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

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Amanda Smith Headteacher Poole Grammar School Gravel Hill Poole Dorset BA17 9JU

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Ofsted remote visit to Poole Grammar School

Following my remote visit with Kathy Maddocks Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 26 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 Poole Grammar 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 Poole Grammar 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 Poole Grammar School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team, including the deputy designated safeguarding lead, the human resources manager, the curriculum leaders for English, history and physical education, the deputy curriculum leader for mathematics, the heads of Years 11 and 13, an associate member of the senior leadership team and curriculum leader for modern foreign languages and the chair of governors. 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 term, approximately 3 out of every 20 pupils have had to work from home for short periods.  Most pupils are studying their usual range of subjects.  You are in the process of assessing pupils’ new starting points. There have been no changes to the curriculum content for pupils in English and mathematics.  Since September 2020, Year 7 pupils have a new curriculum in history. In physical education (PE), the focus has been on athletics in Year 7 and cricket in Year 8 as these sports could not take place in the summer term.  A few pupils in Year 11 are no longer studying a modern foreign language. At the start of Year 10 and 11, pupils revisited quadratic equations in mathematics. In PE, leaders are focusing on fitness levels.  Students who are studying English and history in Year 13 are focusing on coursework, alongside the skills of answering examination questions.  Remote learning is a multi-media approach in every subject. You say it is

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

aligned to the school’s current curriculum. Pupils access work from a digital platform. They view live and recorded lessons, as well as power-points with teacher commentary.

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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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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