Setting

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

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Nicola Green Principal St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley Kildare Street Hindley Wigan WN2 3HY

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Ofsted visit to St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley

Following my visit with Julie Barlow, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 15 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 Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley

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 Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley

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 Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley

During the visit, we spoke to you. 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 opened fully to pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 on 2 September 2020. Children in the Reception Year started at the school on 7 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance is broadly the same as it would be at this point in the year. The Reception class ‘bubble’ was isolating at the time of our visit.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. You explained that the curriculum has been adapted in some subjects to ensure that pupils have more time to practise their writing skills. This is because teachers have noticed that pupils have lost some of their stamina for writing. You expect that pupils will be learning the usual curriculum by summer term 2021.  Teachers have checked what pupils know and remember in English and mathematics. Pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 are currently behind where you would expect them to be in their phonics knowledge. You aim to remedy this through additional phonics lessons and extra support for small groups. Older

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

pupils are focusing on improving their comprehension skills.  In mathematics, teachers’ checks have found that most pupils across the school need to revisit many of the basic rules of number. You explained that teachers are helping pupils to catch up on what they have forgotten by providing individualised programs of learning.  You have plans in place for teachers to check on the learning that pupils have missed in subjects other than English and mathematics. Once this is complete, you anticipate that the subject content in many topics will be adjusted to help pupils make up for lost ground.  Staff have been trained to deliver your usual curriculum remotely whenever it is required. You believe that the system in place will enable teachers to monitor the work that pupils produce.

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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 chief executive officer of the Quest Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wigan. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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