Setting

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

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Claire-Louise West Executive Headteacher Cordwalles Junior School Berkshire Road Camberley Surrey GU15 4DR

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Ofsted remote visit to Cordwalles Junior School

Following my remote visit with Lucy English, 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 Cordwalles Junior 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 Cordwalles Junior 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 Cordwalles Junior School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the head of school and two assistant headteachers. 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:

 Nearly a fifth of pupils across the whole school have had to self-isolate since the start of the academic year.  All pupils are studying the school’s usual range of subjects. Adaptations have been made in some subjects such as design and technology, physical education and science. Leaders intend returning to the full curriculum by summer 2021.  Teachers have checked pupils’ new starting points in English, mathematics and science. Teachers are revisiting previously taught knowledge to help pupils to recall this.  Leaders have asked teachers to make pupils’ reading and spoken English a priority in all subjects. In Year 3, pupils are learning phonic knowledge they have missed. You are using the COVID-19 catch-up funding to support this work.  Teachers are assessing pupils’ knowledge in mathematics during lessons. They are consolidating pupils’ recall of times tables, place value and fractions.  Across the wider curriculum, teachers have identified what content pupils have

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

missed. Teachers are using time in the morning to help pupils catch up.  Currently, pupils receive remote education through paper-based activities which match the work set in class. Leaders intend to move to online learning if a class ‘bubble’ needs to self-isolate. Leaders have identified which pupils do not have access to the required technology and are making arrangements for pupils to be able to access online learning at home. Leaders aim to expand the remote-learning offer to include pre-recorded lessons.

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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 board of trustees, the chief executive officer of the GLF Schools multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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