Setting

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

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Kerrie Clowes Headteacher Harworth Church of England Academy Scrooby Road Harworth South Yorkshire DN11 8JT

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Ofsted visit to Harworth Church of England Academy

Following my visit with Jayne Ashman, 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 visit to Harworth Church of England 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.

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Ofsted visit to Harworth Church of England 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.

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Ofsted visit to Harworth Church of England Academy

During the visit, we spoke to you and the deputy headteacher. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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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 (coronavirus) pandemic. 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:

 A small proportion of pupils have had to learn at home since the start of term.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. Subjects such as art, music and French are now taught during ‘creative’ weeks. There is an increased focus on the teaching of English and mathematics.  Teachers have assessed pupils’ phonics and reading skills. The checks show that pupils have largely maintained these skills. Pupils aim to be ‘RED’, meaning to ‘read every day’.  Teachers have checked pupils’ new starting points in mathematics. Pupils are now receiving extra lessons in number and calculation. There are more reasoning and problem-solving sessions.  The wider curriculum has remained the same. Pupils have studied the usual content. Teachers have used virtual tours of zoos and museums to support pupils’ learning.  The remote learning matches the pupils’ usual curriculum. There is a mixture of online and paper-based learning. Some pupils have received extra help

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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 chief executive officer of the Southwell and Nottingham multi-academy trust, the director of education for the Diocese of Southwell, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Nottinghamshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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