Setting

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

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Peter Eccles Headteacher Christ The King School, Amesbury Earls Court Road Amesbury Wiltshire SP4 7LX

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Ofsted visit to Christ The King School, Amesbury

Following my visit with Marie Thomas, 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 Christ The King School, Amesbury

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 Christ The King School, Amesbury

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 Christ The King School, Amesbury

During the visit, we spoke to you, the executive headteacher and other senior leaders. 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 fully to all pupils on 3 September 2020. The current rate of pupils’ attendance is slightly lower than normal for this time of year. Staff are in regular contact with parents to encourage good attendance.  The school’s resource base for pupils with communication and interaction difficulties, the ARK, has seen a higher rate of attendance than at this time last year.  Pupils are following the normal subjects of the school curriculum. Senior leaders have made modifications in some subjects.  Teachers made baseline assessments of pupils’ learning when they returned to school at the start of term. From these checks, they identified gaps in pupils’ knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics.  Staff are giving extra help to pupils in Years 1 and 2 who have fallen behind with phonics. Teachers in all years are spending more time reading with their classes, to help them catch up. They are hoping to gradually build up pupils’

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

reading stamina.  In mathematics, teachers are paying extra attention to the basic operations. For example, teachers are working on times tables with pupils to help them regain their confidence with numbers.  Senior leaders have adjusted their curriculum plans in design and technology, physical education and music, so that equipment can be cleaned and shared safely between classes.  Senior leaders intend to offer pupils who need to stay at home the same curriculum as those who come into school. They are planning to make lessons available for pupils online, should the need arise.

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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 diocese of Clifton, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wiltshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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