Setting

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

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Matthew Oughton Principal Trumpington Community College Lime Avenue Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB2 9FD

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Ofsted visit to Trumpington Community College

Following my visit with Al Mistrano, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 6 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 Trumpington Community College

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 Trumpington Community College

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 Trumpington Community College

During the visit, we spoke to the senior leadership team, including leaders with oversight of safeguarding. 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. 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 fully to all pupils on 11 September 2020. Pupils began the new autumn term in a phased return, by year group, from 7 September 2020.  Attendance in the school is below that recorded at a similar point in the previous academic year. Your staff are working with families who may be worried about sending pupils to school because of COVID-19 concerns. You told us that the overarching aim of your communication with parents is to reassure them about the safety arrangements you have put in place.  In Years 7 to 11, most of the subjects offered in the previous academic year were available for pupils from the start of the autumn term, except for extra- curricular and enrichment activities. You explained how teams have overcome the challenges related to some practical activities, for example in science and food technology. You said that you are aiming to restore some of the extra- curricular activities for pupils after the October half-term holiday.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Most pupils in Year 10 are studying their first choice GCSE courses.  Work is underway to assess pupils’ new starting points. Your leaders explained how they are using initial checks, on pupils’ current skills in reading, English and mathematics, to identify gaps in learning and the interventions needed to overcome these. More widely, teams in other subjects are beginning to use the information from routine checks in lessons as they plan to help pupils catch up.  You said that with the support of the trust, the school has established a programme of remote learning. Teams are currently working to align this with the curriculum offered for pupils on site. Consequently, you told us that you feel you are prepared now for the possible need for remote learning in the future.

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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 chair of the board of trustees, the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cambridgeshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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