Trinity Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Trinity is an inclusive, warm and caring school. Pupils are safe and happy. There are positive relationships based on mutual respect between staff and pupils.

Pupils trust adults to deal promptly with any issues, such as bullying, which is rare. Pupils and staff are very proud of their school.

Leaders and staff are ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school's motto, 'shine like stars', underpins school life. It helps pupils to be aspirational for what they can achieve. Pupils respond wit...h enthusiasm and resilience to the high expectations that leaders have for their learning.

Pupils behave well and work hard in lessons. They are focused on their learning and lessons are rarely disturbed. As a result, pupils achieve successfully across the curriculum.

Pupils enjoy the opportunities they have to take on roles of responsibility, for example as head boy and girl, prefect, school councillor, house captain, eco-warrior or digital leader. Pupils are able to attend a range of after-school clubs organised to develop their talents and interests. They also take part regularly in competitions against other schools, for example in athletics, poetry and debating.

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

Leaders have designed a broad and balanced curriculum that matches the expectation of the national curriculum. Starting from the early years, leaders have thought carefully about the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they want pupils to learn and remember. For pupils with SEND in the resourced provision, their bespoke curriculum has also been carefully designed to be broad and balanced, while ensuring that their individual needs are met.

Children in the early years, including the two-year-olds, learn the important knowledge and skills needed to be ready for the next stage. The early years curriculum is well designed and resourced to promote children's learning in all areas. Children are highly engaged in a variety of interesting and well-planned activities.

Their development is well supported by the adults around them.Teachers have secure subject knowledge to deliver lessons across the curriculum. Lessons are structured so that pupils have regular opportunities to recall and review their learning.

This helps pupils to remember what they are being taught in the long term. The delivery of the curriculum means that pupils are beginning to make meaningful links between the knowledge taught in different subjects.

Assessment in some subjects, such as phonics and mathematics, is used purposefully to check what pupils know and understand.

In other curriculum areas, teachers use a range of strategies to identify and remedy any misconceptions and gaps in pupils' learning. However, some staff are more skilled at using these strategies than others. This means that, on occasions, pupils' misconceptions and gaps in their learning are not picked up and addressed effectively.

Leaders and staff are ambitious for pupils with SEND. Pupils' needs are quickly identified and support is put in place. Leaders work closely with families and external agencies to get the right type of help and guidance for pupils.

Staff receive regular training to ensure that they have the skills needed to support pupils with SEND effectively. Pupils with SEND are fully included in school life. Where appropriate to do so, pupils from the resourced provision join in with lessons and activities in the mainstream classes.

They also develop their social skills and life skills to prepare them for the next stage of their education.

Leaders have a suitable, systematic phonics scheme in place, which is being consistently implemented. Pupils learn and practise the sounds that letters make in a logical order.

Pupils have books matched to their stage in learning to read. They are confident using their phonic knowledge when reading unknown words. Pupils that are falling behind are given additional practice to help them catch up.

A love for reading is promoted through regular opportunities to read for pleasure, as well as events such as book week and fortnightly 'big reads'.

Overall, the early reading curriculum is working well, and pupils develop into confident readers. However, a few aspects of the early reading curriculum are not supporting the weaker readers as well as they could.

There are occasions where the activities these pupils are set do not focus specifically enough on addressing gaps in their phonic knowledge. In other instances, the tasks pupils complete can distract from the core purpose of practising and applying their phonic knowledge.

Leaders make careful choices about trips and visitors to enrich the taught curriculum and provide pupils with meaningful real-life experiences.

Through the school's approach to personal, social and health education, pupils are taught what a healthy relationship looks like. Difference is celebrated through whole-school events such as 'diversity day'. Pupils are taught that not all families are the same and that everyone deserves to be treated equally and with respect.

Leaders are considerate of staff workload and well-being. All staff appreciate, and benefit from, working with colleagues across other trust schools. Trust leaders provide an effective balance of challenge and support.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have created a culture of vigilance to keep pupils safe. Staff receive regular training and know the signs to look out for when a pupil may be at risk of harm.

Leaders work with external agencies to get the right support for families.

The trust carries out regular checks of safeguarding at the school. It ensures that leaders have carried out all the required checks for those who work at or visit the school.

Through the curriculum, pupils are taught how to keep safe, including online. Pupils are also taught how to keep physically and mentally healthy. They learn how to identify their emotions and strategies to use to manage their feelings.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• While pupils learn to read well overall, a few aspects of the early reading curriculum are not supporting weaker readers as well as they could. In some instances, the planned learning does not focus with precision on helping pupils to practise and apply their phonic knowledge and filling any identified gaps. Leaders need to refine the implementation of the early reading curriculum for the weakest readers.

They should ensure that tasks set enable pupils to fully focus on decoding and blending and that extra help is pinpointed to their gaps in their phonic knowledge. ? Although assessment is used purposefully, on occasions some teaching does not skilfully check what pupils know and remember. This means that, in some cases, staff do not pick up and respond to gaps in pupils' learning or misconceptions.

When this happens, it reduces how successfully pupils are able to build on what they already know. Leaders should support teachers to develop strategies to check what pupils know, and identify and address misconceptions or gaps in a timely way.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2017.

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