Setting

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

p.1

Matthew Parr-Burman Executive Headteacher Medina College Fairlee Road Newport Isle of Wight PO30 2DX

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Medina College

Following my remote visit with Alice Roberts, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 24 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 Medina 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Medina 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Medina College

During the visit, we spoke to you, members of the senior leadership team and staff with curriculum responsibility. We did not speak with 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:

 Since September 2020, about one sixth of pupils have had to self-isolate for a number of days and therefore continue with their learning from home.  Pupils are studying the school’s normal range of subjects with some adaptations. For instance, pupils do not currently carry out practical work in science. Instead, teachers give demonstrations of experiments for their classes. Leaders intend to return to the normal curriculum by summer 2021.  Teachers have used several ways to check on what knowledge and understanding pupils have retained since the summer term. These checks show that there are areas of learning that some pupils need to cover again.  For Years 7,8 and 9, teachers have prioritised pupils’ fluency in reading as well as their comprehension skills. In addition, teachers are giving emphasis to spelling, grammar and punctuation practice.  Pupils in Years 10 and 11 are continuing to study all their examination

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

subjects. There has been some change to the sequence of what they would normally study. This is to enable pupils to pick up on areas they missed during the lockdown in the spring and summer terms. An example would be in English where the unit on Macbeth has been relocated to the start of this term.  In the sixth form, there has been no change to the content of the curriculum. Teachers’ checks show that little learning has been lost over the spring and summer period.  Leaders have set up an online remote learning service which is now accessed by any pupil who is self-isolating at home. The work offered is aligned to what is being taught in school. This service will be made available to any ‘bubbles’ who have to work from home in the future.

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 governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for the Isle of Wight. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3