Turing House 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 require entire cohorts (or bubbles) to remain at home.
For details of what to expect where individual students are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.
The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home?
A student’s first day or two of being educated remotely at the beginning of self-isolation or local/national lockdown might look different from our standard approach, while we take all necessary actions to prepare for a longer period of remote teaching.
Please note that full details of the school’s curriculum is available on our website for each year group and subject. If the content of the remote curriculum is different this will be made clear by subject teachers.
What should my child expect from remote education in the first day or two of students being sent home?
If your child has been sent home to isolate while school is operational, they should follow their normal school timetable if they are well enough. Lessons should be accessed via Microsoft Teams. They will complete the same tasks as other students and will be able to interact with their teacher in some way. If their normal teacher is not available, tasks will be set for them to access with instructions for how work should be submitted where possible.
In the event of a local or national restriction which means that school is not physically operational, students will be expected to follow their normal timetable. Tasks will be set on Microsoft Teams, the VLE and/or Bromcom. Some live lessons will be available although it may, on occasion, take until the second day to organise this.
Drop-in days will be organised for students to collect specific resources. Where collection is not possible, arrangements will be made for these resources to be dropped off.
After the first few days of remote education, will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?
Once the initial transition from face-to-face learning to remote learning is made, the following can be expected:
- We teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school wherever possible and appropriate.
- The teaching order of some units of work may be changed as some schemes of work require specialist tools/equipment/facilities which may not be available at home.
- Whilst there will be suggestions for how students may exercise, physical education lessons will not be taught remotely because of the nature of what needs to be taught.
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 students broadly the following number of hours each day:
- Secondary school aged children not working towards formal qualifications can expect 6 lessons of content per day (blended learning). This equates to 5 hours per day (save core PE), however, more time may be spent on the activities set during lessons in late afternoon/early evening.
- Secondary school aged students working towards formal qualifications can expect 6 lessons of content per day plus assignments to complete.
- Where staff are unable to teach online, e.g. because of responsibilities in school with key worker and vulnerable children work may be set and left online for students to complete. On occasion, Heads of Subject or other experienced teachers might teach ‘master classes’ with more than one class on Microsoft Teams.
- Where staff are unwell, we will endeavour to leave work online for students but this may not be possible for every lesson.
Accessing remote education:
How will my child access any online remote education you are providing?
All of the main resources and live teaching will be accessed through Microsoft Teams. All students have an account and login details. Additional platforms used are: SENECA, Educake and Dr Frost Maths.
Provision will include:
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Lessons should be accessed using a device suitable for the task. The same applies to completing work. In most cases this will be a laptop or PC. Students should also be in a location where they are able to concentrate.
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 students may not have suitable online access at home. We take the following approaches to support those students to access remote education:
The school will provide remote devices for students genuinely unable to access learning. There have been two deliveries of laptops from the government. Upon arrival these devices need configuration before being allocated. We have taken the following actions to identify student need:
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All students were required to complete a VLE questionnaire during the school’s Microsoft Teams trial day so that the school could identify need.
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Year Teams in partnership with the Special Educational Needs and Personalised Learning (PLUS) Departments have and continue to identify additional need.
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Families have been contacted where necessary to organise delivery or collection of a laptop.
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Where students struggle with accessing work on a screen, in some circumstances staff prepare and disseminate printed worksheets.
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Where internet access was a barrier to learning, the school has distributed dongles.
If your child does not have access to a suitable device or internet connection, please contact us at info@turinghouseschool.org.uk or call 02080696100
How will my child be taught remotely?
We use a combination of the following approaches to teach students remotely:
At Turing House School, the following methods are used to deliver online learning:
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Live learning (online teaching)
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Recorded learning (voice over powerpoints and videos)
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Commercially available websites to support the teaching of specific subjects which include video clips and sequences.
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Long term project work and/or internet research activities (although these are limited since they are not appropriate for ongoing long term learning)
This is supplemented in some subjects with text and reading books.
Each student will receive a blended approach, the nature of which is likely to vary from day to day.
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?
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We expect all students to engage in remote education. The school has clear tracking systems in order to identify and support students who are not engaging.
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We expect all students to follow their normal timetable and attend on time.
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We need parents/carers to ensure that their child fully engages with all activities set.
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We need parents/carers to contact the school if they have concerns or issues.
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We provide suggestions for how parents/carers can support their child, for example, setting routines. We also share online resources that support parents/carers with supporting their child.
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We will communicate with parents on a regular basis and will continue to run parental consultation events remotely in order to provide support and feedback.
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Tutor time and assemblies are a standard part of each school day. These sessions provide further opportunities to support children.
If you wish to contact the school about a curriculum issue, you should use the info@turinghouseschool.org.uk email and address to the appropriate teacher/Subject Leader in the first instance (staff list available on the website).
If you wish to contact the school about a pastoral issue, you should use the info@turinghouseschool.org.uk email and address to the appropriate Tutor/Head of Year in the first instance.
Periodically, the school will contact you to complete a survey to gain your overall feedback.
How will you check whether my child is engaging with their work and how will I be informed if there are concerns?
Lesson registers are taken by staff teaching live. Students who have not logged in to the session are identified and their names passed to our pastoral teams. Calls are made to parents/carers. Standard letters are then issues if there is an ongoing issue.
The school notes
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Who has logged in
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Who is taking part either through the chat function or verbal questioning and answer sessions
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Who has downloaded materials.
Subject teachers will contact parents/carers directly of there are issues with the completion or quality of work.
Form tutors will contact parents/carers to discuss general progress at least once a month.
You are able to check (software) for updates on behaviour, attendance etc.
If there is a serious issue with engagement or attendance, the school will contact parents/carers within two working days.
Where all methods have been used but do not result in student participation, the school will make a referral to the Richmond and Kingston Single Point of Access to request Children’s Services support for a family.
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. Our approach to feeding back on student work is as follows:
Feedback is a vital part of teaching and learning. During any remote period of learning the following learning checks are used:
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Online assignments and assessments that are formally marked according to set criteria. These should be completed in timed quiet conditions where possible.
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Quizzes and self marking activities.
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In class question and answer sessions.
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The use of forums and chats to assess understanding of a topic/theme.
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:
Teachers will:
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Adapt lesson resources so that they are accessible.
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Provide extra resources if necessary.
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Liaise with the SEND Team for advice and guidance where necessary
The SEND Team work tirelessly to support students with special educational needs. Some students attend school because they fall under the key worker and vulnerable provision. Strategies used with those learning remotely include:
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Regular telephone calls
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Teaching Assistant deployment in some online lessons
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Differentiated learning materials
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Standard SEND interventions
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Remote EHCP reviews (through Microsoft Teams)
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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 likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching students both at home and in school.
Self Isolation:
If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?
By definition, students who are self isolating have either been identified as having had contact with a positive case of COVID 19, have tested positive for COVID 19 or are clinically extremely vulnerable where CEV members of the community have been told to self-isolate. For these students, the following methods are used to ensure curriculum coverage:
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Access to live lessons where appropriate and possible.
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Resources loaded on to Microsoft Teams, the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and/or Bromcom.
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Pastoral contact and support.
The identity/identities of this cohort is shared with all staff members to ensure students receive the input that they need.
If a child is unwell and too ill to work, when they are well enough contact will be made to support the child in catching up work if necessary.