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

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Kenneth Davies Headteacher Cliddesden Primary School Cliddesden Basingstoke Hampshire RG25 2QU

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Ofsted visit to Cliddesden Primary School

Following my visit with Janet Pearce, 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 Cliddesden 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.

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Ofsted visit to Cliddesden 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 visit to Cliddesden Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the inclusion leader, and subject leaders for English, mathematics, art and computing. 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:

 Since the start of term, a small number of pupils have had to work from home over a few days for reasons related to COVID-19.  Pupils are studying their usual range of subjects. Leaders have adapted physical education to include daily fitness sessions. In music, pupils in Years 1 to 6 are currently not using musical instruments. Leaders are planning to return to the school’s normal curriculum by summer 2021.  Teachers have checked what learning the pupils remember in English and mathematics. They found that younger pupils need to work at an earlier stage in the phonics programme and all pupils need more support to understand what they read. In English lessons, teachers are including daily spelling and handwriting practice to help pupils catch up.  In mathematics, teachers have found pupils need further practice in arithmetic, including place value. They are also helping pupils to understand mathematical vocabulary to solve reasoning questions.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 In other subjects, teachers are mostly focusing on teaching the skills that pupils missed in learning or practising from the summer term. In some subjects, teachers have brought forward content to teach specific knowledge to pupils.  In early years, teachers are giving more time to develop children’s social skills in the curriculum. Staff have also identified that children require further support in being independent and looking after themselves.  For pupils currently studying from home, teachers set activities that revise previous learning. If a class ‘bubble’ is isolating, leaders’ plans are that remote education will match the subjects taught in class. These will include pre- recorded lessons, live discussions and reading a story at the end of the day.

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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 Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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