Setting

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

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Emma Ross Headteacher Overbury Church of England First School Overbury Tewkesbury GL20 7NT

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Ofsted remote visit to Overbury Church of England First School

Following my remote visit with Chris Stevens, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 10 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 Overbury Church of England First 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 Overbury Church of England First 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 Overbury Church of England First School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the assistant 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. 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:

 All pupils are expected to attend full time. Leaders have introduced staggered start and finish times for the two school ‘bubbles’. A very small number of pupils have had to work from home, for short periods of time, since the start of term.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects. However, leaders have made some adaptations. For example, in music and physical education, the order of topics has been changed. This means that swimming will now take place later in the year instead of this term. In music, pupils are focusing on composition with percussion instruments. There are also some adaptations to practical aspects of science.  Teachers have assessed how well pupils are reading. They have identified that some younger pupils need extra help with phonics. The checks have also highlighted that some pupils in Years 3 to 5 need support to understand what they have read. Leaders have put intervention sessions in place that focus on

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

these gaps in learning.  You told us that in mathematics, teachers are spending longer on topics so that they can cover any content that was missed. Teachers have noticed that the biggest gaps for some pupils are in number and place value.  Leaders have prioritised learning in personal, social and health education. The curriculum has been adapted so that there is a focus on mental health, well- being and positive relationships.  Leaders have made plans to provide remote education for pupils who are self- isolating or for use during any future local restrictions. The plans include a combination of online and paper-based tasks and a daily timetable so that pupils will know what to do and when. You told us that the curriculum will be aligned with what pupils would study if they were in school.

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

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