Setting

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

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Corinna Sutton Headteacher Oldmixon Primary School Monkton Avenue Weston-Super-Mare Somerset BS24 9DA

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Ofsted remote visit to Oldmixon Primary School

Following my remote visit with Matthew Barnes, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 5 November 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 remote visit to Oldmixon 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. Following changes to government guidance and the imposition of COVID-19 (coronavirus) lockdown restrictions, we made this visit remotely to reduce pressure on the school.

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Ofsted remote visit to Oldmixon 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 remote visit to Oldmixon Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the deputy headteacher. We did not speak to pupils.

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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 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. The majority of pupils are attending on a full-time basis.  Attendance is broadly similar to the school’s normal attendance for this time of the year.  Pupils have returned to their usual curriculum and study the full range of the national curriculum subjects. You have altered the order in which some content is taught so that pupils can catch up with the work they missed in the summer term.  On their return in the autumn term, you identified that pupils have lost their reading stamina and have gaps in their reading skills. You have plans in place to boost pupils’ phonic knowledge in Years 1 and 2. For older pupils, you have widened the choices of texts that pupils read, to help improve their comprehension and inference skills.  In mathematics, you have found that pupils have lost confidence in their basic number skills and rapid mathematical recall. You have adapted the curriculum

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

to support pupils’ ability to apply their understanding when considering more complex calculations.  In the wider curriculum, you have determined that pupils have some key gaps in their subject knowledge. You are beginning to adjust the curriculum to remedy this. You have also prioritised personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, to support pupils’ resilience and emotional well-being.  You have reflected on your plans for remote learning and have focused on the teaching of information and communication technology to help with this. You aim to improve pupils’ engagement and ability to work independently, should it be necessary 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 board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the Extend Learning Academies Network multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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