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

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Lynn Clark Headteacher Marston Green Junior School Station Road Marston Green Birmingham B37 7BA

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Ofsted remote visit to Marston Green Junior School

Following my remote visit with Mark Howes, 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 Marston Green Junior 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 lockdown restrictions, we made this visit remotely to reduce pressure on the school.

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Ofsted remote visit to Marston Green Junior 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 Marston Green Junior School

During the visit, we spoke to you and members of the senior leadership team. 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 (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 on pupils on 1 September 2020.  Attendance is at least in line with where you would expect it to be for this time of year. You and your leadership team have worked with the small number of families who were initially anxious about their children returning to school.  Pupils are studying their usual range of national curriculum subjects. Subject leaders have identified the important content that pupils may have missed. You said that teachers have included this in their planning for the autumn term. Your aim is to return all pupils to the school’s normal curriculum by the summer term 2021.  Teachers checked what pupils could remember in English and mathematics at the start of term. More time is now being spent on reading activities. Daily phonics lessons have been introduced in Year 3, and support is provided for pupils who need additional help to catch up.  In other subjects, teachers are focusing on the key content of each topic. You

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

are using storybooks to support the wider curriculum, for example, in science, geography and personal, social and health education.  In English and mathematics, you have changed your approach so that pupils stay in class groups rather than being taught in ability groups. In mathematics, teachers are focusing on the topics where assessments show that pupils have the biggest gaps in their knowledge.  You have introduced a new way of delivering education remotely. Classes that need to isolate will be able to access lessons covering a range of subjects on a daily basis. These lessons will align with the school’s planned curriculum when it is practical to do so.

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

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