Trinity School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their time at school. They feel safe and happy.

There is a real sense of community. For instance, students in the sixth form help to run several of the clubs that are on offer to younger pupils. Alongside developing pupils' interests and talents, this fosters strong and caring relationships across the school community.

The school's expectations of pupils' achievement and behaviour have risen considerably. Most pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well across a range of subjects. Pupils respond well to the school's new behaviour policy.

They follow routines diligently.

The school help...s to develop pupils into responsible citizens. For example, the 'starfish' eco committee educates others on the impact of food waste.

Pupils are aware of different cultures and religions. This helps them to understand the importance of being welcoming and accepting of everyone.

Staff encourage and help students in the sixth form by carefully building their learning and enrichment experiences over time.

Students appreciate the support from staff who know them well and understand how they learn.

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

The school has undergone a significant period of change and development since the previous inspection. For example, considerable improvements have been made to the quality of education that pupils receive.

These changes mean that most pupils are now learning well. They are achieving better than the 2023 published outcomes suggest. The school has taken effective action to develop an ambitious curriculum.

In key stage 4, a growing number of pupils gain qualifications across the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects. The sixth-form curriculum is particularly broad, with an appropriate range of academic and vocational subjects available.

Staff present information clearly.

They check pupils' learning regularly. This means that any gaps in pupils' knowledge can be identified and responded to quickly. In most subjects, carefully designed activities help pupils to acquire knowledge that builds over time.

However, some aspects of the curriculum in a small number of subjects require further development, particularly in Years 7, 8 and 9. For example, in these subjects, the key knowledge that pupils need to know, as well as the order in which they need to learn concepts are not as well defined. As a result, some pupils do not learn the curriculum as well as they could in these subjects in key stage 3.

The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with SEND. 'Pupil passports' outline these pupils' needs and teachers use this information to adapt learning and to support pupils effectively. The school checks how well all pupils can read.

Any pupils who struggle with reading have extra teaching so that they catch up quickly. Across the curriculum, pupils read regularly. They encounter a diverse range of texts in lessons and during tutor times.

The welcoming library is a hub of activity.Behaviour in lessons and at social times is calm and purposeful. The school has recently designed and implemented a new behaviour policy.

Staff and pupils recognise that behaviour has improved as a result. The number of significant incidents has reduced. The school takes prompt and robust action to address absences from school.

However, there remains a small number of pupils who miss too much school. As a result, they miss valuable learning. The school is not complacent, however.

It continues to refine how it supports those few pupils who still find meeting the school's high expectations for behaviour and attendance challenging.

Personal development is a thread that runs throughout the school. Leaders have thought carefully about how to provide pupils with rich opportunities and experiences.

This includes, for example, trips abroad and a wide variety of clubs such as parkour and the culture club. The school also provides pupils with valuable careers advice and guidance. Pupils, and students in the sixth form, feel well supported with making decisions about their next steps.

The school has ensured that pupils learn about and build their awareness of concepts such as healthy relationships and online safety. However, a small number of other aspects of the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) curriculum, including fundamental British values, are not designed or taught in a coherent, sequenced way. This leaves some pupils not as prepared as they could be for life in modern Britain.

Staff enjoy working at the school. They value the training opportunities for curriculum development. Staff feel that the school is considerate of their workload and well-being.

The board of trustees is knowledgeable about the school. It provides effective support and challenge to help the school deliver its vision.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, the content and sequencing of knowledge in key stage 3 is not coherent enough. This hinders pupils from building a deep and secure body of knowledge in these subjects. The school should ensure that, in key stage 3, teachers are clear about the essential subject knowledge that pupils should learn and when this content should be taught.

• Some aspects of the PSHE curriculum are not securely implemented. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge of important concepts, including about British values. The school should ensure that all aspects of the PSHE curriculum are implemented fully.