Setting

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

p.1

Amarjeet Challand Headteacher Waingroves Primary School Waingroves Road Ripley Derbyshire DE5 9TD

p.1

Ofsted visit to Waingroves Primary School

Following my visit with Deborah Mosley, 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.

p.1

Ofsted visit to Waingroves 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.

p.1

Ofsted visit to Waingroves 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.

p.1

Ofsted visit to Waingroves Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you as headteacher and leader responsible for safeguarding. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

p.1

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:

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 The school opened fully to all pupils on 3 September 2020. All pupils are attending full time.  Attendance is above the school’s normal figures for this time of year.  Pupils are studying all their usual subjects except art, and design & technology. In physical education, swimming is not being taught. Educational visits are suspended; however, onsite after-school activities are taking place.  Leaders plan to resume the full range of subjects by summer 2021.  Staff have carried out assessments in all year groups to check pupils’ new starting points. These checks show that most pupils have fallen behind in reading, phonics, writing and mathematics during the period when the school was not fully open.  In Years 1 and 2, leaders have provided extra staffing and more frequent sessions in phonics, to catch up on lost learning. In Year 6, staff are using a new reading scheme designed to improve pupils’ reading fluency. Staff are

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

also incorporating more written activities into topic work, to improve pupils’ writing skills.  In mathematics, staff are addressing pupils’ knowledge gaps by prioritising number bonds in Years 1 and 2 and multiplication tables in Years 3 to 6.  Leaders and staff have analysed what was missed across all other subjects. They have adapted the current topics for this year, to include the most important areas of missed content.  Leaders and staff have developed strategies for delivering the curriculum remotely, if the need arises, for any individuals or class ‘bubbles’ that may need to isolate.

p.2

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.

p.3

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional school’s commissioner and the director of children’s services for Derbyshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3