21^st April 2020

Dear Parents,

We hope that our NBA students enjoyed the first day of having three Live Lessons with their classes in Primary. As you are aware the Newton Group is working hard to ensure that we continue to deliver a quality education to our students. We are taking feedback and comments from parents and teachers to help us to make informed decisions to improve our Remote Teaching and Learning experience. We are aware that there are a lot of changes taking place but please note all of these proposed changes have been given a lot of consideration and are being instigated to improve the overall effectiveness of the Remote Learning here at our school during these unprecedented times. Please read the below details for specific updates.

1. Timetables:

From Thursday 23^rd April we will start our Ramadan Timetable which will be shared by your Class Teachers on Class Dojo. Students will be expected to attend lessons and complete tasks from 9am to 1pm daily. The teachers will be available for communication from 8am to 1pm via Class Dojo. Please note messages after this time will be dealt with the next day.

2. Live Lessons:

In Primary, we will continue with the Live Lesson times as shared yesterday and as per the Ramadan Timetable. Live Lessons will take place three times daily and will comprise of a number of subjects. Lesson resources will be shared on the Year Group Learning Spaces on Fusion daily and the teachers will direct students on the completion of tasks and quizzes.

Presently, we are using the Zoom Platform to stream our Live Lessons in Primary as the platform meets our current needs. To ensure that this platform is a safe and effective medium of teaching for our students place please refer to the Zoom procedures and Online Expectations shared on 19^th April 2020. The SMT will continue to monitor and review the Live Lessons and the Zoom Platform on a daily basis. Please ensure that the online expectations are met, to ensure that the experience is enjoyable and effective for all students. Any issues will be addressed and followed up by the SMT. As previously advised if students do not have their cameras turned on they will be removed from the lesson and have to wait to be re-admitted by the teacher. Recording or photographing of the live lessons by parents or students is not allowed in line with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and for Child Protection.

3. Curriculum Overview:

The Curriculum Overview for each year group will be shared by your Class Teachers and will be available on the Fusion Platform. This has been adapted and amended to accommodate the Remote Learning practices at NBA for Term 3. We aim to provide comprehensive coverage of the National Curriculum to ensure that our students can continue to progress in their current year groups.

4. Assessment for Term 3:

The SMT will be creating regular checkups that will take the form of quizzes at the end of each topic based on the lessons and information taught. On given dates these checkups will be shared by their Class Teachers on a Wednesday with the students during their Live Lessons. The checkups can be completed at home with a deadline of the following Monday when they will be removed from the system. It is important that all checkups are completed independently by the students as they will form part of the overall Term 3 end of term grades. As parents, you can facilitate by reading the questions to the children and providing positive encouragement and technical support to keep them motivated and on task. Do not provide any clarification on the meaning of the vocabulary or help with the answers at all, as this will render all data obtained void and will not help the teacher plan effectively for the gaps in your child's knowledge which will have a negative impact on their overall progress.

5. Attendance for Term 3:

Attendance and engagement are compulsory and will be monitored for all students. Our teachers will be required to take attendance for the Live Lessons again from Sunday 26^th April.. Please note that as stated attendance this week will not affect the students overall attendance as parents put measures in place to ensure their children can access the Live Lessons. The teachers will be recording engagement of pre-recorded lessons through Fusion login data, quizzes and any tasks or homework that may be assigned throughout the term.

6. Parental Communication:

We will continue to use Class Dojo as our main form of communication but we will also begin to post some school messages on the Fusion Platform as well as our school’s old VLE. Please note our teachers are available to answer any queries or questions between 8am to 1pm during Ramadan each day. Any messages outside of this time will be responded to the following school day. Our Primary SMT are also available to help during school hours.

As a school, we endeavor to provide an effective Remote Teaching and Learning experience for all of our students during these unprecedented times. Thank you all for your continued patience and support as we strive to continue to provide a quality education to your children.

Kind regards,

Ms. J. Larkin.

Head of Primary