Setting

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

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Stephen Martin Acting Headteacher Ham Drive Nursery School and Day Care Ham Drive Plymouth PL2 2NJ

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Ofsted visit to Ham Drive Nursery and Day Care

Following my visit with Sue Costello, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 1 October 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 visit to Ham Drive Nursery and Day Care

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.

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Ofsted visit to Ham Drive Nursery and Day Care

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 visit to Ham Drive Nursery and Day Care

During the visit, we spoke to you and your assistant headteacher. You are also the senior leader responsible for safeguarding. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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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 (coronavirus) pandemic. 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:

 The school opened fully for all children to attend on 7 September 2020.  Children’s attendance is not statutory. The current rate of attendance is slightly below that seen at this time last year.  Children are studying their usual curriculum. However, teaching staff are having to adapt their teaching. This is because they no longer have access to certain resources, such as building blocks to support children’s physical development.  You explained to us that because of additional cleaning requirements, some areas of learning are being hampered. These are: personal, social and emotional development, physical development, and communication and language.  Teachers are undertaking checks to see what children know. You plan to have completed these checks by 23 October 2020. Staff will use this information to adjust the curriculum accordingly.  Leaders told us that reading has a high priority in the school. You told us that

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

phonics is a key element of your day-to-day curriculum.  You told us that mathematics has been at the forefront of your plans for curriculum development. These were cut short because of the COVID-19 restrictions. You told us that you plan to re-visit these plans later this year.  During the period when schools were only open to some children due to COVID-19 restrictions, the school provided remote learning for all children. Should there be COVID-19 restrictions again, you are confident that children will continue to be able to access the usual curriculum. Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

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

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