Setting

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

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Sue Teague Executive Headteacher Caddington Village School Five Oaks Caddington Luton Bedfordshire LU1 4JD

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Ofsted remote visit to Caddington Village School

Following my remote visit with Steve Mellors, 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 Caddington Village 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 Caddington Village 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 Caddington Village School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the head of school (who is also the senior leader responsible for safeguarding) and the deputy headteacher. 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:

 So far, you have had no cases of COVID-19 at the school. However, since the start of term, about one in ten pupils have had to spend some time self- isolating and working at home because of concerns over COVID-19.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects that make up your school’s curriculum. You have provided some alternative experiences, such as virtual sports competitions and a virtual harvest festival, in place of the normal available activities.  Since September 2020, you have given reading, particularly reading for pleasure, a higher priority than usual. Books are being read with classes and more reading with individual pupils is taking place. Teachers have used their usual checks to assess pupils’ reading and phonics knowledge and provide extra help where needed.  In mathematics, your usual regular assessments have been used to check pupils’ current understanding. Teachers are using information from these

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

assessments to adapt teaching and focus on any areas of learning where pupils need extra help. Teachers have continued their usual work to help pupils be secure with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  You told us that teachers are helping pupils get back to using their writing skills and knowledge of punctuation in longer pieces of writing. In other subjects, such as music and science, teachers have identified what knowledge was not taught during the spring and summer terms. They are adapting their teaching plans for this year to include this knowledge.  In the Reception and Nursery classes, adults are focusing on children’s personal, social and emotional development, particularly sharing, taking turns, and communicating with others. This reflects the work in the rest of the school to support pupils’ well-being and to help pupils get used to learning and working with others again.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Remote education has been provided for individual pupils who have had to self-isolate. Pupils access activities online that, as far as is possible, cover the learning they would be doing in class. You told us you would use this model, including some recorded content, to provide remote education for class ‘bubbles’, if necessary.

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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 Central Bedfordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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