Setting

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

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Maire Hayes Headteacher Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Primary School Occupation Road Corby Northamptonshire NN17 1EE

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Ofsted remote visit to Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Primary School

Following my remote visit with Helen Williams, 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.

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Ofsted remote visit to Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic 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 Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic 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 Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher, the inclusion manager and other senior leaders. 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:

 A small proportion of pupils have had to self-isolate for a short period of time. During this period, they were learning at home.  Except for swimming, all pupils are studying the usual curriculum. Leaders hope that pupils will be able to access the full curriculum, including swimming lessons, by summer term 2021.  Teachers check which sounds younger pupils remember. Pupils who have forgotten some sounds have extra phonics lessons. Some older pupils have not remembered the punctuation that they learned about previously. Teachers have changed what they are teaching so that pupils can regain this knowledge and practise it in longer pieces of writing.  Leaders have made sure that pupils’ mathematical knowledge has been assessed. Teachers are recapping work about place value to make sure that pupils can remember it really well.  Pupils have the chance to learn the knowledge in history that they missed

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

during lockdown. This is because the curriculum is organised so that pupils will study these topics again. In physical education, pupils still learn a range of sports, including tennis, from specialist coaches and their class teacher.  Teachers checked what the youngest children could do when they started school. They found out that some children needed to improve their speaking skills and take turns. Staff make sure that these children get plenty of chances to use new words and learn how to play together well.  Teachers record lessons so that the youngest children can recognise new sounds when they are learning at home. Teachers check that pupils are doing the work provided for them when they are learning remotely. Leaders make sure that all pupils have the right equipment so they can access the work set online or on paper.

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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, and the chief executive officer of the Our Lady Immaculate Catholic multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Northamptonshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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