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

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Edward Flood Headteacher St Paschal Baylon Catholic Primary School Chelwood Avenue Childwell Liverpool L16 2LN

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Ofsted remote visit to St Paschal Baylon Catholic Primary School

Following my remote visit with David Selby, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 27 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 Paschal Baylon Catholic 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 Paschal Baylon Catholic 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 Paschal Baylon Catholic Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the deputy 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:

 Since the start of term, around half of the pupils in the school have spent some time learning from home. Pupils in one of the Year 5 class ‘bubbles’ are currently self-isolating.  You said that teachers are carrying out checks on what pupils remember and what they have forgotten of their learning since March 2020. This is to establish pupils’ new starting points. Subject leaders are amending curriculum plans, for example, in history, to incorporate key subject content that was not taught in the summer term 2020.  You told us that pupils are studying all subjects in the wider curriculum. However, teachers have made changes to how they teach the curriculum content in computing and music. You described how plans are in place to return pupils to the usual curriculum content by the end of the summer term 2021.  You explained that teachers have identified that younger pupils have forgotten some of the letters and sounds that they had learned prior to March 2020. You

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

are providing daily small-group and one-to-one teaching to help these pupils to catch up. In Years 2 to 6, teachers are focusing on developing pupils’ fluency in reading and improving pupils’ comprehension skills.  You told us that, in mathematics, pupils are quickly catching up on missed and forgotten learning. Since September, teachers have spent time each day revising basic number facts. This is improving pupils’ confidence, precision and fluency in mathematics.  Remote education is provided online. You told us that teachers provide work for class bubbles and individual pupils who are self-isolating which broadly reflects what is being taught in school. You explained that teachers have had training and support to help them plan and teach online lessons.

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

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