If you have any technical issues or require a password reset please contact EWATechs@taw.org.uk
Remote Learning
The following tiered plan provides an outline of how we will deliver home learning to ensure our students make the best possible progress at Ercall Wood Academy. These tiers are in response to the different levels of isolation imposed by the local and national government.
Students who are self-isolating due to shielding or self-isolating due to exposure to Coronavirus
When a student is self-isolating, parents and carers must ensure that the Attendance Officer is informed so that the correct code is associated with their reason for being absent from school.
Within Tier 1 Ercall Wood Academy will ensure that students have access to the essential knowledge that will be taught in lessons through strategies including:
Classwork topic resources uploaded onto SMHW (Show My Home Work).
Access to online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Oak Academy, Educake and GCSE Pod.
Formative assessments through quizzes and self-assessment.
The work for each subject will be accessible through SMHW or can be accessed directly by students on SharePoint using this link. Students will need to login with their school account to access these resources.
Please visit http://students.ercallwood.co.uk
If a whole year group or a class bubble is asked to self-isolate at home due to exposure to Coronavirus
If the academy makes the decision to send a year group or class bubble home to self-isolate for 14 days, all students will receive their lessons in line with their usual school timetable.
Within Tier 1 Ercall Wood Academy will ensure that students have access to the essential knowledge that will be taught in lessons through strategies including:
Lessons on SMHW following the students timetable (Show My Home Work).
Access to online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Oak Academy, Educake and GCSE Pod.
Formative assessments through quizzes and self-assessment.
Rota system of attendance
Tier 2 is when the academy follow a rota system of attendance with some students in school and some learning from home. The decision for tier 2 will be by the government.
Within Tier 2 Ercall Wood Academy will ensure that students learning at home continue to make good progress in their learning through:
- Lessons on SMHW following the students timetable.
- PowerPoints with spoken explanations and instructions by Ercall Wood Academy teachers and activities for students to complete.
- Access to online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Oak Academy, Educake and GCSE Pod.
- Formative assessments through quizzes and self-assessment.
Whole school closure
Tiers 3 and 4 are when the whole school must learn from home. The decision for Tier 2 and 3 will be made by the government.
Remote learning at Ercall Wood Academy will incorporate a blend of the following approaches to teach students remotely:
• Live Microsoft Teams teaching
• Recorded lessons and videos (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
• Narrated PowerPoints
• Electronic workbooks
• Online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Bedrock, Educake and GCSE Pod
A guide for parents/carers of Year 7 students about how to set up and access this home learning via SMHW can be found on our study zone page (http://students.ercallwood.co.uk).
All the learning resources needed to support home learning can be found within the Study Zone section of the school website.
If any parents/carers or students need support accessing SMHW please email us at EWATechs@taw.org.uk
We will continue to keep you informed of any changes which will affect you and your child via our school website and email system.
Remote education provision: information for parents
This information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to students and parents or carers about what to expect from remote education if local restrictions require entire cohorts (or bubbles) 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 student’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.
Ercall Wood Academy will ensure that students have access to the essential knowledge that will be taught in lessons through strategies including:
• Lessons on SMHW following the students’ timetable (Show My Home Work).
• Access to online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Oak Academy, Educake and GCSE Pod.
• Formative assessments through quizzes and self-assessment.
The work for each subject will be accessible through SMHW (appears as red in the student ‘to do’ list) or can be accessed directly by students on SharePoint using this link. Students will need to login with their school account to access these resources.
Please visit http://students.ercallwood.co.uk
Ercall Wood Academy will ensure that students have access to the essential curriculum knowledge that would be taught in lessons.
Lessons will take the form of blended online learning to include narrated PowerPoints and videos, uploaded resources, and live Teams lessons.
All lesson information will be uploaded onto Show My Homework (SMHW). This platform will direct all students to the appropriate lesson resource.
SMHW platform will be used consistently across the academy in order to allow interaction, assessment and feedback.
Online tutor Teams registration sessions
Live tutor Teams meetings will take place from 8.50 to 9.00am following the table below. Form tutors will check in with their class and check on their welfare.
Key stage 3
Key stage 3 continued
Years 7, 8 and 9 students will receive 5 remote learning sessions per day on SMHW following the table above. The sessions are not set at a specific time of day. This provides families with some flexibility when supporting more than one child with their remote learning.
Key stage 4
All lessons for year 10 and 11 students will follow the academy timetable of 5 lessons per day. There will be no core PE lessons set. All lesson information will be uploaded onto SMHW. Lessons will take the form of blended online learning to include narrated PowerPoints, uploaded resources, and live Teams lessons.
Remote teaching and study time each day
We expect that remote education (including remote teaching and independent work) will take students broadly the following number of hours each day:
| Secondary school-aged students not working towards formal qualifications this year | 5 hours of remote learning per day. |
| Secondary school-aged students working towards formal qualifications this year | 5 hours of remote learning per day. |
Accessing remote education
All lesson information will be uploaded onto Show My Homework (SMHW). This platform will direct all students to the appropriate lesson resource.
The Ercall Wood Academy website has a dedicated page providing help and support for remote learning including guidance on accessing Show My Homework, Microsoft Teams and other platforms.
Technical support is available by contacting EWATechs@taw.org.uk
Ercall Wood Academy recognises that some students may not have suitable online access at home.
Please contact the academy if your child needs to loan a device to access any of the learning online. We have a limited number of devices that we can provide, however we need to ensure that students can access their learning from home.
Further information is available by contacting EWATechs@taw.org.uk
Form tutors will check in with their class on a weekly basis. This will include checking on their welfare, engagement with remote learning and any issues they may have with accessing remote learning.
Ercall Wood Academy will continue to deliver our planned curriculum using Show My Homework (SMHW) as the main platform for remote learning provision. SMHW will be used consistently across the academy in order to allow interaction, assessment and feedback to support the learning of all our students. Students are already familiar with accessing and using SMHW and we will continue to use this platform to direct students to the appropriate lesson resource.
Remote learning at Ercall Wood Academy will incorporate a blend of the following approaches to teach students remotely:
• Live Microsoft Teams teaching
• Recorded lessons and videos (e.g. Oak National Academy lessons, video/audio recordings made by teachers)
• Narrated PowerPoints
• Electronic workbooks
• Online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Bedrock, Educake and GCSE Pod
The rationale for delivering a blend of learning approaches for remote learning at Ercall Wood Academy is based on the most recent research carried out by Education Endowment Fund (Best evidence to support students remotely – a study of over 60 reviews on remote learning). This research found that the most important factor was the quality of the remote learning. How the learning was delivered did not have an impact on students understanding and learning. Different approaches to remote learning suited different types of content and students. By delivering remote learning through a variety of mediums, we will help to support the learning of all our students and will address access issues where students are sharing a computer or technology with other family members.
Our remote learning incorporates the key principles of effective teaching.
1. Build positive motivation.
2. Provide clear expectations
3. Review previous learning (retrieval practice)
4. Introduce new knowledge/ skills
• questioning and clear explanations that build on the student’s prior learning
• Model (check for understanding)
• Split up explanations into small chunks
• Offer practice with scaffolding
• Provide independent work
5. Obtain feedback using assessment to inform future learning
6. Reward students for their engagement.
Engagement and feedback
Ercall Wood Academy expects all students to engage fully with remote learning, including meeting deadlines for submissions. If a student cannot complete the remote learning, they must inform their teacher via SMHW with an explanation.
If a student is ill, they must take the time to rest and recover and are not expected to complete the remote learning. Their parent would be expected to contact the academy to inform them of the illness. Staff will continue to contact home to check on the student’s welfare.
We understand that remote learning is not only challenging for teachers and students, but also for parents. We kindly ask for your support so that we can continue to provide high-quality education for your child during this time.
We do not expect you to watch your child all day, and we wouldn’t expect parents/ carers to get involved in remote lessons in place of our teachers. But it would be really helpful if you can take an active role in your child’s learning by asking them about their day and what work they’ve done.
Our top tips:
Try to encourage your child to be ready and dressed for the start of the school day, and to keep to their timetable of remote learning to instil routine.
Distinguish between weekdays and weekends, and make it clear when the school day is over, to separate home and school life
Plan breaks and exercise into the day to help keep your child active
Please keep in touch with us and do let us know if you’re having any difficulties with remote learning or have any questions please contact admin@ercallwood.co.uk
Ercall Wood Academy will monitor and track the following:
•Attendance to live Teams Tutor sessions (daily)
•Attendance to live Teams lessons (daily)
•Engagement with remote learning via submissions on SMHW (daily)
Students will be rewarded for their engagement via STAR and ERA points and written and verbal feedback from staff.
If a teacher is concerned about the engagement of a student, they will first contact the student via Show My Homework.
If a teacher is concerned that a student is not logging onto Show My Homework and completing work, despite them having communicated with the student, the pastoral team will contact home.
If the academy is concerned about the attendance to live Tutor sessions and/ or live lessons, the pastoral team will contact home.
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 student work is as follows:
Students will receive timely and regular feedback when appropriate on their progress.
This may take the form of:
•Written comments on SMHW in response to student submission of work
•Verbal feedback during live lessons
•Individual or whole-class feedback marked automatically via digital platforms such as SMHW, Educake and Bedrock.
Teachers will use ongoing assessment to ensure teaching is responsive to students’ needs and addresses any critical gaps in students’ knowledge.
Bedrock will be used to support, monitor, and develop student vocabulary and literacy
Additional support for students with particular needs
We recognise that some students, for example 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:
SENCO will contact all students with EHCPs weekly to check on their wellbeing, understanding, progress and access to remote learning.
Teaching Assistants may provide additional one to one support sessions through Teams for some identified students when appropriate.
Where individual students 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 students both at home and in school.
Students who are self-isolating due to shielding or self-isolating due to exposure to Covid19
Ercall Wood Academy will ensure that students have access to the essential knowledge that will be taught in lessons through strategies including:
•Classwork topic resources uploaded onto SMHW (Show My Home Work).
•Access to online learning tools, such as MyMaths, Oak Academy, Educake and GCSE Pod.
•Formative assessments through quizzes and self-assessment.
•The work for each subject will be accessible through SMHW (appears as red in the student ‘to do’ list) or can be accessed directly by students on SharePoint using this link. Students will need to login with their school account to access these resources.
Please visit http://students.ercallwood.co.uk
Additional resources
Please find below guidance on supporting reading at home.
7 Top Tips to Support Reading at Home.
School reading list - recommended books for children and teens.
Please find below some useful resources and links.
Key stage 3
Years 7, 8 and 9 students will receive 5 remote learning sessions per day on SMHW following the table above. The sessions are not set at a specific time of day. This provides families with some flexibility when supporting more than one child with their remote learning.
Key stage 4
All lessons for year 10 and 11 students will follow the academy timetable of 5 lessons per day. There will be no core PE lessons set. All lesson information will be uploaded onto SMHW. Lessons will take the form of blended online learning to include narrated PowerPoints, uploaded resources, and live Teams lessons.
Online tutor Teams registration sessions
Live tutor Teams meetings will take place from 8.50 to 9.00am following the table below.
For you to be able to sign in and access Teams you need to either download the Microsoft Teams app or access it via the Teams website (https://teams.microsoft.com/) To sign into the system you need to enter the username which you use to access the computers in the academy followed by @taw.org.uk (e.g ben.smith@taw.org.uk). The password used to access this is the same password used in the academy to access Show my Homework.
If you have any issues with passwords, please direct your enquiry to EWATechs@taw.org.uk
To join a Teams lesson you will need to have access to your academy email account. You have several ways in which you can join the lesson. You can access the Teams lesson via a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop. For the best view we recommend accessing via a laptop.
We have also placed a shortcut to access Teams on the study zone page on the academy website http://students.ercallwood.co.uk/ (see below).
From here you can click the Teams icon which will launch Teams within your web browser (also accessible via https://teams.microsoft.com/ ). You will need to sign into Teams with your academy email address and password.
Once signed into Teams, you can go to calendar and the live lessons should be there within your calendar. If you cannot see the lesson in your calendar, please email your teacher or message them using SMHW. At the time of the Teams lesson the join button will become active and enable you to join the lesson.
You can also access the meeting by accessing the subject team, to do this when logged into Teams you need to click on Teams circled in red, find your subject that you are timetabled for and then click on the meeting that will be in the team feed.
When in a Teams session you will be instructed to have your camera and microphone on to register and then both should be off for the remainder of the lesson using the two icons circled in red below.
Finally, please remember to treat your Teams lessons and any future sessions with staff appropriately – follow the guidance below.
If you are having problems connecting to the live Teams lessons, please contact technical support via email: - EWATechs@taw.org.uk
You can now connect to Microsoft Teams via Xbox and PS4/5 consoles.
Show My Homework
All remote learning is being set through Show My Homework: https://www.teamsatchel.com
Logging on
Logon using your RM information
firstname.surname@taw805
Password is your school password
User Guide for app
User Guide for Web browser
Remote Learning set
Subjects will set remote learning and a corresponding quiz for you on Show My Homework. This helps to provide both structure and variety to your weekdays.
The lessons will support new learning or recap prior learning.
The quiz checks that you have understood the learning and allows teachers to monitor your progress and engagement with your learning. It also allows teachers to give you feedback on what you have understood and where you are making mistakes. Please complete the lessons before taking the quiz.
You may find that some of your remote learning is being set by a different teacher. This is because, in many subjects, teachers are taking responsibility for whole year groups.
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To-do list Remote learning set by teachers can be found on the ‘To-do list’. This is the page that first appears when you log in.
Click on the blue words and you will be taken to a description of the assignment. |
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Calendar Remote learning set by teachers can also be found on the calendar. Click on the calendar to see the list of red “classwork” lessons that have been set on each day. Click on the bar to go to the description for the lesson. |
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Classwork Classwork lessons describe the learning task and are where you can download the resources for that lesson e.g. PowerPoint. Please do not feel that you need to print big documents. Completing work on paper or a blank word document is more than fine.
On your return to the academy, please bring all completed work. |
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Submitting work There are 2 ways of submitting work to your teachers:
Warning: large documents cannot be submitted through Show My Homework. 2. Email work to the member of staff who set the work and / or to your classroom teacher. Remember: the person setting the work might not be your regular classroom teacher, but they will still be monitoring progress and providing feedback. |
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Noticeboard On the Noticeboard teachers post activities that they feel will support you but are not compulsory. This might include PE or Performing Arts activities or resources to support your wellbeing. Go to Noticeboard and click on a day with a circle. This will allow you to see the activities that have been suggested on this day. |
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Feedback / Support from Teachers Teachers are monitoring the quiz results and using these to give personal feedback and/ or whole class feedback. This allows your teachers to move the learning on or go back through some work if there have been mistakes or misunderstandings. If you are struggling with any task you can let your teacher know through Show My Homework: • This will appear on your teacher’s Show My Homework page for them to respond. If your teacher is concerned that you may be falling behind, they will first contact you on Show My Homework and check that you are ok, that you understand and make sure you have enough support to complete the work. If your teacher is concerned that you aren’t logging into Show My Homework and completing work, despite them having communicated with you, they will contact home. |
Our academy website study zone http://students.ercallwood.co.uk/ contains a number of hyperlinks to a variety of software to support your learning. For example, GCSEPod is ideal for year 10 and 11 and is designed to support your learning and revision in 3 to 5 minute chunks across all subjects. Go to www.gcsepod.com and click “Login”.
The Oak National Academy provides 180 video lessons each week, across a broad range of subjects https://www.thenational.academy/
BBC Bitesize provides a new TV channel, podcasts, videos, and lessons each day online https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize