Setting

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

p.1

Kerry Verity Headteacher Easington Church of England Primary Academy High Street Easington Hull HU12 0TS

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Easington Church of England Primary Academy

Following my remote visit with Chris Pearce, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 6 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Easington Church of England Primary Academy

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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Easington Church of England Primary Academy

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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Easington Church of England Primary Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you and senior leaders from the trust, including the executive headteacher, safeguarding lead and school adviser. We did not speak to pupils.

p.1

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.

p.2

Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 The school opened to all pupils on 8 September 2020.  Since opening to all pupils, attendance is above the normal attendance level for this time of year.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects. You have moved the order of topics in some subjects, such as practical science, to later in the school year. You have reduced the amount of detail in some subjects to free up additional time for reading and mathematics. Your intention is to return to your usual curriculum by summer 2021.  You have used different assessments to help you identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge. You explained that you are reviewing pupils’ understanding of the curriculum, to help you plan upcoming work. For pupils about to start Year 1 you decided to retain them in the early years setting for the first week of term to get them settled into learning again.  You explained that your assessments showed that some pupils, especially in

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Year 1, need extra phonics help. You have employed another member of staff to help provide catch-up phonics teaching in small groups. For older pupils, you identified that their comprehension skills need strengthening because they had not been able to practise these skills during the period when COVID-19 restrictions were in place. You have put support in place to help them with these skills.  In mathematics, you identified that pupils need help to catch up with some areas where their understanding and recollection have slipped. You have put extra sessions into the afternoons to support pupils with their mathematics, particularly around arithmetic.  You told us that you have increased the time pupils spend on creative subjects, such as art. You explained how this is to support pupils in building up their emotional well-being, following the period when schools were only open to some children due to COVID-19 restrictions.

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Before the COVID-19 restrictions were implemented, you had equipped all of your students with a computer which they can use at home. You plan to use a nationally-available online teaching resource as part of the provision to deliver the curriculum remotely, should it be necessary as a result of COVID-19.

p.3

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.

p.3

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 Ebor Academy Trust, the director of education for the Diocese of York, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for the East Riding of Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3