Setting

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

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Oliver Winstone Headteacher Hillsgrove Primary School Sidmouth Road Welling Kent DA16 1DR

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Ofsted remote visit to Hillsgrove Primary School

Following my remote visit with Janet Hallett, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 10 November 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 remote visit to Hillsgrove 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. Following changes to government guidance and the imposition of COVID-19 (coronavirus) lockdown restrictions, we made this visit remotely to reduce pressure on the school.

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Ofsted remote visit to Hillsgrove 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 remote visit to Hillsgrove Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the executive headteacher and the leadership team. We did not speak to pupils.

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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 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:

 No pupils have had to work at home since the start of term.  All pupils are studying the usual range of subjects. Pupils are not playing musical instruments currently. Leaders plan to cover all aspects of the music curriculum later in the school year.  Staff checked pupils’ new starting points in reading, writing and mathematics, when they returned to school. From these checks, leaders identified key aspects of learning where pupils have fallen behind.  You found that some pupils are behind in terms of understanding new vocabulary. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 have fallen behind in their phonics knowledge development. Pupils’ skills in structuring written sentences have also suffered because of lost learning time.  In mathematics, checks have shown that pupils have fallen behind in their calculation skills and in their knowledge of multiplication tables.  You have prioritised whole-class teaching time to address these areas in

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

English and mathematics, and have also provided catch-up sessions for selected pupils.  You have reordered the content within some subjects. For example, in science, you plan to teach practical content later in the term. Teachers are currently focused on teaching aspects of scientific knowledge that were not taught in the spring and summer terms.  There has been no need to provide remote education this term because all pupils have been in school. However, you have plans in place to provide your usual curriculum remotely, should it become necessary.

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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 board of trustees, the chief executive officer of the Amadeus Primary Academies Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bexley. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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