Trinity College

Trinity College Moor Lane, Loughborough, LE11 1BA

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Overall effectiveness Good 2

Pupils’ achievement Good 2 Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Quality of curriculum Good 2 Pupils’ welfare, health and safety Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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This school is good because

 Pupils achieve well, including in English and mathematics. This is because of good teaching and the use of a good curriculum.  The attendance and behaviour of pupils, all of whom have experienced disrupted education before starting at the school, shows a marked improvement on their previous educational experience.  Teachers and learning support workers are diligent and successful in their efforts to support pupils and enable them to make progress with their learning and their personal development.  Thorough and effective supervision promotes pupils’ safety and welfare and ensures that all pupils have good opportunities to learn and make progress.  Leaders and managers have successfully raised the standards of the provision since the last inspection. They have ensured that good teaching and a good curriculum enable pupils to make good progress. They have high expectations for pupils and staff, and have suitable plans to continue to improve the

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Some pupils still find it hard to attend regularly and their progress is affected by this  The school is still developing the range of qualifications available in some subjects and particularly for the most able.  Although a range of information is gathered about pupils’ achievements, systems for checking on its accuracy and relating these to students’ targets in their individual education plans are new and not yet fully implemented.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets schedule 1 of The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2010, as amended by The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out with a day’s notice. The inspector observed nine lessons taught by nine teachers. Two lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher.  The inspector looked at pupils’ work, held meetings with the headteacher, a representative of the proprietor, staff members, pupils and parents and carers.  The inspector examined documentation including schemes of work, teachers’ planning, records of pupils’ progress and staff training evidence.  Thirteen questionnaire responses from staff were considered. Seventeen students and one local authority representative had responded to the on-line Ofsted questionnaires. No parents and carers had done so.

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Inspection team

John Gush, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Trinity College is a small independent special school for pupils with severe behavioural, social and emotional difficulties (BSED). It is situated on two sites, about ten minutes drive apart, close to the centre of Loughborough in Leicestershire. Students of secondary age are taught on the school’s main site, whereas pupils of primary age are taught at the annex site.  The school opened in 2007 and is registered for 36 boys and girls between the ages of seven and 16 years. At the time of the inspection 24 boys were on roll, two of whom are based at the annex for primary aged pupils.  All pupils have statements of special educational needs related to BSED and four pupils are in the care of their local authorities. All have experienced very disrupted education before coming to the school, which has had a marked adverse effect on their education and their achievements.  A small number of pupils are accommodated in children’s homes operated by the same

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Information about this school

proprietor. Leicestershire and Leicester City local authorities refer most of the pupils with others being referred from other adjoining authorities.  Ownership of the school was transferred to a Horizon Care and Education during 2013. This organisation operates four other schools nationally catering for children with similar learning and behaviour profiles to those at Trinity College, in addition to a number of children’s homes. A new headteacher took up her post at the beginning of the current school year.  Alternative provision based at two local further educational colleges, Loughborough College and Brooksby Melton College, is used to extend curriculum opportunities especially for vocational training, and a range of other local facilities are used by the school, such as a local church hall to enhance the pupils’ educational experiences.  The last inspection took place in March 2013 where all regulations were found to be met.

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Information about this school

 The school aims ‘to promote individuals’ self-confidence and social skills and help them to re- engage with learning. It believes all young people have unique strengths and abilities.’

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by: – developing further the arrangements for confirming the accuracy of teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress and achievements – making sure these assessments inform students’ targets in their individual education plans.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievements by – extending further the range and level of qualifications available in subjects, including those which challenge more able pupils – ensuring that marking makes clear to students what is good about their work and what would improve it further.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Work closely with parents and carers, students and other agencies to improve pupil attendance even more.

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Pupils’ achievement Good

Students, including those at the primary site, achieve well and make good progress because of effective teaching, together with good use of a flexible and responsive curriculum. Their achievement is not outstanding because a few still find it hard to attend regularly or are not fully engaged in all lessons. Many students have only been at the school for a short length of time and a large number have been out of school or have experienced a number of failed school placements due to unsettled and inappropriate behaviour. Most do re-engage well with education and begin to catch up with learning they have missed. They acquire a broad range of knowledge, skills and understanding in all of the subjects taught, particularly literacy and numeracy, where they achieve well. They make good improvements in their attitudes to learning.

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Pupils’ achievement Good

Students are assessed in all subjects on entry to the school and teachers’ regular assessments indicate that the large majority make good or even better progress from their starting points. Younger pupils settle down to learning and begin to make up some of the ground they have lost because of poor behaviour and lost schooling previously. Older students take GCSE and other nationally recognised qualifications. In 2013 students achieved qualifications that showed good progress during their time at the school. All but one gained GCSEs and three students achieved three passes, including English and mathematics, with grades ranging between F and B. All students achieve some form of nationally recognised qualification before they leave the school, sometimes despite only having spent a short time in the school. Students obtained good results in entry-level qualifications, including in literacy and numeracy. Most attended vocational training

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Pupils’ achievement Good

courses at local further educational colleges and gained Level 1 vocational qualifications in areas including construction and vehicle systems. All except one of these leavers have moved on either into employment or into full time courses further education courses. These outcomes demonstrate how effectively the school helps students to re-engage with education, catch up on lost ground and make the most of their capacities for learning and progress.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students’ behaviour and personal development are good. The school expects high standards of behaviour from students and staff consistently demand them. Behaviour is not outstanding because a small number of incidents of unsettled behaviour occur, particularly when students are settling into school. When they do so they are well managed by staff and the learning of other students is rarely affected. Staff adopt highly effective behaviour management strategies and students know what is expected of them. A highly effective rewards and sanctions system, coupled with detailed recording of students’ behaviour and attitude throughout each school day leads to a marked improvement in students’ self-esteem and self-confidence. All students set daily personal targets and help to evaluate how far they have achieved them. They enjoy the opportunity to earn rewards and these provide a valuable incentive for further academic and personal development.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students who attend the further education colleges enjoy the vocational element of their learning and take pride in the work they do there. Those who have their lessons in the other off site provision benefit from the individual support they receive and their learning and behaviour improves as a result. Effective relationships and strong support and encouragement from staff means that students improve their relationships and social interactions with staff, and the other students at the school. One pupil commented that, amongst the things he valued most about the school was that staff not only provided individual support when he needed it, but also that ‘they can take a joke!’

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

For the great majority of students, attendance is very much improved on their previous school attendance rate. Most attend school regularly and on time. Students say that they feel safe and secure in school, and that they are well supported by staff that they respect.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

The school makes good provision for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Regular availability of art therapy and individual mentoring help students to understand and to alter their impulsive behaviour. Together with citizenship and the personal, social and health education (PHSE) curriculum, this helps the students to develop an improved awareness of right and wrong and to be aware of the impact of their behaviour on themselves and on others. Projects and assemblies on world religions together with visits from local religious leaders help students understand their own and other cultures represented in the local community. This promotes an attitude of respect and tolerance of cultural and religious difference. Charity fundraising and contributing to the local food bank enable students to make a positive contribution to their local communities. Regular use of shops, libraries and leisure centres helps students to acquire a

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

suitable understanding of public services and institutions in the locality. The school has developed an effective policy to ensure that, where political issues are raised, only balanced political messages are promoted.

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Pupils’ behaviour and personal development Good

Students, including younger students, have good opportunities to expressive their views, take responsibility and be involved in decision making within the school. For example, through monthly school council meeting and opportunities to join in the interview process for staff appointments.

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Quality of teaching Good

The quality of teaching is good and enables students to make good progress in learning. In most lessons teachers and their assistants have high expectations of what students can achieve. They use a range of effective methods to help students overcome their particular difficulties in learning, and to make the most of their abilities, especially in literacy and numeracy. In an outstanding science lesson, for example, pupils in the primary department were learning about volcanoes and chemical reactions. A video of a volcano entranced them and after this they demonstrated a good knowledge of relevant terminology. This high level of engagement continued as they prepared tables of possible results of an experiment showing how substances might produce volcano like reactions through being combined. They carried out the experiment, were highly impressed with the results and wrote about the outcome. Through these activities pupils gained new knowledge

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Quality of teaching Good

about the world and practised both thinking and writing skills.

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Quality of teaching Good

Most teaching provides good opportunities for students to make progress, especially in English and mathematics, because it is well tailored to their targets and needs. In a minority of teaching, however, students are not clear about what they are expected to do, and the work is not sufficiently challenging. As a result their progress is slower. Careful attention is paid to students’ statements of special educational needs and teaching ensures that requirements are fulfilled. All students have valuable individual education plans and targets to help them develop their behaviour and attitude to learning are clearly identified. These enable staff to provide relevant support, but do not always provide sharp learning targets that reflect students’ academic abilities and aspirations accurately. The school is currently developing procedures to ensure that when teachers carry out the regular assessment of students’ progress in their subjects, the accuracy of their

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Quality of teaching Good

judgements are confirmed by involving other teachers in the process.

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Quality of teaching Good

Students’ work is generally neatly presented and regularly marked. All marking follows the school’s new marking guidelines and is helpful to the students by praising their effort. However, not enough marking provides suggestions as to how students can improve their work.

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Quality of teaching Good

Teachers make good use of their subject knowledge to enthuse and inspire students. Teachers and learning support workers make good use of their expertise and experience in working with students with very unsettled behaviour to help the students learn and make progress in their academic work and their personal development. The school provides valuable support to those students who attend further education colleges for vocational training. College teachers use of this support well and demonstrate sensitivity and understanding of the learning needs of the students. This helps the students to extend their range of knowledge and qualifications well and also to become acquainted the expectations and requirements of studying in a general further education college environment.

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Quality of curriculum Good

The curriculum is good and enables students to make good progress. It is not outstanding because some subjects are not yet offered at GCSE level and the range of subjects and study levels for the vocational options offered means that some students may not be able to study and gain qualifications at the level that is suitable for them.

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Quality of curriculum Good

The curriculum is built around the National Curriculum subjects as well as programmes for citizenship and PSHE with religious education built into the world studies course. It is supplemented by a range of vocational options that students can take at local further education colleges. The curriculum planning supports teaching well and provides many opportunities for students to use their developing literacy and numeracy skills across most subjects. Students learn how to keep safe and to recognise threats and dangers through the very well designed personal, social and health education (PHSE) programme. This enables students to gain a good understanding of issues related to staying healthy, drugs and relationships.

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Quality of curriculum Good

Students enjoy a good range of physical education activities including football, basketball and climbing, which all have a good impact on improving their physical skills, health and fitness. Regular outings, such as to museums, local places of interest and an outdoor activities centre extend students’ knowledge of their locality and of aspects of the wider world. Appropriate advice about future options is provided for students through regular meetings with their key staff, through lessons and through visits from careers advisers.

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Students’ welfare, health and safety Good

Provision for students’ welfare, health and safety is good. It is characterised by a high level of commitment to students’ wellbeing and care. A range of effective health and safety policies has been produced and they are consistently well implemented at both of the school’s sites. For example, the behaviour management and anti-bullying policies are clear, and their implementation ensures that students are free from harassment and are generally well behaved. Bullying is rare because of the consistent and effective support and guidance provided by the staff, including through discussions in lessons, assemblies and personal, social, and health education. This includes the potential dangers associated with social networking sites and the inappropriate use of text messages. The school is always trying to find ways of strengthening this further including how, giving its rigorous ‘no phones’ policy, it can build the students resilience even more against these

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Students’ welfare, health and safety Good

Staff recruitment is carried out in a thorough and careful manner, and the required single central register is correctly maintained. Staff training in child protection and first aid is thorough, and is regularly updated within the recommended timescales. This includes suitable training, at the appropriate higher level, for the designated safeguarding officers and both deputies. Fire safety is good. Fire drills are routinely carried out at both sites and fire-fighting equipment is subject to regular inspection. All health and safety checks including those for portable equipment are appropriately carried out and recorded.

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Students’ welfare, health and safety Good

Students report that they feel very safe in school and that they receive very good support and guidance, which they value. Supervision in school is provided in a good-humoured manner, which students appreciate. This is demonstrated in the respectful relationships between students and staff, and in the confidence the students have in the support and guidance that they receive. Risk assessments, including those for visits outside school, are thorough. Results are formally recorded and action taken where necessary.

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Leadership and management Good

Leadership and management are good. They are not outstanding because outcomes are not outstanding and because some of the improvements introduced by the new headteacher and new proprietor are not yet fully developed. High expectations for both primary and secondary students, and determination to improve further achievement and personal development is strongly promoted by the school’s leaders, including the proprietors. These are thoroughly shared by the whole school community. This has enabled the school’s leaders to improve outcomes since the previous full inspection and to continue to ensure that all regulations for independent schools are met.

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Leadership and management Good

The proprietor’s Head of Education visits the school regularly and provides effective and valued support for the headteacher and her team. In addition, the head teacher makes good use of opportunities to share practice with other heads in the group and to work with the school improvement partner who also supports other schools in the group. Performance management of staff, and in particular the effective observation of teaching and learning, has been central to improved pupil performance.

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Leadership and management Good

The school knows itself well and thorough self-evaluation carried out by the headteacher informs effective school improvement and development planning. The school’s leaders carefully monitor the safe operation and effectiveness of all off site provision including the vocational training courses that take place in further education colleges.

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Leadership and management Good

The proprietor has recently upgraded all the school’s accommodation and provided a major refit of the primary department. Both buildings provide adequate facilities and classrooms, which are light and airy and well resourced. Facilities in the primary department are excellent. All are well cared for and maintained. Well-designed displays at both sites show inspiring examples of students’ work and contribute to providing an effective and stimulating learning environment.

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Leadership and management Good

All of the required information for parents, carers and others is provided through the school’s extensive brochure and parent information pack. The complaints procedure meets regulatory requirements and is correctly implemented.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding A school which provides an exceptional quality of education and significantly exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 2 Good A school which provides a high quality of education that exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 3 Adequate A school which meets minimum requirements but needs to improve the quality of education it provides. Grade 4 Inadequate A school where minimum requirements are not met and/or the quality of education has serious weaknesses.

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School details

Unique reference number 135218 Inspection number 440221 DfE registration number 855/6025 This inspection was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Type of school Special school for pupils with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties School status Independent school Age range of pupils 7–16 Gender of pupils Boys Number of pupils on the school roll 24 Number of part time pupils 0 Proprietor Horizon Care and Education Chair Stephen Lambert Headteacher Mrs Dawn Clarke Date of previous school inspection 18–19 January 2011 Annual fees (day pupils) £975 to £2000 per week Telephone number 01509 218906 Email address trinityhead@horizoncare.co.uk 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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School details

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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School details

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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School details

inspects to 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 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,

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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