RSM Online
At Reigate St Mary’s the curriculum has always been carefully tailored to the individual needs of our children and is the cornerstone of the excellent academic outcomes we achieve year on year. Our RSM Online programme is designed to ensure that this high standard of education and pace of learning is maintained whilst the children are learning at home.
The school once again smoothly transitioned to RSM Online in January 2021, building upon the successful experiences of last year and using the same fundamental principles of learning that RSM’s excellent academic reputation is built upon.
Principles of RSM Online
A Balanced Approach – we provide a sensible balance of live and recorded lessons, which gives busy families and working parents flexibility and maximises the children’s learning outcomes. It is a myth that live lessons, as opposed to asynchronous approaches, produce better outcomes. It is the blend of the two that is most important. Evidence suggests that children’s concentration online is much shorter than in the classroom, particularly at junior school age and often, children are better challenged and stretched during recorded sessions. It is also essential that there are plenty of practical learning opportunities to give the children some much needed time away from screens. We have built on our successful experiences of online learning during the last lockdown to design the most effective mix of live, recorded and practical lessons that make up RSM Online and we are constantly reviewing this, making alterations when and where necessary.
The combination of live Teams sessions and recorded classes has been a big success from our child’s point of view.
The varied timetable has been engaging and motivating and my child has really enjoyed the opportunity to learn with his peers during the live lessons, which he has particularly looked forward to, along with the afternoon well-being and reading sessions.
Wellbeing – wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at RSM and is fundamental to the RSM Online programme. We believe that happy children learn, whether they are at school or at home, and the online timetable has carefully planned sessions throughout the week to support this. We are also great believers in the great outdoors and the need for children to have plenty of fresh air. Quality time away from screens is essential for good mental health.
We have so enjoyed your assemblies – we watch them as a family at Monday lunchtimes. It’s lovely to “see” you.
The Online Curriculum – as closely as possible, the children follow the same bespoke curriculum they would follow if they were onsite. RSM Online is tailored to the strengths, current position and future potential of each child, just as their learning would be if they were in school. We value all the subjects within the RSM curriculum and continue to teach the full breadth within the RSM Online programme.
It was a wonderful week for the children and the breadth of topics/ subjects covered and activities were excellent.
Feedback – Continuous dialogue between teachers and pupils is an integral part of RSM Online and is facilitated by our industry leading platforms, Firefly and Tapestry. Why is feedback so important? At RSM we believe in ‘intrinsic motivation; this is the motivation that comes from within each child. It is the satisfaction they gain from achieving their own individual learning goals. Feedback from teachers is an essential part of this and is a key feature of RSM Online. Teachers review every piece of work daily, and the Firefly and Tapestry platforms facilitate excellent two-way personalised communication. The children particularly enjoy leaving voice notes and using emoji’s and the teachers are able to continue to have a close relationship with each child. Teachers are available during the school day to provide support after live lessons and form times. Small break out rooms are used to give extra support where necessary.
Mr Austin is a legend! Very engaging and fast to respond to any questions or feedback requests and my child is responding very well to his style of teaching.
Support for parents – We run Q&As, year group virtual coffees, year group emails etc to ensure our parents feel supported, have the tools to help the children navigate the learning programme if necessary and feel connected to the wider RSM community.
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Testimonials...
We cannot tell you how much we admire your teachers, the philosophy and ethos of RSM and the total commitment from everyone to the rounded education of our children.
Pupils are confident, curious learners with outstanding social skills.
My daughter is having the time of her life at RSM! She comes out of school full of smiles and information about her day - it’s so lovely to see.