Setting

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

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Sarah Sindrey Headteacher Moorhill Primary School Pye Green Road Cannock Staffordshire WS11 5NR

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Ofsted visit to Moorhill Primary School

Following my visit with Alun Williams, 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 Moorhill 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 Moorhill 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 Moorhill Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, one of the deputy headteachers and the inclusion manager. 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:

 You opened the school to all pupils and they returned on 2 September 2020. You say that attendance is slightly below what you would normally expect at this time of year. You have appointed an additional member of staff to support parents if they need help to get children back into school routines.  You say that pupils are studying most of their usual curriculum, with some temporary adaptations. For example, pupils are not singing in school as often and Year 4 pupils are not learning to play the recorder as they would normally do. Pupils are not going swimming at the moment. You told us that you plan to review these plans at October half term.  You told us that teachers are assessing pupils in lessons, to establish their new starting points. By the beginning of October, you expect to use this information to plan any changes to the curriculum.  You told us that teachers are focusing on improving pupils’ spelling, reading

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

and number skills because these are the areas of the curriculum that pupils are struggling with at the moment. You told us that there are now more phonics sessions each week and teachers plan daily number skills revision sessions.  To encourage pupils to read more often, you have purchased some new reading books. All pupils read to a member of staff at least once a week. Pupils who need more support read to an adult every day.  You told us that you ask teachers to upload learning resources to the class area on the school network every Monday morning. This is so that any pupil who needs to isolate can access learning from home. You expect these materials to be as closely matched as possible to the lessons happening in school.

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

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