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

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Claire Jobe Headteacher Lansdowne Primary School Gladstone Drive Sittingbourne Kent ME10 3BH

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Ofsted remote visit to Lansdowne Primary School

Following my remote visit with Matthew Haynes, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 12 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 Lansdowne 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 Lansdowne 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 Lansdowne Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, two deputy headteachers, the special educational needs coordinator, the multi-academy trust’s safeguarding leader and the lead practitioner. 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:

 Approximately one fifth of pupils have had to learn at home since the start of school in September.  With the exception of music in Year 5, pupils are studying all of the subjects that they usually would. Year 5 pupils have additional time for personal, social and health education. You plan to reintroduce music to the Year 5 curriculum by spring 2021.  In each subject, you asked teachers to identify what pupils know and can do. Leaders are using this information to adapt the curriculum to cover learning pupils have missed or forgotten. For example, Year 4 pupils are revisiting learning from previous science topics, such as classification of plants and animals.  Teachers’ assessments have shown that many pupils are behind in their reading. In Reception and Years 1 and 2, teachers have given over more time to teaching pupils to decode words. In Years 3 and 4, staff are concentrating on improving pupils’ comprehension.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 In general, pupils are struggling to remember some of the mathematical knowledge that they have previously learned. Teachers have adjusted the curriculum so that pupils revisit these areas before they move onto further learning. For example, Year 5 pupils are improving their understanding of fractions.  Staff teach the wider curriculum through a topic-based approach. Teachers have adapted topics to prioritise the areas which pupils need to focus on most. For example, in Year 6 you have reorganised the geography and history content within topic work, so pupils learn the subject knowledge that they have missed.  Currently, you are providing remote education to the small number of pupils who are unable to attend school. This mirrors the range of subjects that pupils are learning in school. You also have plans in place to provide online learning delivered by teachers should it be needed.

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

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