Setting

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

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Kathryn Sugars Headteacher Foley Park Primary School and Nursery Northumberland Avenue Kidderminster Worcestershire DY117AW

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Ofsted visit to Foley Park Primary School and Nursery

Following my visit with Nicola Harwood, 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 Foley Park Primary School and Nursery

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 Foley Park Primary School and Nursery

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 Foley Park Primary School and Nursery

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator and the school’s educational welfare officer. 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 7 September 2020. Children joining Nursery and Reception attended school part time for the first two weeks of term. This arrangement is different to previous years.  Pupils’ current attendance is in line with what it normally is at this time of year. No pupil ‘bubbles’ were self-isolating at the time of our visit.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects. Staff have made minor adaptations to the usual order of the curriculum. A new whole-school theme called ‘History in the making’ has been added at the beginning of the autumn term. You expect pupils to return to their usual planned curriculum before the summer term 2021.  Leaders said that staff have made checks on pupils’ learning in reading, writing and mathematics.  You told us that the school is continuing to prioritise reading across the curriculum. Teachers check pupils’ phonic knowledge so that they can plan the

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

next steps in learning. Additional phonics sessions have been put in place to support pupils who need to catch up.  In mathematics, leaders have identified the application of number facts, in problem solving and reasoning, as an area that needs more practice.  You explained how you use your school’s existing online learning platform to deliver remote learning where needed. This blended learning approach of classroom teaching, and online learning is now part of your school’s normal practice, for example, you use it to set some homework tasks.

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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 Victoria Academies Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Worcestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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