Remote Learning

Information for parents

This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students and parents/carers about what to expect from remote education if local restrictions require entire cohorts to remain at home.  
For details of what to expect where individual students are self-isolating, please see the final section of this page.

The remote curriculum: what is taught to students 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?

Teachers have been making efforts to upload resources to each of their class Microsoft Teams channels which students will be able to access if they are sent home from school on day one. Following on from this, teachers will either set individualised pieces of work for students on Synergy and/or Microsoft Teams or will deliver live lessons which may be blended (some students still in the classroom, others at home) or remote (teacher or all students not in the classroom). This will be set up by the second day of isolation at the very latest.

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?

We believe in a broad and rich curriculum whether teaching is delivered face to face or remotely. As such, students will follow the same curriculum and timetable they would have been following in school. For practical subjects where access to resources and equipment may be a barrier to a ‘normal’ educational experience, extended project and/or research work will be set (primarily for KS3 students in Art, Technology, Music, Drama and PE). In some subjects at KS4 and 5 it may be appropriate for students to change the aspect of the course they are studying. For example, GCSE Sport students may focus on theory instead of the development of practical skills or GCSE Science subjects may focus on theory as opposed to practical work.

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 same number of teaching hours as they would experience in a typical school day i.e. 5 hours on Monday through to Friday. If lessons are not delivered ‘live’ then the tasks that are set are expected to take the duration of a full lesson i.e. 1 hour.

Accessing remote education

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

All work set will be placed on Synergy (through the Homework icon) and/or the relevant subject Microsoft Teams channel. Students can download Microsoft Office for free and guidance around how to do this, and how to use Teams can be found on the following page click here.

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:

Through parental surveys we have been able to identify students who may need to loan laptops from school to support learning from home. As far as possible, these have now been provided to those we have identified as having a need.

However, if you feel that your child is unable to access remote education and would like to apply for the loan of a laptop and/or request technical support, please get in touch using the following email address: ictsupport@qphs.co.uk

How will my child be taught remotely?

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

There are two main approaches we will be taking with regards to delivering remote education:

1. Live lessons streamed over Teams. Students can access this on a laptop, tablet device or a mobile phone. They will require internet access.
2. Set work on Teams/Synergy which will include/signpost students to the resources required for the lesson.

For students who have temporary issues with accessing online education, please contact the students’ tutor in the first instance who will liaise with subject teachers around the provision of paper based work/tasks as a short term measure.

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?

Whilst we understand that there are many complexities that learning from home can bring, the key to being successful is routine. Maintaining as far as possible the times of a normal school day is crucial in supporting students to transition from school to home learning. Where possible, students would benefit from a quiet place to work or in a busy household, use headphones to help them to focus.

There is no expectation from school that parents/carers are on hand to support students directly with their school work. Work that is set and/or delivered through live lessons will be pitched at a level which students should be able to complete, with thought, by themselves. What we would ask, is that you do ensure that students are online for their lessons from 9am.

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

Staff will be keeping track of students’ engagement in online learning. If we have concerns over the engagement of your child in their learning then we will be in touch to see how we can support you and them to engage in their education. This will usually be via a member of the pastoral support team or, in the case of a subject specific loss of engagement, by the child’s teacher. If you have any concerns of your own about your child’s lack of engagement with home learning, please do not hesitate to get in touch with their tutor in the first instance.

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:

For extended periods of isolation, students will be asked to upload their work to Teams and/or email it directly to their subject teacher. This will be marked in line with our feedback and marking policy.

We use frequent low stakes tests (LSTs) to gauge student learning and support recall and the embedding of knowledge. Teachers may choose to set these via an online quiz platform (such as Kahoot) or Microsoft Forms. More often than not, formative assessment will take place during live lessons where students are expected to answer using either their mics or the chat function.

Additional support for students 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:

If students would normally receive in lesson support for their lesson, the SEND support staff will endeavour to ensure that a teaching assistant is also present in the online lesson to support your students. It may well be that a separate break-out room is established in the channel to enable the TA to provide bespoke 1-2-1 support needed.

We would welcome any support you can provide at home to help support your child in accessing Teams and the work set.

Remote education for self-isolating students

If my child is not in school because they are self-isolating, how will their remote education differ from the approaches described above?

For students who are self-isolating due to the contraction of the virus by either themselves or as a close contact of someone outside of school, teachers will ensure that either work is set for them to complete (this can be found on MS Teams and/or Synergy or, they will be delivering blended learning lessons i.e. lessons streamed live from the classroom to both students in and out of school. Teachers will be made aware on the day of absence that this is the case and work will be provided accordingly.

Queen's Park High School students are now able to download a full version of Microsoft Office for PC or Mac free of charge for installation on personal devices including tablets and phones.

For tablets and phones, all you need to do is download Word/Excel/Powerpoint to your device from the App Store/Google Play and sign in using your school email address. 
Please note: Kindle Fire Devices aren't currently supported with Office 365 Apps

To install for PC or Mac, please see the Installation Guide in the download section at the bottom of this page.

Every student at Queen's Park High School has an email address as part of their school network account. The email address is username@qphs.co.uk and uses the same password they use to sign into the school computers and Synergy.

To get a school password reset, please email our IT department: ICTSupport@qphs.co.uk 

Accounts password resets include Synergy, Office 365 (email, teams), EduCake and GCSEpod. Other IT issues can also be sent to the ICTSupport email address.