Setting

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

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Mrs Debbie Cousins Headteacher Hob Moor Community Primary Academy Green Lane Acomb York North Yorkshire YO24 4PS

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Ofsted visit to Hob Moor Community Primary Academy

Following my visit with Timothy Jenner, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 01 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 Hob Moor Community Primary Academy

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 Hob Moor Community Primary Academy

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 Hob Moor Community Primary Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you and the senior leadership team, including the designated safeguarding leader. We also spoke to the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust and your recently appointed well-being co-ordinators. 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, 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 8 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance is higher than at the same time last year.  Pupils are learning most of the subjects they were prior to the period when schools were only open to some pupils due to COVID-19 restrictions. Leaders have made some changes to the curriculum in music to allow pupils more time to investigate and consider issues relating to their health and well-being.  Following teachers’ assessment, pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 and children in Reception are participating in additional phonics activities each day. This is to help pupils improve some early reading skills that are not as strong as others. Teachers are focusing on improving pupils’ reading skills in all subjects because of the significant amount of learning pupils have missed due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Teachers have assessed pupils’ knowledge and understanding in mathematics. Consequently, teachers are focusing on the teaching of numbers from 11 to 20

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

in Year 1. In Years 3 to 6, teachers intend to reinforce pupils’ understanding of fractions as this content was covered remotely during the period when schools were only open to some pupils due to COVID-19 restrictions.  Teachers are reviewing curriculum plans in subjects such as history and geography to check for any content that may have been missed or misunderstood between March and September 2020. Leaders say that they will adapt future curriculum plans if they identify any gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding.  Pupils who are unable to attend lessons in school are given work that matches the curriculum taught in school. Leaders have created additional time for staff to plan this work. In the event of any additional COVID-19 restrictions, leaders intend to use the same remote learning processes that are currently in place. These include a mixture of video content, live lessons and printed materials.

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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, the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for York. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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