Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, by:
  • ensuring that leaders develop a more accurate self-evaluation that reflects the provision in the school, and takes greater account of the progress that pupils are making against the national standards
  • sharpening the monitoring and evaluation of how leaders use the additional funding that they receive for disadvantaged pupils, so that it makes a significant difference in helping those pupils to catch up to other peers nationally
  • improving new subject leaders’ development of the curriculum and assessment for their individual subject areas.
• Raise standards and improve the quality of teaching, particularly in mathematics, by:
  • ensuring that teachers have consistently high expectations about what pupils can achieve from their varied starting points
  • further refining the accuracy of assessment, and how it is used to plan lessons that provide challenge for pupils, in particular the most able pupils
  • maintaining the highest expectations about pupils’ behaviour in lessons
  • providing pupils with appropriate guidance that addresses misconceptions and helps them to improve. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders have an overly positive view of the provision in the school. Leaders’ monitoring and evaluation do not focus on whether teaching secures the progress of different groups of pupils or how pupils are faring against national expectations. This does not allow leaders to check if pupils are on track to make good progress or to act quickly when pupils are falling behind. As a result, pupils do not make as much progress as they could.
• Leaders have not yet ensured securely good outcomes. In 2016, pupils’ achievement in the phonics screening check was in line with national averages. This represents a slowing of progress, because pupils entered Year 1 from a higher than national starting point at the end of Reception. Equally, leaders have failed to notice that the progress made by pupils across key stage 1 currently is too slow.
• Leaders have not ensured that the additional funding the school receives is used effectively to help disadvantaged pupils to catch up with their peers nationally. Leaders’ plans do not provide sufficient clarity on how funding is spent or the rationale behind its allocation. Leaders’ lack of precision means that governors are unable to rigorously hold the school to account for how this funding is used, or check that it is having the desired impact.
• The roles of middle leaders are underdeveloped in areas such as special educational needs and mathematics. These leaders, who are new to their positions, have not yet established systems which ensure high-quality teaching to meet the needs of all pupils.
• Leaders have not yet secured good behaviour across the school. In lessons where teaching is less effective, pupils lose focus and this leads to low-level disruption.
• Leaders have ensured that pupils study a range of subjects across the curriculum. Pupils’ work shows that they learn about historical people and events, develop investigation skills in science experiments and acquire new skills in art.
• Leaders use the additional funding that they receive for physical education and sport effectively. The school provides a range of opportunities, such as attending events involving other schools and improving the outdoor play areas so children can be active at playtimes and lunchtime.
• An effective programme of assemblies and extra-curricular activities ensures that the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is well promoted. For example, pupils spoke about how much they enjoyed a ‘Wow’ day on Africa which included learning to count in Swahili.
• The overwhelming majority of parents are happy with the school. Almost all of the parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, or submitted handwritten responses said that they would recommend the school to others. One parent wrote that ‘Trinity is the perfect school for my child and I have recommended it to a number of other parents’.
• Staff enjoy working at the school. All of those who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire for staff said that they enjoy working at the school and are proud to be a member of staff. Teachers appreciate the professional development provided by the school, such as work with the local authority’s standards and excellence officer.

• The local authority has provided good support for the school. The local authority’s standards and excellence officer has supported leaders in challenging teaching that was not good, but subsequent changes made by leaders have not been effective in improving the quality of teaching quickly enough.

Governance

• Despite the ambition and dedication of governors, they are not yet ensuring that leaders are raising standards for pupils well enough, including those who are in receipt of the pupil premium and have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is partially due to the fact that governors are overly reliant on the information that they receive from school leaders. This information is often optimistic about the progress that pupils are making, and does not give enough consideration to pupils’ progress nationally. Documents, such as the pupil premium review, are not precise enough to enable governors to evaluate whether the school is making a significant difference in helping those pupils to catch up to their peers nationally.
• Governors’ regular monitoring visits to the school are not focused enough on validating the information provided by school leaders about the effectiveness of the school’s provision. For example, governors have an awareness of where teaching in the school has been weaker in the past, but their current understanding of the impact that teaching is having on pupils’ achievement is generous. As a consequence, governors can identify priorities but do not fully understand what the school needs to do next if it is to improve the progress of pupils.
• The governing body has provided strong support to the headteacher with the difficulties associated with the building works linked to the school’s opening. Governors have worked with the local authority and contractors to improve the school site, so that it is a safe and welcoming learning environment.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders, governors and staff take their responsibilities to keep children safe seriously and prioritise the safety of pupils. Staff are well trained in the most up-to-date child protection and safeguarding guidance, including the ‘Prevent’ duty, which identifies the support available to pupils who are vulnerable to extremism or radicalisation.
• Leaders ensure that the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures are fit for purpose and reviewed regularly. Leaders ensure that any staff referrals of concern about the welfare of pupils are followed up appropriately. The school’s record-keeping is detailed and thorough, with appropriate referrals made to relevant external agencies when necessary.

• The vast majority of parents who responded to Parent View online or submitted handwritten responses said that their child feels safe at school, is well looked after and that the school deals effectively with bullying. These views were echoed by the pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school is variable.
• Teachers do not consistently use assessment information to inform their planning or adapt tasks to meet the needs of pupils. Too often, this leads to pupils losing confidence and quickly giving up when they find the work too difficult or not interesting. This leads to low-level disengagement in lessons.
• Teacher’s expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough, most notably in mathematics across the school. Too often, pupils receive work that is too easy for them. As a consequence, inconsistencies remain in the progress of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, because they are not being provided with sufficient opportunities to consolidate or deepen their mathematical knowledge and skills.
• Writing at the beginning of key stage 1 builds effectively on what children have learned in Reception. However, this rate of progress is not maintained. Evidence from pupils’ work indicates that the expectations of what pupils should be achieving in writing is not high enough as they move through key stage 1. On occasion, assessment is inaccurate and leads to teachers having an overly positive view about the progress that pupils are making.
• Feedback to pupils about how to improve their work does not give pupils adequate and precise enough guidance to help them make progress.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported by teaching assistants. They encourage pupils to do their best in lessons and make the right choices about their work or behaviour, with teachers planning for them effectively. However, additional funding for those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not effective in overcoming pupils’ weak progress caused by less effective teaching.
• Where teaching, learning and assessment are more effective , teachers use their secure subject knowledge to sustain pupils’ interest by reshaping their explanations to help pupils’ understanding and tackle misconceptions. The work set challenges pupils and deepens their knowledge and, as a result, pupils are committed to improving their work. However, this is not consistent across the school.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils’ attendance is not yet securely good. While overall rates of attendance of pupils in the school were in line with national averages in 2016, the attendance rate for disadvantaged pupils was much lower. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils has not improved this year but has instead fallen further. The overall attendance of boys has also declined since 2016. However, the number of boys who are persistently absent is showing signs of improvement this year.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and they could identify an appropriate adult to go to if they have worries. The curriculum includes teaching about e-safety and how to stay safe online. 

• Around the school, pupils conduct themselves well throughout the day and respond well to routines. For example, at the start of the day, they line up quietly in their classes and move from the playground to the classroom in an orderly fashion. Pupils also carry out their additional responsibilities, such as taking turns at lunchtime to tidy up after each other. At these times, pupils respond well to the strong Christian ethos within the school and are courteous and polite, showing respect for others.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.

• Too often, in lessons where teaching does not support or engage pupils effectively, pupils lose interest and focus. This leads to low-level disruption in lessons.
• Staff do not implement the school’s agreed behaviour policy and protocols consistently. For example, when pupils do not behave well in lessons, adults do not always address this appropriately. Consequently, pupils do not regain focus on their learning rapidly enough and, on occasion, do not respond to staff instructions quickly.
• The pupils were able to clearly explain the school’s behaviour policy to the inspector and said that everyone knows that they should do as they are told ‘because you get a yellow or a red card if you do not’. While pupils said that behaviour is generally ‘okay’, they also explained that it is not always good. This is because other pupils in their classes do not do what they are asked to do by the teacher.
• Staff and parents are more positive about behaviour in the school. Staff and parents believe that the school makes sure that pupils are well behaved.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Trinity opened with one Reception class in 2014 and has expanded by one year group each year. The oldest pupils currently in the school are Year 2. 

• Across science and foundation subjects, pupils in key stage 1 develop age-appropriate skills. For example, science books show the appropriate development of subject-specific skills of investigation across key stage 1. Equally, coverage of history and geography is in line with national expectations.

Early years provision Good

• Leadership of the early years is strong.
• Most children enter the school with skills typical for those of their age and stage of development. On entry, teachers gather detailed information about what each child can do and, therefore, are able to plan learning opportunities that build on their skills and knowledge. As a result, the proportions of boys and girls reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception are above national averages. Equally, the proportion of disadvantaged children reaching the national standard is also higher than the national average.
• The indoor and outdoor learning environments are well resourced and children have access to a range of activities to promote their learning. As a consequence, children show good attitudes to learning and concentrate for extended periods of time on activities without the need for direct adult intervention. Children were observed in the outdoors area independently practising for the ‘qu’ grapheme while in the indoor area others were keenly self-selecting and copying out a range of words about oceans.
• The curriculum inspires children’s imaginations and they are interested in a broad range of activities. For example, one child was keen to share her enjoyment of writing, showing the inspector three sentences that she had written independently that included the correct use of capital letters and finger spaces.
• Staff in the early years clearly understand the school’s safeguarding procedures and are clearly able to explain what to do if they have a concern about a child or an adult.
• Behaviour in the early years is good. This is because of the quality of the relationships between adults and children. As a result, children listen respectfully to both adults and each other. They work well in whole-class inputs, in small groups or independently.Expectations of what the children can achieve at Trinity are high. Teachers and teaching assistants provide good role models for the children by asking questions, playing alongside them and seizing opportunities to enrich their learning.Parents have a positive view of the early years and are pleased with how quickly their children settle into the school. One parent wrote that ‘My child has more confidence since being at school. The progress he has made is very evident at home.’

maths

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140623 Suffolk 10031327 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 4 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 76 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Nick Hutton Linda Curran-Spain Telephone number 01449 770 462 Website Email address www.trinityprimaryschool.com admin@trinity.suffolk.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Trinity is much smaller than the average primary school.
• The school opened in September 2014 with children in Reception. The school currently has four classes. Two classes are for children in the early years while there is one class in each of Years 1 and 2.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average, although the proportion with an education, health and care plan is in line with the national average.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The school has a smaller than average proportion of pupils who are supported by pupil premium funding.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector visited all classes across the school at least once, observing teaching and learning, talking to pupils and assessing the quality of their work. The headteacher accompanied the inspector on some classroom visits. There were also a number of shorter visits to lessons to gauge the climate for learning and pupils’ behaviour.
• The inspector observed the school’s work and looked at documentation, including the school’s analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, information on pupils’ attainment and progress, records of behaviour and safety, minutes of governing body meetings and safeguarding documents.
• The inspector looked at examples of pupils’ written work across a range of subjects and year groups with the headteacher. The inspector also separately scrutinised a range of pupils’ work including English, mathematics, humanities and science books. Meetings were held with the headteacher, staff, pupils and governors. The inspector also heard pupils read as well as observing pupils’ behaviour at lunchtime and in assembly.
• The inspector held discussions with pupils and was available to speak to parents on the playground. He also took into account 23 responses to Parent View, as well as 23 handwritten responses.
• Inspectors took into account the nine responses of staff, using the online staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

James Adkins, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector