Setting

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

p.1

Jamie Jardine Executive Principal The Prescot School Knowsley Park Lane Prescot Liverpool Merseyside L34 3NB

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to The Prescot School

Following my remote visit with Michael Pennington, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 17 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 The Prescot 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to The Prescot 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to The Prescot School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the head of school and a number of other leaders. 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.1

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:

 At the time of the visit, 28 pupils from within the Year 10 ‘bubble’ were working from home. Over one half of your pupils have had to self-isolate at some point since September 2020. A significant number of pupils, including all pupils in Year 10, have had to self-isolate on two or three separate occasions.  All pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. You told us that pupils are mainly learning the usual curriculum in different subjects. However, teachers in some subjects, such as science and design and technology, are delivering practical elements of their subjects differently than they have in the past.  Your teachers are using a range of formal and informal methods to assess how well pupils remember important knowledge that was taught before the current school year.  You told us that teachers have identified several areas where there are weaknesses in pupils’ recall. For example, teachers of English have noticed

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

limitations in pupils’ knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Similarly, teachers of mathematics have highlighted pupils’ lack of confidence and accuracy with basic mathematical calculations.  You described how teachers have made minor changes to curriculum plans. These have been made to address the weaknesses in pupils’ learning that teachers have identified. This approach is being followed for pupils in all year groups.  You have had to provide remote education to a significant number of pupils since the start of term. Almost all pupils access remote education online. Your teachers routinely upload the resources they use in their teaching so that they can be used by pupils working from home.  Pupils are expected to follow their usual curriculum when away from school. When a bubble is sent home, their usual class teachers are available online to answer questions and support pupils with their learning.

p.2

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, the chief executive officer of The Heath Family multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Knowsley. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3