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

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Ross Peacock Headteacher Moresby Primary School School Brow Moresby Parks Whitehaven Cumbria CA28 8UX

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Ofsted visit to Moresby Primary School

Following my visit with John Donald, 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 Moresby 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 Moresby 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 Moresby Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team and those 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:

 The school opened to all pupils on 3 September 2020. Except for children in the Nursery, all pupils are expected to attend full time.  Pupils’ current rate of attendance is higher than it was at the same time last year.  You prioritised personal, social and health education to help pupils settle back into school. Pupils are learning their usual curriculum. However, teachers have changed the order in which the content of some subjects is delivered.  You continue to carry out checks to identify where pupils are up to in their reading. Younger pupils, who have fallen behind with their knowledge of phonics and early reading, receive extra help to catch up. Staff are helping pupils in Years 3 to 6 to increase their stamina and fluency with reading.  In mathematics, teachers have established pupils’ new starting points. These checks have shown that pupils need to practise place value and number calculations. Pupils

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

are also rebuilding their confidence in mental arithmetic.  In all other subjects, teachers have identified the important learning that pupils have missed or forgotten. Teachers are adapting their curriculum plans to revisit this content.  Should it be needed, you have plans in place to deliver the curriculum remotely. You told us that this will be through a combination of online and paper-based resources. You explained how you are helping pupils and their parents to access online learning safely. 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 Cumbria. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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