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

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Michelle Ryan Executive Headteacher Endsleigh Holy Child VC Academy Inglemire Avenue Hull HU6 7TE

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Ofsted visit to Endsleigh Holy Child VC Academy

Following my visit with Zoe Lightfoot, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 22 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 Endsleigh Holy Child VC Academy

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 Endsleigh Holy Child VC Academy

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 Endsleigh Holy Child VC Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you and the senior leadership team, including the leader 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. 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:

 You opened the school to all pupils on 9 September 2020. Pupils from Reception to Year 6 are expected to attend full time.  Since the beginning of the new term, pupils’ attendance has remained similar to the same time last year.  You told us that pupils’ learning was adversely affected by the time they missed during the spring and summer terms 2020 when the school was not open to all pupils.  At the beginning of this school year, you asked teachers to focus on teaching basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. This was because of the gaps they identified in pupils’ knowledge and understanding as a result of the school’s partial closure during the spring and summer terms 2020. You explained that teachers have also prioritised pupils’ personal, social and health education, with an additional focus on developing pupils’ resilience in completing tasks. You now intend that teachers will follow the school’s usual

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

curriculum.  Teachers have checked pupils’ phonics knowledge. They identified that gaps exist for most pupils in what they can remember from the period prior to the school’s partial closure. Teachers are providing extra support for pupils in Reception to Year 3 in order to rectify this.  In mathematics, teachers identified that pupils could not recall important aspects of calculations or times-table facts. Accordingly, teachers have adapted lessons and focused on consolidating these basic skills.  You asked teachers to adapt timetables to allow greater focus on subjects such as science, art and religious education. Early in the term, pupils studied these subjects in week-long blocks, which you hoped would enable them to catch up on what they had missed when the school was partially closed.  You are prepared to deliver the school’s curriculum remotely. If required, teachers will provide pupils with a choice of online or paper-based resources.

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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 directors, and the chief executive officer of St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Academy Trust, the director of education for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hull. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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