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

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Louisa Halls Headteacher Somerset Nursery School 157-159 Battersea Church Road Battersea London SW11 3ND

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Ofsted remote visit to Somerset Nursery School

Following my remote visit with Lucy Bruce, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 1 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 remote visit to Somerset Nursery 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 Somerset Nursery 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 Somerset Nursery School

During the visit we held discussions with you about key aspects of the school’s work. We did not speak to children.

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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 one quarter of children have needed to stay at home, typically for a period of one or two days.  Children are being taught all the school’s usual areas of learning. Leaders have made some adjustments to make this possible. For example, teachers continue to use songs to help build children’s knowledge and understanding, but most singing takes place in the outside spaces.  Following checks on children’s new starting points in September 2020, leaders found that children’s physical development was not as far forward as it would typically be. As a result, teaching aims to strengthen children’s balance, coordination and physical readiness for writing.  This term, staff are using rhymes and stories to encourage children to understand how to keep themselves and others safe and healthy, for instance by washing their hands regularly and sneezing into their elbows.  Leaders are considering how they will put in place remote education should

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

the need for all children to learn at home arise in the future. They plan to provide children with a mixture of games, toys and digital resources should this be necessary. Leaders also intend to give families additional guidance on how they might support their children’s development at home.

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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. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wandsworth. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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