Setting

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

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Andrew Wakefield Principal The Edge Academy 946 Bristol Street South Northfield Birmingham B31 2LQ

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Ofsted visit to The Edge Academy

Following my visit with Alun Williams, 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 The Edge 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 The Edge 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 The Edge Academy

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

 The school opened fully to pupils on 3 September 2020. All pupils are expected to attend full time.  Attendance is a little lower than is usual for this time of year. You are supporting a few families, to encourage regular attendance.  All pupils are studying their usual range of subjects apart from Year 11 pupils, who are spending more time working on literacy and employability skills.  Subject leaders have reordered the content of the curriculum in some subjects. They have done this to focus on what they think is most important for pupils to learn. For example, teachers have prioritised a unit of work on online safety by teaching it earlier in the year than usual.  In all year groups, teachers have carried out baseline testing in English, mathematics and science to find out what pupils know and can do. They have used ongoing assessments in other subjects. Teachers have used this information to start to address the gaps in pupils’ knowledge through teaching

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

and additional support.  You have plans in place to deliver remote learning in the event that a ‘bubble’ has to be sent home. This includes a combination of packs of work and online videos and materials that pupils can access remotely using electronic devices. You are developing a system to enable pupils to receive feedback remotely.

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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. I am copying this letter to the chair of 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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