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

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Ellie Weatherall Headteacher Churchill Park Complex Needs School Winston Churchill Drive Fairstead King’s Lynn Norfolk PE30 4RP

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Ofsted visit to Churchill Park Complex Needs School

Following my visit with Stefanie Lipinski-Barltrop, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 8 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 Churchill Park Complex Needs 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 Churchill Park Complex Needs 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 Churchill Park Complex Needs School

During the visit, we spoke to you and other members of your extended leadership team, including the senior leader responsible for safeguarding pupils. 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 to pupils on 7 September 2020. Some pupils attend school two days a week, while others attend four days a week. Leaders are planning for all pupils to attend school for five days a week from 2 November 2020.  Pupils’ attendance to their allocated sessions is broadly in line with what leaders would normally expect for this time of year. A few pupils with complex medical needs are yet to return to school. Some parents have been worried about sending their children back to school.  On their return to school, all pupils are following a recovery curriculum. While pupils are studying their usual range of subjects, there have been adaptations. For example, sensory circuits, forest school and horse riding have been modified.  Some activities, such as the hydrotherapy pool, the indoor soft play area or rebound therapy, are not available at present. Pupils in Years 10 to 13 have less community contact than usual, for example visiting shops or taking part in

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

work experience. Staff plan other activities to help pupils to gain similar skills.  Staff are using the recovery curriculum to assess pupils’ social, emotional, physical and academic development. Owing to pupils’ specific and often complex needs, this work is still ongoing. Early indications suggest a mixed picture of pupils’ current development. Some pupils are ready to return to their normal timetables, while others have regressed in terms of their communication and physical development. Staff and leaders are looking at how they could use the additional COVID-19 funding to help bridge some of these gaps.  Staff provide a remote curriculum to pupils who are not in school full time. Leaders and staff are working with parents to arrange individual programmes in the event of further periods when pupils are unable to attend school due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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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 co-chairs of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the KWEST Multi Academy Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Norfolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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