Ashley College Remote Education Provision

Remote education provision: information for parents

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 or self-isolation require individuals/cohorts or the entire school to remain at home.

Ashley College is currently operating a blended learning package with students;

• at school
• working from home with links into real time school lessons
• using printed work packs where they are finding it difficult to join online lessons due to their needs
• completing work using dedicated online platforms.

The remote curriculum:

What is taught to students at home?

As Ashley College has been using remote teaching since much earlier in the year we are in the enviable position of being able to provide learning for students with immediate effect. This is in the form of joining live lessons through Google Classroom/Meets. Relevant work for students is provided for in the various subject and year group areas within Google classroom. Plus the use of various online educational platforms

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

All students have access to Google Classroom and can therefore have instant access to all of the above.

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?

Yes.

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. These subjects are the ones that have a practical/physical element to them.

For example:

• the science teacher will ask students to do planning for experiments and then he will do a video demonstration of the experiment and provide them with the data from that
• the food tech teacher will do a live presentation, or video recording, of a practical preparation of a meal or

There are some advantages these changes.

For example with yoga now online there is the added advantage that, all of your household can now join in.

Remote teaching and study time each day

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

We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will provide students with appropriate learning hours in line with their need and as agreed with parent/carer.

Accessing remote education

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

Currently all Ashley College student have access to relevant technology, supported by the school where necessary. All students have access to Google resources provided on Google classroom through their individual google log ins.

There are various other online platforms for students to use, or through which teachers set work for students; including Doddle, Bedrock Vocabulary, My Maths, Sparx, PG Online, Kerboodle and other relevant online platforms that may be introduced.

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

Although currently all students at Ashley College have access to relevant technology we recognise that some students, at times, may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those students to access remote education:

If you find that you do not have the technology to enable your child to access the online learning provisions please contact the school immediately on 020 8937 3330

• We will endeavour, in partnership with your child’s mainstream school, to provide the necessary equipment that allows online access
• Any equipment that may be loaned to you from Ashley College will be accompanied by a loan agreement that will require your agreement and signature before the equipment can be released
• If students require printed materials we will create these at school and they can be, dependent on individual circumstances:
  • picked up by yourself or a family member
  • delivered by a member of school staff
  • posted out
• completed work can be submitted back to the school in the same way

How will my child be taught remotely?

We use a combination of the following approaches to teach students remotely:

At Ashley College, we use a range of teaching approaches:

• live teaching (online lessons)
• 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 students have at home
• commercially available websites supporting the teaching of specific subjects or areas, including video clips or sequences

Engagement and feedback

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

We expect students to treat remote learning with the same respect, attendance and punctuality as they would if they were attending the school in person. Where possible we welcome parental support with their child’s learning.

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

• Teachers keep a daily register of student attendance, whether that be an online or physical presence
• A TA, or member of admin team, contacts all students prior to lessons, to ensure they are aware of which lesson they should be attending. If they do not ‘show up’ online this is followed up with another phone call to the parent/carer
• As a small school Ashley College works closely with all of our parents to ensure the best outcomes for students and constantly liaise with parents/carers in relation to any non-attendance or disengagement

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 children.

For example, whole-class feedback or quizzes marked automatically via digital platforms are also valid and effective methods, amongst many others.

Ashley College endeavours to ensure that feedback and monitoring is as close to normal as possible. We achieve this with the following multi-faceted approach:

• Teachers give verbal feedback in webcam lessons
• Google Chatroom discussions
• 1 to 1 interaction tools
• Teachers mark work that has been submitted, by students, to google classroom and give feedback
• Students are advised to use online platforms and this work is monitored and feedback given. In maths, this platform is Hegarty Maths, which allows for written feedback but also informs teacher as to number of attempts at piece of work and time taken. This can used to inform further planning
• Teachers are storing, on Google drive, a folder of evidence for GCSE teacher assessment
• Students are completing supervised exam questions independently for GCSE assessment pieces

Additional support for students with particular needs

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 in the following ways:

• We provide online and telephone support to set up remote learning
• We have visual aids ie Wacoms to support online learning, we use Google chat during lessons if students do not want to speak in front of group
• We will provide weekly work packs and an opportunity for a parent/carer teacher meeting each week to go through the learning materials and provide guidance on completion for any student unable to engage with remote online learning
• Introduce webcam time with tutor/teacher to support the webpack learning on an increasing scale if it becomes more appropriate and accessible
• We ensure any relevant therapies that students should have eg SALT, OT continue, by contacting the relevant therapist to make online session available for both student and parent/carer
• We ensure all wraparound care continues, and keep regular contact with other agencies and parents to ensure this happens
• We liaise with mainstream schools to ensure all necessary resources are provided for the home enabling continued learning

Remote education for self-isolating students

Where individual students need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote education is provided will be as has been detailed above, as they will be able to join any lesson on a live link.

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

As Ashley College has, a well-established system of live online lessons and the use of various online learning platforms there will be no difference for students whether they are self-isolating or the school is closed.