St Paul's Walden

Our Remote Education Provision

Please find here information about how we will be offering remote education to children who are in school (children of key workers or those who need to attend) or who are at home, either during partial closure or due to self-isolation. 

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

We aim to provide pupils with a high-quality learning experience, ensuring that all learners have access to learning opportunities whether they are learning at home or at school. We look for those learning opportunities both inside the classroom and outside the classroom. We are committed to supporting every child’s wellbeing at St Paul’s Walden School. We praise children’s successes and understand progress that may seem slight but can be a huge step forward for some. We aim for our pupils to become confident and resilient so they can achieve their best.

For children with SEND, we are able to provide learning that is differentiated supporting individual needs as appropriate. Where interventions need to take place, these may be provided remotely where we are able to do so enabling pupils to overcome the barriers to learning. 

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

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.

Pupils will be able to access Google Classroom along with other school subscription platforms from home. All pupils will be provided with their login details at the start of the academic year. If your child is in years 1 to 6 these details can be found in their pupil planners, pupils in reception will have their logins sent directly to their parent or carer via email.

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

Pupils will be able to access Google Classroom along with other school subscription platforms from home. We aim to provide work that pupils can access on the first day at home, however the activities provided will be aimed at consolidating existing learning and will be tasks that can be completed independently.

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 aim to provide your child with a high-quality learning experience regardless of them being in school or at home:

• 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, in science it may not be possible for some investigations to take place such as those using electrical circuits.
• Live and recorded learning may not be possible when the class teacher is also teaching pupils in school.
• Remote learning due to whole school closure will also include a mixture of live and recorded lessons.

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:

Each class will broadly follow the daily timetables here

Accessing remote education:

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

We use Google Classroom as our main platform for online learning, it easily accessible from a range of devices. Should you need assistance to access the platform please ensure that you contact the school office for support admin@stpaulswalden.herts.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. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

• If you do not have the necessary equipment needed to access Google Classroom please ensure that you contact the school office, admin@stpaulswalden.herts.sch.uk. We will endeavour to assist you by loaning your child a device that they can use from home.
• Should you not have access to the internet we will endeavour to support you with establishing a connection. This can take time to organise and we will ensure that pupils receive appropriate printed materials until they can access remote learning.
• Should printed materials be required the school office will coordinate the sending of new material and collection of finished work.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

• Live teaching (online lessons).
• Recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers).
• Printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets).
• Textbooks and reading books pupils have at home.
• Commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences.
• Pupils in key stage 2 may also have live group sessions to promote collaborative learning.

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 complete the work that is set to the best of their ability.
• Pupils are expected to be ready to login to live lessons 5 minutes prior to the start.
• All pupils are expected to ask their teacher for support if they need assistance regarding their learning.
• We request that parents support their children contacting the relevant class teacher should they need guidance in completing tasks.
• Parental support setting routines around working times and ensuring that pupils take regular breaks and exercise.
• While we know that pupils are at home, we would appreciate it if all children are appropriately dressed and not in their pyjamas.

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

• Teachers will monitor how regularly pupils attend live sessions and the amount of completed work.
• We expect parents to inform the school office by phone or email should their child be unwell or unable to complete work at home.
• Should we not receive any notification of non-attendance or work then the class teachers will inform the Headteacher and school office.
• The class teacher will contact the parents in the first instance to establish if we can support the family with any issues they may be experiencing.
• Should the pupil continue not being engaged then the Headteacher will contact the parents to offer advice and support.
• Complete disengagement from learning will be seen as a safeguarding concern.

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:

• Pupils will receive verbal feedback from the Teacher regarding work that they are completing remotely.
• Teachers will write comments on work as appropriate, comments will not be written if verbal feedback has been given.
• Comments will include what went well along with a next step or target for the pupil to work on in subsequent learning.
• Pupils will receive feedback at least 3 times a week.

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 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:

• The school will check in with the families of SEND pupils at least every other week ensuring that they have access to the necessary resources for their child to access remote learning.
• Whenever possible Teachers will ensure that pupils have access to videos and audio explanations of tasks.
• For SEND children in reception and year 1 activities will be tailored to the individual and will remain practical and play based in consultation with the parents and carers.
• Should you want to discuss your child and their provision please email sendco@stpaulswalden.herts.sch.uk

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?

During periods of self-isolation there will not be any live teaching or recorded teaching videos. Pupils will receive written and verbal support from the adults within school. Pupils will follow the same sequence of learning as far as possible as the pupils who are attending school. Pupils will receive feedback from the Teacher in the same way as detailed above, however they may not be able to respond to queries as quickly due to their teaching timetable. The Teacher will make a weekly telephone call to the pupil and parent to ensure that learning, support and feedback is maintained.