Other therapists will continue to offer remote interventions for their students.