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

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Nicky Baddeley Principal All Saints National Academy High Street Bloxwich Walsall WS3 3LP

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Ofsted remote visit to All Saints National Academy

Following my remote visit with Deb Jenkins, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 19 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 All Saints National 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.

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Ofsted remote visit to All Saints National 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.

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Ofsted remote visit to All Saints National Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team and the leader responsible for safeguarding and attendance. 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:

 Just over three quarters of pupils have had to work from home since the start of the autumn term 2020. Approximately a quarter of these pupils have worked from home more than once.  You told us that all pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. You have adapted the way some content is delivered, for example in computing. You aim to return pupils to their usual curriculum by the summer term 2021.  Staff have checked pupils’ starting points in reading, phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) and mathematics. You said staff have identified areas pupils need to catch up in or need support with, such as sentence structure and punctuation in writing. Extra teaching time is being given to these subjects.  You feel younger pupils have regressed more in reading than older pupils. Staff hear the lowest ability readers read daily and you expect all pupils to read at least three times a week in school and at home.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Teachers are focusing on number, calculation and place value in mathematics to refresh pupils’ knowledge and skills. Extra support is given to disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Teachers are including missed content from the summer term 2020 in their autumn term 2020 planning. You are adapting how some subjects are being taught or are starting at a different level, for example in modern foreign languages.  All staff plan and upload weekly plans onto the school’s website for pupils working at home. Pupils are expected to do at least one reading, spelling, writing and mathematics task per day. Wider subjects are also included and linked to the themes pupils would be studying, if they were in school.  Teachers adapt remote learning tasks to suit pupils’ age. Younger pupils do more practical activities. Most pupils access work online and you have secured

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

laptops to lend to pupils who do not have them. Paper-based work is available as an alternative.

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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 chair of the board of trustees, and the chief executive office of the St Chads multi-academy trust, the director of education for the diocese of Lichfield, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Walsall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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