Setting

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

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Helen Acton Principal Hatfield Woodhouse Primary School Main Street Hatfield Woodhouse Doncaster South Yorkshire

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Ofsted remote visit to Hatfield Woodhouse Primary School

Following my remote visit with Zoe Lightfoot, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 3 December 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 Hatfield Woodhouse Primary 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 Hatfield Woodhouse Primary 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 Hatfield Woodhouse Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you and members of the 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:

 The school has not had to send any class ‘bubbles’ home due to COVID-19 restrictions since the start of term. At the time of the visit, a small number of pupils were self-isolating. Around a third of pupils have had to self-isolate and learn from home for a period of time since the start of term.  Pupils are studying the full range of subjects that make up the school’s usual curriculum. You told us that you have made some temporary changes to the curriculum. For example, all pupils took part in a six-week ‘catch-up’ programme at the start of term, when they covered content that had been missed from the summer term in reading, writing and mathematics.  Following the catch-up programme, teachers assessed pupils’ new starting points in reading. You explained that pupils in Years 3 to 6 were less confident in making inferences from their reading than they previously were. Teachers are now spending more time teaching this aspect of reading to help

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

pupils to catch up.  In mathematics, teachers’ checks have shown that some pupils in Years 3 and 4 have not remembered their times tables. You explained that teachers in these year groups are spending more time teaching times tables as a result. Some pupils who need help to catch up are receiving extra mathematics teaching.  Teachers have considered the content that was missed from the summer term in subjects like art and science and are teaching this before moving on to the content that would normally be taught this term.  Pupils who are self-isolating are given access to education remotely. You told us that the content of remote education is very similar to the curriculum being taught in school. You explained that teachers have ongoing training to support them in delivering education remotely.

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

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