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

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Tracey Critchlow Headteacher Longhoughton C of E Primary School Lacey Street Longhoughton Alnwick Northumberland NE66 3AJ

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Ofsted remote visit to Longhoughton C of E Primary School

Following my remote visit with Graham Findlay, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 10 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 Longhoughton C of E 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 Longhoughton C of E 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 Longhoughton C of E Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you. 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 opened to all pupils on 3 September 2020. No class or year-group ‘bubbles’ have been sent home. A small number of pupils have had to work from home since the start of term.  All pupils are studying the full range of subjects that make up your usual curriculum. In some subjects, such as science, you have changed the sequence in which some topics are delivered.  Teachers are using their assessments of reading, writing and mathematics to check what pupils can remember from their prior learning. You said that teachers have used this information to adapt their teaching. For example, they are using the staggered start and end to the school day to spend additional time on handwriting, reading and mathematics.  In mathematics, teachers’ checks showed that some pupils could not remember number bonds and place value. Teachers are covering this work again.  You said that teachers will check for gaps in pupils’ knowledge and

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

understanding in subjects such as science, history and geography later in the academic year.  There is a plan in place to deliver the curriculum remotely to groups of pupils if needed. Teachers have provided packs of work for the small number of pupils who have needed to work away from the classroom temporarily. This work is the same as that delivered in class. Alongside the work packs, you are using a variety of online learning resources.

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

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