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

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Annemarie Williams Executive Headteacher Humberstone Junior Academy Main Street Humberstone Leicester Leicestershire LE5 1AE

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Ofsted visit to Humberstone Junior Academy

Following my visit with Steve Varnam, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 3 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 visit to Humberstone Junior Academy

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 Humberstone Junior Academy

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 Humberstone Junior Academy

During the visit, we spoke with you and the head of school. 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 to pupils on 27 August 2020. Pupils attend full time.  Pupils’ attendance is in line with that usually seen at this time of year.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects. Teachers are dedicating more time to the teaching of phonics, English, mathematics and physical education (PE) than they usually would. Leaders are planning to increase the amount of time allocated to the study of other subjects as the school year progresses.  Teachers have checked pupils’ reading skills and phonic knowledge. Some pupils have fallen behind in these areas. Leaders have made sure that these pupils receive support from ‘reading mentors’ so that they catch up.  In mathematics, leaders have identified gaps in some pupils’ calculating and reasoning skills. Teachers are delivering daily ‘skills and drills’ lessons to help fill these gaps.  Leaders are prioritising pupils’ health and well-being. In personal, social,

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

health and economic education lessons, pupils spend more time than usual learning about resilience and online safety. Leaders are making sure that pupils receive more than two hours of physical activity every week in PE.  Leaders have developed plans to deliver the curriculum remotely, if needed. They have made sure that remote education is closely matched to the school’s usual curriculum.

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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. I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the Odyssey Educational Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leicester City. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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