Remote education provision: 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 of pupils being sent home?

In the first day of being sent home, students at Seaham High School would expect work to be uploaded to Google Classroom to complete along with written instructions from the class teacher.

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?

Following the first few days, staff at Seaham High School would move to delivering lessons live.

Students would broadly follow the same curriculum as we do in school.
- With the exception of some practical subjects where this may not be possible. i.e., Science practical lessons. We would endeavor to provide the same knowledge base via a different means. i.e., recorded demonstrations of practical activities.

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 same number of hours as if they were in school. I.e. 5x50minute lessons (reduction from the 60 minute lessons we would usually deliver to allow a 10 minute buffer for uploading of written work to Google Classroom) along with Personal Development from 8.45am.

Accessing remote education

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

All live lessons and lesson content will be hosted using Google Classroom and Google Meet.

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:

We have a small number of DfE funded laptops for the purpose of remote education. Should your child require one of these they need to fulfill the following criteria:
- Be in receipt of pupil premium funding
- Have no access to any device suitable for remote education
If your child requires a device and fulfils the criteria, please contact the relevant year leader who will arrange a device to be collected from the main school reception however, please note: we are limited to the amount of devices we have and cannot guarantee a device is provided to your child.
If your child does not have a device and we are unable to supply one then your child’s year leader will be able to organise paper copies of work to complete at home. Please contact your child’s year leader in the first instance. This work can be returned to school following completion.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

Live lessons streamed following your child’s usual timetable (using Google Meet)
- These lessons may utilise other web based resources for supporting the delivery of the curriculum, i.e. DrFrost Maths, GCSEpod, Seneca etc.
Work to be completed either electronically (using Google Classroom) or completed on paper and uploaded to Google Classroom.

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?

Students at Seaham High School are expected to attend all live lessons following their usual school timetable. When attending the live lesson students are expected to engage with the lesson, contribute to the ‘chat’ feature and complete all work set by the teachers within the given time frame.

Parents/carers should support the school by providing a clear routine and a calm and purposeful working environment.

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

Staff will use ClassCharts to monitor attendance and engagement within their lessons. Staff will take a formal register at the beginning of the lesson to check attendance. Following the lesson student work will be checked for engagement and if this falls below expected standards this will be recorded on ClassCharts. Weekly reports will be emailed to parents with all relevant data included. Parents/Carers and students can also see live updates to this via the ClassCharts app which is available on all App Stores.

If engagement becomes a growing concern, year achievement leaders and year managers, supported by AHT Achievement and Progress, will intervene.

How will you assess my child’s work and progress?

Feedback can take many forms, both verbal and written, whole class or individual. Staff will use Google Classroom as the main platform for providing written feedback, but it is to be expected that not all work will be formally marked.

Seaham High School will continue to follow its assessment calendar to ensure students are formally assessed in line with age expectations.

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 carers to support those pupils in the following ways:

Staff delivering live lessons will differentiate their lessons based on the students who are in their class as they would do if students were in school. Furthermore, where possible they will provide support such as reading aloud for students if needed. Basic literacy and numeracy booklets will be purchased for our weakest students. As in school, our SEN classes remain small as they did prior to school closure.

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 likely differ from the approach for whole groups. This is due to the challenges of teaching pupils both at home and in school.

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

If an individual child is self-isolating out of a class bubble then work will be provided on Google Classroom which will cover the same curriculum content as their peers in class. This work is expected to be completed and feedback will be given as it would be if the student were in school.

If an entire bubble closes (i.e., Year 10) then all lessons for this cohort would be delivered as live lessons within 24 hours of the bubble closure.