School Life

Remote Learning Policy and Parent Information

Continuing to learn remotely

Whilst remote learning is not be the same as learning together in school, we will endeavour to ensure all students can learn at home, following the curriculum as it would be taught in school. Necessarily, remote learning challenges staff and students in new ways, as they have to adapt, and it particularly means for students that they have to be more independent, organising their time and working through problems themselves.

Our aim is that we will always be able to provide an effective education, whether students are working from home or are in school, or a combination of both. It may be that some subjects have to adapt the order in which they are teaching course content to suit remote learning and it is likely that progress through the curriculum will be slower than it would be in school, as learning is broken into smaller chunks to allow for time working independently, submitting, downloading, logging on etc.

Situations in which remote learning will be needed

· Government instruction for schools to close to all but vulnerable students and those whose parents are keyworkers.

· A year group having to work from home because of a number of student cases of COVID 19.

· Individuals who have tested positive for COVID 19, but are well enough to complete school work.

Processes at Bishop Ramsey

Where one or more year groups are working from home, accessing education remotely, the school will deliver the usual timetable of lessons online, via MS Teams, that students would experience at school. Students will need to access these via their Teams calendar.

Where individuals are working from home, accessing education remotely, work will be made available on Teams, either by streaming the in-school lesson, publishing a blended learning plan of accessible resources, or sharing the resources and powerpoint from the lessons. Please note, remote learning will not be published on Arbor.

In both cases, students should follow their timetable as closely as possible, but be aware that when teachers are teaching in school, they may not respond immediately to students’ emails. Students will need to be independent and may need to adjust their timings.

Expectations of remote learning

Where possible, students are asked to follow the time and sequence of their usual timetable at home, accessing their learning resources through Microsoft Teams. Following the usual timetable provides a structure to the day and helps to ensure an even amount of time is dedicated to each subject.

If other members of their class are in school, they should continue complete the remote work, as well as completing any homework set for the whole class, available on Arbor.

If lessons are being taught online, or streamed from the classroom, teachers will notify students of their online lessons via Teams. Scheduled meetings show up in the calendar in Teams and this should be used to join the lessons at the right time.

Online lessons will be only be recorded if all students are working from home. In-school, streamed lessons for individual students will not be recorded.

If students are stuck and cannot find any work to do, or have completed everything, we ask them to be independent and recommend if they have spare time, they read a book or the news, or use the excellent online learning programmes they have, including GCSE Pod GCSE Learning and Revision | GCSEPod (sign in with Microsoft Office), Kerboodle, My Maths, BBC Bitesize Home - BBC Bitesize and Oak National Academy Home - Oak National Academy . The school now has an e-reading platform and access to a daily newspaper, The Day, with worksheets and tasks. These can all be accessed via the BR student portal Intranet - Home (sharepoint.com)

Submitting work

Students will be expected to remotely submit work, which will vary depending on the subject and how many lessons they have; it won’t be every task for every lesson. Teachers will ask them to submit something for assessment and feedback every 3-4 lessons. It may take the form of an online test or quiz, a task on an online learning programme, a photograph or scan of the notes they have made in their exercise book, a written assignment or completion of a worksheet.

Any feedback on student work, when working remotely, will be a mixture of quiz scores, whole-class comments, whole-class verbal feedback in a lesson, or individual written comments.

Contacting home and absence – whole cohorts learning remotely

If a class, year group or the school have to revert to remote learning, MS Teams records and logs attendance and engagement of students. Teachers will continue to mark registers on Arbor for parents to see. Students are expected to attend all online lessons and complete the work set. If they are unwell/unable to attend, the school should be notified in the usual way.

Teachers will contact parents, usually by email, if they are concerned that students have not logged in, attended a several online lessons, or that work has not been submitted. Year Directors will make contact if students are not attending, or not submitting work in three or more subjects, so parents can support effectively.

Please make sure that if your child is ill, or unable to attend online, that you let the school absence line know in the same way as you would if they were attending onsite. If they are struggling to attend online lessons due to technological or internet issues, please let their Year Director know.

If teaching staff are absent

Cover work will be set as a on Arbor for the lesson, for both the students in school and at home. Teachers will livestream some lessons and a cover teacher will share them with the class, or students will view the lesson via their own device. They will need headphones for this.

E-Safety

Please discuss e-safety with your child/ren as they use online resources for learning. There is further guidance in the student area of the school website click here

Online conduct

It is important that students learn to use digital resources and spaces in a responsible and professional way, communicating formally as they do in school and remembering that everything posted on Teams is public to the whole class and the teacher.

We expect the highest standard of conduct from Bishop Ramsey students, online, as well as in school and the school behaviour policy applies equally to online as to conduct in school.

SEN support

Students with Education, Health and Care Plans will be invited into school during extended periods of remote learning. This enables us to help students access the learning activities. The Inclusion Faculty will also be regularly phoning families to talk to students and parents and to offer support in accessing and completing the work set. LSAs will attend the lessons of the students they support so they can answer any questions.

Pastoral support

We recognise that students respond in different ways to changes and many find it challenging.

Form Tutors and Year Directors will continue to support students through phone calls, emails, registration time and assemblies, if their year group are working remotely for some time. Support from Place2Be click here Report a safeguarding concern click here

Free School Meals

If your situation changes and you think you could claim free school meals for your child, formal applications for should be made at https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals

If provision is required for students who are working from home and not receiving their free school meals, due to Covid 19, please contact medical@bishopramsey.school to request this.

When students are not attending due to government instruction, digital Tesco vouchers will be sent out as a matter of course, to families in which students are entitled to free school meals. If this continues for an extended time, the government’s system of vouchers via Edenred will be used.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the work?

All learning activities will be on Teams, whether it is simply the lesson work, a sharing of the in-school lesson or an online lesson for all students.

My child can’t log in to Teams or Office

The username for Microsoft Office is their email address and the password is the same as the one they use in school. Contact remotelearning@bishopramsey.school if their password needs re-setting. Download the Teams app at Download Teams

Office 365 is available to all students and can be installed on up to five devices. There is no need to keep accessing it via the web browser. Install Office

How should students submit work?

This will vary for each subject and each task and a task may even be automatically submitted if it’s a quiz or online learning tool. Instructions will be in the lesson activities. If students are not sure, they should use their exercise book or complete and submit the work in the same place in which the activity is set. Work in exercise books can be photographed and uploaded to Arbor or Teams, if requested by the teacher.

How can students get help?

Students can email teachers, but are asked to ensure their emails are in full sentences and of the appropriate tone. Teachers will endeavour to respond to questions as soon as they can, but will be teaching throughout the day. If your child can catch up with another subject, read their reading book, or use BBC Bitesize, this will give the teacher time to respond to their query (see further resources linked above in the ‘If there is no online lesson’ section).

If they are struggling to complete work, getting behind or are worried they missed something, they can send a message to their teacher to let them know – they shouldn’t panic. We just ask that they do their best.

Problems with accessing resources?

Narrated powerpoint files do not work if viewed online; they need to be downloaded and opened then viewed in slide show mode. If using a phone and storage is limited, they may need to be deleted after the work has been done.

What if we don’t have a device or the internet is poor?

Students will need access to their own device and the internet for several hours a day. Please contact cwells@bishopramsey.school or your child’s Year Director if they do not have this, or it is disrupted. Access to all Microsoft apps, including Word, Powerpoint and Teams is via Office 365.

Student Guide to online lessons - please click here