Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Sunningdale

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School, Sunningdale

Following my visit to the school on 19 June 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2014.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your focused and determined leadership has ensured that pupils continue to achieve to a high level across all age groups.

You and your deputy form an effective team, ably supported by senior leaders. Parents, staff, gover...nors and the local authority are highly appreciative of your leadership. In particular, they recognise the focus you place on supporting and nurturing pupils' emotional development, alongside inspiring their academic success.

You have acted promptly to address the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. At that time, leaders were asked to improve the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils further by ensuring that teaching across all key stages, but particularly in the early years, consistently secured rapid progress for all groups over time. Leaders were also asked to ensure that teachers and other staff have the opportunity to learn from the best practice that exists in the school and in local partner schools.

Since you took over the school, pupils' achievement has improved consistently year-on-year, including in the early years. Staff are well supported, and regular opportunities to work with colleagues within and beyond the school have improved their teaching and assessment skills. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school and are proud to be part of the team.

They particularly appreciate the emphasis that leaders place on staff well-being, ensuring that workload is taken into consideration when introducing new initiatives. Staff feel very involved in the development of the school's policies and plans for improvement. They feel trusted to take risks and innovate when teaching.

As a result, they are providing increasingly engaging opportunities for pupils' learning across the curriculum. Nevertheless, you agree that there is scope for further improvements so that pupils can achieve to the same high standards in other subjects as those seen in English and mathematics. Pupils at the school achieve well in English, mathematics and science.

In 2017, the proportion of pupils meeting age-related expectations exceeded that seen nationally in key stages 1 and 2. Additionally, the proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics was similar to or above that seen nationally in both key stages. However, you are aware that progress in writing is not as strong as in mathematics and reading, particularly in key stage 2.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. Pupils are engaged and focused during lessons, demonstrating strong attitudes to learning. They are polite and inquisitive, willing to engage in conversation and eager to find out more.

Pupils' relationships with teachers are positive and supportive, giving pupils the confidence to challenge themselves and do their best. The strong emphasis you place on listening to pupils' views is evident in pupils' animated and excited conversations with staff. Pupils relish the opportunities presented to them to take an active part in school development.

The creation of 'the spiritual garden' is just one example of how you have supported them to take responsibility for improving their school. Governors play an important part in securing the success of the school. They speak knowledgeably about the current priorities and steps taken to address areas for development.

Governors thoroughly explore information about pupils' progress. They visit the school frequently to check and assure themselves that leaders, when necessary, are taking decisive and appropriate action. Governors regularly access training on their areas of responsibility to ensure that they are fully equipped to provide a good balance of challenge and support to you and your leadership team.

Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They speak highly of the school's work to develop strong, independent learners. One parent noted: 'My child comes home enthusiastic to tell me about the topic that they are learning at school and wants to find out more.'

Another described how their child is 'totally ready and equipped mentally and emotionally' to move on to secondary school. Safeguarding is effective. You have developed a strong team of highly trained designated safeguarding leaders.

Safeguarding policies and procedures are regularly updated. Appropriate checks are made on the suitability of staff to work with children. Staff, pupils and parents wholeheartedly agree that the school is a safe place to be and that pupils are well looked after.

One parent noted: 'There is a great community feel to the school. People [the staff] really care and that makes my children feel happy and secure.' Pupils report that there is very little bullying at the school, and they trust adults to help them should a problem occur.

Your strong emphasis on pupils' social and emotional development ensures that pupils are well equipped to recognise risks and know how to keep themselves safe. The school's curriculum is effective in supporting pupils' learning about online safety and cyberbullying. You have developed a strong ethos of care for pupils at the school.

Staff are well trained and vigilant about pupil welfare. They report any concerns swiftly and are confident in seeking external advice where appropriate. Information to support pupils with particular medical needs, such as those with allergies, is highly visible around the school.

You have ensured that staff are well trained to meet individual pupil's medical needs. The thoughtful planning of support, including staff trained in paediatric first aid, enables pupils with medical conditions to be fully included in school life. Governors discuss safeguarding regularly at their meetings, and they ensure that it forms a central theme to their visits to the school.

They undertake regular safeguarding training, including safer recruitment training, to keep themselves up to date. When discussing future plans, governors take into careful consideration the impact of any changes on all members of the school community. You are aware that pupils' persistent absence, although still below that seen nationally, has risen sharply over the past two years.

Your concerted efforts to address this have now halted this rising trend. However, you are determined to improve pupils' attendance further for all groups. Inspection findings ? At the start of the inspection, we agreed to focus on: how well the wider curriculum inspires pupils to learn and make progress across a range of subjects beyond English and mathematics; how effectively teaching in the early years ensures that children make rapid progress over time; the achievement of pupils, particularly middle-attaining and the most able pupils in writing; and the effectiveness of safeguarding.

• Your relentless pursuit to give pupils the best possible education has now focused your attention on the wider curriculum. Pupils' high-quality artwork is displayed prominently in classrooms and corridors, and the increase in clubs and competitions has raised the profile of sport across the school. Pupils in key stage 2 are enthusiastic about the recent introduction of Spanish to the curriculum, with one pupil describing how he had used the language successfully on holiday.

Nevertheless, we agreed that pupils could be challenged further to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills across an even wider range of subjects. ? Pupils benefit from a range of educational visits and experiences. They speak animatedly about their learning.

For example, one pupil excitedly described her visit to Buckingham Palace and said how much she had enjoyed the gardens. Parents also note the increase in community activities in which the school is involved. They appreciate teachers' efforts, for example in taking sports teams to local matches, or taking a group of pupils to sing in the local care home.

• Children get a good start to their education in the early years. Outcomes are strong over time, and recent outcomes information indicates that this is set to improve further. Children in the class are polite and considerate to each other.

They take part enthusiastically in learning, and have developed positive relationships with adults. The teaching is highly reflective, and strong partnerships with local pre-schools ensure that children are well supported to settle quickly into the Reception class. ? You analyse children's needs thoroughly when they join the school and take positive steps to develop their learning.

You have recently focused on improving the outside area of the Reception classroom to provide a wider range of stimulating activities for children to practise their skills. Children's writing, in particular, has improved dramatically as a result. ? You identified a dip in pupils' writing progress over time in key stage 2 and are taking sensible steps to address this.

Leaders are clear on current standards in writing and where gaps still exist. You and your staff scrutinise teaching and learning assiduously to identify where improvements can be made to accelerate pupils' progress further. The school's current information shows that writing progress is improving strongly across the school.

However, you are determined to increase this further, particularly for middle-attaining and most-able pupils, so that they can achieve to the highest standards. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the rise in persistent absence is addressed to ensure that no pupils are disadvantaged by poor attendance ? the school's curriculum is refined to deepen pupils' knowledge, understanding and skills across a wider range of subjects ? pupils' progress in writing is further accelerated so that more pupils achieve to the highest standard in writing, particularly middle-attaining pupils and the most able. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Oxford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Windsor and Maidenhead.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Ali Dakin Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you and your deputy headteacher to discuss your evaluation of the school's effectiveness and your improvement plans. I met with other senior and curriculum leaders and also the school's designated safeguarding leads.

I also held meetings with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body, five other governors and a representative from the local authority. I spoke to pupils informally during lessons and as they moved around the school. You and your deputy headteacher accompanied me on visits to classes.

I observed pupils during lessons and on the playground and spoke to them about their learning. We looked at pupils' books during visits to classrooms and in more depth during a wider curriculum book scrutiny. I reviewed a range of school records and documentation relating to the work of governors, attendance, safeguarding, leaders' monitoring, and information on pupils' progress and attainment.

I reviewed the school's website, newsletters and other information for parents. I considered 78 responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, where all respondents included free-text comments. I reviewed 18 responses to Ofsted's staff survey and 178 responses to Ofsted's pupil survey.

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