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

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Rachel Jewitt Executive Headteacher St Barnabas Church of England Primary School St Barnabas Street Pimlico London SW1W 8PF

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Ofsted visit to St Barnabas Church of England Primary School

Following my visit with Andrew Wright, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 9 December 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 visit to St Barnabas Church of England 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.

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Ofsted visit to St Barnabas Church of England 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 visit to St Barnabas Church of England Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the head of school, who is also responsible for safeguarding. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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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 (coronavirus) 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:

 Since the start of term, approximately 10% of pupils have had to learn from home for a few days. No class ‘bubbles’ have had to isolate.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects and you have not amended the curriculum. Some trips and visits now take place virtually.  Teachers have carried out checks on pupils’ reading. They have used this information alongside what they have found during lessons to find out where pupils need to catch up. Extra time for reading is prioritised in all year groups. Sessions in phonics have been extended into Year 3.  Leaders identified shape and measure as areas of mathematics which were missed in the summer term. Teachers are covering these areas through specific recall sessions. Leaders also identified gaps in pupils’ knowledge of times tables, division and mathematical reasoning. These gaps are being addressed in lessons.  Leaders check pupils’ knowledge in the wider curriculum. Teachers are

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

amending their plans to ensure that missed content from the spring and summer terms is covered. Leaders are placing more emphasis on personal, social and health education in all year groups.  Teachers provide online lessons and paper-based resources for pupils who need to learn from home. The content is matched to that which is delivered in school. Leaders plan to continue this approach, with some small modifications, if large groups of pupils need to access remote education. Leaders identified that some families do not have enough digital devices to support remote education for their children. Leaders have resources to address this barrier should remote education be required.

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

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