In the event of a full or partial closure, Brownedge St Mary’s Catholic High School is committed to providing continuity of education to its students and will do so through a process of remote (online) education. We have a clear vision and approach for remote education and will endeavour to maintain awareness of any issues or barriers related to its effective delivery. Miss Mault, Assistant Headteacher has overarching responsibility for the quality and delivery of our remote education provision.
This information identified below is intended to provide clarity to parents and carers about what to expect from our remote education provision if your child is required to self-isolate due to being identified as a close contact with someone who has tested positive for Coronavirus or if local / national restrictions require your child’s cohort to study remotely from home. This meets the expectations set out in the DfE guidance: Remote Education Support
The key principles of Remote Learning at Brownedge St Mary’s Catholic High School
- All pupils will have access to a high-quality provision of a planned sequenced curriculum (including vulnerable children and children with SEND), which is aligned as close as possible to the in-school curriculum.
- All remote learning provision, including homework, will be provided via the Microsoft Teams platform.
- Pupils will receive a synchronous experience, where there will be ‘live lessons’, allowing for pupil/teacher interaction, direction and support. We acknowledge that different approaches to remote learning bring different benefits and drawbacks. Live lessons also allow opportunities to ask questions which promotes progress and helps students feel connected to their peers, however, we appreciate the impact of ‘screen fatigue’ from extended online sessions. It is important that our teachers select the delivery approach which most suits the content they plan to cover.
- Microsoft Teams will be used share resources and, where necessary, direct students to other relevant platforms, e.g., Mathswatch, Seneca, GCSEPod
- We will set work that is of equivalent length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school in an appropriate range of subjects. Lesson routines will continue. Students should access the Microsoft Team at the time they would have been attending lessons in school. Lessons will start at 9am and be 50 minutes, allowing for a 10-minute screen time break before the next lesson starts.
- Work is expected to be routinely submitted for marking and feedback using the Assignment tool.
All students at Brownedge St Mary’s have an Office 365 account administered by the school. This account gives students access to the following suite of online applications:
In all cases, students must use their @st-maryshigh.lancs.sch.uk account to login to any app or application. Students are not to use any other account for the purpose of remote learning. Students and staff can download desktop versions/apps on their chosen device.
Below you will find all the information about key aspects of our provision, just click on the question you would like to know the answer to;
We will set work that is of equivalent length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school in an appropriate range of subjects. Lesson routines will continue. Students should access the Microsoft Team at the time they would have been attending lessons in school. Lessons will start at 9am and be 50 minutes, allowing for a 10-minute screen time break before the next lesson starts.
During the national lockdown Brownedge St Mary’s maintained good communication with all parents/carers/students and staff. Parentmail is used as our primary method of communication to Parents/Carers. In the event of a partial or full lockdown students will access their work through Teams and parents/carers will receive reminders that work has been set through the Parents tracker feature on Teams. Teachers and students may also use the ‘chat’ feature in Microsoft Teams to communicate, regarding assignments and work.
Where students are required to remain at home (for example, if students need to self-isolate or there are local restrictions) the school will help parents, carers and students by following the students’ timetable or revised plan or structure as need arises. These plans recognise the need for routine, exercise and relaxation to develop good learning habits and improve wellbeing. The need for routines is widely documented as providing students with an increased security in the context of uncertainty.
Pastoral leaders including our Intervention Team will track student welfare and engagement and keep channels of communication open, with all parties including parents/carers and other support services as required. On occasions, with permission from the DSL, a member of the pastoral team may hold recorded one-to-one sessions via Teams with students, in order to provide the best level of care and support. The parents/carers and DSL would be informed of such meetings.
We continue to expect all staff to abide by the highest professional standards when working directly or remotely with students and our Safeguarding Policy with the Covid-19 Addendum and the Staff Code of Conduct still currently apply. Click here to access our Remote Learning Policy. Students must comply with the Internet Acceptable User Policy (AUP) and our Behaviour for Learning Policy in addition to the guidance in this document. We request that parents/carers ensure that their child fully understands and agrees to follow these guidelines.
Staff receive safeguarding training and updates on an annual basis. We have clear avenues of communication should students, parents or teachers have any safeguarding concerns in relation to remote learning. All stakeholders are encouraged to report their concerns directly to our Designated Safeguard Lead, Assistant Head Teacher, Mrs L Dudaniec or Deputy Designated Safeguard Leads, Mrs Watson and Mrs Sinclair. Information can also be reported anonymously through the school website.
Staff are instructed to, where possible, communicate within the school hours, using school email addresses and telephones (or other methods approved by the senior leadership team). Staff are encouraged to use school devices over personal devices where possible and not store personal information relating to school on any personal device. We recognise that teaching from home is different from teaching in school and ask staff to find a quiet or private area to talk to students, parents or carers. When broadcasting a live lesson, staff should consider carefully what will be in the background.
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 students. In the first instance, if you are struggling with remote education please contact the school immediately so we can put additional support in place. During periods of lockdown, you will be receiving a weekly call from a member of staff where you can raise any concerns that you may have. You can also contact our SENCO directly at: boardmank@st-maryshigh.lancs.sch.uk
Attendance is monitored daily e.g., in a national lockdown or bubble closure, a register will be taken for each live lesson. Parents/carers will be informed immediately where engagement is a concern. Staff complete a final weekly engagement tracker which identifies engagement not just in terms of participation in live lessons, but also through submission of completed assignments. Each student in school has an identified ‘mentor’ and uses this tracker to communicate and support required interventions.
Each teacher, through the participation in lessons and completion of assignments, gauge how well pupils are progressing through the curriculum. Formative assessment is given in lesson time using digitally facilitated or whole-class feedback where appropriate and formative feedback is provided for each assignment submitted. The school assessment policy will continue to be followed, where pupils will be assessed formally, through summative assessments at least once every five weeks. For these assessments more formal feedback will be given using the schools WWW and EBI strategies.
In order for remote learning to be delivered successfully, students must have access to an appropriate device to access the Office 365 Suite and in particular Teams. Where possible, and supported by the DfE Laptop Scheme for Schools, if the student does not have access to the necessary technology the school will do all it can to support the student. Students access to broadband, and computer/laptop/tablet will be monitored through a survey and support prioritised. Where necessary, we will ensure pupils without access can attend school.
We have created various guides which explain how students can access Microsoft Teams and their remote learning assignments and is designed to support both students and parents/carers. These can be found on our school website on the following link https://www.st-maryshigh.lancs.sch.uk/curriculum/home-learning
Teachers and students will all revert to using MS Teams following the approach detailed above.
If we are required to provide support for Key Worker and Vulnerable Children, they will follow the same learning plan as their peers studying at home. They will work, socially distanced, in computer suites to allow them access to the work and lessons using the MS Office 365 Suite. They will be encouraged to bring their own headphones to allow them to take part in online lessons without disturbing others in the room.
Form Tutors will keep in touch with their groups through Teams and the more vulnerable students from this group will have a mentor who maintains a weekly or biweekly contact with them, depending on need.
Staff will hold lessons at their regular time using the MS Teams platform. These lessons will include live and pre-recorded lessons, and materials linked to OneDrive and other applications. The work set will be in-line with the level of curriculum challenge in school but will take account of the age of the student and their ability to work with independence. Time to login, find material, read and decipher material, in addition to completing the task will be built into each session. Staff will only be available to chat to students in Teams during their timetabled lesson to allow them to continue their teaching role in school. Staff will keep a register of students’ participation and attendance in each lesson and inform their Head of Faculty if they have any concerns. Working closely together the teacher, line manager and pastoral lead will decide the next action to ensure that a student is looked after and supported in their learning. Parents/carers will be informed as required.
Students will access support material through Teams and other online applications as directed by their class teacher. This work will be aligned as closely as possible with in-school provision, thus enabling them to keep up to date with the current topics being taught in school until a time when they return and can receive further assistance with developing skills and understanding.
