Martin Bacon Academy: New school's Ofsted inspection done virtually

The Martin Bacon Academy could not open to pupils as planned after Easter because of coronavirus

A new school has become the first in England to undergo a virtual Ofsted inspection.

The Martin Bacon Academy in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire, could not open to pupils as planned after Easter as a result of coronavirus.

Ofsted suspended all inspections, so it was not approved to open its doors, and the school struggled to get equipment.

But officials have now performed the "pre-registration inspection" and the school will open for pupils in June.

Executive principal Mary Rayner said staff were "doing a great job" but it was "a very bizarre scenario to start a new job".

The school, which shares a site with Northstowe Secondary College, has capacity for 110 pupils aged three to 19 with a range of complex or significant learning needs.

School staff posing with equipment that has arrived at the school ahead of it opening to pupils

The first 48 pupils were due to start after Easter and Ms Rayner said Ofsted stopped all inspections "literally at the point we should have had our inspection".

"At the same time, some of our suppliers weren't able to bring the chairs and tables and the equipment for our specialist rooms that was due to be delivered within that month," she said.

Ofsted then agreed to carry out the pre-registration inspection virtually, involving a video conference call and an online tour of the building, and Ms Rayner said the Department for Education had since been assured the school was fit to open.

While pre-registration inspections can be done virtually, it is understood there are no plans to expand this to other forms of school inspection.

Ms Rayner added the school had now received chairs, and tables were due to arrive in the next week.

Ms Rayner said the school will start bringing in pupils in a "thoughtful, transitioned way"

Pupils and families have been invited to visit the school and classroom teams have met each other "in a socially distant manner" this week.

Ms Rayner said she was "incredibly proud" of her new staff team, who had "been thrown into the deep end of a brand new school with brand new children".

"All of that would have been enough, but now there's so much more complexity than that," she said.

She said the school was "not going to just open our doors and expect every child to come through the door" but that the opening would be done in a "thoughtful, transitioned way".

Ms Rayner added: "The oddity of this is the buildings were being built when children got offered a place so parents couldn't visit, the visits that were planned before Easter couldn't happen, so the children and their families haven't yet seen our school either."

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