Remote Education Overview
We try to offer a balanced provision of live lessons, narrated resources and assignments. All remote learning work will be set via students' frog accounts including the links to the live lessons. It is important for students to regularly check their Frog accounts as lesson details maybe added and edited throughout the day. Students are also encouraged to check their emails regularly and contact teachers via email if they require any help.
A timetable of Live lessons for Years 7-10 will be published and shared weekly. Whole year group lessons will be used for KS3 and smaller groups for exam classes, who will receive more Live Lessons which will by and large follow their timetabled lessons. All live lessons will be recorded and shared with students to ensure no one misses out on subject content. All students will have additional independent assignments to maintain a balanced approach to learning. Some of these assignments will be used to assess progress, identify misconceptions and provide and opportunity for Formative Feedback to the students.
The Remote Learning Curriculum
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, some Citizenship and Personal Development topics do not lend themselves to Remote Learning. In addition, activities in practical subjects have had to be rescheduled as they cannot be achieved without specialist equipment in a safe and effective way.
FAQs
Remote Teaching and Study Time Each Day
How much work should students have to do?
We have asked staff to set classwork tasks that roughly correspond in duration to the lesson time that they would have in school. In addition they have been asked to set assignments via Frog (at least fortnightly) so as to track progress and provide feedback.
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?
Following DfE guidance it is expected that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:
Key Stage 3 – 4 to 5 hours
Key Stage 4 – 5 hours
Key Stage 5 – minimum 5 hours
Students have to opportunity to use FrogPlay, our OneDrive resources and the classroom pages of the VLE to support, extend and consolidate their work.
Accessing Remote Education
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
All work is accessible via the Virtual Learning Environment (Frog/VLE).
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 a student requires access to a device we will try and provide them with one on request.
What should students do if they have difficulties with their work?
They should seek support by contacting their teacher using their school email account or add comments or questions via the facility on each assignment in frog
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
Most classwork activities will be narrated to support their successful completion.
Assignments are set via our Virtual Learning Environment (Frog/VLE). These are compulsory with a minimum of 1 assignment being set per class per fortnight (this is discretionary for single session teachers). These assignments are set by the class teacher. Feedback is provided via our Virtual Learning Environment (Frog/VLE), ideally weekly. The completion of assignments by students is tracked weekly and monitored by teachers in the first instance, and then centrally. Assignments are used to assess the knowledge and skills covered and to identify areas of weakness or misconceptions.
Any live sessions will be delivered via MS Teams. Attendance to these is strongly recommended. Any live session will last a minimum of 30 minutes approximately and outline tasks to complete and some teaching of knowledge and skills . We may use the chat function for immediate interactivity and feedback; recordings can be made if safeguarding criteria are met.
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 students, as far as is practicable, to complete all the work set in the timeframe outlined. We will review the work set fortnightly to make sure that there is not too little or too much work set. We recognise that the work will take a bit longer at home than in school and we will amend the work accordingly. A quiet, light space to work would help students to work successfully at home. A good work routine would be beneficial and we would recommend that the day starts, as it would in school, at 8.30am.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
If students are not engaging with work parent/carers will be informed via a phone call from the pastoral staff.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
Progress will be assessed through completed assignments set via our Virtual Learning Environment (Frog/VLE). These will take the form of File drops (whereby students upload documents/pictures etc.), quizzes or longer written responses.
Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. For example, we consider whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via our digital platforms to be valid and effective methods, amongst many others. Our approach to feeding back on pupil work will be that each assignment set via our Virtual Learning Environment (Frog/VLE) will receive feedback from the class teacher.
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:
All children with an EHCP have been invited to attend school on site, including those who we have made applications for, and if required, will continue to receive in-class support as set out in their plan. For those with EHCPs who are at home, steps will be taken to ensure that we, where possible, provide additional support. Staff from the Student Support team will be in regular contact with families of children with EHCPs and will be available to be contacted, via the school office, for other children on the SEND register. For those children with SEND accessing from home, class teachers will ensure that they continue to set work appropriate for the students. Considerations, on an individual basis, will be made about each child’s ability to access the recommended work and this will be personalised in consultations with the SENDCo, class teachers, and parents. Where possible, specific interventions may still be carried out remotely. One to one staff will keep in contact with children to maintain relationships. Additional resources such as sensory objects, visual timetables, coloured overlays and individual writing equipment, pencil grips, have been supplied to those at home. Contact with outside agencies will continue remotely and the SENDCo will continue to co-ordinate this.
Logging into the VLE for the first time
Frog/VLE - How to Submit work online Student Guide
How to Access and Use Microsoft Outlook
Accessing Shared Resources on OneDrive
Opening and editing files if Microsoft Office is not installed
Download Microsoft Office on a personal device
Please see below a recording of the Remote Learning Assembly led by Mr Faraday on Tuesday 22nd of September 2020 which goes through how to access the VLE, Home Learning Tasks and Assignments.
Remote Learning Assembly 22nd September 2020
If you are presented with a login screen when trying to access FrogPlay please follow this link to resolve the issue: https://www.frogeducation.com/community/training/mini-guides/cookiesissue
If you are unable to login to the VLE please email it@jesmondparkacademy.org.uk and leave your child's full name, your contact number and a full description of the problem.
Many thanks for your continued support in these matters.