Tag Archives: learning from home

Friday 29th January

Good Afternoon everyone.
Thank you for another fabulous week of Remote Learning.  We know this isn’t an easy time just now and many of you are juggling with Remote Learning as well as your own jobs and other responsibilities.  We are astounded with all the fabulous learning which is taking place across our community and would like to remind you that this is not the situation we want to be in, we cannot wait until we are able to open our doors again to everyone.

As you will be aware, all children and young people will continue with online learning until mid-February (there will be a further review by the Scottish Government on 2 February 2021). The school continues to remain closed to most pupils, who will instead be provided with a programme of remote learning, based on digital experiences and supplemented with other resources, where applicable.

Our teachers will continue to remain in direct contact with pupils online through GLOW and Google Classroom.

I want to thank all members of our school community (pupils, parents and staff) for their continued support. Since the school has returned we have continued to provide a range of support to our pupils and parents, including:

  • Direct contact on the telephone from members of staff
  • Resolving a range of technical issues
  • Preparing and delivering educational resources and materials for home learning
  • Responding to specific enquiries from parents and carers
  • Delivering in school provision to the children of keyworkers and vulnerable children
  • Delivering remote learning to children at home via GLOW and Google Classroom

Across the school, we are delighted with the high levels of engagement from our pupils on Google Classroom (90 %+). The school has also received some encouraging feedback from parents and carers:

  • I think the School is doing exceptionally well and we have loved the assemblies!
  • Very happy with the current provision. The explanation videos are super and so well explained. Teachers are doing a great job. Thank you.
  • We are pleased to see more challenge now being provided by the school.
  • Only to reiterate how much we appreciate all you are doing to support the pupils.
  • I appreciate all the time and effort staff have put in so far to support my child. These are difficult times and I am only too aware of how much they have had to adapt to a very unfamiliar way of working. While it’s not all running perfectly, it never will, and it is very evident that his teacher(s) are working really hard to provide the best education and support they can. For this, I am truly grateful!

What is remote learning?
Remote learning is learning that is directed by practitioners and undertaken by children and young people who are not physically present with the practitioner while instruction is taking place. Remote learning involves a combination of ‘live’ interactions between the teacher and the learners, and also learning which takes place away from the direct presence of the class teacher. It may involve a range of learning experiences which take place in a variety of spaces, including outdoors and includes active and physical learning. Remote learning can be delivered in a variety of ways:

  • It may include activities such as research tasks, project work, practical opportunities, discussions and other activities that can be carried out away from a digital device.
  • It may involve teacher led instruction delivered ‘live’ to pupils in real time and may involve interaction with peers as part of the learning experience.
  • It is important to note that ‘live’ learning does not have to be a teacher in front of a camera; it can be a PowerPoint or still image with the teacher speaking.
  • It may also include ‘recorded’ learning input from a teacher, which the young person has been directed to. This enables flexibility for our pupils and families to access these resources at a time most convenient to them.
  • There are also approaches that encourage pupils to work independently, sometimes with technology that adapts the content of tasks in order to provide additional challenge or support- e.g. Sumdog.

Learners should not engage in online learning for the entirety of the school day. It is expected that learning will include provision of opportunities to consolidate, extend and enhance learning to take account of and meet the needs of the learners and their families. This may be accommodated by providing access to pre-recorded lessons, presentations, lesson notes, diagrams or links to useful websites.

As always, we aim to continue improving the delivery of our remote learning to ensure the best educational experience for our learners. With this in mind, our staff will introduce regular weekly check in times on Google Classroom and Google Meet to enable pupils to speak to each other and their teachers. Teachers will post a meeting link on their google classroom and pupils can enter via the link.  There will always be 2 adults in each Google Meet.  The table below outlines our plans for this week:
 

Class Session 1 Session 2
Primary 1 Monday 1st February 11.45am Friday 5th February 11am
Primary 2 Monday 1st February 1.30pm Thursday 4th February 10.30am
Primary 3 Monday 1st February 10.00am Friday 5th February 1.30pm
Primary 4 Monday 1st February 10.30am Wednesday 3rd February 11.15am
Primary 5 Monday 1st February 11.15am Thursday 4th February 11.15am
Primary 5/6 Tuesday 2nd February 9.30am Thursday 4th February 11.30am
Primary 6 Tuesday 2nd February 10.00am Thursday 4th February 10.00am
Primary 7 Monday 1st February 2.00pm Thursday 4th February 9.30am


I have attached a Parent/Carer Guide as well as a Pupil Guide.  Please read these and share the information with your child/children before their live session.  There are a number of protocols which have been identified by South Lanarkshire Council which we must follow.

Finally we wish to thank you all for being so supportive of your children during these most challenging of times. We recognise that many of our families are facing challenges that are unique to them. Please do not feel pressure from us to complete all of the tasks all of the time. We know that some days will be easier than others. I hope that you, and your family remain safe and well whilst balancing the challenges of school work and home life.

As always, if we can be of any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact a member of staff at the school. Stay safe, take care of yourselves and each other.

Team Kirkton

Friday 22nd January 2021 – Update

Good Afternoon,

As we get to the end of another week, I would like to thank you for everything you are doing to support your family and our local community.  We know things are not easy for many people just now but we can be assured that things will get better.

Following the changes implemented last week, we hope your child has found Google Classroom easier to navigate.

In response to feedback from parents we have decided to have ‘focus’ literacy and numeracy tasks each day.  These are tasks which should ideally be uploaded and teachers will provide feedback.  These are clearly marked within the tasks for the day.  We are hopeful this will reduce the amount of time being spent uploading pupil work. This does not mean teachers do not wish to see other work but please do not feel under pressure to send in every task.

We would recommend being flexible with the amount of time spend on activities.  Literacy and Numeracy tasks should take between 60 and 75 minutes including watching any videos or PowerPoints etc.  Learning across the curriculum should last no longer that 90 minutes, however this will vary depending on age and ability.

Staff will be calling parents following email requests or to check in, please note these may be from blocked or unknown numbers as they may be using personal devices.

If anyone needs to collect jotters or stationary resources, these can be collected from the school between 1.30pm and 2.30pm each day.  If you could call ahead first it would ensure staff have all the resources ready.

As a school we are able to offer a range of supports, these can be accessed via the link send out on the app on January 8th 2021.

This week we are asking our parents to complete a short questionnaire to allow views, opinions and feedback to be taken into account as we plan our next steps.  Your views are very important to us as we all adapt to this new way of working.

Click here to complete.

The questionnaire will close on Wednesday 27th January 2021.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kirkton Primary School

Google Classroom

Good Afternoon everyone,

I hope you are all well.  Thank you very much to all the hard work which has been submitted by pupils (and parents) this week.  We know that the current situation isn’t easy for anyone, but we must work together and try to stay positive.

We are making a few changes to the look of our Google Classrooms which will hopefully make them easier to navigate.

  • Rather than a grid for the week, Google Classrooms have been organised by day.  Within each folder your child will find the tasks for that day along with an associated resouces.
  • Daily folders may be added to as the week progresses in response to the needs of the children
  • Work will be uploaded by 5pm on a Friday for the following week .

As always if you require any help and support, please complete the form below, send an email to the school office or call us between 9.15am and 2.45pm.

Support Form

Thank you for your continued support and have a good weekend.

Mrs Brennan

Remote Learning – Week Beginning Monday 11th January 2020

Good Afternoon,

Please see our school app for our REMOTE LEARNING PARENT GUIDE and READINESS TO LEARN INFORMATION from the Carluke Learning Community.  This is an important document which details how remote learning will work and what to expect.

Work for week beginning Monday 11th January will be posted by 9am on Monday morning and moving forward we will post it on a Friday for the following week.

We look forward to working online with all our pupils from Monday and thank you for your continued support at this challenging time.

We are able to offer digital and practical support during this period of Remote Learning.  This includes borrowing school IT hardware, support accessing Google Classroom, practical school resources e..g. jotters/pencils etc. as well as santitary products.  If you require this support please complete this form:

Continued Support Form

We are here to help in any way we can, please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need us.

Mrs Brennan

Remote Learning P1-7

Good Morning everyone and Happy New Year.

This is not the New Year wishes we hoped to be sending but as we embark on another national lockdown we wanted to let you know we are here to support in any way we can.

Following information from Scottish Government, we will begin remote learning for all pupils from Monday 11th January 2021.  This means that each day your child’s teacher will be online between 9am and 10.30am and again from 1.30pm until 3.00pm (unless they are supporting families eligible for Emergency Key Worker Support).  Teachers will be providing a range of learning experiences for the children within their class focusing on Literacy, Numeracy and Health & Wellbeing.  As before, activities will be posted by 3pm each Friday afternoon to allow parents to plan ahead if required.  Work will only be posted on Google Classroom and not on the school app or website.

Tomorrow (Friday) information will be posted on the app giving all the details as well as information on how to access Google Classroom and Glow.  If you require a reminder of your child’s glow username and password, please contact the school office, ideally by email, who will be happy to help you.

Within the Carluke Learning Community we have produced a parent guide (see below) which identifies the differences between home learning (homework) blended learning (some pupils in school) and remote learning (national lockdown).  This is a community wide approach being used by all primary schools in Carluke.

A form will be posted via the app soon on which parents can request any additional support.

Thank you for your support and understanding whilst we finalise our plans for remote learning.  We are here to help in any way that we can.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Brennan

Learning At Home

Moving forward teachers will be providing learning tasks on a weekly basis.  Tasks will be posted on the Website “Learning at Home”, on the app and in Google Classroom.

These tasks are not compulsory and children can do as many or as few as you would like.

We would recommend the following daily and weekly tasks:

Each Day

  • Read for 15 minutes – this can be any book you have at home
  • Practice your spelling – your teacher will give you this each week.
  • Practice your mental maths – your teacher will give you this each week.

Each Week (try to complete)

  • 3 Literacy
  • 3 Mathematics
  • 3 Learning Across the Curriculum Activities

We have also added a personal class challenge, this is an activity you do with members of your household if you have time.  If you are able to, you can complete more.

  • We also have our grids with skills, apps and online activities as well as things to do without technology which can be used instead/or as well as the activities on the weekly grid.  (see below).

Many of the activities can also be re-visited. If you can, post work that you are proud of for your teacher to see on Twitter or Google Classroom.

BBC Bitesize

Some superb home learning resources on BBC Bitesize. Check out the link below;

BBC Bitesize Homepage

The site can be searched by primary stage and there are daily lessons for homeschooling in Maths and English, as well as regular lessons in Science, History, Geography and more. You can search by Primary stage here;

Bitesize Daily Lessons by Primary Stage

Each day BBC iPlayer and the Red Button are hosting Bitesize Daily programmes too.

Teachers have worked with the BBC team to create fun-packed programmes full of learning and inspiration. Each programme will include a combination of core subjects like English, Maths and Science, as well as other subjects such as History, Geography, Music and French. The daily schedule can be accessed here;

Bitesize Daily TV Schedule

We would love to hear about your experiences of using the site. Why don’t you post what you have learned on your Google Classroom page?

 

A wee update!

Dear Parents/Carers

I just wanted to touch base with all of our families during this very difficult period that we are all adjusting to.
The team  have been working extensively to operate a distance learning programme so that we can provide home learning activities and some level of continuity and normality for our pupils.
We will be using Google Classroom as our online platform.   This is accessible through the national Glow Schools website. We find the platform works best when downloaded as a separate app or onto your desktop. It can even be accessed through PS4 and other games consoles.  Use your child’s username along with @glow.sch.uk to log in.
Due to the level of demand for the site, access has been difficult for some, this can cause the work folders to appear and then disappear.  We realise this can be frustrating, if this happens, log out, and log in later.
If you are having ongoing access difficulties, please email us at gw20slckirkton@glow.sch.uk  and we can discuss an alternative.
We are really enjoying seeing the children’s work being shared on the posts section of the Classroom site as well as Twitter.  If you need any other advice or support, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Remember our Home Learning packs, will last our children 4 weeks which is for the 2 weeks before Easter and the 2 weeks after.
I will keep you up to date with any changes or development. Thank you for your continued support, understanding and patience during this time.
Stay safe,
Kirkton Primary School.