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

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Nanaki Bajwa Headteacher Nansen Primary School Naseby Road Birmingham West Midlands B8 3HG

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Ofsted remote visit to Nansen Primary School

Following my remote visit with Jonathan Leonard, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 12 November, 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 Nansen Primary 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 Nansen Primary 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 Nansen Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the executive headteacher, the chief education officer and two deputy headteachers. 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.

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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:

 At the time of the visit, 15 pupils from different year groups were isolating. Just over half of pupils have had to work from home since the start of term.  You told us that all pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. However, teachers have had to adapt the way in which some content is delivered. You anticipate that pupils will have returned to their usual curriculum before summer 2021.  Staff have checked pupils’ new starting points in English and mathematics. You feel that mathematics is weaker than English. You have also identified that pupils need support with sentence construction in writing and comprehension in reading.  You have checked that the books pupils are reading are the right level. Additional phonics sessions are provided for younger pupils to help them catch up. Teaching assistants also work with small groups in the afternoons.  Teachers are focusing on number skills and fluency in mathematics to help

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

pupils revisit previous knowledge. Booster clubs operate after school as additional support.  Teachers are covering some curriculum content in different ways or plan to cover it at a later date. For example, pupils missed learning about electricity in Year 3 so will spend greater time on it in Years 5 and 6.  Remote education is used for any pupils who are self-isolating. Pupils are expected to do three hours of work each day. Reading, writing and mathematics are set daily, and one topic task is set per week. Work matches what pupils would do if they were in school.  Most pupils access work online and you lend devices to pupils who do not have them. Paper-based work is available for pupils if needed, especially for younger pupils. You outlined to us that it is difficult for pupils to do music, physical education or computing when they are working at home.

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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 chair of the board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the Leigh multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Birmingham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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