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

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Ursula Clark Headteacher Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Gladys Avenue Portsmouth Hampshire PO2 9AX

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Ofsted visit to Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Following my visit with Laurie Anderson, 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 Corpus Christi Catholic 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.

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Ofsted visit to Corpus Christi Catholic 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 visit to Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, members of the senior leadership team, including the senior leader responsible for safeguarding, and the inclusion lead and the family support worker. 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 pupils in Years 1 to 6 on 3 September 2020. All pupils are expected to attend full time. Reception children joined on 9 September 2020, building up their time at school until attending full time from 11 September 2020.  Attendance is higher than it typically has been at this time of year. At the time of the visit, children and staff in the Reception Year ‘bubble’ were isolating.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. They started the year with more time allocated to reading, writing, mathematics, and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, so they have spent less time than normal on other subjects. You reduced the PSHE time after a few weeks and intend to return to the usual curriculum by the summer term 2021.  Over the first few weeks back, teachers checked what pupils remembered in reading, writing and mathematics, and adapted plans to help pupils make up

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

gaps, for example, by putting more writing tasks into other subjects. In Years 1 and 2, you have appointed more staff to help pupils practise their reading skills.  In mathematics, teachers are providing more help for pupils with their problem-solving skills.  Later this term, teachers will check what pupils remember in other subjects and will adapt plans accordingly. You have launched ‘Corpus Christi University’ as a weekly timetabled enrichment lesson to replace school trips and clubs.  You are providing a mix of online and paper-based resources to provide remote education for pupils who have to self-isolate. You are setting online homework for pupils in Years 1 to 6 so that they are confident in using the technology. You intend to match remote provision to the learning that is planned to happen 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 Portsmouth, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Portsmouth. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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