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

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Stella Formosa Headteacher Chesterton Primary School Brittain Avenue Chesterton Newcastle-Under-Lyme Staffordshire ST5 7NT

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Ofsted visit to Chesterton Primary School

Following my visit with Lesley Yates, Her Majesty's Inspector (HMI), to your school on 13 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 Chesterton 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 Chesterton 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 Chesterton Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the senior leader responsible for safeguarding. We also spoke to the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and the early years leader. 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:

 The school opened to all pupils on 2 September 2020. All pupils are expected to attend full time.  Attendance is currently in line with what it was this time last year. You shared your expectations about pupils’ attendance with parents. Staff work with families who are concerned about sending their children to school.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects. However, planned swimming lessons have been moved to the summer term. Teachers have also adapted the way that music is taught. You expect pupils to return to their usual curriculum by the summer term 2021.  Teachers’ checks have shown that pupils’ phonic knowledge is an area that requires extra work, particularly in Year 1. Consequently, leaders are checking that phonics teaching is consistent across early years, Year 1 and Year 2 classes. Teachers’ checks have shown that reading comprehension is an area that requires extra work in Years 3 to 6. Teachers have introduced whole-

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

class reading in these classes.  In mathematics, leaders identified that learning did not build on what pupils already knew. You said that teachers have changed the curriculum to address this.  This term, teachers intend to revisit some of the missed learning from the summer term.  You plan to use an online commercial product, which parents are already familiar with, to deliver remote learning if year-group ‘bubbles’ are sent home. Wherever possible, leaders say this will be aligned with your usual curriculum.

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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 chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Staffordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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