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

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Alison Whitefield Headteacher The Everitt Academy Church Lane Carlton Colville Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 8AX

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Ofsted remote visit to The Everitt Academy

Following my remote visit with John Randall, Her Majesty’s Inspector, to your school on Tuesday 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 The Everitt Academy

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 Everitt Academy

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 Everitt Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you and your deputy headteacher. 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:

 Following a phased reopening, the majority of pupils have returned to school on a full-time basis. A significant proportion of pupils are currently following personalised, part-time timetables to enable them to reintegrate back into full- time learning in school.  The school operates as a single ‘bubble’ of 51 pupils. Attendance is higher than it was at this time last year. Only two pupils have been asked to learn at home for a short period of time since the start of this term. A small proportion of pupils have not returned to school and are learning at home.  Pupils who have returned to full-time learning, study their usual range of subjects. Leaders anticipate that pupils who currently follow a reduced number of subjects in a modified curriculum, will return to studying their usual subjects by the summer term 2021.  Practical learning has continued as planned in most subjects. Enrichment activities and off-site visits are not taking place.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 A range of assessments have been used to gauge pupils’ starting points on their return to school. These checks have revealed some gaps in pupils’ learning in reading, mathematics and science.  Staff have identified that pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 will need to revisit learning of their times tables and basic operations in mathematics to rebuild their confidence. In English, an online learning scheme and new texts are being used to promote pupils’ reading. Additional funding is being used to purchase new resources to reinforce pupils’ knowledge of phonics.  Leaders feel that pupils in Years 10 and 11 are generally more confident in English than they are in mathematics. Providing further support in both of these subjects at the end of each day is currently one of the school’s main priorities. Leaders intend to use entry-level awards alongside GCSE examinations to ensure that all pupils achieve as well as they can in

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

examinations next year.  Training for staff in using technology to help pupils to learn remotely has ensured that those who do not attend school full time can continue to learn at home. A range of online resources have been purchased to encourage pupils to engage fully in learning. Leaders have checked that all pupils have access to a suitable device for learning at home.

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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 chief executive officer of the Catch-22 Multi-Academy Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Suffolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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