Setting

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

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Nin Matharu Headteacher Kings Hill Primary School Old Park Road Wednesbury Walsall WS10 9JG

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Ofsted visit to Kings Hill Primary School

Following my visit with Charalambos Loizou, 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 Kings Hill Primary School

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 Kings Hill Primary School

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 Kings Hill Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, other leaders and staff. 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 reopened to all pupils on 3 September 2020. From this date, children in Reception and pupils in Years 1 to 6 were expected to attend full time. This year’s Nursery intake was delayed until 1 October 2020. Prior to opening, staff put information on the school’s website so that parents and pupils knew what to expect when they returned. Almost all pupils have returned full time.  Overall attendance is slightly below what you would normally expect for this time of year. At the time of the visit, one ‘bubble’ of 45 Year 6 pupils was self-isolating at home.  Across the school, pupils are studying all their usual subjects. Some aspects of music, drama and physical education have been changed because of social distancing and/or hygiene requirements. School clubs have not yet resumed. You plan to review this later in the term.  Staff have noticed that some pupils have taken a step back in their phonics

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

knowledge. You also reported a slight slip in pupils’ reading fluency and comprehension. In response, staff have reset pupils’ starting points for this term and added some extra small-group teaching sessions to help pupils catch up. Teachers are also doing more reading activities in class.  In mathematics, teachers are focusing on place value, multiplication tables and key words. You told us that staff’s checks and observations have found these to be priority areas after the period when schools were only open to some children due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Staff have prepared home-learning packs to support pupils who may need to work at home. These packs tie in with this term’s classroom work and are ready to go if needed. You say that staff can help parents who need support managing their child’s learning at home.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

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 Walsall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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