Setting

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

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Alison Rhodes Headteacher Winnall Primary School Garbett Road Winnall Winchester Hampshire SO23 0NY

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Ofsted remote visit to Winnall Primary School

Following my remote visit with Kathryn Moles, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 19 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 Winnall 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 Winnall 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 Winnall Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the senior leadership team. 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 our visit, all Reception Year children were isolating at home. A small number of pupils have had to work from home previously, since the start of term.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. Teachers are including content that was not taught in the summer to help pupils catch up.  Teachers have used local authority assessments to identify pupils’ new starting points in English and mathematics. Staff are providing extra teaching for any pupils who may have fallen behind. Teachers are consolidating pupils’ enquiry skills in subjects such as geography and science.  You are emphasising the importance of reading. Teachers are focusing on pupils’ blending of sounds to read words. In writing, teachers are providing shorter tasks to help rebuild pupils’ stamina.  In mathematics, teachers are revisiting pupils’ knowledge of number and fractions. This is to help pupils to recover their reasoning skills.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Staff in the early years are promoting children’s communication and language. They are maximising time for children to interact with each other and speak in full sentences.  Leaders are providing both paper-based and online activities for remote education. Where a ‘bubble’ is isolating, teachers record lessons for pupils to access online. Where needed, teaching assistants make direct contact with pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities who are working from home.

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

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