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

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Victoria Giliker Headteacher Harpur Hill Primary School Trent Avenue Harpur Hill Buxton Derbyshire SK17 9LP

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Ofsted visit to Harpur Hill Primary School

Following my visit with Katrina Gueli, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 8 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 Harpur Hill 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 Harpur Hill 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 Harpur Hill Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you as headteacher and designated safeguarding lead, the deputy headteacher and the mathematics leader. 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 3 September 2020. Pupils are expected to attend full time.  Attendance is in line with the school’s normal figures for this time of year. Leaders have supported any families who had concerns about the return to school.  All pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. However, not all educational visits originally planned for the autumn term are taking place. In physical education, swimming and contact sports are not being taught. Leaders intend to resume the school’s usual curriculum by summer term 2021.  Staff have carried out assessments in reading, phonics and mathematics to check pupils’ new starting points.  In phonics, pupils who were in Reception and Years 1 and 2 missed most of the summer term’s teaching. Checks also show that some pupils have poor recall of what was taught in the spring term. Staff are repeating this missed content in the daily phonics sessions, including those for pupils now in Year

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

3.  In all year groups, staff have set up class libraries and are encouraging pupils to read more often, both in school and at home.  In mathematics, staff have adapted their teaching to allow for pupils’ new starting points. Their checks show knowledge gaps in basic number and place value in Reception and Years 1 and 2. In Years 3 to 6, the focus is on arithmetic and multiplication tables.  Leaders and staff have identified what was missed in all other subjects. They have adjusted the content of topics for this year to incorporate these missed elements.  Leaders provide parents with a weekly outline of what is being taught in each year group in school. They have linked this to suggested activities for pupils to undertake remotely if needed.

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

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