Setting

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

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Helen Donnelly Headteacher Amesbury Archer Primary School Shears Drive, Archers Gate Amesbury Wiltshire SP4 7XX

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Ofsted remote visit to Amesbury Archer Primary School

Following my remote visit with Julie Carrington, 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 Amesbury Archer 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 Amesbury Archer 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 Amesbury Archer Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher and the attendance officer. 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:

 Since returning in September, around 20% of pupils have had to work from home as they were self-isolating. At the time of our visit, no pupils were working from home.  Pupils continue to study the full range of subjects in the school’s curriculum. You have temporarily adjusted the timetable in some subjects to prioritise reading. You plan for pupils to return to their usual curriculum before the summer term 2021.  In September, teachers assessed pupils’ new starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. You have used these checks to make sure that pupils receive the help they need to ‘catch up’ and ‘keep up’.  You told us that reading and phonics are the school’s main priorities. Teachers have revised the reading timetable to support pupils who have fallen behind. For example, pupils in Years 1 to 3 now have two phonics lessons each day.  In mathematics, teachers have identified the key gaps in pupils’ learning. You

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

told us that pupils in Years 1 to 6 are having extra mathematics teaching each day to help boost their recall of number facts.  You have plans in place to make sure that any remote learning matches the teaching in the classrooms. You recognise that some subjects are more difficult to teach remotely, such as physical education and computing. 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 board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wiltshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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