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

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Linda Hanson Headteacher Reddish Vale High School Reddish Vale Road Reddish Stockport Cheshire SK5 7HD

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Ofsted remote visit to Reddish Vale High School

Following my remote visit with Alyson Middlemass, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 24 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 Reddish Vale 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 Reddish Vale 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 Reddish Vale High School

During the visit, we spoke to you, other leaders, including those responsible for safeguarding, and the special educational needs coordinator. 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:

 About half of all pupils have had to work from home, at some stage, since the start of the autumn term. The school had to ask half of all pupils in the Year 8 ‘bubble’ to self-isolate.  The school is teaching the usual range of subjects to all pupils. Teachers have adjusted the order of some subject content to allow sensitive topics, such as sex and relationships education, to be taught face to face and to help pupils to catch up on missed learning. You expect to have almost all the usual curriculum back in place by the summer term 2021.  Teachers have checked on what pupils can remember, prior to March 2020, using tests and other assessments in school and online. Teachers have adjusted their teaching to help pupils to fill any gaps in their knowledge.  You told us that pupils in Year 7 overall have lower reading ages and weaker mathematical knowledge than in previous years because their learning in Year

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

6 was disrupted. You are providing additional teaching for pupils who have to catch up the most.  All pupils in Years 10 and 11 are studying their planned examination courses. You have changed the content and assessment of some of these courses in line with the changed requirements of the national awarding bodies. For example, pupils are completing their assessment of physical education skills when they are working on individual sports, such as athletics or badminton, rather than during team games.  You are providing remote education for pupils whenever they are not in school. This is mainly online activities planned to match the curriculum taught in school. However, you also provide paper-based resources for pupils who cannot access the internet at home.

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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 South Manchester Learning Trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Stockport Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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