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

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Mrs Amy Ross Headteacher Hampsthwaite Church of England Primary School Church Lane Hampsthwaite Harrogate North Yorkshire HG3 2EZ

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Ofsted visit to Hampsthwaite Church of England Primary School

Following my visit with Marcus Newby, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 29 September 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 Hampsthwaite Church of England 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 Hampsthwaite Church of England 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 Hampsthwaite Church of England Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy designated safeguarding leader and the English leader. 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.

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Context

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, a different report would be published on our website and made 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 to all pupils on 8 September 2020. New pupils in the Reception class attended full time from Monday 14 September. All pupils are now expected to attend school full time.  Since the school opened to all pupils in September, pupils’ attendance has been slightly higher than it was at the same time last year. You told us that you wrote to all parents/carers before the start of the term to make your expectations of pupils’ attendance clear.  Pupils have returned to studying the full range of subjects which make up the school’s normal curriculum. You have made some adaptations to the way you are teaching certain subjects, such as art, design and technology, music and physical education. You explained that you intend to return pupils to the usual curriculum in all subjects before summer 2021.  Teachers are currently checking for any gaps in pupils’ phonics knowledge. Once the checks are complete, you intend to provide extra support for those pupils

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

who need help to catch up.  In mathematics, teachers are currently assessing pupils’ new starting points. You have plans in place to use extra mathematics resources, including additional adult support, for pupils who need help to catch up. You told us that you have asked teachers to focus on number, place value and arithmetic skills because you were concerned that pupils may have gaps in their knowledge in these areas.  You intend that teachers will check for any gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding in subjects such as history, geography and science later in the autumn term.  You have a plan in place to deliver the curriculum remotely, if required. You explained that you are planning to invest in additional laptops so that, if needed, pupils can borrow these to complete their 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 board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the director of education for the Diocese of Leeds, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Yorkshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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