1. What is taught to students at home?

We will endeavour to deliver the full curriculum to children, in line with what would be taught should we be at the academy in person. Our curriculum offer will remain broad, balanced, and mirror the KS3 and KS4 National Curriculum.

Whilst we will cover all the subjects, there may be some adjustments that need to be made to the existing curriculum for more practical subjects (such as PE, Art, Design Tech and Music). We thank you for your support and patience with this.

Our Curriculum

2. What should my child expect from immediate remote education in the first few days?

In the instance that children need to engage in remote learning, due to self-isolation, bubble closure or whole school closure, the academy will work hard to ensure that no child is left without work to do in the immediacy. Students will be able to log into Microsoft Teams, and access their lessons and work resources. Students will have access to teachers for support and guidance. Where students do not have access to a device or internet at home and are unable to attend the academy, a work-pack, textbook or worksheet will be provided for each lesson.  Please contact the academy should you need these resources.

1. How long can I expect work set by the academy to take my child?

The minimum amount of time remote education should be in practice for Key Stages 3 and 4 is 5 hours per day. As per normal expectations, homework may also be set.

1. How will my child access the online remote education?

Oasis Academy Sholing will make provision for students to have access to work that allows them to continue to progress while at home on Microsoft Teams.  Students will have a tutor period every day that they will be expected to attend.

As far as is possible, Oasis Academy Sholing will attempt to replicate the timetable that students follow through the course of a normal school day.  

Where possible, teachers will deliver timetabled lessons live, via Microsoft Teams. If for some reason the class teacher is unavailable (e.g. due to illness), appropriate cover work will be set for that period on Microsoft Teams or if appropriate the class may be invited to another classes lesson who are accessing the same learning. 

We are mindful of the challenges of operating in an unfamiliar environment in that: 

• online learning operates on a very different dynamic
• some subjects and activities do not lend themselves as readily as others to remote learning.

Where students do not have access to a computer at home we will endeavour to provide you with one.  If this is not possible or there are other barriers a work-pack, textbook or worksheet will be provided for each lesson.  Please contact us so that we can support you with this info@oasissholing.org 

2. Continuity of Education in Event of Individual Students Isolating 

Oasis Academy Sholing will make provision for remote learning via Microsoft Teams. Class teachers will upload the lesson resources for the lessons on the student’s timetable the following day e.g. Monday’s Science lesson resources will be uploaded on Tuesday ready for the remainder of that week. 

3. Continuity of Education in Event of a Year Group Bubble Being Directed to Isolate 

Oasis Academy Sholing will make provision for students to access work that allows them to make progress while at home. 

• Students will have the opportunity for virtual sessions with teachers/learning support staff on a daily basis.

As far as is possible, Oasis Academy Sholing will attempt to replicate the timetable that students follow through the course of a normal school day.  

Where possible, teachers will deliver timetabled lessons live, via Microsoft Teams. If for some reason the class teacher is unavailable (e.g. due to illness), appropriate cover work will be set for that period on Microsoft Teams. 

We are mindful of the challenges of operating in an unfamiliar environment in that: 

• online learning operates on a very different dynamic
• some subjects and activities do not lend themselves as readily as others to remote learning

4. If my child does not have access to online learning at home, how will you support us?

Where students do not have access to the internet at home, we will be in contact to discuss the support available. Either a place in the academy, support we can offer to provide internet access at home or paper-based resources.

We will do our very best to support any children without access to a device or internet at home with the support to rectify this. We are doing this through providing laptops and iPads. If we are unable to rectify this then a child without internet or device access is able to attend our on-site provision, in line with the government guidance.

5. How will my child be taught remotely?

The academy teaching staff will run their normal timetable of lessons as planned with students logging into MS Teams for live lessons. We acknowledge however that there may be some situations where a full timetable of live lessons may not be possible – particularly in the instance of significant staff sickness. In these situations the academy will either set work on the student team or send an invite to join another identical lesson with a different teacher.

1. What are your expectations for my child’s engagement and the support that we as parents and carers should provide?

We expect every student to engage in lessons as they would in the classroom, and similarly our staff will be checking student understanding in the same manner. This could take the form of online quizzes, marking/assessment of assignments or work returned by email or other apps.

Student behaviour practices are expected to be in line with those within the academy, and additional rules will be in place for things such as microphone and camera use, raising hands, or class conversation through MS Teams.

We expect students to conduct themselves with the same levels of respect and focus on learning on online platforms as during lessons in the academy building.  Additional expectations will be in place for online specific behaviours such as microphone and camera use, raising hands or class conversation through teams.

Sanctions will be issued for students who are not meeting our expectations, in particular not working hard or are not being safe online. Poor online behaviour may result in students being removed from online classes, as well as further sanctions. 

Live online sessions are recorded to not only allow students to access the learning materials after the session has ended, but also to safeguard students and staff. 

Poor behaviour will be addressed swiftly and decisively, with parental contact at each stage:

• Warnings will be issued in a lesson if appropriate to remind students of expectations.
• If three warnings are issued a student will be removed from a lesson as they are preventing learning from taking place.
• If a student continues to behave inappropriately, they may be removed from attending all live remote lessons, but can still access the learning from saved recordings.
• If unsafe and inappropriate online behaviours continue, then the student’s account may be disabled and they will need to resort to hard copy paper based learning pack.

We know that strong parental engagement is important to make this successful, and therefore endeavour to communicate regularly with you around how the remote learning is going. We will be there to offer support on how to access the information remotely around resources, lessons and your child’s attendance, behaviour and engagement.

We ask that you support your child by creating a quiet place for them to attend lessons at home, and do not record any lessons for your own use due to GDPR and data protection.

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

We will be checking in with children during lessons and online-check-in sessions to ensure we have a good overview of their understanding and engagement. Online quizzing and assessment tools also help us to see how many children are actively engaging in lessons, and as always we will be monitoring attendance.

If there are any concerns we will ensure we are in contact with you as parents and carers by contacting you via telephone or email.

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

We will be assessing your child’s progress through work submitted daily via Microsoft Teams, engagement through questions in lessons, using online quizzing/marking tools and other work returned by email/other agreed communication. This will help us identify needs of the individual or needs of the class quickly and effectively.

1. How will you work with me to help my child who needs additional support at home to access remote education?

We recognise that some students 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 following ways:

• A member of staff will schedule a meeting with the student to keep in touch and offer support.
• If your child is in school, a member of the SEND team will be available to support them in lessons for which they would normally access support.
• Bespoke 'Reasonable Adjustments' can be made in liaison with our SENDCo, Selina Read.
• Weekly wellbeing calls to ensure families feel supported and that we can work together to problem solve.
• Staff are also trained in supporting students using the Accessibility Settings in Teams and Office365 and can support students and families in getting the best from these features.