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

Students in Years 7-10 will have live tutor time via Google Meet. They will then be set five lessons (each of which will include a Low Stakes Quiz, a video, and an Exit Ticket). Videos are prerecorded and uploaded onto Google Classroom so that students can access these from any device with ease. Initially, students will follow their normal in-school timetable.

Students in Years 11-13 will be taught live via Google Meet, following their normal timetable.

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?

The curriculum is sequenced in the same way as it would be in school and all students will follow the same sequence whether they are in our Keyworker school or at home. Year 7-10 timetables may be simplified so that all students follow the same timtable. These can be viewed  here.

We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever that is possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, for Art, Music and Drama, students do not have access to the specialist equipment or space and therefore the tasks set have been adapted.

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

In Years 7-10

Students follow the same expectations as if they were in school and have Tutor Time (15 minutes), guided reading (20 minutes) and 5 full lessons (55 minutes each) per day.

Students should also complete their normal online homework via Sparx, Tassomai and Bedrock.

All in all, this should take 5-6 hours; roughly the equivalent of a normal school day.

If students are completing work in considerably less time than this, it is likely they are moving too quickly through the video and not completing all the written work asked for in the video.

In Years 11-13

Students will continue to have the same amount of lessons as if they were in school. These will involve at least some live content for each lesson. Interventions (e.g. Period 6 for all Year 11) will continue to run as they would in school.  All in all, students should expect 6-7 hours of structured content, plus revision, each day.

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

We take a slightly different approach for Years 7-10 and Years 11-13:

In Years 7-10

The vast majority of our lessons are pre-recorded. This is for four main reasons:

• First, it allows us to ensure that all lessons are of exceptionally high quality, tapping into the expertise of teachers across our whole trust.

• Second, pre-recorded videos allow students to work at their own pace, pausing or repeating content they have not understood, and moving on once they have finished a task.

• Third, videos use a fraction of the bandwidth of livestreamed lessons, and can be viewed on more platforms. This makes them ideal for houses with limited devices and/or broadband.

• Fourth, students are able to fit the videos around any other commitments, and they thus offer more flexibility to families. This is, effectively, why streaming services like Netflix or iPlayer receive far more traffic than live television.

However, we also value live interaction, and therefore:

• During the timetabled period, subject teachers will be online and available to answer any questions submitted through Google Classroom.

• Students will have a live tutor period at 08:30 each morning, via Google Meet.

Students will be invited into school to collect exercise books, knowledge organisers, and any other materials needed for their work.

In years 11-13

In Years 11-13, students will receive predominantly live teaching. This might be for the entire lesson (typically in Sixth Form, where small classes work better live), or might be at the introduction and close of the lesson, with a pre-recorded video to watch in between (more typical in Year 11).

Students will sit at least a section of an exam paper in each subject every week (Year 13) or every fortnight (Year 11).

Students will be invited into school to collect exercise books, knowledge organisers, and any specialist equipment needed for their work.

Why two different approaches?

We feel that this blend is the right approach for families, blending accessibility and flexibility for younger years with more bespoke support for exam groups.

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 to upload work for five periods each day. For live lessons, the work should be uploaded at the end of the day. In Years 7-10, students can work more flexibly, but must still upload their work by the end of the day.

Parents are not expected to support students with each lesson (although you are of course very welcome to!) We also recognise that many parents will be busy and that it will not always be possible to monitor your child’s work. We would however hugely appreciate any support you can give in:

• Making sure students are logged in and ready to go from 08:30 each morning

• Praising and encouraging your children as they complete work

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

Work is checked at least weekly for all subjects.

Parents/carers are encouraged to sign up to Google Classroom as Guardians. All parents/carers have been invited to do so already; if you need us to resend details, please email support@hphigh.co.uk. This allows you to view all work your child has uploaded, and the feedback given by teachers.

In addition, we will call home at least once per week to check that students are getting on with the work. Callers will also pass on specific feedback from each subject. Where families have more than one sibling, we will endeavour to cover all children in the same phone call so as not to take up too much of your time!

If work is not completed, we will first let you know by phone. If no improvement is made, we will write to you, and invite your child to come in for one day for an online work clinic, where a teacher supervises them completing their work throughout the day and supports them with anything they are finding difficult.

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:

• Students will complete regular quizzes that are marked and may also contain feedback on specific questions

• Students will receive feedback weekly on the work that they submit. This could be verbal feedback (through Mote on Google Classroom) or whole class comments on the work that is set as well as comments in Google Classroom

• Where work is excellent, students will receive postcards and be entered into a raffle in recognition of their efforts.

• Students in exam groups will also complete and receive feedback on regular exam questions. 

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:

Students with SEND will receive the following provision:

• Regular calls from a member of the SEN Team

• Access to a laptop if this is required

• Access to specific lessons on phonics, numeracy and literacy where required as well as differentiated versions of the same lessons that all students receive for English, Maths and Science

• Support in school where required

Where individual students are self-isolating, but their peers are in school, our provision will differ from the above. This is because we do not have the resources to deliver both a full online curriculum and a full in-school offer. However, in all cases, students will continue to receive high quality lessons. 

Where a half or full year group is asked to self-isolate, we will provide our full remote offer as outlined above.

Where a small group of close contacts are asked to isolate by the school, we will set five pre-recorded lessons a day. These will all be posted in a single class on Google Classroom. These will match the in school curriculum as closely as possible. 

Where individual students are self-isolating, they will be emailed links to pre-recorded videos. These will match the in school curriculum as closely as possible. 

We are currently working on digitising our full curriculum, and we hope to be in a position soon where every in school lesson has a video equivalent which can be set for every lesson.