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

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Anne Eardley Headteacher Crosshall Junior School Great North Road Eaton Ford St Neots Cambridgeshire PE19 7GG

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Ofsted remote visit to Crosshall Junior School

Following my remote visit with Paul Wilson, 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 Crosshall 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 (coronavirus) lockdown restrictions, we made this visit remotely to reduce pressure on the school.

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Ofsted remote visit to Crosshall 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 Crosshall Junior School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the school’s two assistant 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:

 The school reopened for all pupils on 4 September 2020.  Attendance levels are similar to those of the same period last year.  You hope to return fully to the school’s usual curriculum by the summer term 2021, or soon afterwards. Pupils are studying the full range of subjects in your curriculum, although you have made some adjustments to when certain aspects are taught. For example, in physical education, teachers are concentrating on elements that can be taught outdoors.  You have found that some Year 3 pupils have joined the school with weaker phonics skills than would usually be the case. You have put additional phonics sessions in place to help these pupils to catch up.  In mathematics, you have found that pupils are behind where you would normally expect them to be in some areas. For example, some pupils’ instant recall of multiplication tables, and of pairs of numbers that add up to 10 or

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

100, is weaker than usual. You have used these assessments to identify which pupils need additional support.  You have found that pupils have less stamina for writing than they typically would at this point. After settling pupils back in, using a ‘return to school’ teaching package, bringing pupils’ writing back up to speed is a particular focus.  Although the school has been using digital platforms for the last couple of years, you have developed this over recent months. You have brought all aspects of your remote learning package together, into a single ‘digital village’. You have recently used the digital village to replicate learning in school for classes that have had to self-isolate.

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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 Cambridgeshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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