Why schools need a remote learning plan

As many families discovered, all too painfully during lockdown, learning from home is a poor substitute for being in the classroom with a teacher. Equally painfully during the same period, teachers around the country discovered how difficult it is to monitor how pupils are getting on once they are outside the school gates for long periods of time.

Addressing the gaps as students return to schools, and planning catchup for those most in need is another mammoth task, and one that is preoccupying us all. But at the back of every headteacher’s mind is the distinct possibility that swathes of students may have to self-isolate again and disrupt teaching plans even further.

To that end, the DfE has issued guidance insisting schools have a strong contingency plan in place by the end of September. 

“Where a class, group or small number of pupils need to self-isolate, or there is a local lockdown requiring pupils to remain at home, we expect schools to have the capacity to offer immediate remote education"

"Schools are expected to consider how to continue to improve the quality of their existing offer and have a strong contingency plan in place for remote education provision by the end of September.”

For many schools, that plan has Tassomai at the centre - a program built on learning science with a proven track record in helping teachers to 'track and trace' knowledge gaps amongst their students.

The remote learning challenge

Once students lose access to the close monitoring and frequent feedback that their teachers provide, many are likely to struggle. Some will struggle to improve through their work; others may struggle to do any work at all. As problems persist, they exacerbate the need for therapy, but with no way to keep an eye on how things are progressing, it’s extremely difficult for teachers to anticipate what will be needed on students’ return. With so many weeks’ learning already lost, we’re all under a great deal of pressure to cover the remaining curriculum; the risk of further compounding lost weeks with recaps on the return from any closure may prove calamitous.

Why Tassomai more than addresses your needs

Tassomai is no silver bullet, but it does directly address several of the problems with quickly-imposed remote learning and catchup programs. 

• it’s a self-setting, self-marking daily learning exercise that gives correction and feedback and differentiates its provision to every student’s own abilities. Every student learns and reinforces their learning with each day’s activities

• it’s highly accessible and an easy task for students to do daily: provided students have access to an internet-enabled device (we know that’s not 100% of students, but it’s close), they can do their Tassomai in a few minutes each day - but nothing stops them from doing more

• it’s easily monitored by teachers - you can see immediately who has been active each day (or over any custom time period), how much they’ve done, how much time they’ve spent, and how well they’ve been working. Teachers can instantly see who needs a phone-call home to give that extra nudge

• teachers are able to customise the work that students are doing on Tassomai, closing off topics not yet covered in order to focus the practice on other areas, for example.

• it shows teachers exactly where the gaps are, helping them to plan intervention for individuals or groups; all the data is explorable and interactive, and highly detailed

• it does this job for both Key Stages 3 and 4, and does so not only in science, but English and maths too

• through embedded, adaptive retrieval practice, not only does Tassomai provide a robust, “set and forget” homework during normal term time and bolster remote learning needs, it also moves the time-intensive practice of knowledge-building and retrieval onto each student’s own device. This, in turn, liberates classroom time for teachers to focus on their students’ needs, helping them to develop their skills in the subject with a solid, confident foundation.

• Learn more about packages for schools and book a demo