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

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Emma Moss Headteacher St Peter’s CofE Primary School Cartmel Avenue Accrington Lancashire BB5 0NW

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Ofsted remote visit to St Peter’s CofE Primary School

Following my remote visit with Tim Vaughan, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 26 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 Peter’s CofE 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 Peter’s CofE 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 Peter’s CofE Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and your assistant headteacher. 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:

 About half of the pupils in the school have had to learn at home for a short period of time since September. Pupils in the Year 3 ‘bubble’ were self- isolating during this visit. This is the second time that this group of pupils has learned from home.  Pupils are studying the full range of curriculum subjects. Teachers are checking what pupils have remembered from the learning they have done since March 2020. This is to establish pupils’ new starting points.  Teachers have adapted the way that they teach some subject content to help pupils catch up on any missed learning. You anticipate that pupils will return to the usual curriculum content by the end of the summer term 2021.  In phonics, teachers have found that pupils, especially in Years 1 and 2, have forgotten some of the letters and sounds that they learned before March 2020. Extra support is in place so that pupils can catch up. In Years 3 to 6, teachers

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

are ensuring that pupils read more often to build up their reading stamina.  Teachers have assessed pupils’ mathematical knowledge. They found that, across most year groups, pupils are not as confident in the recall of number facts as they were before March 2020. Teachers are helping pupils to regain confidence in adding, subtracting and multiplying numbers.  In the wider curriculum, for example, in history, you have identified that pupils are less confident at remembering historical events. Teachers are helping pupils to think about how they order events in the past. You have also used physical education, along with activities for personal, social and emotional education, to support pupils’ well-being.  You offer remote education online and in paper-based packs. You provide bubbles and individual pupils who are self-isolating with daily activities that follow their year group’s usual timetable. You include reading, writing,

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

mathematics, and elements from the wider curriculum.

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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 Blackburn and the director of children’s services for Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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