This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students and parents/guardians/carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require cohorts to remain at home.
For details of what to expect where individual students are self-isolating, please see the final page of this document.
Remote education is likely to look and feel a little different to the broad curriculum offered as part of the face-to-face provision; this is however minimised as much as possible given that we see the importance in consistency and in the ability for our students to access the full curriculum offer.
We will teach and deliver the same curriculum remotely as we do in college wherever possible and appropriate. However, we have needed to make some adaptations in some subjects. For example, work experience sessions will not be able to take place in such circumstances where remote education is required; instead, we will look to offer learning activities which will further enhance employability and transferrable skills to support our students to achieve their aspirations and goals.
Our remote education will be delivered using GoogleClassroom with live lessons delivered through GoogleMeets. Students will be supported to access the classroom by personal tutors who will also provide support and advice where required to parents/guardians/carers.
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take students broadly 6 hours per day, accounting for lunch and rest breaks. During the college day, students will access four 80-minute lessons which cover all aspects of the wider curriculum including Maths, English, enhancement, independent living (where appropriate), health, citizenship and digital skills. All students will also have access to individualised one-to-one sessions with their personal tutor for additional help, support and wellbeing sessions.
How will my son/daughter be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach students remotely;
What if my son/daughter does not have digital or online access at home?
We recognise that some students may not have suitable online access at home or may not be able to access online sessions due to individual need. We pride ourselves on supporting all students to achieve their full potential and so take a number of approaches to support those who are unable to access remote education.
We will, where possible and appropriate, issue students with tablets to support them to access remote learning and online learning resources. Information and guidance on the provision of equipment is available directly from the Centre Manager.
Where students are unable to access a device and the college is unable to provide a tablet, we will provide students with weekly printed resource material and tasks to complete which will be supported by telephone communication between tutors and the student at key points during the week.
Where students are unable to submit their work electronically, we will arrange to collect student work or provide stamped, self-addressed envelopes to ensure the safe postage back to college.
What are your expectations for my son/daughters engagement and the support that we should provide at home?
We fully understand and appreciate the challenges that remote education can bring to both students’ lives and the wider home life. However, we also recognise the importance of routine and consistency for our students and therefore have a clear set of expectations during remote education.
All of our remote education sessions are recorded for monitoring purposes. This allows not only our students to revisit learning episodes, tutorials and sessions, but also allows us to monitor and review the quality of remote education being provided by our subject specific tutors.
We expect that students;
Failure to meet the expectations outlined above may result in students being removed from remote classes or not permitted to enter where there are repeat issues or lateness.
We expect parents/guardians/carers;
How will you check whether my son/daughter is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
All of our subject specific tutors will complete session attendance records which are submitted directly to the college administrator and centre manager who closely monitor and review student attendance and engagement. We expect all of our students to engage with a minimum of six live sessions per week unless there are extenuating circumstances or reasons for absence from lessons.
Where there is cause for concern in a student’s engagement and attendance the students personal tutor or the centre manager will contact parents/guardians/carers or the student directly if appropriate to discuss their concerns and develop a plan of action to aid improvement.
How will you assess my son/daughters work and progress?
Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual students. For example, whole group feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others.
We strive to provide prompt feedback to all students on their work and efforts. We therefore aim to provide feedback to students on a daily basis where appropriate but within a maximum of five days. Our approach to feedback on student work is as follows;
How will you work with me to help my son/daughter who needs additional support from adults at home to access remote education?
We recognise that a large proportion of our students require additional support, and some 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/guardians/carers to support those students in the following ways;
Where individual students need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in college, how remote education is provided will likely differ from the approach for whole groups and national lockdowns. This is due to the challenges of teaching students both at home and in college.
We recognise that during these challenging and unforeseen times there are occasions when individual learners will be required to self-isolate or remain at home for prolonged periods of time. During these times we strive to continue to provide education to our students as close as possible to their normal college timetable. We strive to ensure that students self-isolating continue to access a planned and well-sequenced curriculum with meaningful and ambitious work each day across four subjects in line with the college curriculum.
Where possible and appropriate, we will support such students by video calling them and allowing them to access the live lesson delivered in the college at the same time as their peers. Where this is not possible, subject specific tutors will provide printed/electronic work for students and will provide weekly telephone calls and online video one-to-one sessions with learners to support their development and engagement.
Any work which is submitted to subject specific tutors will be assessed and feedback provided verbally within three days of submission. However, where student work is submitted via post, the timescale for verbal feedback may be extended depending on the day of receipt.
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