Setting

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

p.1

Jon Hardy Principal Tuxford Academy Marnham Road Tuxford Newark Nottinghamshire NG22 0JH

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Tuxford Academy

Following my remote visit with Katrina Gueli, 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 Tuxford 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Tuxford 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Tuxford Academy

During the visit, we spoke to the senior leadership team. 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, approximately 86 Year 10 pupils and a small number of sixth-form students were isolating at home. Almost one fifth of pupils have had to learn remotely at home, at some point, since the start of term.  All pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. Pupils in Years 11 and 13 are continuing to study the subjects they chose for their GCSE and A-level examinations.  Some parts of the school’s extra-curricular programme continue to be delivered. For example, many sports clubs are running. Other activities are being delivered remotely.  Subject leaders have rewritten their curriculum plans to make sure that the most important content is given the most attention. They have changed the order in which some topics are delivered so that topics that need the most teacher input are delivered in school. For example, leaders have incorporated some topics from the spring and summer term 2020 into the current term’s

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

plans.  Teachers are carrying out ongoing assessments in all subjects for all pupils. Teachers are using the information from these assessments to adapt their plans to fill the gaps in pupils’ knowledge. For example, in modern languages, teachers are planning to spend more time on tenses than usual.  Remote education is provided for pupils who are learning at home. Pupils use both paper-based materials and digital resources. The work that pupils are expected to do covers the same content as in school.  A small number of staff who are isolating at home have delivered live lessons to pupils via an online system. Plans are in place to roll this out more widely, should it be necessary in the future. Staff have received training to support the effective delivery of the remote curriculum.

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 and the chief executive officer of the Diverse Academies Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Nottinghamshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3