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

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Lisa Hardy Headteacher Central C of E Academy Orchard Street Chichester West Sussex PO19 1DQ

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Ofsted remote visit to Central C of E Academy

Following my remote visit with Maxine McDonald-Taylor, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 19 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 Central C of E Academy

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 Central C of E Academy

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 Central C of E Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you and other leaders. 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:

 One in five pupils have worked from home for a short time since the start of the school year for reasons related to COVID-19.  Pupils are studying their normal range of subjects but some content has been adjusted. Leaders have arranged for visitors, including church representatives, to ‘visit’ the school online to continue to support pupils’ personal development. Leaders plan to return to the usual curriculum by the summer term 2021.  At the start of the school year, teachers carried out checks in reading, writing and mathematics to find out what pupils remembered.  In reading, the youngest pupils are spending more time practising their early reading skills. Teachers have identified that all pupils need to develop their vocabulary.  Teachers are helping pupils to write in a more formal manner. Pupils also practise their handwriting skills daily.  In mathematics, teachers are covering learning that was missed in the

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

summer term before moving on. Staff have used additional teaching to help pupils revisit any gaps in learning from before lockdown.  In other subjects, pupils are learning the usual topics for this time of year. Teachers are incorporating some of the skills that pupils missed learning during lockdown. Teachers are checking that pupils remember new knowledge and skills and, where necessary, they are adapting lessons to help them remember more.  Remote education is provided online when individual pupils self-isolate. Pupils access the daily mathematics and English tasks at any time and teachers provide feedback each day. Laptops can be borrowed from the school if required.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 If a pupil ‘bubble’ has to self-isolate, a daily timetable of learning will be provided online. As far as possible, this will include all subjects to mirror the learning that would happen in school.

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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 chief executive officer of the Diocese of Chichester multi-academy trust, the director of education for the Diocese of Chichester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for West Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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