Setting

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

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Judith Rainford Headteacher St Andrew’s CofE Primary School and Nursery Union Road Rochdale OL12 9QA

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Ofsted visit to St Andrew’s CofE Primary School and Nursery

Following my visit with Amanda Stringer, Her Majesty's Inspector (HMI), to your school on 15 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 St Andrew’s CofE Primary School and Nursery

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 St Andrew’s CofE Primary School and Nursery

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 St Andrew’s CofE Primary School and Nursery

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team and three middle leaders. We also held a discussion with a trustee. 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 to all pupils on 3 September 2020. All year groups are expected to attend full time.  Pupils’ attendance is currently above the normal rate for this time of year. At the time of our visit, all children in the Nursery class ‘bubble’ were isolating.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects. Teachers have changed the order of learning in some subject areas, for example design and technology, where they have moved cookery to later in the school year. You plan to return to your usual curriculum by summer term 2021.  Staff have checked pupils’ knowledge of phonics in the Reception year to Year 3. They have identified that some pupils’ knowledge is not what you would expect at this stage of the year. These pupils are being supported to get back on track.  Teachers have also completed reading assessments for older pupils. They have identified that some pupils are not able to sustain their concentration to read

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

for long periods of time. These pupils are being supported to rebuild their concentration to read at length.  In mathematics, teachers have checked what pupils have remembered. Pupils require more time to develop their learning in measures and statistics because these topics were missed during the summer term. Teachers are adapting the current mathematics curriculum to make sure pupils can catch up on lost learning.  In other subject areas, teachers have also identified gaps in pupils’ subject knowledge from missed learning in the summer term. Teachers are using books and additional sessions to teach any knowledge that pupils have missed.  You have developed systems to provide remote learning. You have provided staff, pupils, parents and carers with support to access remote learning, should this be required.

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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 chief executive officer of the Watergrove multi-academy trust, the director of education for the diocese of Manchester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Rochdale. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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