Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Chris Legg Headteacher Upottery Primary School Upottery Honiton Devon EX14 9QT

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Ofsted visit to Upottery Primary School

Following my visit with Matthew Barnes, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 1 October 2020, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the visit’s findings. Thank you for the time you made available to discuss your actions since September 2020, when the government expected all schools to open fully to all pupils.

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Ofsted visit to Upottery Primary School

This visit was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for visiting schools while routine inspections are temporarily suspended.

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Ofsted visit to Upottery Primary School

Ofsted’s visits to schools during the autumn term are not inspections. We are not giving graded judgements. We did not undertake the usual range of inspection activities and were unable to check other sources of evidence, such as visits to lessons or looking at pupils’ work. The content of this letter gives an overview of our discussions about what has happened in your school this term.

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Ofsted visit to Upottery Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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Context

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s education system is managing the return to full education for pupils, following an extended break in formal schooling due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

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Context

 approximately 1,200 schools across all Ofsted grades (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate)  maintained schools, academies and free schools, special schools and centres of alternative provision, including those in cities, and coastal, town or rural communities.

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Context

The information from this visit will feed into Ofsted’s national reporting so that the insights can be shared with the government and the education sector. We did not find any significant concerns during the visit. In such a case, an inspection report would be published on our website and available to parents and carers.

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Context

We did not consider your response to COVID-19 during the spring and summer terms 2020, when the school was not open to all pupils.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 All pupils returned to school on 7 September 2020. The large majority of pupils are attending on a full-time basis.  Pupils’ attendance is currently slightly lower than it was at the same time last year. You have had some pupils who have been absent from school due to illness that is not COVID-19 related. You have maintained your normal expectations for pupils’ attendance. There were no ‘bubbles’ isolating at the time of the visit.  Currently, pupils are studying most of their national curriculum subjects. You have a recovery plan in place to manage the return to the usual curriculum before summer term 2021. You are keeping the timing of this under review. At present, the focus on reading, writing, mathematics and pupils’ social and emotional needs means that computing and modern foreign languages are not being taught. You are planning to reintroduce these subjects after the autumn half-term holiday.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 You have identified that reading is a key priority because there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge resulting from the lockdown period. In all year groups, there are plans in place to support pupils who need to catch up. Teachers have adjusted the choice of books available to help pupils to build on what they have already learned.  In mathematics, you are completing similar checks on pupils’ understanding. You have pinpointed that pupils have gaps in their grasp of how to apply number facts to more complex problems. You are providing additional support for pupils to help them become more confident in doing so.  As pupils return to their usual curriculum, you intend to revisit your plans to identify where there are deficits in pupils’ subject knowledge. You will then use this wider evaluation to modify your curriculum accordingly.  You established a remote way of working with pupils during lockdown. You are

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

now exploring ways to extend this online platform further so that pupils can follow the school’s curriculum, whether that be in the classroom or from home.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Devon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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