Setting

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

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Deborah Walters Principal Avanti Court Primary School Carlton Drive Barkingside Essex IG6 1LZ

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Ofsted remote visit to Avanti Court Primary School

Following my remote visit with Brian Oppenheim, 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 Avanti Court 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 Avanti Court 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 Avanti Court 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 the remote visit, the Year 5 ‘bubble’ was self-isolating. Since September 2020, approximately one sixth of pupils have needed to self-isolate at home.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects. Leaders described how some aspects of these subjects have needed to be moved to later in the year due to COVID-19. In physical education, pupils are not currently playing team sports. You hope to return to the usual curriculum by the end of spring 2021.  For pupils in Reception to Year 3, teachers have checked where there are gaps in pupils’ understanding of letters and the sounds letters make. You are providing pupils with additional time to read. Teachers are checking pupils’ understanding of the vocabulary authors use.  In mathematics, leaders have identified that some pupils lack understanding of three-dimensional shapes. You have adapted the curriculum so that pupils have more access to resources to help them catch up. Teachers are also

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

prioritising handling data and statistics.  During the spring and summer terms 2020, there were fewer opportunities for pupils to complete practical work in science. Leaders have altered the plans for how science is taught in order to prioritise the key skills of investigation and practical experiments.  Pupils who need to self-isolate at home use online resources to access the same curriculum as their peers in school. To support pupils and parents, teachers have led training sessions in how to access the school’s systems for remote education.

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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 Avanti Trust multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Redbridge. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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