How to approve your remote learning policy

Your school isn't legally required to provide remote learning, but it should

The old requirement that schools were legally bound to provide remote learning expired on 24 March 2022.

Since then, the Department for Education’s guidance on remote learning has been non-statutory.

Your school should only provide remote education to pupils where: 

• Your school is closed or there are restrictions on who can attend, such as when:
• Your school can't open safely
• Opening would contradict government guidance
• Individual pupils can't physically attend school but can continue learning
• This might apply to pupils with an infectious illness or who are recovering from an operation or injury

Remote education is a last resort

Your school leaders shouldn't view remote education as an equal alternative to attendance in school.

It also shouldn't be used to justify suspending a pupil. If your headteacher sends a pupil home for disciplinary reasons, it must be treated as a suspension or exclusion.

If your school does offer remote learning to individual pupils, your school leaders should consider:

• Making sure the school, parents or carers, the pupil (if appropriate) and relevant medical professional (if appropriate) agree to remote education
• If the pupil has an education, health and care (EHC) plan or has a social worker, the local authority should also be involved
• Setting a time limit for reviewing the period of remote learning provision, with the aim to return the pupil to in-person education with the support they need

Main points to look out for

Below we suggest what might be included in a remote learning policy but, since it’s not statutory, policies can vary.

It’s not meant as a guide for writing a policy, since that’s your school leaders’ job, but use it to give you a sense of what you’re looking for.

Roles and responsibilities

Who will do what under the policy, such as:

• Governing board
• Monitor the school’s approach to providing remote learning and make sure staff are certain that systems are secure
• Teachers
• Set work and provide feedback
• Keep in touch with pupils and parents, and attend virtual meetings with staff
• Make sure work provided is of high quality, meaningful and ambitious
• Pupils and parents
• Be contactable during the required times
• Complete work to set deadlines
• Seek help from teachers/the school when needed

Data protection

How staff can make sure that data is kept secure, such as:

• Accessing data on a secure cloud service or network
• Sharing as little personal data as possible online
• Keeping devices safe, e.g. making sure they’re password protected and encrypted, and installing antivirus software

References to other policies, including safeguarding

The policy may set out safeguarding arrangements for remote learning, or it may point to where this information can be found (most likely your child protection policy).

Other policies it may link to include:

• Attendance
• Behaviour 
• Data protection 
• ICT and internet acceptable use 
• Online safety 

Key questions to challenge the policy

In addition to the kinds of questions you'd usually cover when approving a policy, ask:

1. Is there a chance this policy might have a negative impact on staff wellbeing and workload? If so, how will you avoid this?

This policy shouldn't add more pressure.

School leaders should be able to explain how this policy was created with wellbeing in mind (e.g. outlining working hours staff are expected to follow to encourage a healthy work-life balance).

Leaders should also explain how they intend to monitor staff wellbeing and remote learning workload. And you'll also want to assure yourselves that staff know who to turn to when they need support.

2. What are your arrangements for reviewing remote learning?

You'll want to know that when individual pupils are offered remote learning, there's a focused effort on getting them back into school as soon as possible. Your school leader should be able to tell you who reviews a pupil's remote learning provision and how often, and how sources of support for return to school are identified and put in place.

3. How will you make sure everyone who needs to read this policy has done so? 

School leaders should be able to explain how relevant parties:

• Will be notified of their expected actions and responsibilities under the policy
• Can raise any issues they have with these
• Can get help with any technical questions or problems

4. How will we know this policy is working and that it's being properly implemented?

School leaders should be able to explain:

• Key objectives of the policy and how success will be measured
• How implementation will be monitored and reported

5. How will governors monitor the implementation of this policy?

Take your lead from senior leaders for how best to monitor this policy.

For example, leaders may update the chair on how they're implementing the policy, and expect the chair to update the full board. But remember: the way your school will want you to monitor may vary.

Model policy

As noted above, you’re not expected to write this, but you can take a look at our model to get an idea of what a good policy might look like:

Model policy: remote learning

Examples from schools

Cherry Tree Academy, a primary school in Colchester, uses a remote learning policy from its trust

Ivel Valley School and College, an all-through community special school in Bedfordshire

Our Lady of Peace Catholic Primary and Nursery School, a voluntary-aided school in Slough

Settle College, a community secondary school in North Yorkshire