Remote Learning Information

Remote Learning Provision

 

This page contains important information relating to our online learning provision. 

 

During a local or national lockdown your child’s class teacher will send out a timetable for the week ahead. This will include regular morning video catch ups where all children can speak to their teacher and also to one another. It will be an opportunity to explain the day’s learning and ensure that everyone is confident and happy.

 

We will endeavour to maintain a balance of synchronous (altogether at the same time) and asynchronous (all doing the same activities, but at a convenient time to you as a family) learning activities. Sometimes teachers will ask children to join a video call so they can deliver a lesson to everyone, sometimes they may direct them to pre-recorded explanations, sometimes it may simply be a sheet of activities. Teachers will be accessible throughout the school day to respond to your child’s questions and give feedback on learning submitted. Please encourage your child to ask their class teacher if they find something challenging. We are endeavouring to limit the pressures on you.

 

Some class teachers will be in school looking after a class of vulnerable / key worker children making it difficult to teach ‘live lessons’ or respond immediately. Please be patient with us during these occasions.

 

We would also like every child to have a fortnightly 10-minute face to face, one to one slot with their child’s class teacher. This will be an opportunity to discuss the week’s learning, check that everything is ok and possibly share a book or a story. 

 

Our remote learning offer is designed to hopefully alleviate pressures at home whilst also being respectful that everyone will have numerous challenges. If you have difficulty accessing the internet or are struggling to provide your child with a device, please contact the school immediately. For those families without, we may be able to provide a device and we have a small number of free SIM cards that have a data allowance which we can distribute to those families with limited or no internet access.

Showbie

 

Southbroom St James Academy has chosen Showbie as an interface to extend your child's classroom into the home. Of the range of providers in the marketplace, we believe Showbie offers an all encompassing platform which is simple, user friendly and most importantly, effective at keeping in touch with pupils whilst at home. 

 

"Showbie keeps you and your students on the same page, whether you’re using your iPad, iPhone, or pretty much any computer or device with an internet connection." Showbie, 2020

 

From December 2020, all children at Southbroom St James Academy will have access to Showbie where they will find their weekly homework tasks. In addition, each day there will be access to the key elements of learning which are taking place in school. Therefore, should a child need to be kept home at short notice, they will still be able to learn online via Showbie.

 

Showbie provides a safe and easy way to support learning beyond the classroom and can be accessed from any computer or mobile device with internet capabilities. It allows the children to:

 

• Receive and return learning. 

• Participate in class or group discussions; these are monitored by the teacher and children cannot send private messages to each other.

• Communicate directly with the teacher to ask questions and get help with learning.

• Keep track of important due dates, events and tasks. 

• Access files, links and resources provided by the teacher. 

 

Teachers will be able to give targeted feedback on the children’s actual work as opposed to a general email remarking on several pieces of work in one go. This can be in the form of annotations such as jottings, text notes or voice feedback which has a more personal feel. Showbie enables the children to submit the work through a variety of media including: photos, videos, text, editing worksheets directly on the app. Children are also able to add their own voice to a piece of work.

 

Should any families have difficulty accessing Showbie due to technical issues or lack of a digital device, please do contact your child's class teacher. In addition, if you have specific examples of how it is working particularly well, please do provide your child's class teacher with this feedback.

For consistency, each class has set up their class Showbie page to look the same - see the guide below to understand how we have chosen to lay out the learning.

Please also see the key to the symbols you might come across on your child's page.