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

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Crissy Hodgkinson Headteacher Catherington Church of England Infant School 316 Catherington Lane Catherington Waterlooville Hampshire PO8 0TD

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Ofsted visit to Catherington Church of England Infant School

Following my visit with Kathryn Moles, 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 Catherington Church of England Infant 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 Catherington Church of England Infant 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 Catherington Church of England Infant School

During the visit, we spoke to you. 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 in Years 1 and 2 on 4 September 2020. Reception children had a graduated start over a two-week period. All pupils are now expected to attend full time.  Attendance is slightly higher than this time last year. You have communicated your expectations to parents and put support in place for any pupils who are unable to attend.  Teachers have identified any missed learning from the period when the school was only open to some pupils because of the COVID-19 restrictions. This is being combined with the autumn term curriculum across all subjects. You anticipate that all year groups will be back on track with the school’s normal curriculum by January 2021.  Since returning to school, staff have assessed pupils to find out what support they need in reading and mathematics. Some pupils are receiving one-to-one tuition during afternoon sessions to help them catch up.  Phonics is the focus for this term, and staff are using many different

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

opportunities to help pupils rehearse and apply sounds. Teachers have also noted that some pupils are struggling to write for a sustained period. Shorter writing sessions are in place to support this.  In mathematics, teachers have found that pupils are often confident with knowing an answer but less sure about the mathematical processes they used. More time is being spent helping pupils remember and rehearse different calculation methods.  Teachers are using weekly personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) sessions to support the well-being of pupils. This is also taking place in Reception, where staff are focused on developing children’s communication and social skills.  Half-termly planning is in place for pupils who are unable to attend school. This is for all subjects except English and mathematics, where planning is communicated to parents weekly. This remote education mirrors the school’s

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

curriculum and includes a mixture of online and paper-based resources.

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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 director of education for the diocese of Portsmouth, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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