Trinity Catholic School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, without exception, say that Trinity Catholic School has transformed over the last 12 months. There are high expectations of behaviour which pupils understand and meet. Staff provide pupils with effective help and support when some struggle to meet these.

Pupils really appreciate the calm and positive environment this has created, where they can learn without disruption. Caring and respectful relationships between staff and pupils are valued by all.

The school has made good inroads into redeveloping the curriculum to improve pupils' outcomes.

This has successfully helped pupils to develop more positive attitudes to learning. However, many changes to th...e curriculum are new or still in development. This means that pupils are not achieving as well as they should in some subjects.

The school knows each pupil and their needs in precise detail. This means that all pupils benefit from an individualised personal development offer when needed. Support for vulnerable pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is particularly effective in helping them to understand how to keep themselves safe.

Pupils can participate in an increasing range of wider activities, including playing chess, board games and reading at breaktimes in the library.

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

The trust has been instrumental in turning Trinity Catholic School around and has provided the school with exceptional support. Highly effective leadership has brought the staff together, and the whole school community now has high expectations of pupils' learning.

Staff value the support and training they receive to enable them to improve their practice. They appreciate that the school considers their wellbeing when making the necessary changes to improve the school. Parents also value the improved communication to help them understand the importance of learning and the behaviour expectations.

The school is committed to ensuring that pupils achieve as highly as possible. The redesigned curriculum is ambitious. It sets out key learning in a logical order.

Staff understand the expectations of the new curriculum and have sound subject knowledge to enable them to teach it. The school is clear about the methods teachers should use to deliver the curriculum, but these are not yet being used consistently well across all subjects. On some occasions, learning activities do not support pupils' learning well enough and teachers do not use assessment precisely enough to deepen and challenge pupils' thinking.

Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge due to previous weak teaching in the past. Some teachers do not check pupils' understanding well enough to identify and then address these gaps, or to identify any new misconceptions. Consequently, all pupils are not yet meeting leaders' high expectations of their learning.

Pupils with SEND are very well supported in school, and when they are unable to attend. The school is quick to identify additional needs and carefully structure support to help pupils overcome barriers to learning. Support for pupils' social, emotional and mental health needs is a particular strength.

While the bespoke support for pupils with SEND is highly effective, due to the relative weaknesses in the school's quality of education, they are not achieving as well as they should.

The school is developing reading for pleasure across the school. The library is a key part of this and is a vibrant and welcoming space.

There is now a keen focus supporting pupils who struggle to read fluently and confidently. Care has been taken to ensure that staff are well-trained to support these pupils. Recently introduced support sessions are showing early signs of success in helping pupils to develop their reading fluency.

The school has high expectations for sixth form pupils, be they A level or 16 – 19 Ethnic Minority Achievement Programme students. There is great strength in this programme, which includes English language teaching as a key aspect. Overall, students make good progress in the sixth form.

They are supported well to secure suitable destinations in education, employment or training when they leave.

The school takes swift and highly effective action to improve pupils' behaviour. Most pupils know exactly what is expected of them, readily follow the school rules and behave very well.

Staff ensure that they understand pupils' additional needs so that they can support them when they struggle to manage their behaviour. The school is a peaceful community where pupils engage positively with staff and their learning. The support for pupils who struggle to attend school is exceptional.

Overall, the school's attendance has improved over the last year.

Pupils' personal development builds well through the 'preparation for life' programme. The school is proud of its diversity.

For example, some pupils are making a film about inclusivity and will celebrate their own languages and cultures. Pupils speak very positively about the careers information they receive and how it helps them to prepare for life after Trinity.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not check pupils' learning carefully enough. This means that gaps in pupils' learning and misconceptions persist. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment precisely to ensure that pupils develop secure knowledge to enable them to make better progress.

On some occasions, teachers do not provide pupils with learning activities that support learning well enough or use effective questioning to deepen pupils' thinking. This limits the progress pupils make. The school should provide further training and support to enable all teachers to implement the curriculum consistently well to enable all pupils to make good progress.