Setting

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

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Adam Sutton Headteacher Moulsecoomb Primary School The Highway Lewes Road Brighton East Sussex BN2 4PA

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Ofsted visit to Moulsecoomb Primary School

Following my visit with Max McDonald-Taylor, 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 Moulsecoomb 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 Moulsecoomb 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 Moulsecoomb Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator and the senior 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:  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:

 You opened the school to Years 1 to 6 on 8 September on a full-time basis. Reception children started on the same date but on a phased basis for the first week. Nursery children joined the school from 11 September. These arrangements are normal practice for the school.  Attendance of pupils since the beginning of term is slightly lower than for the same period last year. Pupils who have been absent have had contact from the school to support their return.  Pupils are taught the usual range of subjects. You have made some adaptations to subjects, such as physical education (PE) where you have introduced cycling to ensure that pupils have physical activity.  Teachers have carried out checks to see what pupils remember in reading, grammar, punctuation, spelling and mathematics. They have used this information to adjust their plans to focus on knowledge that pupils need to cover again and skills they need to practise.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Leaders have placed a greater emphasis on reading across the school. They have found that pupils’ comprehension skills need to be strengthened. Some younger pupils, because they have missed part of their phonics programme, have been given extra help with their early reading skills.  Teachers have found that in mathematics some pupils have needed extra help to regain their knowledge of place value and number.  In the wider range of subjects, teachers are checking as they go what pupils have remembered from their past learning. With this information, teachers are able to home in on weaker areas of understanding.  Leaders have set aside time and given teachers training to put together remote learning resources that are both digital and paper based. These resources follow the school’s curriculum. Any pupil currently absent has access to this remote 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 Brighton and Hove. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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