During the current times of full or partial closure we work hard to keep learning going for all.
At Wouldham All Saints 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,- physical education just can't be delivered in the same way at home as in school! This applies to other aspects of 'practical' subjects like food, art, technology etc. Where possible, remote learning will be practical but we will try to ensure the activities can be done with things you can reasonably expect to find in the home.
We aim to set activities and tasks each day that will take our children about 4 hours to complete. This will cover a range of areas and a variety of ways of working. We do not suggest that children should be sitting in front of a screen for a solid four hours! Everyone needs to mix sitting with action, rests and opportunities to get out in the fresh air too!
We use a variety of online learning platforms and resources to support learning at home as well as in school.
Children have individual log-ins for most of these resources and teachers monitor usage and track progress being made.
Our main platform for sharing work and interacting with pupils is Purple Mash with all classes running a daily 'blog' to communicate with the teacher. The exception to this is for Reception Classes where 'EvidenceMe' is used more for parents to submit things for the teachers to see.
Our main digital resources are Purple Mash, Mathletics, Times Tables Rockstars, Bug Club, Nessy, Phonics Play.
We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. To support families with their remote learning we have a limited number of devices that we can lend out.
Contact school if you would like to request one. We will prioritise need for those without any suitable device in the home and then families with several children. If we lend you one we will monitor the usage and recall any being used inappropriately or not being used to complete the set school work.
We can also apply for additional data and possibly 4G routers in certain cases.
If you haven't got a fixed broadband connection at home and rely on mobile data through your phone then you may be able to get some help with this.
Click below for details.
Teachers are able to prepare some printed materials where it is impossible to access the digital resources. Please contact the school to discuss your needs and once arranged these can be collected from the office. In some cases we may be able to deliver these for you. This work can be returned to school once completed.
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach pupils remotely:
- Tasks set by teachers
- Online platforms for specific areas - eg Mathletics
- White Rose Maths resources
- Teach Active resources
- Recorded content - links shared as needed
- Links to available content and live lessons from established groups - eg Oaks Academy, Invicta Academy, BBC
A number of schools have opted to deliver remote learning through 'live lessons' using resources like Zoom or Teams. The effectiveness of this type of lesson for primary aged children is not great as this is far from the usual method of teaching in school. In times gone by a teacher addressing the whole class from the board would be called 'chalk and talk' and the Zoom approach is very similar to this as it is impossible to gain the level of interaction needed to work well. Also, many families have more than one child but need to share a device and so cannot attend a live lesson at the same time as a brother or sister may need to.
Instead, we are making use of recorded presentations - either ones we have recorded ourselves or ones that are available elsewhere. These can be watched at anytime and can be watched several times if something is a bit of a puzzle. This also means our teachers are more available to interact with their class through the Purple Mash platform throughout the day.
Some think that a live lesson is the ‘gold standard’ of remote education. This isn’t necessarily the case. Live lessons have some advantages for some age ranges but also have specific difficulties as it can be hard to build in interaction and flexibility. This means that giving feedback can actually be less effective than when we use recorded lesson segments followed by interactive chats on the Purple Mash blog, tasks and feedback.
- All children are expected to engage fully with the activities and tasks set.
- If your child is unwell or other circumstances restrict the learning opportunities then please notify the school as soon as possible.
- Children should check their tasks set for the day and watch any recorded content that has been included.
- All children should spend time reading every day.
- We ask parents to set a routine for your children and check that they have looked at their activities for the day.
- If there are any tasks that your child can't access or understand then please get in touch with their teacher.
Teachers will pick up and track activities as they are completed and submitted to them. They will respond in a variety of ways depending on the time and activity in question.
Feedback can take many forms and may not always mean extensive written comments for individual children. For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes like Cahoot could be used.
Children may well get an individual response through Purple Mash or email or it may be that we have group feedback provided through the class 'blog'. Activities completed through Mathletics and Bug Club are reviewed by the teacher and new ones will be set. Some activities may need to be repeated to show the required level of accuracy has been seen.
Our teachers aim to make a phonecall to all children in their class each week. This is to feedback how they are doing and to get information from parents about any difficulties they may be having. Teachers like to speak to their pupils to see how they are getting on and to tell them what they are doing well.
If we are concerned about the level of engagement from a child then we will make direct contact with the home to try and find out what the difficulties may be. We will work with parents to find a successful and workable way forward to support remote learning for all.
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 whatever ways we can. Our SENCO will consider ways of doing this and then suggest additional activities and support that may be of help.
We do appreciate how difficult remote learning is - we would rather it be different!
The good news is that you are doing a wonderful job and from our monitoring of engagement and achievement that your children are making the best of a difficult situation.
Every home circumstance will be different depending on the number of children, available space, digital resources, wifi reliability, parental availability and much more.
Parents should never feel inadequate or disappointed with how well they are doing with remote learning.
We are always here to help - contact your family leader through the following email addresses:
- Dove & Wren Classes : eyfs@wouldham.kent.sch.uk
- Years 1 & 2 : ks1@wouldham.kent.sch.uk
- Years 3 & 4 : lks2@wouldham.kent.sch.uk
- Years 5 & 6 : uks2@wouldham.kent.sch.uk
If you can ony do one thing.....
Failing all other opportunities and ideas and plans - if you can manage to only do one thing then simply...
Anything! Everything! Everyday!