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

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Sue Finch Headteacher Westminster Community Primary School John Street Ellesmere Port Cheshire CH65 2ED

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Ofsted visit to Westminster Community Primary School

Following my visit with Claire Cropper, 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 Westminster Community 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 Westminster Community 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 Westminster Community Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the chair of governors, the deputy headteacher and the learning mentor. 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 fully to all pupils on 4 September 2020. Your expectation is that all pupils will attend full time.  Pupils’ attendance is presently below what it usually is at this time of the year. You are in contact with parents of pupils who are awaiting the results of COVID-19 tests, to help them to return to school as soon as possible.  Pupils are studying their usual subjects, some of which have been adapted to make up for lost time. You plan to return to the school’s usual curriculum in the spring term 2021.  Teachers are checking on pupils’ learning to identify areas in English and mathematics where pupils need more support. Teachers have identified that pupils are not reading as fluently as they should be. Staff are providing pupils with more opportunities to practise reading so that pupils have a better understanding of the texts that they read.  Teachers in Year 1 and Year 2 have realised that gaps have emerged in pupils’

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

awareness of phonics. Teachers are providing more practice and repetition of the sounds and letters that pupils have not remembered following the period of local restrictions.  In mathematics, teachers have noticed that pupils are struggling to apply their knowledge when solving calculations. Pupils have been put into groups so that they can practise and repeat specific skills to help them recall what they have forgotten.  The wider curriculum remains largely the same as it was prior to the period when schools were only open to some pupils due to COVID-19 restrictions. Teachers are reinforcing the subject-specific knowledge and skills that pupils have missed by incorporating content from the summer term 2020 into this year’s curriculum.  You have chosen to use the school’s website to share learning with pupils who cannot attend school. Staff produce learning packs that are sent home for pupils who cannot access this website. Should it be needed, you intend to use

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

these strategies to deliver the curriculum remotely in the future.

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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 Cheshire West and Chester. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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