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

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Penelope Kluver Interim Head of School Oxley Primary School Shepshed Thorpe Road Shepshed Loughborough Leicestershire LE12 9LU

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Ofsted visit to Oxley Primary School Shepshed

Following my visit with Deirdre Duignan, 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 Oxley Primary School Shepshed

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 Oxley Primary School Shepshed

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 Oxley Primary School Shepshed

During the visit, we spoke to 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.

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Context

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 all pupils on 1 September 2020. Most pupils are attending full time.  Attendance is in line with that usually seen at this point in the school year. Leaders have supported families so that they feel confident to send their children back to school. Leaders have reminded all parents of the importance of regular attendance.  All pupils are studying the full range of subjects.  Teachers have checked pupils’ new starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. They plan to carry out similar checks in other subjects.  Leaders have made reading a priority. Extra support is in place for pupils who need to catch up in phonics. In Years 3 to 6, teachers are focusing on pupils helping each other to develop their understanding of texts.  Teachers are revisiting forgotten knowledge in mathematics. They are giving extra support to help pupils catch up in their understanding of number facts

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

and times tables.  Leaders have put a greater focus on pupils’ well-being. They are reviewing what pupils are learning in history and geography. The content of some subjects, such as music and physical education, has been reordered so that it is taught later in the school year.  Leaders are considering their approach to delivering the curriculum remotely should this be needed. This will include online and paper-based learning tasks. Leaders are checking that pupils have the equipment they need to access any online learning.

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

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