Trinity Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 8–9 February 2012 Inspection number 379285 Trinity Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 116686 Local authority Herefordshire Inspection number 379285 Inspection dates 8–9 February 2012 Lead inspector Mark Sims HMI

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 533 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Leigh Brazewell Headteacher Ann Pritchard Date of previous school inspection 14 January 2009 School address Barricombe Drive Moor Farm Hereford HR4 0NU Telephone number 01432 266268 Fax number 01432 266803 Email address apritchard@trinity.hereford.sch.uk achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They observed 23 teachers teaching 26 lessons, of which three were joint observations with the headteacher. This accounted for approximately 13 hours of inspection time in total. Meetings were held with a group of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and school staff, including senior and middle managers and a senior adviser from the local authority. The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the recently revised self-evaluation form, the school development plan, the safeguarding and equality policies, and minutes of governing body meetings. Also, they analysed 162 parental and carers’ questionnaires and others completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

Trinity Primary is much larger than the average primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low but there is a rising trend. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds although there are a small but growing number of pupils from White Eastern European backgrounds, predominantly Polish, who speak English as an additional language. Few are at an early stage of learning English. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is broadly average but the percentage with a statement of special educational needs is high. The proportion of pupils entering or leaving the school other than at the usual times is above the national average for primary schools. The school meets current government floor standards. Since the previous inspection there has been a high turnover of staff. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Information about the school

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 This is a satisfactory school. Most pupils, parents and carers are positive about Trinity Primary, particularly the extent to which they say their children feel safe. Achievement is line with that expected nationally and standards in English and mathematics are broadly average by the time they leave in Year 6. In previous years pupils did not make sufficient progress in mathematics by the time they left.

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Key findings

 Teaching is satisfactory although much is good or better and none is inadequate. Tracking by the school indicates that over the last three years pupils have made the expected progress but in Key Stage 1 and in English it is good. Teachers do not consistently plan for the needs of higher attaining pupils, however. Marking ranges from outstanding in some instances, where pupils receive detailed feedback on how to improve, to other instances where it is less informative.

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Key findings

 Almost all pupils behave well. They show positive attitudes to learning even in those lessons where the pace of teaching dips. Pupils get on well together and have good relationships with the adults who work with them. A small number of parents and carers have concerns about bullying but incidents are very rare and the large majority of parents and pupils in school report that such incidents are dealt with effectively.

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Key findings

 Senior leaders know the strengths and weaknesses of the school well. They lead by example and have secured a trend of sustained improvements, while recognising that pupil progress in mathematics is still not as high as English. The governing body makes an important contribution to school improvement by supporting and challenging senior leaders. Middle leaders are not sufficiently engaged in monitoring teaching and formal processes to review pupils’ progress.

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Key findings

Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement of pupils at Key Stage 2 particularly in mathematics by ensuring that  girls are given more opportunities to participate in class discussions  teachers consistently plan activities that challenge higher attaining pupils to do as well as they can.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good by:  sharing the features of the best lessons more widely in the school  ensuring teachers consistently plan for the different needs in their classes based on their prior learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management in the school by ensuring that leaders at all levels have the opportunity to monitor teaching and consistently monitor the impact of strategies to raise achievement.

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Achievement of pupils

Since the last inspection there was a decline in the attainment of pupils, largely due to pupils making insufficient progress in mathematics. In the most recent test results attainment in English and mathematics improved and school data and assessments indicate that pupils currently in Year 6 have already achieved a higher level of attainment than the previous year’s cohort. Achievement is therefore satisfactory. Pupils join the school at broadly the expected level in literacy and numeracy for their age. At the end of Year 2 standards, including those in reading are broadly average. An effective phonics programme is in place to ensure pupils make satisfactory progress although some pupils are taken out of other lessons to attend this. By the time pupils leave Key Stage 2 they have achieved a level of attainment in English, including reading, and mathematics which is in line with the national average. Pupils

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Achievement of pupils

in the school are making satisfactory progress in their learning although they do better in English than mathematics. The school recognises pupils, and especially girls, have previously not made enough progress in their mathematics lessons in Key Stage 2 and measures taken to address this, including gender grouping, have led to more rapid progress for girls who are now narrowing the gap with their peers nationally. The overwhelming majority of parents and carers say that their children are making good progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Learning seen during the inspection was at least satisfactory in all lessons and in many it was good or better. Pupils learn well when work is planned to build on their starting points and they are engaged and interested in activities such as games in Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

languages or experiments in science. They also respond well to group work and partner talk. The pace of learning is reduced when work is not pitched to fully challenge higher attainers or when pupils spend too long on one activity.

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Achievement of pupils

Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are making satisfactory progress in line with their peers as a consequence of the effective support they receive to ensure they do not fall behind. There have been recent improvements in their learning through earlier identification of their needs. In the Early Years Foundation Stage pupils make good progress towards their learning goals in most areas including literacy and numeracy so that they have reached broadly the expected level for their age by the time they join Key Stage 1.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is satisfactory with much that is good. The large majority of pupils and parents say that it is good. In the best lessons teachers plan stimulating activities that fully engage pupils through group tasks or pair work. Lessons are pitched to meet the needs of and to challenge pupils who find learning easy and those who find the work hard. Teachers use varied questioning techniques to check if pupils have understood the work and get pupils to justify or explain their answers. Pupils are gaining in confidence to deliver presentations to the whole class. In these lessons girls are fully engaged in discussions as well as boys. The gender seating and setting arrangements are having a very positive impact on developing girls’ confidence to speak up especially in mathematics. Pupils from different groups and backgrounds work well together and have good relationships with each other. In lessons that are

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Quality of teaching

satisfactory there is less variety in activities and work is not consistently planned to meet the needs of all groups of learners. Questioning is too directed towards to volunteers answering and at times this can lead to boys dominating discussions. Teachers provide well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and pupils have good opportunities to reflect particularly during PSHE and circle time.

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Quality of teaching

Many pupils know their levels and targets and often can be specific about how they will achieve them but there is inconsistency in how well other pupils know them. Some targets are too broad and not always sufficiently challenging for higher attaining pupils. Similarly marking varies in its consistency. It is exemplary where pupils know how they are doing and are given the time and opportunity to respond to teachers’ written development comments and question. Elsewhere it is limited to praise comments.

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Quality of teaching

Additional adults are deployed well to support the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Curriculum provision and additional intervention is effective for these pupils although the extent to which the curriculum challenges higher attaining pupils is patchier. The Early Years curriculum is well planned and matched well to children’s needs. Pupils at the early stage of learning English as an additional language receive good support and are integrated well. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour of pupils in and around the school is good. A very large majority of parents, carers and pupils agreed with this. Pupils respect each others’ views and listen well to their peers. In the Early Years Foundation Stage behaviour is also good as are relationships between children and with adults. Bullying incidents in school are very rare but any that occur are dealt with quickly and effectively. Most parents and carers said their children feel safe in school and the large majority of pupils agreed with this. A very small minority of parents raised concerns about disruption in lessons and bullying incidents not effectively dealt with. Inspectors investigated these concerns but did not see any disruption in lessons. The few rare incidents of bullying were effectively dealt with according to pupils.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils report there is always someone they can confide in. Procedures for safeguarding are all in place, well organised and communicated effectively to staff. Training is up to date for all staff and those with specific responsibility for child protection. Attendance dipped slightly after the last inspection but since then it has been improving over time and is now broadly average. The proportion of those persistently absent has fallen sharply. The school works effectively to promote attendance and analyses absences by different groups to ensure that no trends emerge.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher, strongly supported by her senior leaders, communicates high expectations to staff and leads by example in taking on additional responsibilities. The school’s process of self evaluation is rigorous and previous weaknesses such as girls’ achievement in mathematics and insufficient early intervention for pupils at risk of falling behind have been identified and addressed. Monitoring and intervention by senior leaders, supported by the local authority have led to improvements in teaching so that no lessons seen during the inspection were inadequate. Teachers themselves are eager for feedback and there is a culture of teachers wanting to improve. Achievement is also improving as school tracking and progress of pupils in lessons indicates which leads to the school having a satisfactory capacity to improve.

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Leadership and management

All statutory safeguarding requirements are met and systems are robust to ensure pupils’ safety and well being. The school promotes equality of opportunity and seeks to address any imbalances between groups. It has identified and taken action to address the issue of girls’ underachievement in mathematics in Key Stage 2 but it is too early to see the impact of this in test results. Governors have been very supportive of the work of senior leaders in tackling previous underperformance of pupils and provide rigour and challenge in their discussions. Early Years provision is well led. Monitoring is rigorous and underperformance quickly identified and addressed. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are identified early to ensure appropriate intervention. Their achievement is closely tracked and monitored. There are good links with parents including those for whom English is not Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Leadership and management

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

their first language with information available in the main languages spoken at home.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad and balanced and includes the opportunity for all pupils in Key Stage 2 to study French. Some pupils miss a small proportion of the mathematics lessons to attend additional phonics sessions however. The PSHE circle time contributes well to pupils’ spiritual and moral development where there are opportunities for them to reflect silently. They have numerous extra curricular opportunities to enhance their social development and through, for example, increasing links with Poland pupils have a good understanding of the wider world.

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Leadership and management

To date much of the drive in improvement has been led and controlled by senior leaders so that middle leaders are not sufficiently involved in monitoring teaching and leading in pupils’ progress meetings focussing on pupil achievement. Leadership overall is therefore satisfactory. A small minority of staff do not agree that the school is well led and managed and a few former members of staff also expressed concerns about the leadership and management of the school. The headteacher has the strong support of the large majority of staff, and a very large majority of parents, carers and pupils as expressed through the questionnaires and discussions. Most members of staff said they were proud to be a member of the school. A large majority of parents and carers said they would recommend this school to another parent.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Trinity Primary School, Hereford, HR4 0NU

You will be aware that we came to your school recently and I thought you would like to know what we have said in our inspection report. Thank you for telling us your views either in discussions or through the questionnaires.

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Inspection of Trinity Primary School, Hereford, HR4 0NU

Trinity Primary is a satisfactory school where teaching and achievement are both improving. Your behaviour is good in and around the school and you should be proud of that. We agree with you, your parents and carers that the extent to which you feel safe in school is also good. You get on well together and are welcoming to those who join the school from other parts of Britain or other countries. You show a good understanding and appreciation of peoples’ differences.

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Inspection of Trinity Primary School, Hereford, HR4 0NU

You are making expected progress in lessons which you enjoy and respond well to even the ones you find less interesting. The adults who work with you make sure that those of you who find learning difficult are well supported. Your leaders have worked hard to make sure that more of your lessons are stimulating and challenge you to do as well as you can. By the time you leave school at the end of Year 6 you have reached a standard in English and mathematics that is in line with the average for pupils of this age. There are a few things we have asked the school to do which we hope will help it to improve further. The school’s leaders must make sure that:

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Inspection of Trinity Primary School, Hereford, HR4 0NU

 you make more rapid progress in your work, especially mathematics so that more of you achieve higher levels by the time you leave Year 6  all of your lessons consistently match the quality of the best ones  more of your leaders are involved in checking how good your lessons are and checking whether you are all making as much progress as you can.

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Inspection of Trinity Primary School, Hereford, HR4 0NU

I hope you will play your part by letting your leaders and teachers know what it is about the very best lessons that you enjoy. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you every success in your future.

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Inspection of Trinity Primary School, Hereford, HR4 0NU

Mark Sims Her Majesty's Inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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