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

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David Syed Headteacher Northview Junior and Infant School Northview Crescent London NW10 1RD

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Ofsted remote visit to Northview Junior and Infant School

Following my remote visit with Alison Colenso, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 19 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 Northview Junior and 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. 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 Northview Junior and 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 remote visit to Northview Junior and Infant School

During the visit, we spoke to you and your deputy headteacher, who is also the deputy designated safeguarding lead and the leader for reading. 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 third of pupils have had to work from home since the start of term.  Pupils are studying the usual range of subjects. Staff have adjusted the curriculum. They have introduced daily reading sessions designed to reinforce what pupils missed during the period when schools were not fully open. Educational visits and events such as sports competitions are not taking place. However, virtual visits have been introduced to replace some of these. Leaders plan to resume their full curriculum before the summer term 2021.  Teachers have carried out checks to identify pupils’ new starting points in reading. This has led to an increased focus on phonics in Nursery, Reception, Years 1 and 2. Extra phonics sessions are used to practise these skills.  Following checks to identify pupils’ new starting points in mathematics, teachers found that some pupils have lost confidence and knowledge of key

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

concepts such as fractions, shape and measure. Daily extra sessions for all year groups have been arranged to help pupils strengthen their mathematical knowledge and skills.  In other subjects, staff are carrying out checks to find out what pupils can remember. Teachers are including extra links between previous and current learning to address any gaps in knowledge. Examples are when teaching grid references and map reading in geography and key vocabulary in languages.  Leaders can provide online and paper-based resources to support remote education. If a year group ‘bubble’ needs to isolate, as has been the case, staff provide live English and mathematics lessons as well as all other subjects each day. In the case of individual pupils, remote education is adapted and customised according to each pupil’s needs.

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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 regional school’s commissioner and the director of children’s services for Brent. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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