Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School

Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School Fraser Street, Bilston, WV14 7PD

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  School leaders and governors are relentlessly focused on securing the very best for their pupils. Consequently the school has improved still further since its last inspection.  From the moment they start in the nursery, children achieve exceptionally well, and this continues throughout the school. A few younger pupils need even more help with their writing.  By the time pupils leave in Year 6 they are extremely well prepared for their next stage, educationally and personally. Their attainment in English and mathematics is well above average.  Pupils eligible for the pupil premium make phenomenal progress and out-perform all pupils in the school and all pupils nationally, particularly in Key Stage 2.  Leaders are outstanding role models and they successfully coach and mentor all staff. As a result teaching is at least good and is often outstanding.  Support for pupils and families who need extra

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

emotional assistance, and support for those pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs, are outstanding. The work of other adults is exemplary in helping these pupils achieve their very best.  Information on pupils’ needs and capabilities is used remarkably well to ensure all pupils, regardless of ability or background, make the best possible progress.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. They have very mature attitudes to their learning. Pupils are very proud of their school and feel very secure in it.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is also outstanding.  There is an exceptionally positive learning atmosphere throughout the school. Everyone says they consider their school to be like one ‘big happy family’.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 15 lessons. Some of these observations were undertaken jointly with the deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body, members of staff and a representative from the local authority.  The inspectors took account of the views of 10 parents who responded to the online questionnaire Parent View. The inspectors also looked at the school’s most recent survey and talked to some parents at the beginning of the school day.  The inspectors observed the school’s work, heard some pupils read, and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own information about pupils’ learning and progress, planning and monitoring documents, the school development plan, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and safeguarding information.  The inspectors analysed 26 questionnaires from staff.

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Inspection team

Mary Hinds, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Ann Gill Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  The percentage of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium (which provides additional funding for pupils in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals) is almost twice the national average.  Just over half of the pupils are of White British heritage. The rest of the school population are from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, the largest being Asian.  Almost a third of pupils speak English as an additional language, which is much higher than the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is well above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The school meets the current floor standards, which set out the government’s minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Provide even more support for the younger pupils who find writing hard.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage achieve well. From very low starting points when they enter the nursery, children quickly gain in confidence and make good and often outstanding progress, particularly in their personal development and speaking and listening skills. However, their early reading, writing and numeracy skills are still below that which is typical for their age when they enter Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Progress across Key Stage 1 has improved. The results in the phonics check (the letters that sounds make) for the last two years have been well-above average. All groups now make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics, because the quality of teaching has been significantly strengthened. The gap that previously existed between pupils’ literacy skills and mathematical skills has been closed, as a result of the school’s concerted effort to develop pupils’ number and calculation skills. Nevertheless, those who find writing difficult do not achieve as well as other groups in their writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 From broadly average starting points at the beginning of Key Stage 2, all groups of learners, including the most able pupils, make outstanding progress in all three subjects. The gap between English and mathematics was again closed in 2013. Progress rates in mathematics were as rapid as they have been for a considerable time past in English.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils leave the school in Year 6 with attainment which is well above average. Furthermore, the most able pupils achieve equally as well as all other groups. For example, the proportion of pupils reaching Level 5 in 2013 was 50% higher than the national averages, in reading, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mathematics, and almost 20% of pupils achieved more than the national average in writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils supported by the pupil premium in Year 6 made even more progress than other pupils and all pupils nationally in all three subjects. The gap between these two groups closed in 2013 resulting in these pupils being just over a term behind in writing, a term and a half in mathematics, but a term ahead in reading. This represents outstanding achievement, given the high attainment of those pupils who are not supported by the pupil premium. They outperformed similar groups nationally by at least one year in both English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar progress to their classmates. They learn at such a good and often rapid pace because adults have an in-depth understanding of where individual pupils are in their learning, and how they learn best, so that they are able to provide the right support. All adults are highly vigilant in identifying any pupils in danger of falling behind and quickly adjust their teaching and resources to boost their progress.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Those pupils who speak English as an additional language make rapid progress across the school in both literacy and mathematics. This is because they have effective support from their friends, and adults, including bi-lingual adults who are adept at developing their vocabulary, and speaking and listening skills.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching is never less than good and is frequently outstanding. This is because leaders have trained, supported and mentored all staff. They are outstanding role models themselves and they inspire staff to be outstanding too.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and they use this and their deep understanding of what pupils can do and what they need to learn next, to plan work which secures outstanding learning and progress. As a result pupils are highly motivated and totally engaged in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 All staff check pupils’ current levels of learning, and annotate their planning to make sure that follow up work builds on what pupils already know. Similarly, teachers are skilled in marking pupils’ work, making sure that pupils’ understand what they have done well and what they need to do to improve. Pupils are given time to practise their work and extend their learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 No learning time is wasted in lessons. For example, in mathematics lessons teachers and teaching assistants constantly checked pupils’ understanding. They picked up on misconceptions and targeted their teaching to clarify pupils’ understanding, asking probing questions to extend their understanding. Similarly, those pupils who found the work easy were asked to complete more demanding work such as identifying three squared numbers that are also palindromes. This secured rapid progress for all pupils.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The teaching of reading is outstanding. In regular reading sessions teachers are adept at asking the right questions to encourage pupils to use and apply their phonics knowledge to read unfamiliar words and to read for meaning. They use every opportunity to promote pupils’ grammar, and extend their understanding of grammatical features; for example, pupils were asked to identify similes as they read their books to one another.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The teaching of writing is equally as strong for almost all pupils. There is an effective balance of the teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling and creative opportunities for pupils to apply these skills at length in English. For example one Year 6 pupil in a powerful diary entry about the ‘Jabberwocky’, wrote ‘I have an adventurous tale to confess. It has remained a secret until now. I would always wonder how I could get the harmless Jabberwocky to become my pet. This story will (literally) make you shed a tear…’ Pupils also practise and hone their writing skills regularly in other subjects.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 However, there are some relative weaknesses for younger pupils who find writing difficult. Children do not have enough opportunities to write on their own, in relevant and exciting situations which motivate them to want to write or to appreciate the purpose of writing. Equally, there are times when some pupils struggle in whole class situations, because they need more support.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Every space is used so that those pupils who need more intensive teaching can work in small groups, on specific tasks. In these sessions those pupils who need additional support, including those who find learning difficult and those pupils eligible for the pupils premium, have targeted and intensive work and support to boost their achievement and confidence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding, which has a significant impact on their learning. A key element of this is the rewards pupils receive when they use positive attitudes to learning. From nursery to Year 6 pupils have ‘learning friends’ which represent these positive learning attitudes. For example, pupils delight in displaying their sticker on the ‘Oscar the Owl’ picture when they are able to think and talk about what they have learn, or on ‘Clara the Cat’ when they are able to ask questions. As a result even the youngest children work on their own, concentrate, persevere and think more deeply about their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Staff have very high expectations and pupils continually strive to meet these. Pupils are able to think very carefully and sensitively about the consequences of their own behaviour. The school can point to powerful evidence which shows the effective impact of their behaviour management strategies, leading to marked improvements for those pupils who previously had the most challenging behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils strive to reflect the school values of ‘aspiring not to have more, but to be more…’ in everything they do, both in lessons and around the school. They are extremely polite and caring. They show pride in their achievements and in their school. Older pupils enjoy taking on extra responsibilities, including helping younger pupils to choose books in the library and reading to them at lunchtime.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying. They are encouraged to think sensitively about the effects of bullying, and they explained to inspectors that they would try to prevent any incidents if they witnessed them. They are encouraged through a wide range of activities to do so, including making videos on the effects of cyber bullying. Pupils say there is no bullying and inspection evidence through the school’s records and discussion with pupils supports this.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The schools’ work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils feel exceptionally well cared for and will often share some of their concerns that they have outside school with staff. This is handled sensitively, but used very effectively to explore issues which develop pupils’ ability to understand and handle risks sensibly, for example, how to deal with harmful substances.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Families and pupils whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable are very well cared for. The school has in partnership with another local school employed a ‘Good Mental Health and Well-being’ worker who supports them when issues are identified or when help is requested. The headteacher works very closely with other outside agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Attendance is average and there are very few persistent absentees. The school works closely with parents and carers to encourage full attendance.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is utterly dedicated and totally focused on securing equality of opportunity for all pupils irrespective of their backgrounds or abilities. Her unshakeable belief and drive to secure success for all pupils and to prepare them for their next stage in education drives the school forward.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Her exceptional vision of excellence is fully shared by the leadership team, staff and governors. She has secured the commitment of everyone and is supported remarkably well by her deputy headteacher and assistant headteachers.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders at all levels are all very experienced and their strengths are used very effectively. Both the deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher are also the English and mathematics subject leaders. The development of staff expertise is central to the success of the school. For example, most leaders are ‘home grown’ as are the teachers.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders are highly analytical and reflective. They rigorously check how well pupils are doing, and review the impact of their work regularly, including at weekly staff meetings. All pupil information is used, including regular tests and assessments, and daily lesson observations. Pupils at risk of underperformance, irrespective of their ability, have tailored teaching to boost their progress. Staff have incisive information about the impact and effectiveness of their work, and therefore know that the pupil premium funding is being used wisely. All staff, including teaching assistants, are held fully to account for the progress pupils make in their classes and groups.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Teachers have targets to ensure that their practice continually improves and that pupils’ progress is rapid. Staff benefit from the expert advice and support of their leaders, to improve their own practice, and they also have specifically tailored training on an individual and whole school basis.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Teaching assistants are also set challenging targets and given effective training. The positive impact of the partnership work between teachers and teaching assistants can be seen in their highly collaborative work in lessons. This all supports the school’s targets for even further improvements.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The subjects, themes and topics that the pupils are taught provide them with many interesting opportunities to learn and make progress. There are many visits and visitors to enrich pupils’ learning. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is developed very well. For example children in the nursery celebrate the Chinese New Year and school assemblies promote pupils’ values of respect, honesty and tolerance.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school’s own analysis identified concerns regarding the obesity of a small minority of pupils, and that some pupils do not feel positive about how they look. The extra funding to promote sport in primary schools is being used effectively to get pupils fitter and healthier physically and mentally, through more regular opportunities for physical exercise using sports coaches and through a wider range of activities after school. There are also plans for staff to benefit from further training.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority also judges the school to be outstanding, and maintains an effective partnership providing moderation of teaching and learning, and assessments. They also hold the funding for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs centrally. They provide advice on how to plan and meet these pupils’ individual needs. Governors have benefitted from training, for example, in safeguarding and how to make better use of data about pupils’ progress. As capacity in the school is exceptionally strong, leaders provide advice and support for weak and failing schools within the local authority.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Many of the governors are well-established, including the Chair of the Governing Body. They meet all their statutory duties, including those for safeguarding pupils.  They work closely with the senior management team and as a result have a good overview of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement, including the quality of teaching. They provide effective support but also ask searching questions about the school’s performance.  Governors are rightly proud of the school and particularly of how successful the school is in breaking down considerable barriers to many pupils’ learning, including those pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium. They know how this funding is spent and the highly positive impact this has on their achievement.  Governors have a good overview of how staff performance is managed, and how this process relates to pay to ensure that good teaching is suitably rewarded. They are keen to maintain a

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The leadership and management are outstanding

strong and effective teaching team by placing a strong emphasis on keeping good teachers and developing the skills of potential future leaders already on the staff.  They make good use of available analyses and documentation to monitor pupils’ progress, because they have attended training, including a governor conference which highlighted the school data dashboard as a tool for governors to use. However, by their own admission they need further training on school data and already have training planned in the near future.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 104378 Local authority Wolverhampton Inspection number 431535

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 244 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ann Ramsbottom Headteacher Carroll McNally Date of previous school inspection 25 March 2009 Telephone number 01902 558977 Fax number 01902 558978 Email address holytrinityprimaryschool@wolverhampton.gov.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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 and as part of the inspection.

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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

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, please

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School details

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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