Setting

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

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Sarah George Headteacher St Peter’s C of E (A) Primary School School Lane Caverswall Stoke-on-Trent ST11 9EN

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Ofsted remote visit to St Peter’s C of E (A) Primary School

Following my remote visit with Lesley Yates, 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 C of E (A) 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 C of E (A) 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 C of E (A) Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the special educational needs coordinator. 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, three ‘bubbles’ were self-isolating. Since September, all pupils have had to learn from home at some point.  In September, you introduced a programme of learning designed to help pupils to increase their stamina for learning and support their mental health. Your initial focus has been on reading, writing, mathematics and pupils’ social and emotional needs. You chose to pause the teaching of French for the first half term, but staff are now teaching the full range of subjects.  You told us that rekindling a love of reading and securing phonic skills are key priorities this term. You explained that some pupils are not reading as fluently as they used to.  In English, there is a greater focus on aspects of spelling, punctuation and grammar, learning that was lost during the summer term. You have put extra support in place to help pupils who have made less progress than you would

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

usually expect in these areas.  In mathematics, leaders have found that pupils have remembered their number facts and times tables but are not as confident when applying these to solving problems. Staff are therefore giving pupils more opportunities to apply their learning to reasoning and problem-solving activities.  You explained how pupils can study the planned curriculum remotely, where needed. You provide pupils with both paper-based study packs and online learning resources.

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

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