Derby Pride Academy - Remote Learning Guidance

Remote learning guidance for parents

Remote education provision: information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if 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

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.

Hard resources will be posted to the home on a fortnightly basis. These will supplement the teaching of daily live lessons timetabled for every pupil.

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

Each child has been given a device on which they can access their Microsoft Teams account. This is a virtual platform for lessons and correspondence. They will be able to log in to lessons with their teacher to complete virtually whilst hard resources are prepared and will be hand delivered in the first day or two. Hard resources will be sent home on a fortnightly basis.

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 wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, in practical subjects like art, pupils are restricted on the materials they have at home to continue their creative pieces – thus, they will have limited expectations for study at home. This is the same for their music studies which require software and specialist equipment.

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:

Secondary school-aged pupils not working towards formal qualifications this year	4-6 hours per day
Secondary school-aged pupils working towards formal qualifications this year	4-6 hours per day

Accessing remote education

All pupils have been issued a school device which has been set up with a Microsoft Teams account and a school email account – all of which they can access on this one device.

Links to videos and online activities, with platforms such as TuitionKits and BSKB, are also provided via our website in order to allow quick and easy access. The school issued device can access these also.

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:

Derby Pride Academy regularly checks that pupils have internet access at home. Where this is not the case, we will provide data packages for the school-issued devices.
Printed materials will be hand delivered to pupils studying from home within the first day or two. These support the provision delivered remotely and is a continuation of the curriculum delivered on site.
Completed work can be shared virtually and returned once the pupils is on site for their lessons.

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)
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, such as TuitionKits and BSKB.

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

We appreciate that this situation may present some challenges for parents/carers. In order that we can continue to provide high-quality education for your child during this time, we kindly ask that you:

Provide a quiet space where pupils can work without interruption;
Ensure the location is appropriate (e.g. avoiding areas with background noise, nothing inappropriate in the background, etc.);
Ensure pupils are appropriately dressed.

We do not expect you to watch your child all day, and we would not expect parents/ carers to get involved in remote lessons in place of our teachers. However, it would be helpful if you can take an active role in your child’s learning by asking them about their day and what work they’ve done.

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

Daily contact will be made to remind pupils of the expectations for their remote provision and to conduct safe and well checks.

If contact cannot be made with yourself or the pupil, this will be escalated and we will need to conduct home visit and/or alert external agencies.

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:

Verbal feedback on input during remote sessions on a daily basis.
Written feedback on remote sessions via the online messenger platform.
Formal feedback in response to assignments submitted online.
Marking, in line with our policy, work returned to school.

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:

Each pupil has had an individual demonstration on how to use the remote platform with practice undertaken in school. However, should additional support be required for pupils and/ or parents/carers, this can be discussed on an individual basis with our ICT Specialist who will identify appropriate support and guidance.

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?

Teaching Staff at Derby Pride Academy are prepared to deliver their lessons from school as well as remotely. This is to try and reduce the amount of curriculum time lost due to self-isolating. However, for some lessons, materials required may not be readily available in pupils’ homes. As such, when a pupil is self-isolating, work packs will be compiled at the beginning of the isolation period which cover the same topics to be delivered on site. Pupils will be invited to attend live lessons to acquire content and knowledge which they can then apply to the materials they have to hand.

All work completed during self-isolation should be returned to the school for marking and feedback.