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

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Nisha Lingam Headteacher Fawood Children’s Centre 35 Fawood Avenue London NW10 8RF

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Ofsted visit to Fawood Children’s Centre

Following my visit with Lisa Strong, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 2 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 Fawood Children’s Centre

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 Fawood Children’s Centre

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 Fawood Children’s Centre

During the visit, we spoke to you and the senior leadership team. 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. 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 September 2020, approximately one quarter of children have had to learn at home for a period while isolating.  All children are following their usual curriculum. Leaders have restricted the loan of equipment and resources such as balance bicycles and ‘story sacks’ to families. They plan to start giving these out again by the summer term 2021.  The priority for leaders this term has been to settle children into the nursery environment. Leaders have changed their usual routines and procedures for settling in. For example, they have done virtual home visits for new children, and parents cannot come into the building, including at the start of the day.  Staff have checked the children’s starting points this term in the main areas of learning. In September 2020, staff did not have as much information as usual about children’s individual needs, including information about special educational needs. Leaders have done additional checks to gather more

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

information about each child.  Children’s physical development across all age groups is lower than leaders would usually expect. Leaders are adapting the curriculum and the nursery environment to prioritise key aspects such as moving and handling. Upper body development is also a focus this term.  Leaders have recently identified that the personal, social and emotional skills of two-year-olds, who have just joined the school, are not as developed as they would expect. On the contrary, older children have returned to nursery with greater independence than staff normally see at this stage. Leaders are in the process of planning how to address these findings.  Leaders have found that children’s communication and early literacy skills are similar to usual. These continue to be a focus for all children this term. Staff have made videos of themselves reading stories aloud this term to support more reading at home.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 For children who are isolating, staff send activities for them to do at home, either digitally or through paper copies. These activities are linked to the planned curriculum on site each day and are personalised for each child. For example, staff deliver intervention sessions remotely for children with autism spectrum disorder.

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

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