Setting

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

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Elizabeth Holliday Headteacher St Peter’s Church of England Primary School Cromwell Street Burmantofts Leeds LS9 7SG

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Ofsted remote visit to St Peter’s Church of England Primary School

Following my remote visit with Steven Shaw, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 1 December 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 St Peter’s Church of England 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 St Peter’s Church of England 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 St Peter’s Church of England 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 visit, the Year 4 class ‘bubble’ was self-isolating. Since September 2020, more than three quarters of pupils have had to self-isolate at some point. A quarter of pupils have self-isolated more than once.  While pupils are studying all subjects from the school’s usual curriculum, leaders are currently prioritising the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. This is because teachers have found gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Leaders expect to return to the school’s usual curriculum by summer 2021.  Teachers’ checks on pupils’ reading have revealed that pupils have forgotten some of the comprehension skills that they have previously been taught. Because of this, you have increased the time for pupils to practise their reading comprehension in all year groups.  In mathematics, teachers checked pupils’ new starting points using tests. Teachers have found some new gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

In Year 5, you have asked teachers to revisit multiplication tables and in Year 2, some pupils are receiving additional support in small groups to revisit number bonds.  Some adaptations have been made to the wider curriculum. For instance, in art, you explained that teachers are prioritising pupils’ pencil skills and using a range of media to create artwork. This is because pupils missed this subject content when they were not in school last term.  The school’s remote education provision is a combination of paper-based resources and online work. When whole class bubbles are self-isolating, you told us that pupils are given access to the subjects that they are usually taught during the school day. When individual pupils are self-isolating, they are provided with work based on some of their usual range of subjects.  Leaders explained that some subjects are more difficult to deliver remotely, such as art and music. You told us that you plan to continue to develop your

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

remote education provision in these areas.

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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 director of education for the Diocese of Leeds, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leeds. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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