Setting

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

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Tracey Kneale, CBE Executive Headteacher Little Dewchurch Primary School Little Dewchurch Herefordshire HR2 6PN

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Ofsted visit to Little Dewchurch Primary School

Following my visit with Jonathan Leonard, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 29 September 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 Little Dewchurch 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 Little Dewchurch 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 Little Dewchurch Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and members of the senior leadership team for the collaboration of schools, including the senior leader responsible for safeguarding. 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:

 The school opened fully for all pupils on 2 September 2020.  Overall attendance is higher than normal for this time of year. You told us that parents had been reminded of the expectation for children to attend regularly, through personal contact and information published on the school website.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects in their usual curriculum, with the usual amount of time allocated to each subject. In physical education pupils cannot use the hall for their lessons. In music and drama group-singing and productions are not possible at present.  Leaders said that they have retained their normal practice of not assessing pupils until nearer to half term.  Leaders stated that pupils’ experiences of reading varied widely during lockdown. Where pupils have fallen behind, in phonics for example, they plan to address this through the normal curriculum, with additional support as

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

required.  In mathematics, leaders said they have identified which curriculum content was not taught during lockdown. They have adapted their curriculum plans with the intention of covering missed work during this academic year.  Leaders said they have reviewed the wider curriculum in other subjects to identify gaps in pupils’ experiences. For example, they plan to reintroduce the field work in geography which was missed in the summer term.  For practical activities, such as in textiles and art, leaders said they provide equipment to every individual to enable them all to participate.  You told us no pupils were currently receiving remote learning at home at the time of the visit. You said there are plans in place to deliver as much of the curriculum as possible remotely, should this be needed because of COVID-19. You plan to do this through a web-based platform alongside the use of paper and material resources for some activities.

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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 director of education for the Diocese of Hereford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Herefordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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