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

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Alison Walker Head of School Robinswood Primary Academy Underhill Road Matson Gloucestershire GL4 6HE

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Ofsted visit to Robinswood Primary Academy

Following my visit with Tonwen Empson, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 8 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 Robinswood Primary Academy

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 Robinswood Primary Academy

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 Robinswood Primary Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you, the executive headteacher, an assistant headteacher and the attendance officer. 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.

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Context

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:

 You opened the school to all pupils on 2 September 2020. All pupils are attending full time.  Pupils’ attendance is in line with that normally seen at this time of year.  Pupils are following the school’s usual range of subjects. In some subjects, teachers have reduced the amount of content to be covered. In other aspects, such as personal, social, health and economic education, staff are devoting additional time to help pupils catch up with missed learning.  Leaders anticipate that the school’s normal curriculum will be restored by the spring term 2021.  Since returning, staff have assessed pupils’ understanding in reading, writing and mathematics using last year’s end-of-year tests. Teachers have identified some aspects of learning that pupils have forgotten. Pupils revisit this content in the school’s ‘scoop up’ lessons.  The school’s assessments indicate that pupils have lost competence with

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

reading fluency and pace. Leaders are allocating more time for reading aloud. The school has provided pupils with additional reading materials, which are also available during playtimes.  In mathematics, teachers’ assessments show that some pupils have not retained learning from last term. These pupils are spending more time studying certain mathematical concepts in catch-up sessions.  Leaders have assigned extra time to subjects such as physical education and outdoor learning. To make way, less time is spent on other subjects, including geography and history.  Leaders plan to adopt the same approach to remote learning as they did in the summer term, should the need arise.

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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 chair of the board of trustees, the executive headteacher of the Robinswood Academy Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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