Parents and Carers

BPA Remote Education Key Information For Parents

Home Learning due to a Covid-19 Absence

We believe it is vital that children’s education can continue at home during a period of school closures or due to a pupil needing to isolate as a result of Covid-19. Over the period of their absence, we will provide work daily via Seesaw so that children are able to take part in similar lessons as they would have ordinarily been doing in school. Whilst of course there is no substitute for children learning in school, our intention is to minimise the academic impact of Covid related absence by delivering high quality provision which replicates normal classroom practice.

All learning will be conducted using the SEESAW Family and Class apps. This will allow staff to keep in daily contact in a professional and confidential manner with their class. Teachers will be able to schedule learning in a manner that does not overwhelm children. Teaching and learning can be tailored, changed and updated as time progresses, allowing for replication of classroom activity to the best of our ability. In all communications we will prioritise the wellbeing of our children.

Why Seesaw?

Seesaw is a familiar online communication and learning platform for our school community. The vast majority of our families are already connected using the ‘Seesaw family app’ and many of you will already be familiar with ‘Seesaw Class’, having accessed homework activities on this platform over the last few months. Children will also feel confident signing in and accessing lessons via Seesaw as we do this regularly in school. The advantage of using seesaw as a platform for online delivery is that teachers can teach and model tricky concepts as well as break down lessons into more manageable chunks. Furthermore, teachers can receive feedback from the children and adjust the next lesson accordingly. The benefit of recorded lessons is that children can pause and re-watch the teaching videos which results in less reliance on an adult at home and promotes independence for the child. Recorded lessons also allow you to schedule home learning around your own family and work schedule.

Flexibility of Learning

We realise that the circumstances that cause our school to close will affect families in a number of ways. In our planning and expectations, we are aware of the need for flexibility from all sides:

• Some families have limited access to technology and internet access; it may take time for us to allocate technology to families to help overcome this.
• Parents may be trying to work from home so access to technology as a family may be limited;
• Parents may have two or more children trying to access technology;
• Teachers may be trying to manage their home situation and the learning of their own children;
• Systems may not always function as they should. An understanding of, and willingness to adapt, to these difficulties on all sides is essential for success.

Home – School Agreement

We believe that it is in the best interests of our children that we continue to provide structured support to the best of our ability. Bearing in mind the need for flexibility, no deadlines will be set but engagement will be monitored. It must be noted that the work children engage in during a period of closure will be part of our current planning and so cannot be considered as optional. Children and parents should consider the arrangements as highly recommended.

Teaching Staff will:

• Share teaching and activities with their class through the SEESAW apps;
• Continue teaching in line with current, extensive planning that is already in place throughout the school;
• Understand that learning remotely will be more difficult, so tasks will be set in smaller steps to allow for this;
• Keep in contact with children through the SEESAW apps and well-being phone calls;
• Reply to messages, set work and give feedback on activities during the normal working hours 9.00 am – 5:00pm;
• Allow flexibility in the completion of activities, understanding that the circumstances leading to our closure will affect families in a number of ways;
• Take regular breaks away from the computer or iPad;
• If unwell themselves, be covered by another staff member for the sharing of learning activities.
• Follow up of messages on the SEESAW app during this time will not be undertaken until the teacher is fit to work.

Children will:

• Be assured that wellbeing is at the forefront of our thoughts and the need for children to take regular breaks, get fresh air, exercise and maintain a reasonable balance between online engagement and offline activities;
• Only send messages and queries that are in relation to tasks set by the teacher or in response to questions the teacher may ask them directly;
• Only access the material shared by their teacher and ask for parental permission to use technology for anything beyond that;
• Read daily, either independently or with an adult;
• Consider using the school closure time to learn a new skill, follow their own interests to discover more about the world around us or just be creative.

Parents will:

• Support their child’s learning to the best of their ability;
• Encourage their child to access and engage with SEESAW posts from their teacher;
• Continue to adhere to the BPA See-Saw user agreement;
• Refrain from screenshotting or copying any information, messages or posts to share on social media or any other platform outside of the SEESAW app;
• Know they can continue to contact their class teacher as normal through the SEESAW app if they require support of any kind;
• Check their child’s completed work each day and encourage the progress that is being made;
• Be mindful of mental well-being of both themselves and their child and encourage their child to take regular breaks, play games, get fresh air and relax;

Technology

We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. If technology is proving to be a barrier to home learning we may be able offer some assistance with this. Please contact the school office to discuss how he we can help.

To find out more information about our home learning provision, please download the document at the top of the page.