A COPELAND primary school which received two successive judgements of ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted has been commended for its efforts to educate its students during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.

The monitoring visit at Captain Shaw’s Church of England Primary School, Bootle, was carried out due to the results of its two previous inspections.

However, the site this time won praise for working hard to implement effective remote learning procedures, with many children having spent large chunks of the last year away from school.

In his report based on his assessment, carried out remotely in March, inspector John Donald said: “In order to deliver remote education effectively, you have made suitable adaptations to the curriculum.

“For example, you have changed the order in which the content of some subjects is delivered, such as in science.

“Teachers have also prioritised the learning that pupils have missed or forgotten from the summer term.

“This means that pupils are able to catch up quickly.

“However, pupils are not currently studying art, computing or design and technology.

“You have appropriate plans in place to enable pupils to catch up in these subjects when they return to school and have access to the specialist resources that they need.”

Mr Donald noted that teachers were thorough when it came to monitoring the progress of pupils who were learning remotely.

“Whether pupils are working in school or at home, teachers frequently check on how well pupils are learning. Teachers identify pupils’ misconceptions,” he said.

“Pupils benefit from regular feedback on the quality of their work.

“You have ensured that all pupils working at home have access to an electronic device.

“Teachers remain in regular contact with those pupils working from home.

“This helps staff to check frequently on pupils’ wellbeing and learning.

“Those pupils who attend school also benefit from extra support from staff.”

Mr Donald said work to improve the school’s curriculum was put on hold at the outset of the first national lockdown in order to prioritise the delivery of remote education.

However, he said the school planned to continue this work when pupils returned to school - which happened in March.

Mr Donald said governors had ‘an increasingly accurate knowledge of the school’ and asked ‘challenging questions’ about its work.