Setting

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

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Elena Print Headteacher Christ Church Primary School Byng Road Barnet Hertfordshire EN5 4NS

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Ofsted visit to Christ Church Primary School

Following my visit with Gary Rawlings, 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 Christ Church 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 Christ Church 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 Christ Church Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher, and the school business leader. 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 full time to all pupils on 3 September 2020.  Attendance is close to what is usual for this time of year. You are maintaining regular communication with parents to encourage their child’s attendance at school.  Pupils have returned to studying the full range of subjects in your usual curriculum. You have made adjustments to the way some subjects are taught. For example, in physical education, pupils spend more time on outdoor sporting activities than they did previously. Pupils do more listening and analysis in music than they do singing. You plan to provide opportunities for pupils to start singing lessons again this term.  You have checked pupils’ new starting points in literacy and found that some pupils need to read more widely and more often to develop their comprehension skills. Teachers encourage pupils to read every day and give extra support to those who need additional help to catch up.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Checks on pupils’ new starting points in mathematics have shown that some pupils have fallen behind with calculations and problem solving. Teachers are adapting their plans and using a range of resources to help pupils practise these skills.  In subjects such as history, geography and science, subject leaders are working with teachers and pupils to identify key facts and concepts that pupils do not recall from their previous learning. You are planning ways in which content planned for this year can be adapted to enable pupils to fill these gaps in their knowledge.  You provide remote education, including online activities, for pupils. All pupils access homework online and individual pupils access online learning when self- isolating at home. This includes a range of online reading books. You are continuing to develop remote learning to broaden the range of resources for each subject and to support larger numbers of pupils who may need to work

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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 London, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Barnet. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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