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

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Matthew White Executive headteacher St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Alderfield Drive Speke Liverpool Merseyside L24 7SF

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Ofsted visit to St Ambrose Catholic Primary School

Following my visit with Claire Cropper, 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 St Ambrose Catholic 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 St Ambrose Catholic 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 St Ambrose Catholic Primary School

During the visit, we spoke with you, the deputy headteacher and the designated leader 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:

 The school opened fully to all pupils on 2 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance is better than the normal attendance for this time of the year.  The curriculum was adapted at the start of term to provide pupils with additional support for their personal and social development and their emotional well-being. This was to ensure they were ready to learn.  Pupils are studying all subjects from the primary curriculum. Teachers are amending some planned work. For example, swimming lessons are suspended temporarily while the local swimming pools are closed. You are planning for a return to the usual school curriculum by summer 2021.  Due to pupils’ loss of learning during the period of local restrictions, you have set reading and the teaching of phonics as key priorities for all pupils this year. Teachers identify which pupils need greater help with their phonics by checking pupils’ knowledge. Staff give all pupils regular practice to read a

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

range of books.  In mathematics, teachers are teaching the current units of work and giving individual pupils extra support to make up for lost ground in their learning.  In some subjects, such as history, teachers have identified which units of study can be combined, as well as which can be set as homework or studied later this school year. In physical education teachers have revisited previous units of study to help pupils recap on previous learning.  You plan to provide learning in each subject for all pupils at home if it is needed due to local restrictions. You have provided pupils with paper, pens and pencils to store at home, in anticipation of this way of 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 director of education for the diocese of Liverpool, 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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