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

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Rachael Oliver Head of School Pamphill Church of England First School Pamphill Green Wimborne Dorset BH21 4EE

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Ofsted remote visit to Pamphill Church of England First School

Following my remote visit with Kathy Maddocks, 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 Pamphill Church of England First 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 Pamphill Church of England First 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 Pamphill Church of England First School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy designated lead responsible for safeguarding and the director of school improvement for the Wimborne multi- academy trust. 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:

 Since September 2020, a small number of pupils have had to work from home as they were self-isolating.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects.  Leaders have assessed pupils’ new starting points in English and mathematics. You are adapting the curriculum to accommodate any gaps in pupils’ knowledge. For example, you have identified that pupils in Years 1 and 2 began the academic year with gaps in their phonic knowledge.  Reading is a priority across the school. You have provided an e-book library to supplement reading books. Pupils in Year 1 are revisiting word and sentence level work in writing.  In mathematics, pupils in Years 1 and 2 are focusing on addition and subtraction. Older pupils, in Years 3 and 4, are learning their times tables.  Personal, social, health and economic education remains a priority. You say this is essential to support pupils’ well-being.  In the Reception Year, the focus is on pupils’ personal, social and emotional

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

development, such as supporting and promoting pupils’ understanding of how to share and play with others.  Remote education is planned in English and mathematics, and you say it is aligned to the school’s curriculum. As well as planning remote learning in the academic subjects, you have included online assemblies. There are further plans to develop remote learning with the support of the multi-academy trust.

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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, and the chief executive officer of the Wimborne multi-academy trust, the director of education for the diocese of Salisbury, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Dorset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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