Remote Learning

DFE Expectations

Where a class, group or small number of pupils need to self-isolate, or there is a local lockdown requiring pupils to remain at home, we expect schools to have the capacity to offer immediate remote education.

Schools are expected to consider how to continue to improve the quality of their existing offer and have a strong contingency plan in place for remote education provision. This planning will be particularly important to support a scenario in which the logistical challenges of remote provision are greatest, for example where large numbers of pupils are required to remain at home.

In developing these contingency plans, we expect schools to:

use a curriculum sequence that allows access to high-quality online and offline resources and teaching videos and that is linked to the school’s curriculum expectations
give access to high quality remote education resources
select the online tools that will be consistently used across the school in order to allow interaction, assessment and feedback and make sure staff are trained in their use
provide printed resources, such as textbooks and workbooks, for pupils who do not have suitable online access
recognise that younger pupils and some pupils with SEND may not be able to access remote education without adult support and so schools should work with families to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum

When teaching pupils remotely, we expect schools to:

set assignments so that pupils have meaningful and ambitious work each day in a number of different subjects
teach a planned and well-sequenced curriculum so that knowledge and skills are built incrementally, with a good level of clarity about what is intended to be taught and practised in each subject
provide frequent, clear explanations of new content, delivered by a teacher in the school or through high-quality curriculum resources or videos
gauge how well pupils are progressing through the curriculum, using questions and other suitable tasks and set a clear expectation on how regularly teachers will check work
enable teachers to adjust the pace or difficulty of what is being taught in response to questions or assessments, including, where necessary, revising material or simplifying explanations to ensure pupils’ understanding
plan a programme that is of equivalent length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school, ideally including daily contact with teachers We expect schools to consider these expectations in relation to the pupils’ age, stage of development or special educational needs, for example where this would place significant demands on parents’ help or support. We expect schools to avoid an over-reliance on long-term projects or internet research activities.

Guidance Full Opening: Schools DFE, 28 August 2020 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools

Timescale This policy will come into immediate effect in the event of:

1. a full lockdown involving the whole school

2. a partial lockdown involving either a whole bubble or part of a bubble

3. individual children being affected