Setting

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

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Anthony Costello Headteacher Savio Salesian College Netherton Way Bootle Merseyside L30 2NA

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Ofsted remote visit to schools Savio Salesian College

Following my remote visit with Linda Emmett, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 26 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 schools Savio Salesian College

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 schools Savio Salesian College

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 schools Savio Salesian College

During the visit, we spoke to you, members of your senior leadership team, the leader for safeguarding and pastoral support, the special educational needs coordinator and the curriculum leaders of computer science, English, geography and mathematics. 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:

 Since the start of term, over two thirds of the pupils in the school have had to work from home for short periods of time due to COVID-19. Currently, pupils in class ‘bubbles’ in Years 7, 8 and 9 are self-isolating. One class bubble in Year 9 has worked from home on more than one occasion since the school opened to all pupils in September.  All pupils are studying the subjects that they usually do. You told us that pupils studying science do not have the opportunity to complete as many practical experiments because of social distancing restrictions.  Staff have carried out assessments to establish pupils’ new starting points. You have identified that some pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9 are not as far on with their reading skills as you would expect at this point in the school year. Staff have adapted the English curriculum to provide more opportunities for pupils to develop their comprehension skills.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Your leaders have changed the order in which curriculum content is delivered in some subjects, such as geography, history and mathematics. You believe that this is helping pupils to catch up with any missed learning. You expect that pupils will be studying their usual curriculum by the summer term 2021.  In Years 10 and 11, pupils continue to study for all of their examination subjects.  Leaders have prioritised pupils’ personal, social, health and economic education to support their well-being and resilience. Extra-curricular activities, such as sports clubs, have restarted. You have not been able to run your usual programme of educational visits outside of the school building.  You are providing remote education for pupils who are self-isolating. You explained that pupils follow a curriculum that is linked as closely as possible to what they would study if they were in school. You told us that staff provide

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

feedback for pupils after they submit their work.

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

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