Setting

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

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Kathie Hughes Headteacher Richmond Hill School Sunridge Avenue Luton Bedfordshire LU2 7JL

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Ofsted visit to Richmond Hill School

Following my visit with Katherine Douglas, 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 Richmond Hill 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 Richmond Hill 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 Richmond Hill School

During the visit, we spoke to you, and your senior leadership team, senior leaders responsible for safeguarding arrangements and curriculum leaders. 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 2 September 2020. All pupils are attending full time.  Pupils’ attendance is slightly lower than it was at the same time last year. One teaching ‘bubble’ was isolating at the time of the visit.  Pupils are studying the school’s usual subjects. All pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and some of the early skills that help children to learn successfully need to be retaught. Pupils are revisiting routines, communication, language and listening skills, as part of your ‘learning to learn’ curriculum. Teaching staff continue to prioritise activities to support pupils’ well-being and emotional needs.  You have checked where pupils are in their phonics learning and put in place catch-up programmes for pupils who need them. You have thought about the choice of reading books that can help pupils understand and relate to events that affect them.  For all pupils, number skills are taught and revisited across all subjects. You

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

are continuing with catch-up programmes to revisit previous learning in mathematics for pupils who need them.  You have worked with parents and teaching staff to check where pupils are in their learning. Currently some curriculum activities, such as educational visits, are not taking place, and pupils are not able to attend swimming or soft play. You have adjusted the curriculum to compensate for this. For example, teachers are delivering more physical education lessons.  You are continuing to deliver remote learning to all pupils who are not in school. This includes the use of digital resources, created by teachers, and prompts for parents to support learning at home. Parents have also received help from staff and other professional agencies to support their children with behaviour and 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 Luton. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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