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

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Alex Gingell Headteacher Headley Park Primary School Headley Lane Headley Park Bristol BS13 7QB

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Ofsted visit to Headley Park Primary School

Following my visit with Elizabeth Farr, 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 Headley Park 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 Headley Park 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 Headley Park Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and the assistant headteacher. 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 fully to all pupils on 3 September 2020. Children in the Reception classes completed the school’s usual transition arrangements for starting school, attending full days from 11 September 2020.  Pupils’ attendance since opening in September 2020 is above that normally seen at this time of year.  Alongside reading, writing and mathematics, pupils are learning other subjects through the usual topics. Staff are teaching extra daily sessions, particularly in phonics and reading. By the summer term 2021, leaders expect that pupils will be back to their normal curriculum and timetable.  On return to school, teachers checked pupils’ understanding in reading, writing and mathematics. They found that some pupils in Years 2 and 3 need help to remember some of their phonics learning. The checks also showed that some pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 have forgotten strategies that help them to understand what they read.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 For other subjects, such as science and history, leaders are currently identifying the important content for each subject that pupils have missed. You told us that these key learning points will be prioritised for the rest of the academic year so that pupils are able to catch up.  You already provide remote learning for any pupils who are not able to access learning in school due to COVID-19. You are using your established systems to provide learning at home. You intend to include some live videoconferencing in the future. 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 chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the Cathedral Schools multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bristol. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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