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

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Simon Pollard Headteacher Carclaze Community Primary School St Piran’s Close St Austell Cornwall PL25 3TF

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Ofsted visit to Carclaze Community Primary School

Following my visit with Sarah McGinnis, 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 Carclaze Community 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 Carclaze Community 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 Carclaze Community Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, your assistant headteacher and your leads for English and teaching and learning. You and your assistant headteacher are the leaders 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.

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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:

 All pupils returned to school full time on Monday, 7 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance is currently lower than it was at the same time last year. You have had a number of pupils who have been away because they are ill or have shown possible symptoms of COVID-19. There were no ‘bubbles’ isolating at the time of the visit.  When pupils returned in September, you carried out a number of assessments. For example, you tested pupils’ English and mathematics abilities. In Years 1, 2 and 3, you checked pupils’ phonetic knowledge. Consequently, you have prioritised pupils’ oracy and expressive communication, reading and mathematics.  Pupils are studying your full curriculum with minor adaptions. You have extended the school day to make this possible. You believe it may be possible for the school day to go back to normal in January 2021, although you are keeping this under review. You recognise that there are some things that you

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

cannot continue to teach. For example, you are not planning to teach swimming, at this stage. Some other elements of physical education have also been stopped, such as playing invasion games.  Reading is now a priority across the school. By extending the school day, you have been able to provide extra time to teach reading, including phonics. You have amended some curriculum planning in English, so that pupils can access key texts within your curriculum that were missed because of lockdown.  The extended school day is also being used to provide extra mathematics time for pupils in Years 1 to 6. You are using this time to focus on pupils’ recall of key numeracy skills, to aid their fluency. You know where pupils have gaps in their mathematical knowledge. You plan to address these gaps at the point pupils would naturally need the skills, as they progress through your normal curriculum.  You established remote learning, utilising an online platform during lockdown.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Teachers are now using the platform to communicate with families and set homework. When necessary, the platform is being used for families who have had to self-isolate. You plan to utilise the online platform to allow teachers to deliver the school’s curriculum, whether pupils are in face-to-face lessons or are having to study 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 board of trustees, the chief executive officer, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cornwall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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