Setting

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

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Sian Ward Interim Head of School Nelson Primary School Nelson Road Whitton Twickenham TW2 7BU

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Ofsted remote visit to Nelson Primary School

Following my remote visit with Lucy Bruce, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 24 November 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 Nelson 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 Nelson 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 Nelson Primary School

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

 The Reception, Year 3 and Year 4 ‘bubbles’ were isolating at the time of this visit. Since the start of term, just over half of all pupils have needed to spend some time working from home.  Pupils are studying the school’s usual range of subjects, with some temporary alterations made to the teaching of music and physical education (PE). For example, swimming lessons and team sports are not currently taking place. Leaders anticipate that pupils will return to their usual curriculum by summer 2021.  Following checks on pupils’ new starting points in reading at the start of term, teachers throughout the school spend more time on teaching reading than was previously the case. Teachers are focusing in particular on developing pupils’ vocabulary. Pupils who need extra help to catch up in phonics have sessions personalised to their needs.  Leaders have also checked pupils’ new starting points in mathematics. In

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

response to what they found, leaders have modified the subject content taught in each year group, concentrating on the knowledge that pupils need to revisit most. This term, for example, teaching aims to plug gaps in pupils’ understanding of place value and number.  In PE, teaching is giving more weight to subject content which aims to strengthen pupils’ well-being. This includes developing pupils’ awareness of how keeping active might support their mental health. In other subjects, most teaching is focused on covering knowledge that pupils would typically study, with some adaptations designed to help pupils recoup any missed or forgotten learning.  Remote education is provided digitally. Pupils follow a timetable based on the teaching they would usually receive in school, including daily lessons in reading and mathematics. Parents can also opt for their children to receive a paper-based version of remote education.

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

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