A remote OFSTED visit to Falmouth School has found that attendance is lower since the school reopened in September, but the school is taking steps to address the problem.

In a letter to interim deputy head teacher Matthew Fox, Her Majesty’s Inspector Iain Freeland said the remote visit had not found any 'significant concerns' and had been held to discuss the school's actions since it re-opened to pupils on September 7.

Due to Covid restrictions, he said, the visit had not been carried in person and was not an actual Ofsted inspection but had been made remotely to reduce pressure on the school. There are no graded judgements and the inspector 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.

He said during his remote visit he spoke Mr Fox, members of the senior leadership team, the chief executive officer and chair of the board of trustees. They did not speak to pupils.

From this visit, inspectors noted that the school reopened fully to all pupils on September 7 with all pupils expected to attend on a full time basis.

He said the inspectors did not find any concerns during the visit, but since September pupils’ attendance has been lower than seen typically for this time of year, but the school had allocated more of leaders’ time to monitor attendance and take actions to improve it.

He also noted in the first half term, most pupils did not have access to specialist teaching rooms, which limited some of the activities they could complete. Since the start of this half

term, all pupils have their lessons in specialist classrooms.

He said teachers have used assessments to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and from their findings, teachers devised a four-week programme that prioritised the teaching of the most important knowledge that pupils need to know.

Pupils in years seven and eight continue to study all the subjects in the national curriculum. Teachers have prioritised addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge to ensure that pupils are prepared to progress to study for qualifications in year nine onwards.

Pupils in Years nine, ten and 11 continue to study the full range of subjects. A few pupils, with specific needs, have reduced the number of qualifications they are working towards.

A higher number of students joined the sixth form this year. The number of year 12 students who have continued their studies into Year 13 has also increased. He said leaders continue to support students to apply to university, engaging them in a range of preparation activities.

Staff have also developed an online learning platform which will allow pupils to access the school’s curriculum should they need to stay at home.

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.

"Thank you again for contributing to this important national work, he said in the letter's conclusion. "The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy."