Setting

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

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Colette Roberts Principal Bay Leadership Academy Osborne Road Morecambe Lancashire LA3 1AB

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Ofsted remote visit to Bay Leadership Academy

Following my remote visit with Michael Pennington, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 11 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 Bay Leadership 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. 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 Bay Leadership 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 remote visit to Bay Leadership Academy

During the visit, we spoke with you and your associate principal. We also spoke with your assistant principal who is the senior leader responsible for safeguarding. 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 the start of the autumn term 2020, almost one third of pupils and students have had to work from home.  Across all year groups, pupils and students are following the full range of subjects in their usual curriculum.  You described how teachers use regular assessments to check what pupils and students have remembered from the learning they have done since March 2020. Teachers are adjusting their planning to take account of pupils’ and students’ new starting points.  You told us that teachers have made minor changes to the curriculum content in Years 7 and 8. For example, you have changed some of the practical work in subjects such as music and performing arts. You intend that pupils will cover any lost learning by the summer term 2021.  Pupils in Years 9, 10 and 11 now have extra lessons each day in English, mathematics and science. You explained that this is to give pupils time to revisit subject content that they may need further help with.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 You told us that, where possible, you are providing opportunities for students in Years 12 and 13 to engage with external speakers virtually. This is to support students with their learning in vocational subjects.  You said that some pupils have fallen behind in their vocabulary and spoken language skills. You attribute this to pupils having less interaction with their teachers because of the COVID-19 restrictions. You have made additional staff available to work with small groups of pupils in Years 7 to 9 to develop their literacy.  You have adopted a range of approaches to remote education. If pupils and students are self-isolating, you expect them to join in with most of their usual lessons online. However, where ‘live’ delivery is not possible, for example in physical education, pupils and students access their learning through other online methods.

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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 Star multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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