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

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John Sarbutts Executive Headteacher Brington Primary School Little Brington Northampton Northamptonshire NN7 4HX

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Ofsted visit to Brington Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 8 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 Brington 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 Brington 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 Brington Primary School

During the visit, I spoke to you and the assistant headteacher. I 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. 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, the school has had to close for two weeks due to a confirmed case of COVID-19. A few individual pupils have also needed to self- isolate for short periods of time.  Pupils are learning all the subjects of the school’s usual curriculum. Leaders have made some changes to the order in which they teach some things. For example, in music, they have moved content that includes singing to later in the school year.  Teachers have checked what pupils remember in English and mathematics. They have noticed that in Years 3 to 6, pupils have forgotten some of the things they knew before. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 have not been as adversely affected.  In mathematics, teachers are making sure that pupils remember the four operations. Pupils are practising rapid recall of number facts and times tables. Teachers are teaching some content that pupils missed during the summer term.  Pupils in Years 1 and 2 have retained their phonics knowledge. Teachers have

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

checked that pupils are reading books that are appropriate for their reading stage. Staff are encouraging pupils to read a wide range of genres.  There have been very few changes to the school’s wider curriculum. Some content is taking longer to cover. Teachers are considering the knowledge that pupils might have missed or forgotten before moving on with new learning.  When learning from home, pupils are given work that is as closely matched to the school’s usual curriculum as possible. When a whole class is learning from home, teachers hold daily live virtual sessions to check in with pupils.

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

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