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

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Sarah Wilkins Head of School Troon Community Primary School New Road Camborne Cornwall TR14 9ED

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Ofsted visit to Troon Community Primary School

Following my visit with Sue Costello, 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 Troon 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 Troon 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 Troon Community Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and your assistant headteacher. You are the leader responsible for safeguarding. 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 for all pupils to attend on 7 September 2020.  Pupils’ rates of attendance are similar to those seen at this time last year.  You told us that pupils began studying their usual curriculum from 7 September 2020. In the first two weeks, you focused on pupils’ well-being. You are pleased with the impact this had on pupils.  You told us that reading is a priority. Teachers have undertaken checks to see what pupils know. You found that some pupils need extra support with their phonics. The additional support is now in place.  You have plans to check what pupils know and understand in other subjects. These checks are planned to be completed by 23 October 2020. Teachers will use this information to adapt their teaching and curriculum accordingly.  You told us that you plan to make changes in the way mathematics is organised. This is because you feel your mathematics curriculum is better

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

taught to individual year groups rather than mixed ages.  In other curriculum subjects, you told us that some content has been adjusted. For example, in music, pupils are now learning to play the glockenspiel instead of the recorder.  Children in Nursery and Reception are following the early years curriculum as usual.  You have introduced systems to deliver the curriculum remotely. You told us that your approach to remote learning is constantly under review. You are confident, if remote learning is needed, pupils will be able to follow their usual curriculum.

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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 board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cornwall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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