Setting

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

p.1

Jonathan Lumb Principal Haughton Academy Salters Lane South Darlington County Durham DL1 2AN

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Haughton Academy

Following my remote visit with Suzanne Dunn, 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Haughton 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Haughton 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.

p.1

Ofsted remote visit to Haughton Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you, the senior leadership team and senior leaders responsible for safeguarding. We did not speak to pupils.

p.1

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.

p.1

Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 At the time of our visit, the ‘bubble’ of Year 11 pupils were self-isolating. This was their second period of self-isolation. Since returning in September, you told us that all year group bubbles, except Year 8, have experienced a period of self-isolation. Approximately two thirds of pupils have had to work from home at some point this term.  Pupils are studying the full range of curriculum subjects. You told us that adjustments have been made to the content and order of units of work. In history, for example, teachers have planned a unit of work to develop pupils’ historical enquiry skills. In physical education (PE), teachers are combining the units of work that were missed in the summer term with content from the autumn term.  In Year 7 to Year 9, you have checked pupils’ starting points using tests in class. You explained that staff have met with the primary school teachers of pupils in Year 7 to find out what they still need to learn. You told us that

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

teachers have used the information from tests and discussions to plan work for these pupils. You reported that this is now complete, and pupils in Years 7 to 9 have now returned to their usual curriculum.  Pupils in Years 10 and 11 continue to study their chosen GSCE subjects. You told us that your assessments of pupils’ reading in Year 10 have led you to spend extra time teaching the skills of reading retrieval. You said that teachers of pupils in Year 11 are using past test papers to identify where pupils have gaps in their subject knowledge.  You have systems in place to deliver the curriculum remotely. Where bubbles are self-isolating, you told us that you deliver ‘live’, online lessons. Where self- isolation affects smaller numbers of pupils, you make lessons available online along with tasks for pupils to complete. You told us that you expect pupils to follow their school timetable when they are working from home.

p.2

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 You told us that you have aligned your remote education with the curriculum pupils experience in school. However, in subjects such as PE or design technology, you said that this is not always possible. You explained that in subjects like these, the work you set would be more theoretical or design focused.

p.3

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.

p.3

From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the chair of the board of trustees, and the chief executive officer of the Education Village multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Darlington local authority. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3