Trinity Catholic High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders hold high expectations of pupils.

The school's motto, 'In Christ we flourish', underpins leaders' work to support pupils to succeed in all aspects of school life and beyond. Pupils follow an ambitious curriculum, including in the sixth form. They achieve well and, as a result, produce work of high quality across the subjects studied.

Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, employment or training.

Leaders organise plentiful opportunities for pupils to take part in new experiences. These include visits abroad, outdoor residential trips and a wide range of clubs and societies.

Leaders ensure that the school is calm and or...derly. Pupils behave well and support and respect each other. They work hard in lessons and they have positive attitudes towards their education.

Attendance is high. Pupils are kept safe, and bullying is rare. When incidents do occur, leaders tackle these quickly.

Sixth-form students take on roles as 'guardian angels'. Through this, students aim to help younger pupils get the most out of school. For example, students take the lead in organising activities such as the illustration club.

There are opportunities for pupils of all ages to develop their leadership skills through the school council, as curriculum ambassadors and through the prefect system.

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

Pupils follow a broad and ambitious curriculum. Leaders are successfully focusing on increasing the number of pupils studying the English Baccalaureate at GCSE.

Leaders review the curriculum regularly. They are clear about the knowledge and skills that pupils need to develop at each stage of their learning. This learning is effectively sequenced, so that pupils embed their understanding before tackling more complex ideas.

In art, for example, younger pupils learn about colour theory and perspective drawing. They build on this when they learn about the cultural history of comics and then design their own comic-book cover. Similarly, in history, pupils learn about how different monarchs have used political power.

This helps them to deepen their understanding of how governments and leaders have made use of propaganda during the periods of history studied.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge and expertise. This enables them to explain complex information clearly to pupils.

Teachers frequently revisit previous learning to ensure that pupils remember the curriculum over time. Typically, teachers ask questions and design activities to check pupils' understanding. However, in some instances, pupils' misconceptions are not identified or addressed and so persist over time.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those at an early stage of reading are well supported. Leaders identify pupils quickly and share this information with teachers. This means that pupils benefit from appropriate support in the classroom and through additional specialist provision, such as specific phonics teaching.

Leaders have established clear routines and expectations for learning. As a result, lessons are calm, and disruption is rare. Pupils take responsibility for their work and pride in their learning.

Leaders have developed a coherent and well-sequenced curriculum for pupils' personal, social, health and economic education. Pupils learn about a range of important topics, such as healthy relationships, financial literacy and mental well-being. There are regular assemblies that mark important events, such as Black History Month and Holocaust Memorial Day.

Pupils across the school receive a comprehensive careers programme. This includes masterclasses from external speakers and access to independent careers advice and guidance.

Leaders have organised many opportunities to support pupils' wider learning.

These have included outings to Tate Britain and Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve, as well as overseas to Berlin, Rome and the USA. During the school day, pupils also take part in a wide range of activities designed to help them take their learning further, such as through the medical, literary and historical societies. Extracurricular clubs in gymnastics, indoor small-side football, film and miniature wargames provide additional opportunities for pupils to explore their talents and interests.

Staff are proud to work at this school. Leaders are implementing plans to support staff workload and well-being further, for example through setting up a well-being committee. The governing body is highly skilled.

This enables it to hold leaders to account for their work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils' safety is a priority for all staff.

The members of the safeguarding team work closely together across both school sites. This means that they know pupils well and can respond quickly to any concerns that may arise.

All staff are given regular training, including on how to recognise potential signs of abuse and to help them understand any local risks.

There are clear processes in place for staff to report concerns. Leaders work well with local agencies and external partners to ensure that pupils get the help that they need quickly.

The curriculum has been designed to help pupils understand how to stay safe, including when online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasion, teaching does not check carefully what pupils have learned. In these instances, misconceptions or gaps in knowledge are not routinely identified and addressed. Leaders should ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding, so that pupils are well supported to develop and secure their understanding fully across the curriculum.