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

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Clara King Executive Headteacher Stilton Church of England Primary Academy Church Street Stilton Peterborough PE7 3RF

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Ofsted visit to Stilton Church of England Primary Academy

Following my visit with Maureen Su, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 3 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 visit to Stilton Church of England Primary 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.

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Ofsted visit to Stilton Church of England Primary 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 visit to Stilton Church of England Primary Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you, the head of school, your leader of early years and one of your Year 6 teachers. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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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 (coronavirus) pandemic. 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:

 Reception and Year 2 ‘bubbles’ have needed to isolate for the full isolation period since starting back in September. On the day of the visit, the Year 2 bubble was isolating for the second time.  The full range of subjects are being taught, although some curriculum content has been adapted. You are expecting to return pupils to the full curriculum content by summer 2021.  Teachers have checked pupils’ knowledge in English and mathematics. Teachers identified that many pupils had forgotten basic knowledge in writing and number. Teachers are providing focused support to help pupils catch up.  Reading remains a high priority. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 are having extra sessions in phonics to revisit sounds that they have forgotten. In the older years, pupils are having more time to improve their comprehension skills.  You identified that pupils struggled to write at length when they returned to school. They also had forgotten many of the basic writing skills. Teachers are

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

ensuring that pupils have more opportunities to apply their grammar skills across a range of subjects.  Teachers have checked what pupils can remember in mathematics. Pupils across the school have forgotten number facts such as times tables. Pupils in Year 6 have more time to practise methods of calculation.  Teachers have adapted the content in the wider curriculum so that learning that has been missed will be taught during the spring and summer terms. Visitors are still coming into the school to support the learning in subjects such as history. Swimming, after-school clubs and residential trips are not currently taking place.  Teachers are providing pupils who are isolating at home with similar curriculum content to that which pupils receive in school. The class teachers provide live learning online. When individual pupils need to study from home, they are provided with a combination of online and paper-based learning.

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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 chief executive officer of the Diocese of Ely Multi- Academy Trust (DEMAT), the director of education for the Diocese of Ely, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cambridge. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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