Setting

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

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Lucy Peberdy Headteacher Skipton Parish Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Brougham Street Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 2ES

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Controlled Primary School

Following my remote visit with Marcus Newby, 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.

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Controlled 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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Controlled 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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Controlled Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, your designated safeguarding leaders, the teacher responsible for remote learning and the social, emotional, mental health and behaviour 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:

 No class ‘bubbles’ have been sent home to self-isolate since the start of term. Around a quarter of pupils have had to work from home at some point since September 2020. A small number of pupils have had to self-isolate more than once.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects that make up the school’s normal curriculum. You have made some adaptations to curriculum plans in English and mathematics to cover the work that pupils have missed.  Teachers have checked pupils’ new starting points in reading. You told us that there are gaps in pupils’ phonics knowledge and understanding. Those pupils who need to catch up are being supported in small groups and extra time has been given to phonics teaching in Reception and Years 1 to 3.  In mathematics, teachers have found that pupils are having difficulty remembering times tables. You have asked teachers to focus on this, in all year groups, to help pupils to embed this knowledge.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 You intend to ask teachers to check for gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding in other subjects, such as geography and design and technology, later this academic year.  At the time of the visit, a few pupils were accessing education remotely. This involves a blend of paper-based and digital work. You explained that the remote curriculum matches what pupils would have been doing if they were in school.  You are making laptops available to pupils who need them to access the remote curriculum. Paper-based copies of work can be requested and are provided to pupils the following day.

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

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