Setting

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

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Cameron Sheeran Executive Headteacher Haydock High School Clipsley Lane Haydock St Helens WA11 0JG

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Ofsted remote visit to Haydock High School

Following my remote visit with Linda Emmett, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 17 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 Haydock High 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 Haydock High 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 Haydock High School

During the visit, we spoke to you and other members of the senior leadership team, including 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:

 On the day of this visit, Year 10 pupils were not in school because of staff absence related to COVID-19. Roughly half of all pupils have had to work from home at least once since the start of this term. All pupils in Year 7 had to stay away from school for one day, and all pupils in Year 10 had to stay away from school for two days. Smaller groups of pupils in Years 7, 9 and 11 have also had to work from home.  Pupils in all year groups are studying their usual range of subjects. Some subjects are restricted because specialist teaching rooms are not available to all pupils. This is to ensure that year group ‘bubbles’ remain separated. You are aiming for pupils to fully return to their usual curriculum by summer term 2021.  Teachers have used formal tests to check how well pupils have remembered the things they learned before the start of this term. These tests have shown that, in general, pupils know less than expected. Teachers have adjusted their

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

curriculum plans to cover work that pupils need to catch up on.  You have asked teachers to focus on pupils’ literacy. For example, you have checked pupils’ reading ages and are providing extra teaching of spelling and comprehension for pupils in Year 7.  All pupils in Years 10 and 11 are following the examination courses they have chosen. You are providing extra lessons for these pupils after the end of the normal school day.  You are providing remote education with online and paper-based activities to make it easier for all pupils to take part. The curriculum for this is matched to the curriculum provided in class. You explained that you have had to spend time on extra administration so that additional laptop computers can be made available to pupils.

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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, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for St Helens. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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