Setting

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

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Stephanie Edmonds Headteacher The Minster Nursery and Infant School Warrington Road Croydon London CR0 4BH

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Ofsted remote visit to The Minster Nursery and Infant School

Following my remote visit with Adam Vincent, 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 The Minster Nursery and Infant 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 The Minster Nursery and Infant 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 The Minster Nursery and Infant 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:

 A small number of pupils have had to work from home since the start of term.  Pupils are studying the school’s usual range of subjects. You have reordered some content within subjects. For example, you have moved some of the content of the religious education curriculum to make sure that learning not covered during the summer term, such as Hinduism, will be covered later.  Teachers checked on pupils’ starting points in reading, writing, mathematics and communication at the start of term. From these checks you found that Year 2 pupils had retained much of the knowledge they had been taught previously. In Year 1, you found that pupils needed more support with blending their sounds for reading. In the early years, you have prioritised the development of communication, language and literacy, and physical development skills.  In mathematics, you found that pupils require more practice in writing numbers accurately. Pupils are completing practical mathematical activities

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

well, but some are struggling to write down their calculations.  You have made some changes to the themes you explore in history, as a result of the pandemic. For example, you adapted the ‘our school’ theme so that the focus became ‘ourselves’. This was so that teachers could focus on the past and present within the context of pupils’ recent experiences.  Pupils, who have had to isolate, work on mathematics, grammar, spelling and phonics learning tasks at home. Most of this learning is paper based except the phonics work which is set using an online programme.

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

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