Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Eight Ash Green and Aldham

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Miss Julie Ingram Executive Headteacher Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Eight Ash Green and Aldham Fiddlers Folley Fordham Heath Colchester Essex CO3 9UE

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Ash Green and Aldham

Following my visit to the school on 8 March 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2013.

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Ash Green and Aldham

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As executive headteacher, you have upheld this since the previous headteacher left at the end of the summer term in 2016 and effectively implemented some improvements. A new headteacher will take up post from Easter 2017.

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Ash Green and Aldham

All staff share the vision and promote the ethos of the school. Since your arrival, you have ensured that staff continue to benefit from professional development and the opportunity to share and develop skills through joint training across two schools. Staff willingly take on additional responsibilities so that they can develop further.

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Ash Green and Aldham

Governors are highly supportive of the school and make frequent visits. There have been several recent changes in the membership of the governing body, including the chair of governors. With the forthcoming arrival of the new headteacher, the governors have wisely decided to seek a review of governance to support them in carrying out their role as effectively as possible.

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Ash Green and Aldham

The school values of ‘realising the potential of every child within a caring, Christian Community’ are central to all that happens at Holy Trinity school. The warm relationships that exist between pupils and between them and their teachers shine through. Pupils’ behaviour and their very positive attitudes to learning are a credit to the school. They enjoy school, especially the way the curriculum supports creativity and sport.

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Ash Green and Aldham

As executive headteacher, you have ensured that the learning ethos throughout the school is maintained and you have already started to address areas where further improvement is needed. For example, you have introduced targets and self- assessment sheets in the front of pupils’ books. Pupils can explain the targets they are working towards and how these help them to improve their work. Self- assessment activities are helping pupils to take responsibility for their learning behaviours. Where school assessment information has shown that a few pupils have fallen behind, you have implemented appropriate interventions. You have also identified that in the mixed Year 5 and Year 6 class, Year 6 pupils would benefit from being taught separately from those in Year 5, and have acted swiftly.

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Ash Green and Aldham

Most parents are highly appreciative of the work of the school. Many included the word ‘brilliant’ in their comments. One commented, ‘The leaders have been fantastic supporting the needs of the children currently attending the school.’ One or two parents expressed concerns about the quality of support for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is something that you have identified and are taking steps to address.

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Ash Green and Aldham

You and your leadership team have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that appropriate and detailed records are kept. Leaders with responsibility for safeguarding are well trained and ensure that all staff have regular and appropriate training. This ensures that staff understand their responsibilities in keeping children safe and are clear about what they should do if they have any concerns.

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Ash Green and Aldham

All staff are vigilant about identifying and monitoring pupils who may be at risk. Documentation is detailed and concerns are followed up with urgency and rigour. You work with external agencies appropriately and as necessary.

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Ash Green and Aldham

Pupils feel very happy and safe at the school. The curriculum ensures that they learn how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations. For example, it teaches them about such things as road safety. Pupils also learn how to stay safe online or when using social media and texts.

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Inspection findings

 I had identified several issues to explore with you. These included how much the school has improved since the last inspection. You also asked me to consider the accuracy of assessment information.  The first area for consideration during the inspection was the low attendance of some groups in 2016. We discussed the attendance of individual pupils last year and those currently in school. We also discussed punctuality and the impact on attendance figures of the small number of pupils who are late to school. You have acted to address this issue. You have stringent procedures in place to follow up on absences, particularly for individual pupils whose attendance is low, and you are persistent and proactive in your approach. Most pupils attend regularly and attendance is above average overall.  The early years was the second area of focus. This was because the proportion of children meeting the expected standard of a good level of development has

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Inspection findings

been below that seen nationally for three consecutive years. We discussed these cohorts. Outcomes at the end of the early years were at their lowest in 2015. However, tracking information shows that this group of children did make good progress from the start of the Reception Year. These children are now in Year 2. Tracking information, confirmed by work in books, shows that many have already reached the standard expected by the end of Year 2. This represents good progress for these pupils from the end of their Reception Year.  Inspection evidence shows that children in the current Reception Year benefit from a rich and colourful environment which supports the seven areas of learning well. Detailed learning journeys show that children are making good progress and there are clear targets for their development. Children showed sustained concentration when making puppets and colouring pictures. They collaborate

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Inspection findings

well, for example helping each other sound out words to help spell them.  Reading was the third area of consideration. Although the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard at the end of Year 6 was in line with that seen nationally, a few pupils did not make as good progress as they could have done from the end of Year 2. You provided information about these individual pupils, several of whom had joined the school after the end of Year 2. School tracking information shows that these pupils made good progress from the time they joined the school.  You have identified that pupils generally need to improve their skills of reading between the lines (inference and deduction). To this end, new texts have been introduced across the school to encourage pupils to read for meaning. You have also introduced comprehension texts across the school and ensured that all reading books are matched to the new curriculum. School tracking information

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Inspection findings

shows that a high proportion of pupils in Year 2 have already reached the expected standard in reading. It also shows that pupils in Year 6 are making good progress in their reading and a higher proportion are on track to meet and exceed the expected standard than in 2016.  The fourth inspection focus was around how well the school has improved since the previous inspection. Pupils continue to make good progress across the school. Their attainment at the end of Year 6 in 2016 was above average in reading, writing and mathematics.  At the last inspection, the school was asked to increase the level of challenge for the most able pupils across the school, to enable more to reach the higher levels at the end of each key stage. In 2016, at the end of key stage 1, the proportions of pupils who achieved above the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics were above those found nationally. At the end of key stage 2, the

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Inspection findings

proportions of pupils who achieved above the expected standard were above those found nationally for reading and mathematics and in line with those found nationally for writing.  The previous inspection also asked leaders to build on the good start that had been made to sharing outstanding practice. Teachers are reflective about their own practice and keen to improve their work. There are regular staff meetings where teachers willingly share their good work both within and beyond the school.  Finally, we considered assessment and tracking systems. The school has detailed systems in place to track pupils’ progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. Work in books and other information, such as the outcomes of regular tests, suggest that this information is accurate overall. Meetings with teachers in other local schools to share work in pupils’ books help leaders and teachers to be confident that their assessments are accurate.

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Inspection findings

 When considering pupils’ progress and attainment in writing, not enough account is always taken of their written work in subjects other than English. Topic work is well presented and provides good evidence of the range of skills that pupils can apply in their writing. For example, pupils in the mixed Year 5 and Year 6 class showed clear development in their standards of writing. They had drafted and improved their writing about the Egyptians and this good-quality writing was displayed in the classroom. However, in contrast to the detailed tracking of pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics, the tracking of their progress in other subjects is less well developed.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 teachers consider pupils’ writing in a broad range of subjects as evidence to support their judgements of pupils’ attainment overall in writing and whether they are making sufficient progress  systems to track pupils’ progress in subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics are developed so that they reflect the strengths of tracking in these subjects  the planned review of governance is carried out as soon as possible after the new headteacher takes up her role.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Chelmsford, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Essex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and the newly appointed headteacher, all teachers and one member of the governing body. I also met with a representative from the local authority. I listened to pupils reading and spoke with them formally and informally during breaktimes and in lessons. We visited all classrooms together to observe teaching and learning. I spoke with pupils and looked at work in their books. I also looked in detail at the work in books of pupils in Year 6 and Year 2. I scrutinised safeguarding policies and practice. I considered a wide range of other documentation, including the school’s own evaluation and plans for improvement, and external monitoring reports. I also took account of 34 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and 26 comments received electronically. I spoke with 14 parents when they were bringing their children to school.

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