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

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Heather Duggan Headteacher Fazakerley High School Sherwoods Lane Fazakerley Liverpool Merseyside L10 1LB

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Ofsted visit to Fazakerley High School

Following my visit with Linda Emmett, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 13 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 Fazakerley High 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 Fazakerley High 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 Fazakerley High School

During the visit, we spoke to you and members of your senior leadership team. This included 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:

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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:

 Pupils in Years 7 and 11 returned to school on 3 September 2020. Pupils in Years 8, 9 and 10 began on 4 September 2020. All pupils are expected to attend full time.  Pupils’ attendance is below the school’s usual rate of attendance for this time of year. You continue to work closely with families to reduce their anxieties about COVID-19. Currently, there are two class ‘bubbles’ isolating in Year 9.  Across all year groups, pupils study the full range of curriculum subjects. They have access to most specialist facilities. In science, pupils carry out practical experiments. In music and drama, pupils perform. However, pupils are unable to cook in food technology at the moment. You aim to restore cooking to the curriculum after the October 2020 half term.  All pupils have health and well-being lessons. The content of these lessons has been adapted to reflect the issues that pupils have experienced due to

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

COVID-19.  In Years 7, 8 and 9, you have introduced reading lessons to support pupils’ literacy development. In Year 7, you are covering some of the Year 6 curriculum that pupils have missed.  In Years 10 and 11, pupils continue to study all of their GCSE subjects. In some subjects, such as geography and English, teachers have changed the order of what is taught to help pupils to catch up with any missed learning.  You explained that, in Years 7 to 10, teachers use everyday lessons to find out what pupils know and can do. Pupils in Year 11 have taken formal tests. Teachers are adapting their lessons to pupils’ new starting points.  You are currently delivering ‘live’ lessons online to pupils who are isolating. You explained that you have systems in place to ensure that pupils complete the work set. You told us that you monitor the quality of remote learning.

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

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