Holy Trinity Church of England Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Holy Trinity Junior School. There are warm and positive relationships between pupils and staff.

The school's Christian ethos and values are woven through everything they do. Pupils are polite and considerate members of the school community. They have many opportunities to take on responsibilities across the school, including the 'Zone Rangers' who are playtime helpers.

Pupils feel safe. However, some parents and staff who responded to Ofsted surveys do not agree.

Leaders establish high expectations for behaviour and achievement across the school.

Most pupils meet these expectations. There is a small proportion of pupils who...se behaviour is sometimes a concern for other pupils, parents and staff. Leaders act quickly and address this consistently through the application of the behaviour policy.

Bullying is rare. Leaders take effective action to investigate allegations of bullying. Children feel that teachers deal with this well.

Leaders have prioritised the teaching of reading, and this is a strength of the school. However, there are some aspects of the rest of the curriculum that are not well designed or established. The sequence of learning in some curriculum subjects does not identify the crucial knowledge that leaders want pupils to know and remember.

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

Some foundation curriculum subjects are not as well structured or sequenced as others. Leaders sometimes identify too much content to cover in a lesson or across a series of lessons. Sometimes teachers do not emphasise the crucial knowledge needed, and pupils do not remember the most important facts.

This means that pupils' knowledge is not building securely year on year.

Assessment does not sufficiently identify gaps in pupils' knowledge or identify what pupils can already do. Pupils sometimes receive work that is not building on what they already know.

As a result, work can be too easy for these pupils.

Leaders prioritise learning to read and promote a love of reading across the school. Pupils are keen to talk about their favourite books and authors.

Teachers choose high-quality texts for their class novel. Pupils who need extra help to learn phonics get targeted support from skilled adults. The books they read match their phonic knowledge.

This means that they are making swift progress to become more confident readers. As a result, pupils are well equipped to access the rest of the curriculum.

Leaders put appropriate support in place for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Most pupils access an age-appropriate curriculum, with support or adaptations if needed.

Leaders provide pupils with opportunities to take on responsibility. For example, the class ambassadors were very proud to talk about their learning.

Pupils in the 'Pupil Governors' group help staff plan events. For example, they help to organise the school funfair. Pupils understand the school's Christian values and enjoy close links with both the parish church and Ripon Cathedral.

They talk maturely about equality, respect for others and tolerance.

Senior leaders in school, governors and the trust share an ambitious vision for the school. They are beginning to put this vision into action, but it is not fully established.

Governors check how well leaders are developing the quality of education and the effectiveness of financial management. However, the systems to identify and track school improvement priorities are not clearly established for all staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in this school. Where safeguarding risks are identified, leaders take action to ensure prompt and effective support. Leaders carry out pre-employment safeguarding checks on staff to ensure pupils' safety.

Safeguarding training is included in induction for new staff, including governors. Regular professional development for all staff ensures they are kept up to date with developments around safeguarding. This means that people in school know how to keep themselves, and pupils, safe.

Pupils have an appropriate understanding of how to stay safe.

Leaders are aware of local issues around safeguarding. They put support in place via youth mentors to address concerns around pupils who may be vulnerable in the wider community.

They make effective use of safeguarding agencies, including within the local authority.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some aspects of the wider curriculum need redevelopment. Leaders have mapped out too much subject content that pupils need to learn.

As a result, there are inconsistencies in what is being emphasised as important knowledge. Leaders should ensure that pupils are securing the right essential knowledge to build on and learn over time. ? The work that teachers set for pupils does enable pupils to recall and display their depth of knowledge.

This means that teachers cannot identify where there are gaps in learning. Pupils' work can be too easy for some pupils. Leaders should ensure that teachers check that the work which is set for all pupils in all subjects is matched appropriately with what pupils need to know or be able to do next.

• Although trustees, local academy council members and senior leaders have set a clear vision for improvement, this is not fully established with, and followed by, all staff. This is reducing the timeliness and effectiveness of leaders' actions to improve the school's performance. Senior leaders should ensure that all leaders and staff are clear about the current school improvement priorities and their role in taking action and measuring success.

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