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

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Teresa Doggett Headteacher Blofield Primary School North Street Blofield Norwich Norfolk NR13 4RH

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Ofsted remote visit to Blofield Primary School

Following my remote visit with Heather Yaxley, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 17 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 Blofield 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 Blofield 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 Blofield Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher and the members of staff responsible for safeguarding and attendance. 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:

 At the time of the visit nearly all pupils were able to be in school. Around one fifth of the school have had to study from home at some point this term.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects. Some units of work have been moved within the year to suit current teaching arrangements, for example in physical education all teaching is currently outside.  The first week of term was focused on pupils’ well-being. After this, teachers used a range of assessments to find out where pupils had gaps in their learning.  Leaders have emphasised the need for teachers to be aware of ‘milestones’ across subjects that pupils will have missed during the partial closure of the school. Teachers aim to make sure that pupils are taught any knowledge that they have not learned when they start similar topics in the future.  Teachers are using time when taking the class register to help pupils revisit some core knowledge, for example pupils have revised the names of the

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

oceans.  In English, teachers have found that pupils’ reading comprehension is not where is should be. Teachers are focusing on developing this in lessons. Additional teaching assistant time is being funded to provide targeted support for groups of pupils.  In September 2020, younger pupils had an early focus on phonics, again with additional targeted support. Teachers also worked with parents to help them support their children. Leaders state that pupils’ phonics knowledge is now back on track.  In mathematics, teachers are using an adapted version of their normal curriculum which incorporates revision of the previous year’s content. As with English, additional teaching assistant time has been made available to support pupils who need additional catch-up work.  Leaders planned to have a focus on outdoor learning during this academic year. They have now brought forward this move towards more outside

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

learning.  Leaders have provided remote education for one class during a period of isolation. Teachers continue to deliver remote education to individuals who are working away from school. Teachers aim to match home learning with what is taught in class. Daily activities are provided online, with some ‘live’ teaching and the use of other pre-recorded videos to support pupils’ learning.

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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 Norfolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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