Setting

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

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Jan Lathem Head of School College Park Infant School Crofton Road Portsmouth Hampshire PO2 0LB

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Ofsted visit to College Park Infant School

Following my visit with Kathryn Moles, 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 College Park 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.

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Ofsted visit to College Park 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 visit to College Park Infant School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the assistant headteacher and the art leader. 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:

 Since the start of the school year, over one third of pupils have worked from home for a few days while self-isolating.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects although teachers are reordering some of the content. Weekly swimming lessons for Years 1 and 2 have been temporarily paused. Leaders plan to return pupils to their normal curriculum by February 2021.  In September, teachers checked what pupils remembered in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers have changed lesson plans to recap on learning that pupils have forgotten, and to add some that they have missed.  Teachers are helping pupils understand what they are reading and are demonstrating how to answer questions about texts. Teachers are supporting some pupils in Year 1 revisit their early reading skills.  Teachers have noticed that pupils need more support than usual with their writing. Teachers are helping Year 1 pupils to practise their handwriting and

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Year 2 pupils to write in accurate sentences.  In mathematics, teachers found that pupils need help with their knowledge of number and calculations. Teachers are helping Year 1 pupils to use their addition and subtraction skills when solving problems and Year 2 pupils to practise their multiplication skills.  In other subjects, teachers are covering some learning that was missed in the summer term. For example, Year 1 have learned to mix colours as they missed doing this in Reception.  Teachers have noticed Reception children need more support than typical to develop their communication skills. Staff are giving children lots of opportunities to practise speaking and listening.  When individual pupils self-isolate, teachers record a daily mathematics and English lesson that is linked to what they would be learning in class. Pupils access this and tasks for other subjects online although paper packs are

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

provided if needed. Teachers provide online feedback to pupils. Leaders intend to use the same approach if year group ‘bubbles’ have to self-isolate.

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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 Kings Group Academies multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Portsmouth. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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