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 or two of pupils being sent home?

If it is required that a bubble needs to be sent home, they will be directed to use Hegarty Maths, SAMLearning and (for Key Stage Four) GCSE Pod. This work will be focused on solidating and revisiting the work they have done previously in that subject.

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?

When students within a bubble are working remotely, work will be set via Oak National Academy. This mirrors the work and curriculum that the student would have been doing in the classroom (but is specifically designed for remote learning) and they will be expected to complete work as per their regular academy timetable. The class teacher will be on hand to answer any questions or queries students may have via email or Teams chat.

If entire bubbles or the entire cohort is required to study remotely, we will teach the same curriculum remotely as we do in school. This will be delivered as ‘Live’ lessons through Microsoft Teams, in accordance with the student’s regular academy timetable.

If access to technology would pose an issue to a student accessing remote education in this way, please contact helpme@iceni.attrust.org.uk to discuss the support which may be available.

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 five hours to complete.

Accessing remote education

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

Live remote lessons and assignments will be set using Microsoft Teams. To access their account, your child will need to visit outlook.office.com and login using the following credentials:

Email address: Iceni account username + @iceni.attrust.org.uk. For example, this might be something like 09-J.Bloggs@iceni.attrust.org.uk

Password: This will be the same password your child uses to login to any computer at the academy.

We also have a range of online platforms available to our students which will be used both during lessons and can be used for homework and supplementary study and revision.

  • Hegarty Maths – hegartymaths.com
    • Click ‘student login’ then complete your details.
  • SAMLearning – www.samlearning.com
    • Click ‘login.’ Our centre ID is IP26MH. Username and password is your date
      of birth plus your initials (first name and surname) in the format
      DDMMYYFL.
    • GCSEPod – www.gcsepod.com
      This platform is aimed at Years 10 and 11, but may also be useful for Year 9.
      Click ‘Login’. If you not already registered, click ‘New Here? Get Started’ and
      follow the instructions on screen.
    • Oak National Academy – https://classroom.thenational.academy/
      No login details needed. You can access 10,000 free video lessons, reso

You can find step by step instructions on accessing and using these platforms by using the following links:

If your child has forgotten their password or has any other difficulties in logging in to their work, please email helpme@iceni.attrust.org.uk

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:

  • Planning for remote learning to take place on platforms which are accessible on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, smart televisions and via the browser of games consoles
  • Loaning equipment, including laptops and/or 4G mini-routers where necessary
  • Supporting parents/ carers and students to apply for additional mobile data using the government -backed scheme (https://icenisecondary.attrust.org.uk/increase-mobile-data-allowances/)
  • Distributing 4G, data only SIM cards (kindly donated by Vodafone)
  • Offering places in the academy if these solutions are not possible/ appropriate

For more details on the support available to parents/ carers and students with regards to digital or online access, please email helpme@iceni.attrust.org.uk.

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

  • Live teaching (online lessons), incorporating the five key elements of the Iceni lesson menu (retrieval practice, recap, new knowledge, intelligent practice and plenary/ next steps)
  • Online platforms including Hegarty Maths, SAMLearning and GCSEPod during Live teaching and as additional/ supplementary work
  • Occasional use of online platforms, prerecorded teaching, Oak National Academy lessons and/ or written work where lessons are not taught live because staff are scheduled to supervise key worker and vulnerable bubbles in the academy.

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 are expected to engage with the live lessons, following their regular academy timetable. All live lessons are recorded, so if students are unable to join the lesson live they are expected to access the work later via the recording.

Students are expected to participate in lessons, either through ‘unmuting’ during the lesson to ask and answer questions, use the chat function in Teams to ask and answer questions, respond to polls and questions in Teams and engage fully with any online platform work they are asked to complete.

We ask that parents and carers, wherever possible, take an active approach in supporting your child including helping your child access the online platforms where necessary and helping your child maintain a routine.

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

The register will be taken at the start of each lesson, and students who do not attend live lessons will be contacted.

All students in the academy will receive a wellbeing call at least fortnightly to check on their wellbeing and how they have engaged with their work.

Positive points for good work will be logged on Go4Schools, and any negative behaviour or lack of engagement will be recorded here too. Contact will be made initially by the class teacher, but you may also be contacted by your child’s Personalised Learning Tutor, Director of Faculty, Head of Year, Senior Leader or another member of the academy staff.

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:

  • Whole-class feedback on submitted work and verbally based on contributions to the lesson
  • Automatically marked quizzes and other tasks via online platforms such as Microsoft Forms, Hegarty Maths, SAMLearning and GCSEPod
  • Individual feedback from assessments and extended work

Your child will receive a combination of these forms of assessment each half term, with at least one piece of individualised feedback from assessments and extended work per term.

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:

  • Quality First teaching, with all teachers planning learning opportunities with all students in their classroom in mind
  • Testing and interventions supported by the SEND team, including the Learning Support Assistants
  • More regular wellbeing contact from the academy for some students with SEND
  • A place in the academy in arrangement with the SENCo.

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?

Students will follow a bespoke pathway through Oak National Academy resources, which have been mapped specifically to the in-class curriculum. This will support students well, as these resources have been specifically designed with remote learning in mind.

This may be supplemented by work set via Microsoft Teams by individual teachers, and work on Hegarty Maths, SAMLearning and GCSEPod.

Wider reopening arrangements – March 2021

In the week commencing 8th March 2021, the Academy will reopen to all students. We are staggering the starting date for each year group to allow for testing. Each year group’s first day is set out below:

Monday 8th March: Year 11

Tuesday 9th March: Year 10

Wednesday 10th March: Year 7

Thursday 11th March: Year 8

Friday 12th March: Year 9

During this week, provision will continue to be made for vulnerable students and the children of key workers (as defined by the government) in all year groups At present, the academy is only open to vulnerable students and the children of key workers. Students in school will follow their regular timetable, accessing work via Teams in the same way as their peers. If you would like to speak to someone at the academy about securing a place for your child, please email helpme@iceni.attrust.org.uk.

We would like to encourage as many of our students as possible to take up the offer of lateral flow testing. This takes the form of three lateral flow tests in the first two weeks after reopening in school, with students then taking away a lateral flow kit to continue testing themselves twice weekly at home. We have filmed this short video to explain how the lateral flow testing centre looks at Iceni Academy: https://youtu.be/Q-CTUMjSMyU

Blended Learning Policy

Blended Learning Policy –Click here

Appendix 1 (Staff) –Click here

Appendix 2 (Parents/ carers) –Click here

Important letters

Please see the letter below for further details on these arrangements.

Letter regarding partial academy closure (31st December 2020)Click Here

Home Academy Agreement (with Coronavirus addendum) Click here

Risk assessments, policies and procedures regarding reopening

LFT Testing in ATT Academies assessment (added March 2021) – Click here 

May 2021 Full Covid 19 Risk assessment – Click here

Lateral  Flow Testing risk assessment (added January 2021) –Click here

First aid risk assessment – Click here

Teaching and office staff risk assessment – Click here

Infectious disease risk assessment – Click here

Procedure for First Aid – Click here

Additional daytime cleaning procedure – Click here

Supply and use of PPE – Click here

Management and symptomatic pupils and staff procedure – Click here

Managing confirmed cases procedure – Click here

General support

The following list will grow over time and include a range of useful sources of information.  Please note we cannot take responsibility for the content of external websites.