Setting

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

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Morwenna Dunstan Headteacher St Mary’s Church of England Primary School Oakfield Road Bridgwater Somerset TA6 7LX

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Ofsted remote visit to St Mary’s Church of England Primary School

Following my remote visit with Nathan Kemp, 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 St Mary’s Church of England 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 St Mary’s Church of England 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 St Mary’s Church of England Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher and the special educational needs coordinator. 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:

 You opened the school to all pupils on 3 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance is above the normal attendance for this time of year.  You and your staff have checked pupils’ knowledge and skills in reading and writing. You have adapted the English curriculum to focus on pupils’ comprehension skills and use of spelling and punctuation in their writing. You have adapted the phonics programme for pupils as you have identified gaps in their knowledge of early reading.  You and your staff have assessed pupils’ knowledge in mathematics across the school. You have identified some gaps in their knowledge such as place value and multiplication. You have adapted the curriculum to address these areas and are using the COVID-19 catch-up premium to provide whole-class and bespoke support for pupils in English and mathematics.  Pupils study all of the subjects in the normal curriculum, with some adaptations. Through the study of subjects such as history, geography and

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

science, pupils revisit the skills of research and evaluation. Leaders have cancelled most school trips. However, pupils have visited Kilve Outdoor Education Centre to support the school’s curriculum choices.  You plan to provide remote learning through the school’s online platform which enables pupils to share their work online with their teachers. You also plan for class teachers to run twice weekly virtual online meetings for pupils to discuss their learning. 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 Bath and Wells, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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