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

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Claire Claydon Headteacher Gusford Community Primary School Sheldrake Drive Ipswich Suffolk IP2 9LQ

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Ofsted visit to Gusford Community Primary School

Following my visit with Fyfe Johnston, 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 Gusford 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 Gusford 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 Gusford Community Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, members of the senior leadership team and staff responsible for safeguarding pupils. 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 reopened to all pupils on 3 September 2020. Children joining Reception had a staggered start, as is normal practice. They were in full time a week after starting school.  Attendance is in line with what is usual for this time of year.  At the start of term, there was a focus on well-being to support pupils’ return to school. After the first two weeks, teachers used a range of assessments to check where pupils were in their learning and to identify any gaps.  In reading, pupils are revisiting phonics that they would have been taught during the summer term. In English, units have been moved to focus on narrative texts. Leaders explained that this was to emphasise imaginative longer pieces of writing, practising basic literacy skills.  In mathematics, units have also been moved so that some of the topics normally covered in the summer term will be revisited sooner rather than later, for example data handling.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 In the wider curriculum, most subjects are being taught following the usual autumn term plan. Leaders moved some teachers up with their classes in September so that they have more knowledge of what content and skills have been missed during partial closure.  Units of work in physical education have been moved within the year so that most teaching takes place outdoors.  Leaders brought forward a planned focus on pupils’ well-being as a result of COVID-19 and are emphasising the teaching of personal, social and health education.  Should the school need to deliver remote education, staff will use an online system to signpost activities and share teaching videos. Staff would use a variety of other online services to complement this.

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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 Active Learning Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Suffolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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