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

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Jane Chan Headteacher Bartley Green School Adams Hill Birmingham West Midlands B32 3QJ

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Ofsted visit to Bartley Green School

Following my visit with Jo Evans, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 3 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 visit to Bartley Green 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 Bartley Green 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 Bartley Green School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team, the senior leader responsible for safeguarding and other staff. 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 2 September 2020. A small number of pupils are not attending full time.  Pupils’ attendance is below the usual attendance for this time of year. You are working closely with some families to support regular attendance. At the time of the visit, three year-group ‘bubbles’ in Year 7, Year 10 and Year 11 were isolating at home.  In Years 7, 10 and 11, pupils are studying all of their usual subjects when they are in school. Pupils in Year 8 and Year 9 are currently not studying computing because of the protective measures you have put in place. You told us that as a result of these protective measures, pupils do not have access to specialist computer rooms. You are planning to return to the school’s full curriculum before summer 2021.  You told us that teachers are making checks in lessons to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Teachers are using the information from these checks to

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

help pupils in lessons.  You have developed a way for pupils to access learning when they are at home. As part of your approach, teachers share pre-recorded videos and resources from their lessons on an online platform. Pupils who are currently isolating are using this system. You told us that you also provide printed packs of work for pupils who are unable to access work online. 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 board of trustees, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Birmingham. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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