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Mr David Page Acting Principal Trinity Academy Church Balk Thorne Doncaster South Yorkshire DN8 5BY

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Trinity Academy

Following my visit to your academy on 2 April 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the academy’s recent section 5 inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Trinity Academy

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the academy became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in December 2013.

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Evidence

During this inspection, meetings were held with you, the Executive Principal, other members of the senior leadership team and the Chair of the Governing Body representing the sponsor. I evaluated the sponsor’s statement of action, the academy’s post-Ofsted action Plan and other documents relating to the quality of teaching, student progress in the sixth form and attendance. You took me on a tour of the academy to observe students in lessons.

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Context

Following the previous inspection, the Principal retired. An experienced Executive Principal from another academy in the Emmanuel Schools’ Foundation group CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566939 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: glaw@cfbt.com supports you for two days a week. There have been changes to the roles and responsibilities of some senior leaders and more changes are planned. Six members of staff will leave at the end of this term and new appointments have been made. A School Improvement Board (SIB) has been formed comprising three members of the governing body and three representatives from external organisations.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Following the retirement of the Principal, swift and decisive action was taken to strengthen and reorganise the senior leadership team. Consequently, senior leaders are clear about their responsibilities, have high expectations and understand the challenges they face. You and your colleagues describe clearly priorities in your particular areas for improving outcomes for all students and what steps have already been taken. There is a determination within the senior team to change the accountability of all leaders and staff in the academy. In order to secure this wish, the pro-formas used for different activities have been improved and line- management meetings have a consistent agenda, with all discussions minuted. It is however, too soon to judge the impact of these changes.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The head of sixth form has a comprehensive picture about the progress students are making in different subjects. Use is made of this information to plan extra help for individual students. Again, it is too early to judge if results this year will improve compared to the previous year, but there are some promising signs.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Systems to monitor the quality of teaching are giving senior leaders a better understanding of how much of it is good or better. However, leaders are not measuring progress against the areas for improvement in the previous report. Consequently, it is difficult for members of the SIB to see if the training and mentoring of staff is making a difference. Nevertheless, most staff are engaging positively and want to improve.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Governors’ understanding of how to interpret data and the impact of how the academy uses pupil premium funding has been the initial focus of their training as part of a review of their work. More training is planned. Members of the SIB have met once since the previous inspection with a remit to check on the progress made by the academy.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The sponsor produced a statement of action following the previous inspection. It does not explain how the views of parents will be ascertained and taken into account. Nor does it indicate the actions that will be taken in relation to the areas for development in the previous inspection and the proposed timescale for checking regularly. The post-Ofsted action plan is a comprehensive document indicating the actions planned. It does not meet requirements because there is no reference to students in the sixth form; milestones are general and not linked to the areas for improvement in the previous inspection report. You and the Chair of Governing Body agree that improvements are needed urgently.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Following the monitoring inspection the following judgements were made:

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The sponsor’s statement of action is not fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The academy’s post-Ofsted action plan is not fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Having considered all the evidence, I strongly recommend that the academy appoints no more than three newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection, to teach within geography, science and physical education.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Doncaster. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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