Remote Education Provision at Thornton
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils, parents and carers about what to expect from remote education if local restrictions require whole 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 information.
The Remote Curriculum – what is taught to pupils at home.
A pupil’s first day of being educated remotely might look a little different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote learning.
On day one expect to see – one Maths lesson, one English lesson and one afternoon lesson (Topic/Science/Art/RE/PSHE)
From day two onwards, the following will apply in each year group. This is very similar to what we would usually deliver in school although some practical and physical activities are not always possible to deliver in the same form E.g. Music, Design Technology, PE.
Daily phonics session Daily Reading (recapping on the phonics sounds taught last session and this session) Daily English (writing) Weekly on-going – letter formation, number formation, counting activities Homework – daily reading, Numicon activities |
Topic work covering communication and language development (including wonder words), physical development, personal, social and emotional development, understanding the world, expressive arts and design. |
KS1 (Year 1 & 2) |
Daily phonics session Daily English session consisting throughout the week of 3 writing focussed sessions, 1 reading comprehension, 1 grammar lesson, spellings and handwriting. 1 daily Maths lesson Homework – 1 Maths, 1 English |
Throughout the week: 1 Science lesson 1 Topic lesson Links to physical activity E.g. Cosmic Kids Yoga, Joe Wicks 1 Art/Design lesson 1 RE/PSHE lesson |
KS2 (Year 3,4,5,6) |
Daily English lesson consisting throughout the week of 3 writing focussed lessons, 1 grammar, 3 short reading comprehension sessions, 1 longer reading comprehension session, handwriting in lower KS2, spellings 1 daily Maths lesson consisting of a mental starter/arithmetic practice session then a main Maths lesson. Homework – 1 Maths, 1 English |
Throughout the week: I Science lesson 1 Topic lesson Links to physical activity E.g. Cosmic Kids Yoga, Joe Wicks 1 Art/Design lesson 1 RE /PSHE lesson |
How long can I expect work set by the school to take my child?
We would expect the work set to take the same amount of time as in a school day:
Phonics – 25 mins
Reading – 10-15 mins
Writing – 30 mins
Maths – 30 mins
Letter/Number Formation activities – 15 mins
KS1 (Broadly 3 – 4 hours per day)
Phonics – 25 mins
Maths – 45 mins – 1 hour
English – 45 Mins – 1 hour
Afternoon subjects – 45 minutes – 1 hour
KS2 (Broadly 4 hours per day)
Reading comprehension (short sessions) 25 minutes
English 1 hour
Maths starter/arithmetic session 20 minutes
Maths lesson 1 hour
Afternoon subjects 1 hour
Individual children take different amounts of time to complete tasks. If your child is struggling to complete everything, don’t worry and just try to complete as much as they can. It’s better to complete a smaller amount well. If you are worried, please message your child’s classteacher on Weduc.
Accessing Remote Education
At Thornton, we use Google Classroom for Remote Learning in Years 1 – 6. Each child has their own account where their classteacher can provide work across most areas of the curriculum as well as regular feedback and assessment.
In order to support children, parents and carers using Google Classroom, weekly homework is also regularly posted on the platform (every other week). Children are provided with one piece of English Homework and one piece of Maths.
Reception home learning is posted on Weduc. This is accompanied by worksheets to go with this learning as this is easier to access for younger children. Packs will be delivered when required. Reading books are also provided.
If my child does not have digital or online access, how will school support 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 learning:
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches:
Sometimes we may ask children to complete work in a written format as opposed to recording remotely. This is used particularly lower down the school to enable younger children to practise their writing skills. In these cases, we will ask you to photograph your child’s written response and upload it onto the platform for the classteacher to mark and assess.
Engagement and Feedback
We expect pupils to complete at least the daily Maths and English activities and at least one afternoon activity. Children are used to working in a set routine across the school. This typically follows a phonics session/reading comprehension session, one hour of English, break-time, Maths mental starter/arithmetic session followed by one hour of Maths in the morning. After lunch, one hour of topic/science/art, a short break then usually followed by either RE,PSHE, Computing or PE. We suggest you try to keep to this routine. Children may need a little support initially with remote learning, but teachers have tried to design lessons where continuous support is not needed.
How will school check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Your child’s classteacher will mark your child’s work on a daily basis and provide remote feedback. If your child is not engaging with the work set, we will call you to discuss any possible difficulties accessing the work. We will offer alternative resources if needed such as printed sheets.
If you experience any problems with remote learning or you have any questions, please contact us by Weduc. Children are also able to ask their teacher questions through Google Classroom.
How will teachers assess my child’s work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms and may not always be written comments for individual children. For example, whole class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital forms are also valid and effective methods amongst others. The children at Thornton are used to responding to teacher comments and going back to re-edit work. They are also asked on occasions to self-assess their learning.
Additional Support for pupils with particular needs
How will school support my child who needs support from adults at home to access remote education?
We recognise that some pupils, for example 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:
Remote education for self-isolating pupils
Where an individual needs to self-isolate, but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote learning is provided will differ slightly from the approach to whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and at school. For use in the first instance, school has provided a core bank of age appropriate activities on the class page of the school website for your child to select activities. School will then provide work set on Google classroom by day two or worksheets if preferred. This work will follow what is set in class as far as possible but this is not always possible. Where this is not possible due to, for example, the need for teacher input/explanation to be able to complete the task, the class teacher will select alternative work suitable for your child’s learning needs. If your child requires a laptop, this will be delivered by day two.
‘The girls love the videos that the teachers do. It gets them motivated and more focused on the work they have to do.'
'I think you're all doing a great job and appreciate all you do. Thank you from the xxxx family.'
'xxx really enjoys seeing you in your videos, and I’m finding they help me out a lot too! Thank you.'
‘We feel that the new system is straight forward, concise, and much more easy to follow.’