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

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James Ayton Executive Principal Ramnoth Junior School Ramnoth Road Wisbech Cambridgeshire PE13 2JB

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Ofsted visit to Ramnoth Junior School

Following my visit with Damian Loneragan, 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 Ramnoth 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.

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Ofsted visit to Ramnoth 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 visit to Ramnoth Junior School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team, senior leaders responsible for safeguarding, your special educational needs coordinator, middle leaders and teachers. 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 pupils on 7 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance is in line with the attendance recorded by leaders at the same time in the previous academic year.  In Years 3 to 6, pupils are taught the same subjects that were taught prior to the partial closure in March 2020. Opportunities for pupils to join in team sports and educational visits are currently more limited than usual. Leaders aim to restore the full range of out-of-lesson activities by summer 2021.  Since pupils returned in September, teachers have spent time checking pupils’ understanding as well as their new starting points in reading and mathematics. Some pupils found it harder to read longer text because they had spent less time reading at home. Others had forgotten aspects of the things they were previously taught in mathematics.  Across Years 3 to 6, more class time is given to reading together. Teachers are

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

choosing books that link subjects, such as geography and science, and which encourage greater discussion between pupils. This approach aims to improve reading and communication skills as well as to help pupils remember more of the things that they have learned.  In mathematics, teachers are checking that pupils remember the basic skills they need to complete more complex tasks. This is because some pupils struggled with aspects such as calculating angles and fractions when they came back to school in September. Lessons now include regular ‘flashbacks’ to revisit previous learning.  Leaders are planning to offer pupils wider access to remote learning if needed in the future. They feel that staff have gained confidence in using new technology because of the home learning they offered during the partial closure in the spring and summer terms.

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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 chief executive officer of The Elliot Foundation Academy Trust, 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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