Setting

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

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Andrea Parker Lead headteacher Stockwell Primary School Stockwell Road London SW9 9TG

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Ofsted remote visit to Stockwell Primary School

Following my remote visit with Alison Colenso, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 12 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 Stockwell Primary 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 Stockwell Primary 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 Stockwell Primary School

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

 At the time of this visit, pupils in the Year 5 ‘bubble’ were isolating at home. Since the start of term, approximately one sixth of pupils have needed to work from home.  Pupils are learning the same subjects as they usually would. All aspects of the school’s usual curriculum are being taught apart from singing and swimming, which leaders hope to reintroduce by the summer term 2021. This term, teaching aims to fill any gaps in pupils’ knowledge, due to missed or forgotten learning, and refresh pupils’ understanding of subject content studied in previous years.  Reading has been at the forefront of leaders’ work since September. After checks on pupils’ reading starting points, teachers are paying close attention to building pupils’ fluency and vocabulary. In addition, all pupils now have extra time to practise reading with an adult, and teachers read aloud to their class daily.  Teachers have found that although pupils can readily recall mathematical

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

facts, they are less confident using these facts to solve mathematical problems. For this reason, teachers seek to strengthen pupils’ ability to reason mathematically.  Leaders have focused on promoting pupils’ health and well-being, with increased play and exercise threaded through the school day. In order to help pupils explore current affairs and relate them to their own experiences, you have also reviewed the curriculum in personal, social, health and economic education. In music, pupils continue to learn to play musical instruments and perform with their peers.  Pupils in the Year 5 bubble are receiving remote education based on their usual timetable of subjects. Teachers provide digital materials and live lessons online which incorporate the same subject content that pupils would have studied in school. This approach will be used if any pupils need remote education in the future.

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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 Lambeth. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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