Setting

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

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Jane Barnes Headteacher St Wulstan’s and St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery Poulton Road Fleetwood Lancashire FY7 7JY

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School and Nursery

Following my remote visit with Jackie Stillings, 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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School and Nursery

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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School and Nursery

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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School and Nursery

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher, the assessment leader and the curriculum leader. 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 the start of term, about half of the pupils in the school have spent some time working from home.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects, but staff have made some changes to the content. For example, in music, pupils are playing the glockenspiel rather than the recorder, and are not singing. You aim to return to the school’s normal curriculum by summer 2021.  In reading, teachers have carried out checks to identify what knowledge pupils have remembered since March 2020, and to establish new starting points. Teachers have increased the time spent teaching reading to help pupils catch up with missed learning. For example, pupils in Year 2 are having additional phonics lessons.  Teachers’ checks show that across the school, pupils have forgotten some of their previous learning in mathematics, including in number and place value. Teachers are providing time each day for pupils to practise and regain this

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

knowledge.  In subjects other than mathematics and English, pupils have also missed some important learning since March 2020. Teachers are making changes to their curriculum plans to help pupils catch up. In science, you have prioritised teaching scientific investigations this term.  You have invested in new computers to support pupils when being educated remotely. Teachers check on the work that pupils complete when working from home in different ways, for example, through uploaded photographs, drawings or documents. Teachers use a range of online teaching resources to support individual pupils when working remotely.

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

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