Setting

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

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Mandy Hall West Park Primary School Coniscliffe Road Hartlepool Cleveland TS26 0BU

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Ofsted visit to West Park Primary School

Following my visit with Malcom Kirtley, 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 West Park 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.

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Ofsted visit to West Park 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 visit to West Park Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and to members of your 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 to all pupils on 3 September 2020. Pupils are expected to attend full time.  Pupils’ attendance so far this term is above that seen normally for the time of year.  All pupils are studying the full range of subjects that make up your usual curriculum. Teachers have checked what curriculum content pupils know and remember. You explained how teachers are using this information to plan for pupils’ learning this term.  Teachers’ assessments of pupils’ starting points have identified areas which require more emphasis. For example, in Years 1 and 2 teachers are focusing on phonics, personal development and outdoor learning.  In mathematics, your checks showed gaps in pupils’ knowledge of some aspects of shape and space, so teachers are covering this work again.  Leaders have set up online learning so that they can deliver education remotely, should they need to do so as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

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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 governing body and the chief executive officer of the Ad Astra multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Hartlepool. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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