Remote Learning | Alperton Community School

We have developed a remote learning policy and remote learning plan to ensure that any child who cannot attend school does not miss out on their learning. This page explains our plans and procedures for students who have to self-isolate, or where local or national restrictions mean they have to stay at home. Our aim is to support your child throughout their isolation and to ensure they are provided with a high quality curriculum offer.

Our remote learning policy

Our remote learning policy aims to ensure consistency in our approach to remote learning for students who are not able to attend school. It also sets out expectations for all members of the school community with regards to remote learning and provides appropriate guidelines for data protection.

Our remote learning plan

Our remote learning plan sets out our school procedures for three different remote learning scenarios:

an individual student is self-isolating
a whole class/bubble are self-isolating, but other classes are in school
the whole school goes into lockdown and is only open for children of critical workers and vulnerable students

Remote teaching and study time each day

In all cases our expectation is that students will follow their normal timetable and lessons will be delivered using Google Classroom and Google Meet. The timings of the day remain the same as in school, i.e. students start at form time at 8:30am each day and follow the normal timings for that day.

As with normal lessons, teachers will agree a reasonable timeline for students to submit work. Students can expect to receive feedback on their work which may be written and given back using Google Classroom or spoken during a live Google Meet lesson.

Access to technology will be required to be able to follow online lessons. If you do not have access to a device such as a tablet computer or laptop (not a mobile phone as these are too small) then please contact your Pastoral Manager for help and advice.

If there are any problems, students and/or their parents/carers should contact the teacher in the usual way or through the office email address: [email protected].

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

We aim to provide remotely a broadly similar curriculum to that offered in school. This will be done via our Google Classoom and Google Meet platforms. We will, however, need to make some adjustments to the curriculum offered in some areas, for example, where students are undertaking practical lessons and are unable to access the equipment and materials needed.

Accessing Remote Education: What you will need at home

Students will need to access the following resources to get the most from remote learning and learn effectively at home.

A device that can access the internet, ideally a laptop, desktop computer, tablet or Chromebook
Textbooks and revision guides
A quiet space where your child can work without interruption

If your child does not have any of the above, please let us know by contacting your Pastoral Manager as soon as possible so that we can help support you. For example, we may be able to loan students a school laptop or we will provide printed resources either on Show My Homework or the pack of resources can be posted or collected from school.

How will my child be taught remotely?

Students will be taught remotely following their normal timetable using a combination of the following delivery methods:

Google Classroom. This will follow the published scheme of learning as far as possible in each subject area. Resources, links and assessments will be made available to all students in the class using this method.

Google Meet. Teachers will use “live” lessons via Google Classroom. This means that students will access the lesson from their timetabled Google Classroom.

Teachers will record all live lessons and make available in the Google Classroom for students to refer to if they were unable to join or access the lesson “live”.
Access to online applications via the Student Homepage, i.e GCSE Pod, Maths Watch, etc. Teachers will also make available links to other subject specific resources via their Google Classroom.

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

Attendance is monitored by our Pastoral Managers and our Attendance Officer and they take a register in the normal way for all remote lessons. We expect all students working remotely to be in all of their lessons at the same time as if they were in school. Attendance and punctuality will be followed up using normal procedures.

Teachers and Pastoral Managers constantly monitor the engagement of students in lessons. Students that do not engage will receive a call home to ensure that everything is OK and that they need to engage in their remote education.

How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?

Providing support through SEND Google Classroom by modeling activities, providing extra scaffolding activities, or providing feedback on work to maintain motivation & engagement.

Teaching Assistants continue to deliver SEND intervention groups for EHCP and K students remotely. LTAs have practiced this with students before the lockdown, so our SEND students can attend more confidently. List of interventions given below:

Communication and Interaction interventions delivered by specialist LTA

Cognition and Learning interventions delivered by SEND LTA

The SEND team is keeping in contact with SEND students through google classroom, email, or regular phone calls to parents/careers to provide any support/feedback and update on their progress.

SEND support officer liaising with pastoral managers to monitor and provide support and strategies for SEND students.

Completing SEND Risk assessment weekly/ fortnightly with parents and providing any additional support/resources they may require.

SPLCN Therapy is delivered remotely by a Speech Language therapist.

Teachers continue to provide differentiated resources and video their lessons, which students have access to the lessons later if they require it.

Students do not have access to remote learning workbooks or printed resources will be provided for by the SEND faculty.

SEND students who were formally assessing SEMH/ Mental Health provision continue to do so remotely by the Mental health team.

Pastoral managers continue to monitor attendance and engagement and liaise with students and families regularly.

Parents who have difficulty with online arrangements can contact members of the SEND team support and guidance to familiarise themselves with the process.

Members of the SEND team share strategies and resources with parents with maintaining routines for their child who has a disability that is negatively impacted by changes to routine e:g students with ASD. It also provides advice on how to monitor online learning to ensure that students get adequate breaks. To enable them to engage with the learning duration of the school day

What we expect from your child

It’s important that your child engages with home learning and keeps to their normal timetable. Your child’s subject teachers and form tutors will deliver most lessons live on Google Meet. Where this is not possible, your child will receive a mixture of work set on Google Classroom and other online resources e.g. Oak Academy, MyMaths and Kerboodle. This means it is crucial that your child is able to log into Google Meet in order to access the work set as well as participate fully in online lessons.

We expect all students to follow our behaviour expectations for online learning. If students are not engaging with online learning, we will call home and provide feedback to help your child to better understand the work.

Google Meet Lessons

Students should:

Log into their form class before 8:30am
Log into Google Meet at the start of every lesson
Make sure that their microphone (audio) is turned off and the camera is turned on unless the teacher advises otherwise
Follow normal behaviour expectations using respectful language and following instructions
Students can ask a question or seek help during the lesson by raising their hand
Lessons will be recorded and available via Google Classroom/Google Meet after the lesson has finished
Your child’s Form Tutor or Pastoral Manager will be in regular contact with your child by email or telephone calls. They will be able to advise you on queries you may have.

What you can do to help

We appreciate that if this situation arises, it may present some challenges for you. We kindly ask for your support so that we can continue to provide high-quality education for your child during this time.

We don’t expect you to watch your child all day, and we wouldn’t expect parents/carers to be involved in remote lessons in place of our teachers, but, it would be really helpful if you were able to take an active role in your child’s learning by asking them about their day and what work they’ve done.

If your child is working from a paper pack, please continue to support them to complete this work as they will be required to submit all work to their teachers when they return to school or as agreed with the teacher.

Our top tips:

Try to encourage your child to be ready and dressed for the start of the school day, and to keep to their timetable
Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, and make it clear when the school day is over, to separate home and school life
Plan breaks and exercise into the day to help keep your child active

Remote Learning Tips For Parents and Carers

10,000 Free Lessons & Resources

Set (and keep) a daily timetable
The closer this is to a ‘school timetable,’ the easier it will likely be on everyone. Teachers at ACS will run lessons keeping to your child’s timetable as far as possible. Use a clock timer to monitor how much time is being spent on each subject.
Make sure your children have any materials necessary to complete all assignments
Whether its pencil and paper, a stable WiFi connection, log-in information for all school learning resources –whatever your children need to get the work done. Remember to ask us for help if you need it. This can be via an email to your child’s form tutor or Pastoral Manager.
Provide an environment conducive to learning
This isn’t always easy. If your children are too isolated, it’s difficult to check in with them. If they’re at the kitchen table, they may be too distracted. This is even more challenging when everyone is home and the house is full. Each family will find a solution that works for them. Remember to ask us for help if you need it. This can be via an email to your child’s form tutor or Pastoral Manager
Don’t teach–help them understand
Helping children to understand can be very challenging. It may involve you learning alongside your children or even learning it first yourself and then going through it with your children afterwards. Don’t worry if this can’t take place. Your children’s teachers are going to check learning as lessons take place and they will run intervention catch-up sessions either online or face to face when students return.
Make sure all work is completed
If work remains incomplete is incomplete for a good reason e.g. your child doesn’t understand the instruction, email the teacher asking for clarification. Always communicate with the teacher so that they know what is going on. Teachers at ACS are experts in their subject and will be able to suggest helpful next steps.
Help your children to check messages and communicate with school
Check for messages daily from teachers and other students and make sure to reply to any messages that require one.
Keep in mind that it’s about the child, not the work
Don’t over-emphasize ‘getting everything done’ over the well-being of your children. Your child may start to feel anxious and overwhelmed especially if they fall behind with the work set. Explain to them that their teachers will help them to catch up in an efficient way and that they just need to ask for help from the class teacher or their form tutor or Pastoral Manager.
Encourage self-direction
The more your child owns their learning and makes choices in their work, the easier and more fulfilling they will find the work.
Help them find their own motivation
Motivating a child is one area where parents and carers are (ideally) better than any teacher could be. Remember to praise your child for the effort they have put in. What else can you do to help your child become motivated to learn every day?
Help them understand the value of specific knowledge and changing knowledge demands
Emphasize critical thinking (learning how to think) and learning literacy (learning how to learn) over content knowledge (academic knowledge).

Please see below a YouTube playlist for parents and carers to gain a better understanding of the technology used for remote learning.