Setting

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

p.1

Melanie McGauley Headteacher The King John School Shipwrights Drive Thundersley Benfleet Essex SS7 1RQ

p.1

Ofsted visit to The King John School

Following my visit with Andrew Hemmings, 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.

p.1

Ofsted visit to The King John 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.

p.1

Ofsted visit to The King John 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.

p.1

Ofsted visit to The King John School

During the visit, we spoke to you, members of the trust and senior leadership team, the senior leader with responsibility for safeguarding and the leader of the modern foreign languages department. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

p.1

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.

p.1

Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 The school opened full time to all pupils on Friday 4 September. All year groups, except Year 13, attended the day before to receive guidance on the new arrangements in place.  Attendance is the same as is typical for this time of year. During our visit, a Year 7 tutor group was isolating.  Pupils have access to the usual full range of subjects. Leaders are currently considering what the curriculum will look like in the future. The teaching of the practical content in some subjects has been reviewed and will be taught later in the year.  Leaders have reviewed the personal, social, health and economic curriculum. There is a greater focus on healthy minds and healthy relationships.  After-school clubs are happening for separate year group ‘bubbles’.  Teachers are checking pupils’ knowledge and understanding of what they know and remember from their online learning in the summer. Teachers of Year 7 pupils are using pupils’ work completed in Year 6 to help inform the

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

planning of tasks. Leaders have plans to assess pupils’ work more often than they normally do.  Leaders have an online offer for pupils should they need to access it. This includes recorded lessons and resources. Recently, Year 13 students, who were self-isolating, took part in their usual lessons remotely from home. Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

p.2

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 Zenith Multi-Academy Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Essex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3