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Home Learning

Home Learning

Information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education where national or local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home. For details of what to expect where individual pupils are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to pupils at home

A pupil’s first day or two of being educated remotely might look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.

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

For the first day of remote education we ask parents to access links on the ‘Home Learning’ page of the website. Children will be provided with the relevant passwords needed to access these.

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?

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, we may move units around, depending on the ability to facilitate these units remotely. We may adapt subjects such as Art or PE as pupils may not have the required equipment at home.

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 take pupils broadly the following number of hours each day:

Key Stage 1 3 hours
Key Stage 2 4 hours

Accessing remote education

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

Our online learning is set using Class Dojo. Teachers share lesson presentations with recorded audio, video clips and task sheets using Class Story and Portfolio. Children can submit work (worksheets, photographs, videos etc.) using the Portfolio section of Class Dojo.

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

We recognise that some pupils may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those pupils to access remote education:

  • If you need support with devices to access online learning you can contact Mr. Archer by email johnarcher@gatedu.org . School has a limited number of devices that can be loaned to families.
  • If you have need support to access an internet connection please contact Mr. Archer johnarcher@gatedu.org and she will assist with acquiring a router or dongle.
  • If you require paper packs of work set by teachers please email class teachers directly with your request. These packs can then be collected from school or posted to your home address.
  • To submit work when you do not have access to the internet you can contact the school office via email: whitemere@gatedu.org or telephone: 0191 4385008 and arrange a suitable time or you can post it to school using the address below:

White Mere Community Primary School

Sherburn Way,

Gateshead

NE10 8BA

How will my child be taught remotely?

Our provision will:

  • Provide opportunities for daily Maths, English and Non-core lessons
  • Provide guidance and support for learning through PowerPoints, videos and explanations
  • Provide a range of work that can be accessed digitally or be answered using written responses
  • Allow older children to work as independently as possible (to support parents working from home)
  • Provide approximately the allocated time per day (as per Government regulations)

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 know that each household has differing circumstances, and this means the way the day is structured will be different for everyone.  Although we have given a suggested timetable in a particular order, each day’s activities can be done in any order to suit what else is happening at home. We ask that where possible parents supervise and support home learning to the best of their ability.

Teachers are available at various points in the day to support queries and questions from families which should come through Class Dojo. Teachers will aim to support as swiftly as possible (around their on-site commitments) so that children can continue with their work.

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

Teachers monitor engagement daily and take a weekly engagement register based on children’s average engagement with tasks (this includes viewing lessons, work submitted etc.) If we feel that your child is not engaging you will be contacted by email/telephone to see if there is any additional support we can offer.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?
Children receive daily individual feedback from the teacher on the work they submit. Feedback may also be provided as whole class feedback (during teacher videos, lesson presentation etc.) and will be used to inform the planning of lesson sequences.

Additional support for pupils 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 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 careers to support those pupils. Through regular dialogue with families we will ensure that school provides the most appropriate form of resources to meet individual needs.

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

Where individual pupils need to self-isolate but the majority of their peer group remains in school, how remote education is provided will differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school. In this instance, parents will receive a work pack via email and work can be submitted on Class Dojo. Teachers will provide at least weekly feedback. This approach is detailed in our Home Learning Policy.

 

Home Learning Websites 

In addition to the work being posted by class teachers over the coming weeks, there will be additional suggestions for home learning here by Miss Donnelly. It would be great to see anything the children have produced at home via class portfolio on Dojo!

English

Oxford Owl – A huge range of free resources. These include phonics videos and activities for younger children and English activities for older pupils.

Teach Your Monster to Read – For our younger learners, access to this fantastic resource to help them to learn to read is free if using it on a computer and just £1 if you want the app instead – it’s great fun and well recommended!

Pobble 365 – A brand new picture and linked speaking/writing tasks every single day. I’ve used this resource in class before – some of the pictures are really quite strange and interesting.

Literacy Shed – A fantastic collection of short video animations that provide lots to discuss and super writing opportunities. Why not write one of the clips as a story or write a letter from one character to another?

Audible – Free children’s audio books for the duration of the social isolation measures. Ideal for young imaginations.

Creative Writing – Famous children’s author Frank Cottrell Boyce is going to upload one creative writing task per day this week aimed at children aged 7 – 11. These will be uploaded to his Instagram page.

Discovering Children’s Books (by the British Library) – so many excellent free resources to look at, including illustrations and examples from real children’s authors’ work.

Poetry By Heart – this site has short poems that children from Y3 to Y6 can learn to recite from memory. In school we would do pictures or actions to go with the poems to make them easier to remember.

National Literacy Trust – links to free resources, including videos, some audio books and things you can print at home.

Maths

White Rose Maths are providing free lessons, 5 per week, on their website. These include short videos for you to watch with your child. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too intense!

We use White Rose Maths a lot and it’s great – teachers will be using some of these resources for home learning.

iSee Maths – Simple Maths activities and games, with video examples, for children from Y1 – Y6. You will only need a pencil and piece of paper to complete the tasks. Introduction video for parents is here.

Third Space Maths – There are some great free resources here, mainly for children in Y2 – Y6. You may need to create a free account to access them.

MathsBot – An excellent website to generate Maths questions and activities for children. The activities range in suitability for children aged 4 – 16 so you may need to explore a little bit and help find relevant activities for your child. Nearly all activities allow you to change the difficulty level from 1-10 so they can be accessed by younger children. In school, the children especially like the Four Operations puzzle and Number of the Day (on easy setting).

Math-Aids – this is a worksheet generator to practice arithmetic. Select the focus from the left hand side of the screen (e.g. addition) and then make the questions as easy/hard as your child needs.

My Mini Maths – a range of activities for Years 3-6.

Creative Activities

Gomersal Art blog-Creative art activities to complete at home

Science & Technology

Do Try This At Home – 12 online postcards with instructions for carrying out some simple investigations you can do at home.

Science Demonstrations at Home – these fun demonstrations can be carried out with things from around the home (and a little bit of adult support).

Learn to Code (5 – 7) – Scratch Jr. is a free app that allows very young children to learn how to create simple computer programmes and animations. There are lots of ‘How to…’ videos on YouTube.

Scratch Tutorials – The full version of Scratch has a lot more to offer older children. Check out the completely free guides available on this site.

Hour of Code – For anyone feeling a bit more ambitious after using Scratch. Jr., this website has a lot more videos to support children in their next steps.

Our World

The Story of Britain (BBC) – Animations from the BBC about key events in British history. Children could use these videos as a starting point and find more information about the ones they find interesting.

Famous Brits (BBC) – These videos focus on the stories of 10 people who helped shape Britain as we know if today. Children could write about the persons life, record themselves talking about the person they chose or perhaps draw a comic strip.

Why not use this time to explore an unfamiliar part of the world, such as The Galapagos Islands or the Arctic?

Extreme Weather – Extreme weather can be found in the UK too!

 

 

SEND weblinks for home learning 

 

Speech Language and communication and interaction

Social, Emotional and mental health

 

Cognition and learning

Maths

English

General

Sensory and/or physical needs

Self help and independence

  1. Home Learning Policy pdf