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

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Laura Suddon Associate Headteacher Lode Heath School Lode Lane Solihull West Midlands B91 2HW

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Ofsted visit to Lode Heath School

Following my visit with Bianka Zemke, 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 Lode Heath 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 Lode Heath 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 Lode Heath School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the executive headteacher, members of the senior leadership team, subject leaders and 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.

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Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:  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 to all pupils on 7 September 2020. All pupils are expected to attend full time.  Pupils’ attendance is broadly in line with the normal attendance for this time of year.  Pupils in all year groups are studying their usual subjects. Subject leaders told us that they have changed the order of some topics within their curriculum. These changes have been made so that pupils can study content that was missed during the national lockdown. For example, in physical education, pupils are currently doing field athletics, which they would normally have learned in the summer term.  Since returning to school, teachers have been checking in lessons what pupils have remembered from the spring and summer terms. In addition, you have plans to formally assess pupils around October half term. Your aim is to use the assessment information to identify gaps in pupils’ learning and help teachers prioritise what needs to be taught next.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 You say you are ready to put in place remote learning for any year group, should it be required. 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, the chief executive officer, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Solihull. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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