Trinity School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils, and students in the sixth form, enjoy attending this school. They understand and apply the school's values of community, trust, endurance, hope and compassion. They appreciate the new school chapel as a place of which they are proud, and that gives them a space for reflection and calm.

Pupils and students know that leaders have high expectations for their behaviour and achievement. They understand the behaviour policy and the consequences if they do not meet the high expectations. However, some pupils do not behave as well as they should.

Occasionally, pupils' learning in lessons is disrupted.

Pupils and students feel safe in school. They said th...at if they report bullying, leaders act quickly to stop it happening.

However, despite there being a range of ways for pupils to report bullying, some pupils are unwilling to do so.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) who are taught in the small 'home group' feel well supported. They enjoy learning a range of subjects.

However, other pupils with SEND do not always feel that they have enough help to access their learning.

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

Leaders and governors have set out a clear vision for the school. They have developed a community that is caring, tolerant and supportive.

For example, pupils and students are keen to raise money for local charities.

Leaders have planned a well-sequenced and suitably ambitious curriculum in many subjects. Leaders understand what pupils and students should learn and when they should learn it.

However, the activities that some teachers choose to deliver learning do not always help pupils to know more of the curriculum. This means that not all pupils make as much progress as they should. This is not the case in the sixth form, where teachers are skilled at choosing appropriate activities for students.

Teachers use assessment strategies increasingly effectively to identify what pupils have missed or forgotten.

Leaders have effective systems to identify pupils who may have SEND. They provide useful information for teachers about how this group of pupils should be supported with their learning.

This is especially the case for those pupils who attend the specially resourced provision. However, pupils with SEND do not always receive the support they need. They do not achieve as well as they should.

Leaders have prioritised individual support for those pupils who find reading difficult. They make sure that these pupils are identified and use a range of methods to help them to catch up.

Most pupils behave well in lessons, but some do not meet the high expectations that leaders and staff have for them.

This means that pupils' learning is occasionally disrupted. Most teachers apply the behaviour policy effectively to prevent such disturbances.

Leaders do not ensure that all pupils and students attend school as regularly as they should.

This is particularly the case for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils. Many of these pupils are absent from school too often. This hinders their learning.

Leaders have developed an effective programme of personal development for pupils and students. This provides a range of opportunities for pupils to learn about British values, citizenship and how to keep themselves safe and healthy. A suitable careers programme prepares all pupils and students for the choices they will make for their future education, training or employment.

For example, pupils have the opportunity to go on work placements to help them decide what they want to do in the future.

Programmes such as the 'give a year to Trinity' scheme have provided students with opportunities to take on responsibility and to support younger pupils in the school. This helps to build the feeling of community in the school.

Students are supported to become independent learners through the study programmes that are in place in the sixth form.

Leaders consider staff well-being and workload in the decisions that they make. Leaders provide access to a wide range of professional development opportunities for staff.

Governors understand their statutory duties and carry them out well. However, they do not always provide enough challenge to leaders, for example about the quality of education for pupils and pupils' and students' rates of attendance.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are aware of the local risks for the pupils and students attending the school. They provide an age-appropriate programme to help pupils and students to learn more about how to keep themselves safe. This is delivered through tutor time, assemblies and visiting speakers, and is woven into lessons.

Staff receive suitable, regular safeguarding training. They know pupils and students well so that they can quickly identify those who may be at risk of harm. Staff build supportive relationships with those families who are in need of support.

Leaders and staff work closely with external agencies when required. Leaders have built a strong pastoral team to make sure that pupils are supported well.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers lack the expertise and knowledge necessary to deliver some aspects of subject curriculums consistently well.

They struggle to design appropriate learning activities. As a result, some pupils do not progress through the curriculum as well as they should. Subject leaders should ensure that teachers have the support that they need to deliver the new curriculums consistently well, so that pupils can deepen their knowledge and understanding of subjects over time.

• Some teachers do not use the information that they have about pupils with SEND effectively enough to support this group of pupils to access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. As a result, some of these pupils do not receive the support that they need to access learning in lessons well enough. Leaders should ensure that teachers are trained well to implement the identified approaches to support pupils with SEND.

• Too many pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, do not attend school regularly enough. Consequently, they are missing out on opportunities to learn. Leaders should ensure that they have clear and effective strategies to reduce pupils' absence, particularly for pupils who are persistently absent.

• Members of the governing body do not ask sufficiently challenging questions of leaders about some aspects of their work, including the quality of education and pupils' attendance. They do not hold leaders to account effectively for the quality of education that pupils receive. Members of the governing body should ensure that they have the knowledge, expertise and information required to provide an effective level of challenge to leaders.