Setting

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

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Kathryn Wong Executive Headteacher Elfrida Primary School Elfrida Crescent Bellingham London SE6 3EN

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Ofsted visit to Elfrida Primary School

Following my visit with Adam Vincent, 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 Elfrida 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 Elfrida 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 Elfrida Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to the senior leadership team. 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 reopened to all pupils on 3 September 2020.  Most pupils have returned to full-time education. Attendance is broadly in line with figures for the same period last year. You told us that you are working hard to return all pupils to school. You have made videos that show parents how the school is operating within the COVID-19 guidance.  Pupils are not studying the school’s usual curriculum. You said that this is to allow time for teachers to settle pupils back into learning and to address gaps in phonics (letters and the sounds they represent), reading and mathematics. Currently, pupils are studying reading, writing, mathematics, phonics and personal, social and health education. You plan to reintroduce the wider curriculum by the summer term 2021.  Through testing, you have identified that some pupils are struggling with their reading skills. Recent phonics checks have revealed that some pupils

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

have forgotten their previous learning. Plans are in place to improve pupils’ reading and phonics skills through extra tuition in smaller groups.  In mathematics, you told us that the programme you have implemented helps teachers to understand the individual learning needs of the pupils. Teachers are making sure that they are addressing any gaps in pupils’ knowledge in lessons. In Year 6, additional interventions are taking place to help prepare this cohort for national assessments.  You told inspectors that it is too early to identify where learning may have fallen behind in other curriculum subjects. When the usual curriculum is reintroduced later in the year, you plan to focus on deepening pupils’ knowledge.  Remote learning is a priority. You explained that staff will be trained to deliver live lessons using a digital teaching platform. In the event of further COVID-19 restrictions, you hope that this will lead to greater engagement

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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 Lewisham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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