Setting

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

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Elaine Badger Headteacher St Mewan Community Primary School St Mewan Lane St Austell Cornwall PL26 7DP

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Ofsted visit to St Mewan Community Primary School

Following my visit with Tracey Reynolds, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 6 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 St Mewan 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 St Mewan 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 St Mewan Community 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:

 You opened the school to all pupils on 7 September 2020. Almost all pupils have returned full time.  Attendance is slightly lower than at this time last year. However, some pupils are attending school more often than they were before lockdown.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects. Teachers are spending a ‘block’ of time on each subject to check what pupils know and can do. You are adapting your curriculum plans in response.  Pupils are following an adapted curriculum in physical education and music, in light of the protective measures you have in place. You plan to return all pupils to studying the full curriculum by summer term 2021.  You have assessed pupils’ reading and identified the gaps in their knowledge. Teachers are reading and discussing texts more often with pupils. Pupils who need help to catch up are receiving extra teaching, focusing on their needs.  Your assessments in mathematics have shown that pupils need to revisit

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

several topics. To address this, teachers are providing extra daily practice for whole classes and small groups. Pupils are also participating in online competitions.  You have found that some pupils are having difficulties getting along. You are providing more lessons in personal, social and health education to help them with this. Sometimes pupils’ difficulties are the result of spending more time online. To remind pupils how to use the internet safely, you have reorganised the computing curriculum.  You have arrangements in place for remote learning in case this is needed in the future. You have added to the range of online resources for pupils to use and checked that families can access these.

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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, and the leader of the multi-academy trust, 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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