Setting

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

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Tristan Revell Principal Malcolm Sargent Primary School Empingham Road Stamford Lincolnshire PE9 2SR

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Ofsted visit to Malcolm Sargent Primary School

Following my visit with Stephanie Innes-Taylor, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 20 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 Malcolm Sargent 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 Malcolm Sargent 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 Malcolm Sargent Primary School

During the visit, we spoke with you and members of 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 opened fully to all pupils this academic year from 3 September 2020. All pupils are expected to attend full time.  Current attendance is in line with that seen at the same time last year.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. Some extra-curricular clubs and activities are not the same as would normally be the case. Leaders plan that pupils will return fully to the school’s normal curriculum before the summer term 2021.  Teachers have checked what pupils know and remember in all subjects. The majority of pupils, including children in Reception, broadly have the knowledge and understanding that would be expected for this time of the year.  Leaders are prioritising speech and language development in Reception. They are also focusing on reading, particularly in Years 1 and 2, to ensure that pupils have the phonics knowledge they should have. In Years 3 to 6, staff are focusing on pupils’ handwriting and helping them to write longer pieces of

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

work.  In the wider curriculum, where teachers have identified that pupils’ have forgotten some knowledge, staff are providing extra support to help pupils catch up. For practical reasons, staff have made some changes to the order of the content they are teaching in some subjects, such as design and technology, music and computing.  Pupils can access the curriculum if they are absent. The online content that the school provides links closely to lessons taking place in school. Leaders plan to provide remote learning that is aligned with the school’s planned curriculum, should it be needed.

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

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