Setting

Noreen Dunn Executive Headteacher Knowleswood Primary School Knowles Lane Bradford West Yorkshire BD4 9AE

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Additional, remote monitoring inspection of Knowleswood Primary School

Following my remote inspection with Alison Stephenson, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), of your school on 25 February 2021, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken to provide education to all pupils during the current circumstances.

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Additional, remote monitoring inspection of Knowleswood Primary School

This monitoring inspection was conducted under section 8 (2) of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for visiting schools while routine inspections remain temporarily suspended. It was additional to the usual monitoring process for schools that are judged to require improvement.

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Additional, remote monitoring inspection of Knowleswood Primary School

This monitoring inspection was carried out remotely. As such, the range of evidence available to inspectors was narrower than would normally be the case during an on- site inspection. As a result, this letter provides a more limited level of assurance than our usual monitoring reports.

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Additional, remote monitoring inspection of Knowleswood Primary School

The inspection took place because the school has received four successive judgements of requires improvement. The school’s most recent section 5 inspection took place in July 2019.

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Additional, remote monitoring inspection of Knowleswood Primary School

Having considered all the evidence and taking into account the impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the school, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

to provide education in the current circumstances. Ofsted

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted Leaders and those responsible for governance should take further action to:

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

 ensure that curriculum plans for all subjects are clear and well-sequenced so that teachers can identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and therefore target COVID-19 catch up funding to where it is most needed

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

 ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the extra support that they need when they are working from home.

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Context

 Since the last inspection, you have appointed seven new teachers and two assistant headteachers. In September 2020, a new mathematics subject leader was appointed. Two governors have recently joined the governing body.

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Context

 During the autumn term 2020, just over half of pupils had to be educated remotely.

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Context

 At the time of this inspection, around three quarters of pupils were being educated at home. Approximately two thirds of vulnerable pupils and half of all pupils with SEND were attending school.

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Context

 You are dealing with significant disruption to staffing due to COVID-19. At the time of the inspection, twenty members of staff were either absent or unable to work their contracted hours. You have reduced pupil numbers at school each Friday afternoon to manage these staffing complications.

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Main findings

 You and other leaders have been working hard to ensure that pupils have what they need to learn at home. You have provided devices for pupils so that they can access the curriculum digitally. You also make paper copies of work available to pupils who need them.

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Main findings

 You monitor pupils’ participation in remote learning. Regular phone calls and emails are sent to families when pupils do not complete work or attend live lessons. This has increased pupil involvement, although around a quarter of pupils learning from home have yet to engage with remote learning.

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Main findings

 You describe the development of remote learning as ‘a journey’. Live English and mathematics lessons are now delivered daily. Pupils in school receive the same curriculum content as those learning from home. Since January 2021, teachers have taught the wider curriculum remotely through ‘focus weeks’. Here, one subject is the focus each afternoon that week. You have considered how this may limit opportunities for pupils to revisit and remember information. You have plans to change this approach when all pupils return to school.  You are currently developing the progression and sequencing of learning in subjects other than English and mathematics. In subjects such as history and geography, this work is nearly finished. However, in other areas of the curriculum, this work has been delayed by COVID-19.

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Main findings

 When the curriculum is logically planned and where information is taught step by step, teachers can identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge with ease. You know that this is not yet the case in all subjects. As a result, the ability to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge that have occurred during the time that school was only open to some pupils due to COVID-19 restrictions is inconsistent.

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Main findings

 You have continued to prioritise reading and phonics. Children in the early years and pupils in Years 1 and 2 continue to receive daily phonics teaching. Pupils learning remotely access videos which are matched to the school’s phonics scheme. Leaders send home phonics activities so that pupils can complete work linked to these videos. The newly introduced reading scheme for pupils in key stage 2 allows pupils to access texts digitally. Teachers use the results from online comprehension checks to decide when pupils should move on.

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Main findings

 Pupils attending school continue to access the support that they need to catch up. You have increased the amount of time pupils spend reading. All pupils in school now receive ten minutes of one-to-one reading support every day.

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Main findings

 You have adjusted the curriculum to meet the needs of SEND pupils. You have reorganised adults to provide additional help to pupils that most need it when they are in school. Pupils learning remotely receive additional time online with the teacher to introduce subject content to them before the live lesson. Where necessary, teachers send home extra resources for pupils to use, provide different activities or direct them to online resources to support them with their learning. However, more could be done to provide those SEND pupils learning remotely with similar levels of support as those learning at school. You are considering how this extra support in subjects such as reading could be replicated for pupils when they are learning remotely.

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Main findings

 Governors have continued to meet throughout the pandemic to discuss the work of the school. They receive regular updates on the school’s progress through written reports from leaders. Governors are linked to areas in school such as SEND. Governors meet with leaders and provide written reports to the full governing body on their findings. This helps all governors to understand the impact of the actions that leaders are taking. However, this work has been disrupted due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Main findings

 You use the skills and knowledge from colleagues across the federation to support them in developing the curriculum. Recently, ‘reading leaders’ have worked with a specialist leader of education from their partner school to develop teachers’ reading subject knowledge.

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Evidence

This inspection was conducted remotely. We spoke to you, the head of school and your assistant headteachers. We held discussions with your curriculum leader, the mathematics subject leader and the special educational needs coordinator. We held meetings with pupils, representatives of those responsible for governance and a representative of the local authority to discuss leaders’ actions to provide education to all pupils during a national lockdown.

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Evidence

We also looked at responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 12 free-text responses, and 52 staff questionnaires.

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Evidence

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

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