Setting

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

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Tameka Hue Hamilton Headteacher Hewens Primary School Hewens Road Hayes Middlesex UB4 8JP

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Ofsted visit to Hewens Primary School

Following my visit with Sarah Murphy, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 9 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 Hewens 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.

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Ofsted visit to Hewens 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 visit to Hewens Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team and the senior leader responsible for safeguarding. 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.

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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:

 Since September 2020, approximately one third of pupils have had to learn from home while isolating. A small number of pupils have had to learn from home on more than one occasion.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects, with more time allocated to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics than was previously the case. Leaders have also made some adjustments to the subject content that pupils learn, for example in music, singing has been replaced with the study of theory and composition. Leaders plan to return to the usual curriculum by summer 2021.  After checks on pupils’ new starting points in September, leaders have given reading a higher profile. Staff are listening to pupils read more frequently, and selected pupils are receiving extra help in learning phonics. Teachers are also spending more time on developing pupils’ vocabulary and handwriting.  At the start of term, leaders identified the mathematical content that teaching

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

needed to emphasise and revisit. Some pupils needed to go over their knowledge of place value and calculation methods, while others needed extra practice in reasoning mathematically. Teaching has been adjusted to focus on these areas, and pupils attend additional lessons either before or after school.  In the wider curriculum, leaders are spending more time delivering personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) to pupils. This includes providing increased time during the school day for pupils to talk about their feelings and experiences. Leaders have also adjusted the PSHE curriculum, with the aim of promoting pupils’ mental health and resilience and encouraging pupils to form new friendships.  You are providing remote education for all pupils who need to learn from home through a mixture of paper-based and digital activities. Pupils are given work that aims to reflect the curriculum taking place in school. This includes

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

assemblies as well as daily live lessons in reading and mathematics.

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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 board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the Rosedale Hewens multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hillingdon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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