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

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Leila Naldrett Head of School Gatehouse Primary Academy Secmaton Lane Dawlish Devon EX7 0LW

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Ofsted visit to Gatehouse Primary Academy

Following my visit with Sarah McGinnis, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 20 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 Gatehouse 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 Gatehouse 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 Gatehouse Primary Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you, the family link worker, a unit leader and the director of school improvement from the trust. 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:

 The school opened to all pupils on 7 September 2020. Children in the early years had a staggered start for the first three weeks.  Pupils’ attendance is the same as at this time last year. At the time of the visit, no ‘bubbles’ had been in isolation.  Pupils are already studying your full curriculum. You share the trust’s ambition for all pupils to have caught up with their learning by the end of the summer term 2021.  You checked pupils’ starting points when they returned in September. You have found that some pupils in key stage 2 have fallen behind in their reading, writing and mathematical skills. You have assessed which pupils need extra support in class, groups or directly with their teachers.  You have prioritised reading. All pupils are practising their reading skills for an extra 15 minutes a day. Teachers will work directly with those pupils furthest behind in their reading.  You have assessed pupils’ mathematical understanding. You plan to address

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

gaps in pupils’ knowledge, when they come up next, in your curriculum planning. Currently, you are prioritising pupils’ understanding of number and place value.  You have reordered your wider curriculum. This is to ensure that the curriculum is not narrowed. For example, you have moved swimming from this term to the summer term.  You have an established platform for delivering remote learning. You are continuing to use this when pupils self-isolate. You are working on being able to deliver live lessons online in the future.

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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 First Federation Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Devon County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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