Setting

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

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Alison Causton Headteacher Little Horsted Church of England Primary School Lewes Road Uckfield East Sussex TN22 5TS

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Ofsted visit to Little Horsted Church of England Primary School

Following my visit with Alice Roberts, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 1 October, 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 Horsted Church of England 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 Horsted Church of England 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 Horsted Church of England Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher and 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.

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Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:  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 to all pupils on 7 September. All pupils are attending on a full-time basis.  You contacted parents prior to the start of the autumn term to let them know that school would be open from the start of September. Almost all pupils returned to school at the start of this term. Current attendance is broadly in line with your school’s normal attendance for this time of year.  Pupils are studying the school’s usual curriculum, with some adjustments to the amount of time spent on each subject. You plan to give emphasis to an increasingly wide range of subjects as the term progresses, with a focus on history later in the term. The school’s Christian values are threaded throughout the curriculum.  You are currently checking pupils’ reading, writing and mathematics knowledge. Teachers are recapping where gaps in pupils’ knowledge exist. You say that pupils have returned to school ready to learn and you are paying

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

close attention to their health and well-being as they settle back into school routines.  Teachers have identified that some pupils are finding aspects of reading more difficult than before lockdown. You have adjusted the timetable to give pupils more opportunities to read during the school day. You have decided to resume sending reading books home to support pupils’ reading.  Teachers are finding that most pupils are able to recall previously learned mathematics knowledge and skills with a few reminders. Teachers are reviewing some aspects which pupils are finding trickier to remember, such as place value.  You plan to deliver the curriculum remotely using the school’s secure learning portal should this become necessary. The portal enables teachers to set work, mark pupils’ work and give feedback.

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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 Chichester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for East Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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