Remote Learning

Remote Learning at Stillness Juniors – a guide for parents and carers.

This guide outlines our approach to remote learning in the case of a bubble or whole school closure.

What is taught to pupils learning from home?

• We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school.
• Daily work will be set for English and Maths.
• Science or Topic work will be set each week.
• Activities will be offered in Art, Music, PE and Spanish.
• In addition to this, children should be reading for 30 minutes a day and learning their weekly spellings.

How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child each day?

This is the suggested timetable for a typical learning from home day.

How can we access the work?

• Remote learning can accessed through Google Classroom via the ‘parents’ tab on the school website www.stillnessjs.lewisham.sch.uk.
• Video guides to logging on to Google Classroom and accessing work are available on our website https://www.stillnessjs.lewisham.sch.uk/parents/google-classroom-video-guide
• All children have a personal log in. If misplaced log in details can be resent on request by emailing the year group email addresses e.g y3@stillnessjs.lewisham.sch.uk
• Tasks that have been set for children will appear in the ‘Stream’ of their Google Classroom.
• Weekly homework tasks and In-school tasks will also be visible there but will be clearly labelled so parents know the work that needs to be accessed from home.
• In the event of a class bubble closure, work will be presented daily. The tasks for the day will be uploaded by 6:00pm the previous day.
• If you cannot access work through Google Classroom please contact the school by emailing admin@stillnessjslewisham.sch.uk

How will my child be taught remotely?

Most work is presented as powerpoints or PDFs. While work can be accessed and completed without a computer as it works on most internet-enabled services, eg mobile phones, kindle fire and play stations. In Maths (and occasionally other subjects) there may be short instructional videos. Work can also be completed in Google docs or slides and then uploaded for feedback from the teachers. Please see the videos on the school website for instructions on how to do this.

In the event of a wider closure at class level or above. Work will be set as daily tasks in Google Classroom. There will be Zoom check-ins where the teacher will explain the task that needs to be completed. There are three check-in points during the day. Children can attend one or all of the check-ins and will be able to complete the work even if they don’t attend the check-in. Supplementary work may also be set using the schools current learning programmes, such as Mathletics.

Children who have been benefitting from small group work with our Inclusion team, will access check-ins and work with the Inclusion team remotely.

How should work be completed?

Parents are able to arrange a time to come and collect a remote learning work book if needed. The books should be used to complete the set work. If you have a home printer and can print out sheets, work can be completed on the sheets. Photographs of the sheets or pages in the book can be uploaded to Google Classroom. Work can also be completed in Google Docs or Slides and uploaded directly to the Classroom. Please see the videos on the school website for instructions on how to do this.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

Each day the answers to the previous day’s learning will be shared for Maths so that the children can see the answers during the 9:00am check-in. The answer sheet will also be uploaded each evening if a child is unable to attend a check-in, so children and parents can still check learning. During this check in, children will be invited to stay on Zoom with their teacher if they have had particular issues with the learning. For English, children will receive feedback a maximum of twice per week. Work should be submitted via Google Classroom and can be uploaded as a photo, completed electronically or as a task on the platform itself.

Where a class bubble or above is closed, teachers will use Google to inform children what work should be sent back for feedback. This will allow teaching teams to amend any forthcoming instructions or tasks to allow children to get the most from their remote learning.

What contact can we expect with the Stillness Juniors team?

In the event of a larger closure at class level or above

Teachers will be available daily. This will be via Google Classroom but may also include: whole class zoom calls to outline learning; short filmed videos introducing learning and providing more information on how to complete tasks in English, Science and some foundation subjects.

It is important to remember that there may be times though, when a class or year group bubble has closed due to staff illness that it may not always be your child’s normal teacher who is in touch and where staff are unwell contact may be less regular. If a class teacher is unwell, the class will be split and assigned to another class within their year group. Parents will be informed when this happens.

As always we will endeavour to answer all of your queries. A member of the school team will also contact parents after children have been off for around 5 days to see how learning is going. Follow up calls will be made to families where there has been no contact. Parents/carers are encouraged to use year group emails to contact teachers with any questions or queries.

In the event of your child being off but their class is still at school

Once school has been informed that your child is off, work will be loaded for the next day. In this case, there will not be Zoom check-ins. All tasks will have full instructions. If you have questions or would like support on your children’s learning, teachers can be contacted using the year group emails e.g. y4@stillnessjs.lewisham.sch.uk

It is important to point out that if the class bubble is open, our teachers will still have full teaching commitments. As a result, it will not be possible for them to provide daily support for learning and class emails will be checked less regularly.

What are we expected to complete?

We fully recognise the challenges of remote learning, and the additional pressures facing parents and carers at this time and our remote learning has been planned with this in mind. It is also important to note that however hard we try it is impossible to replicate the classroom experience via a platform like Google Classroom or any remote learning platform. Children will inevitably find the experience challenging and may find work more difficult. We encourage families to be led by their children and their own personal situation and complete as much of the learning as they are able to.

The work set for children has been carefully chosen to ensure that they continue to access the key knowledge and skills they would be learning in class, without setting unrealistic expectations. It is however really important that children access this core learning so that they are able to continue with their learning on their return to school. Naturally, children do not need to complete work if they are unwell.

If you require further assistance for example loan equipment, printed work or stationery please contact sbm@stillnessjs.lewisham.sch.uk and the School Business Manager will get back to you.

Remote learning at a glance:

Work will be available for all children unable to attend to school due to COVID-19 restrictions

Daily work will be set in English and Maths, with relevant additional subjects set on a weekly basis.

This should be accessed using the school’s learning platform Google Classroom, please contact the school if you cannot access learning this way.

Work should be completed in children’s home learning books, on the sheets and submitted via Google Classroom.