Learning from home at The Community Schools Trust
The school’s priority is to continue to provide quality education to your child, in spite of a national crisis and we will be working around the clock to ensure this.
You may be anxious about the impact this will have on your child’s learning but know that you are not alone in this feeling. Parents across the country will be feeling the same way and your child’s teachers are anxious to ensure they support your child’s learning as best as they can.
Despite this unique set of circumstances, we are one of the better-prepared schools.
Whilst other schools might be setting ad hoc work for students to be getting on with during this time, the work that we are setting directly follows our well-planned curriculum.
Our DPR ensures students can continue their planned learning at home. It is important to note, therefore, that the extent your child engages with the DPR will dictate the progress your child makes in this time. Your support will be very important in making this happen.
This FAQ document will take you through key things for you to be aware of during the event of school closure.
Thank you in advance for continuing to support the school and your child in their learning.
1. How do I know whether my child is learning and what they are meant to be learning?
Check your child’s DPR with them every day.
Ask them which key objective they are focusing on for a particular subject.
Make sure they are working on one key objective at a time.
2. How do I know whether my child is on track for their different subjects?
Teachers will be providing feedback on the work your child submits on the DPR. Ask your child to show you this.
Check the judgements on your child’s key objectives for their different subjects.
3. How can I get in touch with the subject teachers?
You can access your child’s email address via their DPR subject page.
4. What do I do if my child doesn't understand something?
Your child can ask questions of their teachers via the DPR collaboration portal.
Here’s a reminder on how to use the collaboration portal on DPR: https://axle-education.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035157673-Collaborating
Your child can also ask questions via the class chat feature (see below), which appears on their subject home page.
4. What if my child says they have done all their work?
This is unlikely. Please check your child has completed the lesson or learning task that has been set. They should have uploaded evidence of this work onto the DPR. You can ask them to show you this.
Home learning is a great opportunity for building independence. The DPR independent resources portal is the best tool for this.
Your child can access a range of learning resources linked to the key objectives that will help them to secure their understanding.
You could prompt your child to complete a learning resource for a key objective that you can see is still in the ‘Developing’ or ‘Consolidating’ stage.
An easy guide on how to access independent resources can be found here: https://axle-education.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005392698-Resources
5. Will my child still get homework?
Homework expectations remain the same.
Your child should be logging on to the DPR at least once, every day to check and submit homework they will be receiving.
You can check they are doing this by logging in too, using your child’s log in details. Your child should know these details but it will also have been handed to them. You can also email your child’s Head of Learning for this information.
Your child’s teachers will be assessing the quality of the homework your child submits. This is something you should check to ensure that your child is completing their homework in a meaningful way.
An easy guide on how to access homework can be accessed here: https://axle-education.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035157693-Assignments
6. My child has a private tutor. How do I know if what they are teaching is any good?
You can share the key objectives from your child’s DPR and ask them to focus their teaching on the objectives that have not yet been secured.
Your child can use the work done with their private tutor as evidence they can upload onto the DPR for their teachers to use to assess.
7. How do I get a quick overview of how my child is doing across all of their subjects?
Log into your child’s DPR and click on the ‘analytics’ card to get a snapshot of progress made across all of their subjects.
An easy guide on how to do this can be found here: https://axle-education.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035157653-My-subjects-and-key-objectives
The points system on this page will give you an idea of the amount of progress your child has been making at any given point.
Here is a simple breakdown explaining the points system: https://axle-education.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034639854-Student-analytics
8. How does my child access RM UNIFY if they have forgotten their log in details?
The username is their school email address and students have their own password.
If they have forgotten their password, they should contact their Head of Learning.
9. How do I report anything relating to safeguarding?
Please refer to the ‘Staying safe whilst learning from home’ section in the instructions for students guide, which can be accessed by following the link below.
Useful links:
Instructions for students: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L67t9f0VJzWHZ2G65U4nmdRJVx7z5bFbMvlJBv2rpoA/edit