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

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Liz Garman Headteacher The Grange School Redvers Road Christchurch Dorset BH23 3AU

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Ofsted visit to The Grange School

Following my visit with Heather Barraclough, 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 The Grange 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 The Grange 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 The Grange School

During the visit, we spoke to the senior leadership team. 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. There are no pupils on part-time timetables.  Attendance is below the normal attendance for this time of year. The school social worker is working with families of pupils who are not attending. There were no ‘bubbles’ isolating at the time of the visit.  You are offering the usual range of subjects. Drama and science in Years 7 to 9 are not taking place in specialist rooms. There will be some use of science laboratories for Years 7 to 9 in the latter part of this term.  You told us that you have identified pupils’ new starting points. Your assessment has highlighted literacy as a focus. Examples of interventions in Year 7 include pupils revisiting how to write a range of sentences and in Years 10 and 11 how to structure paragraphs in extended writing.  You have adjusted the curriculum for pupils in all year groups for all subjects. The focus for Years 8 and 9 is to prepare them for study in Years 10 and 11.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

Year 11 courses have been adjusted to meet the changes in GCSE criteria.  You have extended the day by one hour for Year 11 pupils. They are continuing with their normal option choices.  The plan for future remote learning is complete in every subject for the autumn term. You say that it is aligned to the school’s current curriculum.

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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. I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the Twynham Learning multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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