Holy Trinity Church of England First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Holy Trinity Church of England First School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's vision of creating 'inquisitive thinkers, challenge seekers and kind hearts' is embedded throughout the school community.

Leaders and governors ensure that it is at the heart of the education they carefully plan for pupils. Pupils know that the delivery of school's vision helps them to be the best they can be. The aims and ambitions throughout the school are inclusive to all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

This inclusive approach starts with children in early years.

Pupils are proud to att...end this welcoming school. Pupils' behaviour and attitudes to learning are positive.

They enjoy their lessons and are eager to learn more. Pupils understand the differences between each other. Pupils are clear about how adults help them do well.

The warm and caring relationships staff have for pupils help pupils feel safe. Pupils are happy here. They take pride in their work.

Leadership responsibilities for pupils help them become active citizens, contributing to the whole life of the school. Pupils across school benefit from these opportunities. For example, pupils enjoy being part of the 'digital leaders' team and the school council.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school ensures that children start school positively. Children in early years benefit from a curriculum that is designed to give them the skills and knowledge to be successful as they move up through the school. Recent training for staff has strengthened the teaching of phonics.

Leaders make sure pupils who need daily phonics input receive consistent teaching in line with the school's chosen phonics scheme. Children in early years make a prompt start to their phonics learning. They are focused and eager to use their sounds in lessons with confidence.

Older pupils enjoy reading a range of books. They talk about their favourite books and authors well. Some pupils do not have books that are well matched to their phonic knowledge.

This leads to some pupils having to sound out words too often and limits their fluency when reading.

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including pupils with SEND. In classrooms, staff make use of a range of resources to meet the needs of all pupils.

In mathematics, for example, carefully chosen resources help all pupils to succeed. Pupils with SEND have focused targets, carefully matched to their areas of need. The school ensures advice from professionals for pupils with SEND is put into practice in the classroom.

Where necessary, staff receive training to support pupils with SEND effectively.

Leaders have developed a curriculum that matches the intentions of the school's vision. The school ensures that this starts in the early years.

Leaders have identified the knowledge and skills needed in the nursery year and in the reception year so that pupils do well. A clear structure to the mathematics curriculum helps pupils build their numerical understanding. Pupils articulate well how their mathematics learning is getting more challenging.

For example, pupils in Year 3 know that they are working with larger numbers this year and using written methods of calculation with more confidence.

Pupils are clear about how staff support them to achieve. Leaders support staff to deliver the curriculum using small steps, so that pupils make progress.

The school applies the same 'small step' approach to the wider curriculum, such as in computing. Elsewhere, pupils enjoy art lessons. There are a wide range of opportunities for pupils to engage with local artists and their artwork.

However, the curriculum in art and design is less developed than in some subjects. The small steps identified for pupils to be successful are not as clear and are less well sequenced.

The school uses wider opportunities to enhance the curriculum.

School visits add to the curriculum offer. Pupils develop an understanding of how food goes from the farm to their table. They learn to appreciate art through exhibitions at the local art gallery.

The school is passionate about developing pupils' leadership skills. Pupils take part in public speaking through collective worship and whole school events. Leadership awards help pupils in both key stage 1 and key stage 2 to raise money for charities of pupils' choice.

The 'mini police' work within the local community allows pupils to represent the school at community events. Pupils are clear they are treated equally at school. Pupils talk about how everyone is welcome in school.

Governors contribute well to the vision for the school. They focus on working with leaders to strengthen the school's offer. They provide challenge to leaders and work with other stakeholders to ensure pupils get a high quality of education.

Staff say leaders are considerate of workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority) ? The books that some pupils at the early stages of reading access are not consistently matched books to the phonics sounds they know.

This means they are not building fluency and automaticity when reading because they have to sound out and blend too many words. The school should ensure that books are well matched to the sounds pupils know and remember, to further support pupils in becoming fluent readers. ? In some areas of the curriculum the sequence of lessons does not fully support the aims and ambitions of the curriculum.

Where this happens, pupils do not benefit from well-ordered lessons that helps to builds up the small steps they need to be successful. The school should ensure that the learning is carefully sequenced and fully aligned to the intent of the curriculum so that pupils develop their knowledge and skills further.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2014.

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