Setting

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

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Vicky Murray Headteacher Shaw-cum-Donnington Church of England Primary School Love Lane Newbury Berkshire RG14 2JG

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Ofsted visit to Shaw-cum-Donnington Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 29 September 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 Shaw-cum-Donnington Church of England 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 Shaw-cum-Donnington Church of England Primary School

Ofsted’s visits to schools during the autumn term are not inspections. We are not giving graded judgements. I did not undertake the usual range of inspection activities and was 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 Shaw-cum-Donnington Church of England Primary School

During the visit, I spoke to you and the assistant headteacher. I 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. I 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

I 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, the inspector noted that:

 You opened the school fully to all pupils on 3 September 2020. All pupils are attending full time.  Pupils’ current attendance is slightly below what you would normally expect at this time of year. A small number of pupils had to self-isolate with their families during the early part of term.  Pupils are studying all of the subjects they usually would. While most subjects are being taught normally, you have made some temporary changes. For example, teachers are teaching singing in smaller groups in music.  Teachers have checked pupils’ knowledge in all subjects to see what pupils have remembered. Teachers are using this information to decide what pupils need to learn next.  In mathematics, you have decided to focus on place value and calculation, across the school. Teachers identified these as aspects pupils need to revisit before moving on. You are aiming to return to the full mathematics curriculum

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From this visit, the inspector noted that:

very soon.  You have temporarily adjusted the reading curriculum to make sure pupils do not miss out on key phases in learning to read, especially in Year 1 and Year 3. You are encouraging staff to take every opportunity to support pupils’ reading in school and at home. Whole-staff training in phonics at the start of term reflects the high priority you are giving to reading.  You feel that pupils generally need more help with their writing. Teachers have identified pupils’ punctuation, handwriting and stamina to write at length, as the main areas. Teachers are focusing more on these aspects in a range of subjects.  Your plan for providing a tiered approach to remote education addresses potential full- or partial-school closures. It also caters for when individuals or small groups of pupils cannot attend school. You have either trialled or used some of these approaches already.

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From this visit, the inspector 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, the inspector noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the diocese of Oxford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for West Berkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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