Brockhill Park Performing Arts College

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 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.

Brockhill Park Performing Arts College will offer a normal timetable for all students with Live Online lessons delivered each lesson of our 6 period day, over either Webex or Google Meet. Classwork and Homework assignments will be set in Google Classroom to support and complement the Live Online lessons. Typically, Live Online lessons will last 25 – 30 minutes Students must be seated at a desk or table, activate their camera and show their full name for these live face-to-face sessions. At times during the lesson teacher microphones will be turned off and their screens will not be shared. At these times students should just be completing the work set for them. After the Live Online lesson, students should complete the classwork set, set about any Homework Assignment set if time permits and enter the classroom for the next lesson in good time. Lessons are locked dead on time to avoid the disruption caused by late arrivals. We will not be recording the Live Online lessons and students must not either. They must not photograph / screenshot either.

 

The remote curriculum: what is taught to students at home

A student’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.

Generally, we expect to be able to switch from onsite provision to Live Online lessons teaching our full curriculum as per our Schemes of Work overnight.

In exceptional circumstances, we might need to take the decision to set Assignments in the Google Classroom for each lesson of the first day of remote education. In any event, we will confirm our arrangements to parents by letter sent to all parents and then placed on our website.

Will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?

We teach the same curriculum during periods of remote education as we do when we are all in school. See our Schemes of Work for each subject under curriculum on our website for further information. However, we may need to make some adaptations, depending on the length of the period of remote education.

 

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:

Year Groups 7 & 8	6 periods daily of Live Online lessons, typically of 25 – 30 minutes + classwork completion of 15 minutes. Homework of 30 – 45 minutes per subject as per our weekly Homework timetable rising from Year 7 into Year 8.
Years 9 - 11	6 periods daily of Live Online lessons, typically of 25 – 30 minutes + classwork completion of 15 minutes. Homework of 60 – 90 minutes per subject as per our weekly Homework timetable rising between Years 9 & 11.
Years 12 - 13	6 periods weekly of Live Online lessons, typically of 25 – 30 minutes + classwork completion of 15 minutes, for each A level / L3 subject. Homework of 3 – 5 hours per subject as per our weekly Homework timetable rising from Year 12 – Year 13.

 

 

Accessing remote education

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

Via Google Classroom, Google Meet and Webex through the Brockhill website.

 

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:

Lending of laptop computers

Lending of webcams

Lending of routers

Please contact us at school by telephone or mail to office@brockhill.kent.sch.uk with details of any request. We have 2 technicians and may need to send printed materials as an alternative in the short term, if we cannot meet a request within a reasonable timeframe (2 – 3 days).

 

 

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

Live Online lessons following our school timetable

Assignments set in Google Classroom for classwork and homework.

Recommendation of BBC Bitesize and National Oak Academy pre-recorded lessons, as a complement to but not instead of our Brockhill Live Online lessons and assignments set in 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?

Please ensure:

Your child attends all Live Online lessons on time, as per their timetable.

They are be seated at a desk or table, activate their camera and show their full name.

Your child submits all class – and homework assignments – daily for classwork and as specified by the teacher for homework (as per our Homework Timetable).

You accept our invitation and sign up to the weekly Guardian Summary.

Ensure your child chooses a book from our Digital Library and undertakes 20 minutes’ reading every day.

You read our daily letters each day and take note of and discuss with your child information provided in relation to student learning, online safety and a host of other matters.

 

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

We will check attendance to Live Online lessons and submission of class- and homework though the  Google Classroom and you will be invited to receive a weekly Guardian Summary detailing submission and non-submission of Assignments. Where we have concerns around attendance to Livce Online lessons, we will make telephone contact.

 

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 pupil work is as follows:

• We will provide feedback on assignments submitted through the Google Classroom and in class during Live Online lessons.
• Students will receive written feedback on assignments once every 2 – 3 weeks.

 

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:

Our SEN colleagues will make contact with you to ensure students are able to access work set / Live Online lessons. You may contact them too by telephoning the school or email to office@brockhill.kent.sch.uk

 

Remote education for self-isolating pupils

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.

Class and homework assignments will be set for each lesson as per the school timetable and homework timetable in Google Classroom for self-isolating students. Classwork should be submitted through the Google Classroom daily and homework, as specified by the subject teacher following the homework timetable. Regular feedback will be provided in the Google Classroom.

As in the period leading up to Christmas, December 20, when there are significant numbers of students self-isolating, we may move to delivering on site lessons and Live Online lessons to the students self-isolating at home simultaneously. This approach offers clear advantages to students and the appropriate sequencing of learning, as per our Schemes of Work.

We also recommend use of our online resources as well as the pre-recorded lessons on BBC Bitesize and available from National Oak Academy as a complement to but not instead of our Live Online lessons and assignments set in the Google Classroom.