Setting

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

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Moya Richardson Headteacher St Michael's Church of England Primary School 88 Camden Street London NW1 0JA

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Ofsted visit to St Michael's Church of England Primary School

Following my visit with Jude Wilson, 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 St Michael's Church of England 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 St Michael's Church of England 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 St Michael's Church of England Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the executive headteacher and one of your assistant headteachers. 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 3 September 2020. Pupils are expected to attend full time.  Attendance is similar to this time last year.  Pupils are studying the school’s usual range of subjects. Leaders have made some adjustments to curriculum content for the autumn term. In physical education, the teaching of team sports has been reduced. Instead, more use is being made of classes that promote pupils’ personal fitness.  Teachers are using a range of strategies to establish what pupils know and remember in every subject. In some cases, the order in which topics are taught has been adjusted based on these findings. You expect most pupils to have made up for any lost learning by summer 2021.  Pupils’ reading has been given a high profile. In Years 1 and 2, teachers are helping pupils remember and apply the phonics knowledge they have previously learned. For pupils in Years 3 to 6, teaching is focused on

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

developing their use of rich vocabulary.  Developing pupils’ mathematical knowledge and skills is also a key priority. More emphasis is being given to embedding calculation skills and understanding the links between related concepts. Leaders have amended planning to give greater weight to these areas of mathematics.  Staff are encouraging pupils to share their ideas and feelings. You placed emphasis on pupils’ social, emotional and physical well-being when they returned in September.  Further adjustments have been made to the school’s plans for remote education. If pupils need to learn at home, you expect them to study similar content to that taught in school, mainly through live and pre-recorded lessons. Some pupils receive learning packs when they have to work at home.

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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 London Diocesan Board for Schools, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Camden. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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