Remote Learning

Abbey Manor College remote education provision: information for parents and carers

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if local restrictions require entire cohorts or large groups of our students to remain at home.

For details of what to expect where individual students are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home?

The aim of our remote curriculum is to ensure that students who are unable to attend school can access our full curriculum offer.  They will receive their education through a variety of means, tailored to meet the needs of individual students. 

A student’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.

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

If a student is sent home from school, they will be sent home with a printed work pack or be set some work on our remote learning platform (Microsoft Teams).

Contact will be made with home to ensure that the student has their log in details for our Remote Learning platform and knows how to access the materials (and also to check that they have the necessary equipment to do this).   They will also be provided with a copy of the timetable for remote learning.

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?

We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, practical elements  may not be taught remotely (particularly if they require specialist materials) and will be taught once the student returns to school where appropriate.

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

We expect that the work provided through remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take students a minimum of five hours per day. 

How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?

As a school we are using Microsoft Teams to deliver the majority of our remote education.  To access this, students need to visit our school website (www.abbeymanorcollege.com) and select ‘student login’ from the Useful Links tab in the top right-hand corner of the home page.  Students should use their school username and password to log in.  They then need to click on the square made up of 9 dots in the top left-hand corner.  A menu will then be displayed showing all of the Apps available for students to use – these include Teams, OneDrive and other Microsoft software such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Any live lessons will be delivered using Microsoft Teams.  To access these, students need to open Teams and then click on their calendar which will display the lessons available to them.  They should then click on the lesson at the relevant time and select ‘join’.  Teachers will also send email reminders to students.  The current timetable for remote lessons can be found at the bottom of this page.

Assignments will also be set for students using Teams.  Students complete their work directly on the documents available to them.  Teachers are then able to view the work that students have completed and will provide feedback on it.

For additional work, students can log on to Seneca Learning and SAM Learning to access tasks set by their teachers.  Teachers will be able to see students’ progress through the tasks.

Seneca Learning: https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/

SAM Learning:  https://www.samlearning.com/

Other online resources include BBC Bitesize and the Oak National Academy.  These are useful resources; however, teachers are not able to view a students’ progress through any of the tasks using these platforms. 

BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/secondary

Oak National Academy: https://www.thenational.academy/

If my child does not have digital or online access at home, how will you support them to access remote education?

We recognise that some students may not have suitable online access at home. If a student is not able to access the digital resources, their parent or carer should contact the student’s tutor in the first instance.  The tutor will then liaise with the relevant member of the Senior Leadership Team to determine how the student can be supported.  This could be through a number of was such as:

  • The loan of a laptop or tablet to the student so that they can work remotely. 
  • The loan of a device such as a router or dongle that can enable an internet connection.
  • Informing parents about schemes such as increasing data allowances on mobile phones and processing a request to the scheme if appropriate.
  • Providing printed materials for students.  Where students are completing work that is printed, they can return it to their teachers for marking by emailing photos of their work, posting it to the school (addressed to their teacher) or by dropping it to the school reception.  The teacher will then phone the student to discuss the work with them.

Please note that an agreement will need to be signed by the parent or carer for any equipment that is loaned.  The equipment must be returned when requested.

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely including (but not limited to):

  • Live teaching (online lessons).
  • Assignments set on Teams.
  • Recorded teaching (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers).
  • Printed paper packs produced by teachers (e.g. workbooks, worksheets).
  • Textbooks and reading books pupils have at home.
  • Commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences.
  • Project work and/or Internet research activities.

What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide at home?

Where it is necessary for a student to be educated remotely, we expect full attendance of them to their remote lessons.  They must join the lesson using Teams, ensuring that they are punctual.  Teachers will make alternative arrangements to contact students who are unable to join the live lesson.  It is expected that these students will complete the work set by their subject teachers in the designated slots for each subject. 

Parents and carers can support students by encouraging a good routine and ensuring that they are ready for the start of their lessons each morning.  Students must ensure that they eat healthily, get sufficient sleep and participate in some exercise.

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

Student attendance to online lessons will be recorded on a daily basis and parents / carers will be informed if their student has not attended.  Students will be expected to submit work set during these lessons by the required deadline.  We will be using our normal systems of progress tracking to monitor student engagement with their work which involves assessing them weekly based on their level of understand, their attitude, behaviour and attendance.  Tutors will discuss student progress with parents or carers on a weekly basis.

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

Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual students. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others.

Staff will follow the school’s assessment policy and will assess work submitted by students at least fortnightly.  Students will be provided with feedback regarding what they have done well and how they could improve their work.  Work submitted on Teams will be marked using the Teams platform with comments added in the feedback section.  For other work, feedback will be provided by email or phone call as appropriate.

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 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.

Parents or carers should contact their child’s tutor if they feel that support from the school SENCO would be useful.  The SENCO will then contact the parents / carers to discuss the difficulties that the student is facing and put a plan in place to support them.  This could include providing 1-1 intervention sessions remotely; helping with a strategy to support their organisation skills or providing assistive technology for a student to use.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

Where individual students need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching students both at home and in school.

If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

If a student is self-isolating whilst the majority of students are in school, they will still have access to their full curriculum however the delivery of it may differ.  Students should still follow the timetable for their year group as this will provide some routine and structure.  However, they may not receive live lessons.  Their teachers will arrange mutually convenient times to work with students to support them with their education.  If a parent or carer is concerned that their child does not have sufficient work to complete, or they need support with it, they should contact the child’s tutor in the first instance.

Student timetables for Remote Education

Key Stage 3

   

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

9.15-9.45

 

Registration

Registration

Registration

Registration

Registration

9.45-10.30

P1

Vocational – independent study

PSHE – online lesson

Vocational – independent study

English – independent study

Science – independent study

10.30-11.15

P2

Maths – online lesson

PSHE – online lesson

Vocational – independent study

PSHE – online lesson

Science – independent study

11.15-11.30

B

Break

11.30-12.15

P3

Humanities - independent study

Humanities - independent study

Maths – online lesson

Humanities - independent study

Maths - independent study

12.15-13.00

P4

English - independent study

Science - independent study

Humanities - independent study

Maths - independent study

Vocational - independent study

13.00-13.30

L

Lunch

13.30-14.15

P5

Business - independent study

Maths - independent study

Science - independent study

Art - independent study

Homework

14.15-15.00

P6

Business - independent study

English - independent study

English - independent study

Art - independent study

Homework

Key Stage 4

   

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

9.15-9.45

 

Registration

Registration

Registration

Registration

Registration

9.45-10.30

P1

Maths – online lesson

PE – independent exercise

Voc A – independent study

Vocational Option A  - independent study

Vocational Option B  - independent study

10.30-11.15

P2

Voc B – independent study

11.15-11.30

B

Break

11.30-12.15

P3

English – online lesson

Maths – online lesson

English – online lesson

Maths – online lesson

Vocational Option A  - independent study

12.15-13.00

P4

13.00-13.30

L

13.30-14.15

P5

IT – independent study

Vocational Option B  - independent study

PSHE – independent study

English – online lesson

PE – independent exercise

14.15-15.00

P6

There will not be an online lesson for the PE slots.  Instead, students should use this time to take part in some exercise (within government guidelines) or use one of the YouTube videos such as Joe Wicks’ PE lessons (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ).

Please see below for a Guide to Microsoft Teams 

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