Setting

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

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Jackie Johnstone Acting Headteacher St Edmunds Catholic Primary School Hertford Road Edmonton London N9 7HJ

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Ofsted remote visit to St. Edmunds Catholic Primary School

Following my remote visit with Lisa Strong, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 25 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 St. Edmunds Catholic 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 St. Edmunds Catholic 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 St. Edmunds Catholic Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and your senior leadership team, including the leader with responsibility 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:

 Approximately one third of pupils have had to work from home at some point since the start of term.  Pupils are studying the usual range of curriculum subjects. Your staff have adapted some curriculum content in practical subjects, such as music, art, computing and physical education, as they are unable to use specialist teaching rooms. Staff are focusing on helping pupils adapt to new routines and reassuring them and their families that school is returning to normal. Leaders plan to resume the full curriculum before the summer 2021.  Teachers’ checks have shown that writing standards are lower than usual. Teachers are reminding pupils of the importance of accurate spelling and grammar, during lessons. In reading, teachers have identified that pupils are struggling with understanding text and have forgotten some previously taught vocabulary. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 have extra phonics sessions aimed at

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

building up their confidence and fluency in reading.  In mathematics, teachers have identified that pupils are less confident in mathematical operations and place value. Staff have adapted their teaching to include revision of what was missed in the summer term.  Teachers are making informal checks on what pupils can remember from the wider curriculum. Teachers have adapted their plans, to include knowledge that pupils may have missed alongside the teaching of new learning. They have also increased the time spent on personal, social, health and economic education.  You have a system of remote education in place. You explained that this is aligned to the whole-school curriculum and includes both online and printed resources. If a year group or an individual needs to isolate, staff prioritise English and mathematics and one other subject each day.

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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 director of education for the Diocese of Westminster, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Enfield. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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