During periods of school closure, Merry Hill will be providing immediate remote education for all children. All learning will follow our progressive and creative curriculum and be closely matched to what the children would be learning at school if the school was open.
We have adopted a blended approach to remote learning, providing a range of pre-recorded teaching videos, printed work packs and online activities. We regularly review and update our remote learning provision to ensure that it meets the evolving needs of our families.
The following information is intended to provide clarity and transparency to pupils and parents or
carers about what to expect from remote education when national or local restrictions require entire
cohorts (bubbles) of children to remain at home.
Nursery Remote Learning Provision:
- Daily recorded Phonic sessions – recorded teacher demonstrations using a variety of
techniques, games and activities linking in with classroom activities - Weekly yoga and mindfulness Nursery blog – suggested mindfulness activities for adults and
children including yoga position linking in with classroom activities - Weekly Story reading – recorded teacher story reading linking in with classroom Literacy
activities - Weekly Maths blog – suggested activities to practice throughout the week to support classroom
Numeracy activities - Weekly arts and crafts blog – suggested activities to do throughout the week to support
classroom creative activities - Weekly topic based blog with activities and learning – suggested activities to practice
throughout the week to support classroom topic based activities - Whole school provision blog on the school website – videos of staff teaching skills such as
cooking, singing, dancing, PE and mini explorers - Regular emailing and phoning of families to provide additional support for children’s learning
and emotional support
Reception Remote Learning Provision:
- Recorded teacher explanations of Phonics, English and Maths work uploaded daily to
Tapestry - Daily Phonics, English and Maths worksheets to be completed by children and uploaded to
Tapestry for teachers to mark and provide next step challenges - Daily recorded guided reading sessions uploaded onto the year group blog
- 2 blogs per week providing Topic lesson activities, links to useful resources and to celebrate
children’s work - Whole school provision blog on the school website providing videos of staff teaching skills
such as cooking, singing, dancing, PE, and mini explorers - Regular phone calls to families to provide emotional and academic support
KS1 Remote Learning Provision:
- Recorded teaching session for Phonics, English, Maths and Topic work uploaded daily to
Seesaw - Daily Phonics, English, Maths and Topic worksheets to be completed by children and
uploaded to Seesaw for teachers to mark and provide next step challenges - 8 Seesaw activities set every Monday for children to work through throughout the week and
submit for teachers to mark and provide next step challenges - Daily recorded reading sessions uploaded onto Seesaw – these will include a book
introduction, questions to consider and a challenge task - 2 blogs per week uploaded on the school website providing additional activity ideas, links to
useful resources and to celebrate children’s work - Whole school provision blog on the school website providing videos of staff teaching skills
such as cooking, singing, dancing, PE, and mini explorers - Regular phone calls to families to provide emotional and academic support
Will my child be taught broadly the same curriculum as they would if they were in school?
We are teaching the same curriculum at school to key worker children as we are providing for children
learning at home.
Our current curriculum is designed to be true to our Merry Hill ethos and values, encouraging learning
through play, exploring and investigating. We have however had to make adaptions to our curriculum
to enable busy parents to best support their children’s learning whilst learning at home. For that
reason, we may have adapted how we teach a unit of work or changed the sequence of units to
enable children to be successful during this time.
How will my child receive feedback on their work?
Children within EYFS will receive feedback and next steps when they email their work to their class
teachers via the class email addresses.
Children in KS1 will receive feedback and next steps on their work submitted on Seesaw.
How often should I send in my children’s work?
There is no set expectation as we are aware many families have a lot to juggle during this time. We
do ask that you try to submit some work each day. The more you are able to email/ submit your
children’s work, the more we can support and guide them through their next steps. We will contact
you via email or phone call if we have not received completed work from your child throughout the
week.
What if my child has additional learning needs?
We recognise that some pupils e.g. children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND),
may not be able to access the remote education without support from adults at home. Class teachers
will ensure the learning packs sent to you are personalised to meet the needs of all learners with
additional needs. This may also include extra resources or equipment to enable your child to access
their learning.
Do I have to complete every activity every day?
We are very aware that many of our parents are also working remotely during this time. We have
designed our remote education policy to cater to the needs of our families. Our teachers have pre
recorded lesson explanations so that you can watch these at a time which is best for you. You may
find that some days your child is able to do more than others and that is absolutely fine.
How long can I expect work set by the school to take each day?
We expect remote education (including remote teaching videos and independent work) will take
children the following number of hours each day. This is a guideline and we understand that on some
days, children are more motivated and focused than others and that parents have more time to
support home learning on some days compared to others.
| Early Years (Nursery and Reception) | Up to 3 hours |
| Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) | 3 hours |
Can I use this time to do some of our own activities too?
Yes! We have loved seeing our children having fun gardening, baking, cleaning out the chicken hutch
and helping with chores around the house. These are fantastic life skills! Please do keep sending us
photos and videos of your children enjoying these activities.
What if I need some support with an activity?
If you have a question about any of the home learning, please do not hesitate to email the class
teachers via the class email address. No question is too small! Please also refer to the recorded
teacher videos on the website (EYFS) or Seesaw (KS1) for explanations and modelling of how each
concept is taught at school.
If my child competes the activities, are there extra activities to keep them busy?
Lots of the work sheet activities have extra challenges for those children who have either finished
quickly or would like an extra challenge. When you submit your children’s work, their class teacher
may also reply with a next step for the child to complete. Please also take a look at our year group
and whole school blogs where staff share lots of exciting activities linked to various curriculum areas.
Finally, and most importantly we would like to remind all parents and carers that safeguarding children
is paramount. On our school website, we have information about how to keep your child safe online,
as well as other information to support families with their mental health and emotional wellbeing.
If you have any safeguarding concerns about a child, please contact the school directly on 0208 950
2166 and ask to speak to one of the DSP’s or email admin@merryhill.herts.sch.uk and put
SAFEGUARDING as the subject title giving us the best contact number to call you back on. Do NOT
give details of your concerns in your email.
For further information on our Safeguarding Policies please go to our policies page.