Trinity College

Trinity College Moor Lane, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 1BA

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher has very high expectations both of her staff and of the pupils. She is determined that pupils should achieve well at the school.  Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well. Pupils show respect towards the staff and each other.  Teachers plan learning activities effectively to meet pupils’ individual needs, and to engage them well in their learning.  Most pupils make strong progress in their learning, often from very low starting points.  Pupils’ attendance at the school is high, especially in the primary provision. This is because staff support pupils well to attend school regularly.  Senior leaders monitor the quality of teaching closely. They provide effective support and challenge to teachers where it is necessary.  The carefully designed curriculum encourages pupils to engage well with their learning, become secure in key life skills and develop their confidence.  The school works well with the local authorities

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

who have children in their care who attend the school.  All staff work conscientiously to keep pupils safe. Pupils say they feel safe at the school.  Pupils receive effective preparations for their next steps when they leave the school.  The chief executive officer of the company that owns the school is fully committed to improving the pupils’ life chances. He knows and supports the school very well.  Staff closely monitor the well-being, attendance and progress of pupils who receive their education away from the school site.  Pupils receive effective opportunities to secure their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Staff work hard to ensure that pupils learn to respect all people.  The school has begun to work well with other local schools to develop further the quality of teaching and assessment, and of leadership.  Some teaching assistants are not as effective as others in working with teachers to support

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils in their learning.  Not all pupils develop their numeracy skills as quickly and securely as they do their communication and literacy skills.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the development of pupils’ numeracy and mathematical skills is as secure as that of their communication and literacy skills.  Ensure that all teaching assistants are fully effective in supporting pupils in their learning.  Extend the school’s working with other local schools, to provide all staff with opportunities to learn from the practice of professionals who work elsewhere.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The proprietor has ensured that the school meets all of the independent school standards.  The headteacher has created a culture of high expectation, both of the staff and of the pupils. She has worked diligently to ensure that pupils receive effective support from all of the adults who work with them. Staff and pupils respond well to these high expectations.  Senior leaders regularly monitor the quality of teaching, and the impact that this is having on pupils’ progress. They have a precise understanding of the progress that the pupils make. They identify quickly when pupils require further support to make good progress.  Senior leaders manage teachers’ performance well. In so doing, senior leaders provide teachers with effective support and challenge. This is particularly the case where they identify classroom practice that does not meet their high expectations.  Senior leaders work closely with the local authorities that have children in their care who

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

attend the school. This close support for these pupils allows them to make good progress in their learning and in their personal development. Senior leaders use the additional government funding that is available well to support these pupils.  The well-designed curriculum provides pupils with effective opportunities to become secure in their knowledge, skills and understanding of a broad range of subjects. Teachers adapt the curriculum effectively, planning activities that enable pupils to engage well with their learning, and make good progress.  Wide-ranging extra-curricular activities are successful in reinforcing the learning pupils achieve through the curriculum. Pupils undertake regular educational visits, both locally and further afield. These enable them to learn about the society within which they live, and develop their understanding of the topics that they are studying.  All staff support pupils well to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

understanding. Pupils consider different cultures, religions and political beliefs through their study of the curriculum, including their ‘values and beliefs’ lessons. They also consider current topical issues in assemblies, and through their informal discussions with the staff during their social time. As a result, pupils have a secure understanding of cultural, religious and political differences, and of the need to respect all people.  The leader who oversees the pupils’ education, health and care (EHC) plans works closely with the teaching assistants to ensure that the pupils receive appropriate support. However, some teaching assistants are not fully effective in ensuring that pupils receive the support that they need, and make the progress that they should.  Senior leaders engage well with the local authority and with local schools to develop further the quality of the school’s provision. This ensures that the senior leaders have a

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

precise view of the quality of the school’s provision, and that their own practice is sharp and effective. Senior leaders rightly recognise that they must now ensure that all staff are able to take advantage of the opportunity to work with professionals from other schools.  The school meets the independent school standards in relation to the material change that the school has applied for.

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Governance

 The chief executive officer (CEO) of the company that owns the school is passionate about the welfare and academic success of the pupils who attend the school.  The CEO has a very precise understanding of the quality of the school’s provision. He has achieved this through ensuring that senior leaders within the company, and professionals external to the school, undertake regular checks on the school’s provision.  The accurate view that the CEO has of the quality of the school’s provision allows him to provide appropriate levels of challenge to the school’s leaders. He is determined to ensure that the quality of the school’s provision and environment enables all pupils to make good progress, and to prepare well for their life when they leave the school.  In this, the CEO is quick to respond to any requests that the school’s leaders, or the pupils, make to improve the school’s environment or increase the range of educational

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Governance

resources. The CEO, for example, has recently organised for the creation of a room to which pupils can go when they feel upset. This was a direct response to pupils’ wishes.  The CEO has a secure understanding of the actions that he must take when there are safeguarding concerns about any of the school’s pupils. This includes those actions he must take when there are concerns about the actions of an adult towards a pupil. Systems for dealing with any such allegations, should they arise, are robust.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The leaders who are responsible for safeguarding work closely as a team to support those pupils about whose welfare they have concerns. They are quick to share their concerns with pupils’ parents or with the children’s homes at which the pupils live. The leaders work closely with local agencies to ensure that pupils receive appropriate support.  Staff receive regular training on safeguarding, including through completing a comprehensive training booklet. Because of this, staff fully understand their safeguarding responsibilities, and are aware of the different types of abuse and the signs to look for. They know the actions they must take when they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare.  Staff meet daily to discuss each pupil’s welfare. These meetings enable all staff to have a detailed insight into each pupil’s well-being, and remind staff of the need to be vigilant.

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Safeguarding

 Staff complete detailed risk assessments when taking pupils off the school site. Leaders also undertake thorough risk assessments of pupils’ behaviour. These risk assessments help staff to keep pupils safe and to support pupils in managing their own behaviour.  Senior leaders have ensured that the school’s safeguarding policy is available on the school’s website. This policy comprehensively reflects the latest government guidance on safeguarding.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers use their knowledge of pupils’ prior attainment well to plan activities that meet individual pupils’ needs. Because of this, all pupils, including the most able, become secure in their knowledge, skills and understanding of the subjects that they study.  Teachers are quick to establish pupils’ individual interests. They carefully craft learning activities around these interests to enable pupils to engage well with their learning and to become secure in their understanding.  Teachers use questioning effectively to check on pupils’ understanding. They are quick to identify and resolve any misconceptions that pupils may have. They regularly adapt their teaching to ensure that pupils are secure in their understanding.  There are strong relationships between the pupils and their teachers and teaching assistants. This is because of the work that teachers undertake to plan activities that encourage pupils to engage in their learning.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teachers actively promote pupils’ interest in reading. Extra-curricular activities, such as celebrating World Book Day, reinforce this promotion of reading. Because of this, pupils make strong progress in their ability to read.  All teachers and teaching assistants are robust in challenging pupils who may use derogatory language or who may express prejudiced opinions. This has led to a significant decline in the occurrence of such incidents.  On occasions, some teaching assistants are not fully effective in supporting pupils in their learning. This is because they are not always suitably involved in planning the pupils’ learning. Where this is the case, the pupils do not make as much progress as they should.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. This is due to the careful planning that staff undertake to create activities that appeal to pupils’ interests, and that encourage pupils to engage with their learning.  Pupils develop a secure understanding of the need to respect people who are different to them, including those whose differences meet the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. Staff are quick to challenge on those rare occasions that pupils do not show such respect.  Pupils in the secondary provision receive effective impartial careers advice and guidance that prepares them well for their next steps when they leave the school. Senior leaders continue to monitor the welfare of pupils once they have left the school. In so doing, they provide pupils with appropriate support to help them adapt to their new places of study.

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Personal development and welfare

 All pupils in Years 10 and 11 take part in work experience, including working in local businesses, shops and restaurants. These opportunities enable pupils to develop their self-confidence and to explore their career aims.  Senior leaders effectively monitor the attendance, welfare and progress of those pupils who receive some of their education elsewhere. The pupils who attend these placements make sustained progress in both their learning and their personal development.  Pupils learn how to be safe, including online and when out in the local community. All of the pupils who met the inspector said that they feel safe at the school, and that they have someone that they can speak to when they do have a concern. They are confident that staff will help them to resolve their concern.  Through their own cultural diversity and their own actions, staff provide excellent role models to pupils for the promotion of tolerance and respect for all. Pupils themselves

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Personal development and welfare

have now begun to challenge other pupils who express intolerant attitudes. Staff told the inspector that, as a result, there has been a marked decline in bullying and in incidents of a racial or homophobic nature. The school’s behaviour records confirm this to be the case. Leaders are rightly committed to continuing their drive to reduce even further incidents of bullying and of pupils’ use of derogatory language.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils’ attendance at the school is higher than the national average for similar schools. Leaders provide close support to pupils who find it difficult to attend school regularly.  Pupils conduct themselves well around the school site, and during social times. At all times, staff provide effective supervision. They are quick to challenge pupils where their behaviour may not meet the school’s high expectations.  Pupils who can present challenging behaviours receive close support from all staff. Because of this, the pupils learn how to manage their own behaviour more effectively. As a result, their engagement in inappropriate behaviour is now reducing significantly.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 All pupils, including the most able, arrive at the school with levels of attainment that are below those expected for their age. This is due to their previous educational experience.  Teachers and leaders are quick to ensure that they gather an accurate understanding of pupils’ levels of ability. They use this to plan lessons that meet pupils’ needs. Because of this, pupils, including the most able, become secure in their knowledge, skills and understanding across a range of subjects. In so doing, they make strong progress.  Teachers’ careful planning of pupils’ learning enables pupils to grow in confidence. This contributes to their personal development, and prepares them well for their next steps.  All pupils in last year’s Year 11 left the school with appropriate qualifications that enabled them to move on successfully to places of further education or training. For most of these pupils, their attainment reflected good progress during their time at the school.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 The school’s performance information indicates that most pupils in current Years 10 and 11 are making strong progress. They are on track to achieving their challenging targets across a range of academic and work-related qualifications. The books that the inspector looked at confirmed this to be the case.  Pupils’ attainment and progress in the primary provision are strong. This is due to the high-quality care, support and personalised teaching that these pupils receive.  Pupils in the secondary provision make particularly strong progress in the creative subjects, such as art, design and technology, and food technology.  Most pupils make strong progress in developing their communication skills, including their reading skills. This is due to the strong focus that teachers have placed on developing pupils’ ability to read, write and spell.  The progress that pupils make in developing their mathematical and numeracy skills is not

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Outcomes for pupils Good

as high as that achieved in developing their communication and literacy skills.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, 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 Other independent special school

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29–31 January 2014

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Information about this school

 Trinity College is an independent special school for pupils who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties.  All of the pupils at the school have education, health and care (EHC) plans.  The school is owned by Horizon Care and Education. This company took ownership of the school in 2013.  The school works with two alternative providers which provide pupils with education off the school site. These are: Brolay Care Farm; and Loughborough Youth Development Project.  The school’s last standard inspection took place on 29–31 January 2014.  An emergency inspection of the school took place on 1 July 2014. At this inspection, inspectors found that the school did not meet the independent school standards that relate to pupils’ welfare, the recruitment of staff, and the school’s curriculum.  A further emergency inspection took place on 11–12 December 2014. At this inspection, inspectors found that the school did not meet independent school standards relating to

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Information about this school

pupils’ welfare and the recruitment of staff.  A progress monitoring inspection that took place on 10 November 2015 found that the school met all of the independent school standards.  Since the progress monitoring inspection, there has been a change in headteacher. The current headteacher started at the school in December 2015.  All of the pupils in both the primary and secondary provision now receive their education on the Trinity College site at Moor Lane.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector undertook a tour of the school site, to check the facilities against Part 5 of the independent school standards.  In line with the request from the Department for Education, the inspector inspected Parts 3, 4 and 5 of the independent school standards for the purpose of reporting on the school’s proposed material change. This change will see the number of pupils on the school roll increase from 30 to 42.  The inspector observed learning taking place in 10 lessons. During these occasions, he spoke with pupils and looked at pupils’ work.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at the breakfast club and at breaktime. During this time, the inspector spoke with pupils.  The inspector looked at pupils’ books from across a range of subjects. This was in addition to those books that he looked at when visiting lessons.  The inspector held meetings with: the headteacher; the leaders responsible for

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding; the leader responsible for behaviour; the special educational needs coordinator; the proprietor; and a selection of staff. The inspector also held meetings to discuss the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.  The inspector spoke with representatives of the two alternative providers that provide pupils at the school with education away from the school site. He also spoke with representatives from two of the local authorities that have children who are in their care at the school. The inspector also spoke with an education professional who the company engages with to monitor the quality of the school’s provision.  The inspector took into account the 23 responses to the staff survey. There were too few responses to the online parent survey, Parent View, and its accompanying free-text service for the inspector to be able to make an analysis of parents’ views.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation relating to the school’s provision,

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Information about this inspection

including those concerning: the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan; pupils’ attainment and progress; EHC plans; the personal education plans of children who are in the care of the local authority; behaviour and attendance; safeguarding; accessibility plans; and complaints against the school. The lead inspector also checked the school’s single central register and the school’s systems for recruiting staff.

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Inspection team

Simon Hollingsworth, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

Parent View 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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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