Setting

Andy Leivers Holy Trinity CofE Primary School Trinity Road South West Bromwich B70 6NF

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Education act 2005 to Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 25 January 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Education act 2005 to Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the Executive headteacher, the head of school, deputy head of school, representatives from the Governing Body including the Chair, a representative of the local authority, and a group of pupils. The school improvement plan was also evaluated.

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Context

There are no significant changes since the last inspection.

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Main findings

School leaders have established an effective development plan that provides a good basis for further school improvement. This has been well-devised following accurate evaluations of the school’s effectiveness. It identifies precise actions, clear timescales, the personnel and resources needed to implement the actions and clear outcome and success criteria. Although the plans specify clearly how leaders will monitor and evaluate the outcomes, the responsibilities of governors are not Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T :0121 679 9161 Direct email : ann.morris@serco.com specified clearly enough. In addition, the plan has not been shared with all members of the governing body.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, the momentum of improvement has continued. Pupils speak positively about the school and talk with confidence about how things have improved. A tour of the school showed bright and stimulating displays and purposeful teaching and learning in all classrooms. Teaching assistants worked intensively with individuals or groups of pupils in each class. The school has further plans to provide further training and support for this group of staff. A coherent approach has been developed for staff development. Individual action and support plans have been implemented for all teachers following a needs assessment, particularly for those in the early stages of their teaching career and those whose teaching requires improvement. Peer mentoring plans are being developed and leadership and teaching support is increasing from the federated school (Grove Vale). A good range of monitoring and evaluation strategies are being implemented

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Main findings

which is giving school leaders a good understanding of the schools strengths and areas for improvement.

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Main findings

All governors have completed a self-evaluation and identified specific training and development needs. Each governor will be set clear targets linked to the outcomes of their self-evaluation and the priorities identified in the school improvement plan. Data training for all governors has been scheduled for later this term, which will be delivered by the local authority. A protocol for visiting the school is being developed and will be discussed with staff to increase their understanding of the roles and responsibilities of governors before implementation.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take/are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 continue to implement the coherent approach to staff development  continue the work started on developing the role of phase leaders  provide specific training for teaching assistants  ensure that the role of governors in monitoring and evaluating the actions in the school improvement plan is clearly specified  ensure that the school improvement plan is shared and discussed by all governors.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority has maintained a good level of support. It will continue to provide termly core visits, supported by additional work such as maintaining and attending task group meetings. A good range of support has been provided to the school such as Advanced Skills Teacher support for a teachers and consultant support to develop the teaching of spelling. The adviser is working with senior leaders on the supporting the development of phase leaders and is scheduled to provide training to help governors increase their understanding of school performance data.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Sandwell.

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