Remote Learning
Remote Learning Policy 2024
This is the link for the remote learning materials to access folders containing work for each year group in subject specific folders:
Please read the following information for full details about remote learning:
What is remote learning?
‘Remote Learning’ refers to the provision of independent work, teacher-directed learning, assessment and feedback from staff to students in the event that lessons are unable to be delivered ‘face-to face’ in school as normal.
What circumstances would require students to learn remotely?
Circumstances where this policy applies include:
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A student who is absent from school for 3 or more days for a pre-agreed reason
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Student suspension
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Students unable to attend school due to a period of advised self-isolation or absence but who otherwise remain well enough to learn
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An unexpected, short period of closure – e.g. due to adverse weather conditions
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An extended period of school closure due to local or nationally imposed restrictions in the event of a significant health emergency
When is remote learning not applicable?
This policy does not apply in circumstances such as:
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A student who absents themselves from school without prior authorisation from the school, with or without parental permission, e.g. a family holiday taken in term time
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A parental decision to absent their child as a precaution against an outbreak of infectious disease but contrary to official medical advice from Public Health England, the UK Government or the World Health Organisation.
Who are the school’s remote learning contacts?
Parents should contact the relevant Head of Pastoral Care (HoP) if they wish to seek further advice and guidance about the school’s remote learning provision and only if the circumstances are applicable as stated above.
Year 7 - Mrs Caroline Siddons - email Mrs Siddons
Year 8 - Miss Laura Gale - email Miss Gale
Year 9 - Mrs Denise Lowe - email Mrs Lowe
Year 10 - Mrs Debbie Birkin - email Mrs Birkin
Year 11 - Mrs Jane Walters - email Mrs Walters
Years 12 & 13 - Mrs Rebecca Hall - email Mrs Hall
If your child has a technical issue involving ICT such as usernames and passwords for Office 365 or any other technical query, please contact our IT team via email at - techsupport@buxton.derbyshire.sch.uk
What will remote learning look like?
Our remote learning provision will be different based on whether it applies to individual students, or when all students are affected by school closure.
1. In situations where…
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a student is absent from school for 3 or more days for a pre-agreed reason
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a student is suspended
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a student is unable to attend school due to a period of advised self-isolation or absence but who otherwise remains well enough to learn
… the school will provide work on the school website for each subject to cover any period of absence as required. This work has been quality assured to ensure that it is meaningful and ambitious, and broadly aligns with the curriculum content taught in school at that time.
Students should also check Class Charts regularly for any homework that may have been set whilst they are away from school.
In certain circumstances, teachers may also make decision to supplement the work on the website by emailing the affected student directly if considered appropriate to their learning needs at that time. This may vary across different subjects and, if no additional work is set, it is because subject teachers have determined that the work on the website is sufficiently challenging and suitable for the period of absence. Any additional work is entirely at the discretion of the teacher, according to their professional judgement.
2. In situations where there is…
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An unexpected, short period of closure – e.g. due to adverse weather conditions
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An extended period of school closure due to imposed local or national restrictions in the event of a significant health emergency
… students are expected to access the remote learning resources on the school website on the first day of the closure and complete as much work as possible for those subjects that they would normally have on their timetable for that day.
If the period of closure extends beyond one day, teachers will upload resources and activities to ClassCharts to match each lesson on the student’s timetable for every day of the period of closure. These may include:
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Pre-recorded video lessons, planned by our own teachers
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Externally produced video lessons, such as those created by the DfE-endorsed Oak National Academy
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An invitation to join a live-streamed lesson delivered by our teachers via Microsoft Teams. Teachers will typically explain new content, ask questions, and set short tasks to assess, and close gaps in, students’ understanding during the allocated lesson time. Live lessons will not be recorded in-line with guidance on data protection and safeguarding from Derbyshire Local Education Authority.
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Lesson materials for self-directed and independent learning when appropriate to the needs of the curriculum
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Online assessment tools such as Microsoft Forms or Carousel Learning
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Commercially available websites and online platforms, supporting the teaching of specific subjects. Examples include Corbett Maths, Seneca Learning and Nearpod.
During school closure, we will aim to deliver the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. However, it may be necessary to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, in practical subjects like Art, PE and Design Technology some activities will be postponed and replaced with ones that are more suited to remote learning and require fewer materials and equipment.
If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?
We recognise that, for a very small minority of our students, online access at home may sometimes be challenging.
Please contact your child’s HoP if your circumstances have changed and your child does not have suitable online access to remote education. In exceptional circumstances, where no alternative is possible, students will be provided with paper resources.
What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that parents and carers should provide in the event of school closure?
Our expectation is that all students learning remotely will broadly follow the school day. This means a normal get up time and being ready to work and learn from 8.50am. We would be grateful if you could ensure your child goes to bed at a reasonable time, so they are fit to learn each school day.
Students should follow their normal timetable. They should take breaks and lunchtime; we recommend this time is spent away from a screen to support their well-being. Ideally, they should work at a desk or kitchen table, with regular check-ins from an adult if possible. They can email their teachers if they need to, and teachers will respond to their queries at the earliest opportunity. There will be sufficient work set for them by their teachers for them to be proactively engaged in learning throughout the day.
In the unlikely event the period of school closure affecting all students extends beyond one week, HoPs and Senior Leaders will endeavour to produce short, video assemblies on important themes as per our standard wider curriculum and these will be uploaded to Class Charts. We ask for your support in ensuring your child views these in addition to the work they have been set.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work during school closure and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Submission of work to Class Charts will be closely monitored by teachers and senior leaders. Parents should expect to hear from class teachers via alerts and announcements on Class Charts in the first instance if their child is not engaging with remote learning. When there are serious concerns about a student’s engagement, Progress Teams will be in touch with parents to offer support and discuss strategies to re-engage their child with our remote learning provision.
Teachers will keep records of attendance for live lessons and parents will be notified if students repeatedly miss these lessons. Parents will only be notified if they have given their consent to their child participating in live lessons. Reminders will be sent to parents who have not given consent unless we are made aware of reasons not to do so.
Teachers will continue to award R Points for good quality work submissions and in response to how well a student is engaging with remote learning. Progress Teams will also send other rewards, including Praise Postcards, in recognition of outstanding effort and engagement with remote learning.
How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean 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 students’ work is as follows:
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A minimum expectation of feedback on work submissions once every two weeks either via whole-class feedback (either pre-recorded or live during a Teams lesson) or individual feedback through Class Charts if the period of school closure extends beyond one week.
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Opportunities for students to redraft and improve their work following feedback when appropriate
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Self-marking quizzes
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Instant verbal feedback if participating in a live lesson
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Summative feedback on any assessments completed during individual absence or school closure following a return to school
Additional support for students 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 students, for example some students with special educational needs and/or 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 students in the following ways:
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A dedicated IT support email has been set up to help parents. For example, advice on adjusting screen colour/enlarging font size for those with a visual impairment.
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Students with an EHCP have a lead worker who can be contacted via email for support.
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Staff will consider the SEND needs of students when providing feedback and setting work.
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Staff will continue to award R Points for any SEND students who are working remotely.
How can my child ask the teacher questions if they need support with the work?
Your child can send a message to their teacher via their email address. These can be found on the school website at https://www.buxton.derbyshire.sch.uk/page/?title=Staff+Team&pid=16.
Can my child submit their work to the teacher?
Students will be able to submit work by uploading this to Class Charts if this has been enabled by the teacher. They will receive feedback on this work either via Class Charts in-line with other students still in school or upon their return to school if whole-class feedback was given. Other work should be saved until your child returns to school and can be shared with their teachers who will provide further feedback if necessary.
What should I do if my child doesn’t know their password to log into Class Charts?
If you, or your child, needs a password for Class Charts, please email their HoP at the earliest opportunity.
What should I do if I want more work for my child?
The remote work that has been set on the website would normally be sufficient to cover any period of absence for individual students. Similarly, in the event of school closure, we would not typically expect students to study for more than 5 hours as per their regular timetable.
However, if parents and carers require their child to undertake additional studying, we highly recommend revisiting previous subject material to embed knowledge and understanding to support long-term learning. This can be done by attempting assignments on material that students may have previously studied in class or even attempting work in the online folders that match previous learning when the students were in school. Students are also encouraged to study ahead and attempt work that they will covering in class upon their return to school. Research evidence on the science of learning is clear that the more exposure students get to the same subject material, the better.
We would also suggest that your child makes use of the online lessons that are available on the Oak National Academy - https://classroom.thenational.academy/. These online lessons are approved by the Department for Education (DfE) and have been made freely available specifically for students learning independently and remotely.
What should my child do when they return to school?
We would encourage your child to be proactive and to do the following:
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Show their teachers any work completed during the period of remote learning (if they haven’t already returned this electronically).
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Ask for any resources they may have missed during this time.
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Asks their teacher for further advice if they experienced any difficulties with understanding the content of the remote work and did not email their teacher previously.