Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

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

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Mrs Deborah Lloyd-Wright Acting headteacher Holy Trinity CofE Primary School Sedding Street London SW1X 9DE

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Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 December 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Your appointment as acting headteacher followed the retirement of a longstanding headteacher. Governors quickly ensured that you had support from the headteacher at an outstanding school. Your outward looking approach has also ensured positive links with a second local school. You and the governors have worked closely to appoint a leadership team, including new-to-post middle leaders. This has been effective in ensuring that all leaders and staff understand the strategic vision for the school. As a result, you have maintained the good quality of education and successfully tackled the areas for development since the last inspection. Leaders agree that the middle leaders will benefit from further training to develop their skills in order to support raising pupil standards in their specific subjects.

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Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Your commitment to providing pupils with a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum is evident in the high-quality displays. The new middle leaders share your vision for ensuring high pupil standards. You have established clear and consistent values and expectations of behaviour that pupils understand and follow. Hard work by all staff across the split site ensures that the challenge of maintaining a ‘one school’ feel is successful. Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning ensure that they work well together so they can do their best. Pupils behave very well. They are kind and considerate to each other and talk about their school with pride. The Christian values underpin the effective pastoral work of the school. As one pupil said, ‘We are a generous school and we all get on well together.’ The strong relationships nurtured in school give pupils confidence that they are cared for and safe. They have lofty ambitions for themselves, including wanting to be scientists,

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Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

vets and to study marine biology. Pupils have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves safe online.

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Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Leaders, including governors, ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of high quality. The record of pre- employment checks on the suitability of staff to work with children meets statutory requirements. Staff training in safeguarding is thorough when they start at the school. New staff know what to do should they have any concern about a child. You deal swiftly with any safeguarding concerns that may arise. The school’s effective work with external agencies means that the shared information ensures that families are well supported.

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Short inspection of Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

Parents are supportive of the school’s work to ensure that their children are taught well and kept safe. One parent wrote, ‘It is a small school with a big heart.’

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Inspection findings

 My first line of enquiry was to focus on the effectiveness of leaders’ actions to address the historically high level of persistent absence for a number of groups of pupils.  Leaders have put in systems that track pupils’ attendance more closely. This enables them to provide the appropriate support for families that are more vulnerable. When reasons for low attendance are identified, effective plans are put in place to ensure that pupils’ attendance improves. The school works sensitively with a number of families. This may involve a phone call before school to ensure that pupils feel more confident in coming into school. I found that leaders’ actions have been successful and current attendance is at 96%, which is now in line with the national average. Leaders agree that this work will continue to ensure that their actions ensure a reduction in the current persistent absence of a small group of pupils.

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Inspection findings

 Attainment in mathematics over the last three years, by the end of key stage 2, had not been as consistent as in reading and writing. There was an improvement in 2017. I wanted to check that this is being sustained for the current pupils by the end of key stage 2.  The school’s ‘mastery’ approach to teaching mathematics provides pupils with ample opportunities to develop secure number knowledge. Their confidence in manipulating larger numbers is evident in their books. They are successful in using their calculation methods to solve a variety of word problems. Teachers use resources well to support pupils’ learning. Pupils enjoy their mathematics lessons. Work is pitched appropriately. Teacher guidance ensures that pupils receive useful advice. Pupils use this well to improve their work. Current assessment information indicates that pupils continue to make strong progress across the school.  I also considered the effectiveness of leaders’ deployment of the pupil premium

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Inspection findings

grant to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, particularly the most able at the end of key stage 1. In 2017, the proportion of pupils who exceeded the expected level was below the national average in reading and writing .  Leaders have rightly identified this area as a school priority. They ensure that the additional funding enables pupils to access a variety of services outside school hours. For example, pupils can attend breakfast club or ‘Early Bird’ classes to ensure that they have a positive start to the day. By the end of Year 6, results show that disadvantaged pupils’ progress is better than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders agree that this remains a focus to ensure that younger pupils receive appropriate support to secure swifter improvements to diminish in-school differences between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.  We also agreed to look at the number of pupils on track to reach the expected

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Inspection findings

standards in the phonic screening check. Although historically the number of pupils reaching the pass mark was strong, this dipped in 2017. Following analysis of the results, leaders attribute this to a higher than usual number of pupils requiring additional support. These pupils now have education, health and care plans. They are receiving bespoke programmes of work to enable them to catch up. The school’s information shows that pupils are successful in the Year 2 re- takes of the screening check. Current information indicates a greater proportion of pupils are on track to meet the standards by the end of Year 1.  A range of reading programmes and effective strategies enable pupils to develop their reading skills well. Those pupils who I heard read demonstrated how they are gaining the appropriate comprehension skills to look beyond the written word. Reading journals show pupils’ responses to a variety of more challenging

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Inspection findings

texts become stronger as they move up the school. The new assessment system tracks progress at group and individual pupil level, with teachers presenting their records of their progress to leaders every half term. This has ensured that pupils quickly receive the help they need to improve their reading skills. The school’s information shows that pupils are now making faster progress.  Finally, we agreed to examine work of the new-to-post middle leadership team to evaluate their impact on raising standards.  This small group of leaders are knowledgeable about their subjects. They appreciate the commitment from the senior leaders to develop their roles as middle leaders. They are enthusiastic about receiving more professional development so they can continue to effectively support teachers. The links with the two local schools are having a positive impact on having opportunities to share good practice. Leaders agree that their development is an ongoing focus

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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

 the pupil premium funding is having a positive impact on diminishing the in- school difference between the most able disadvantaged pupils and their peers so that a greater proportion of these pupils exceeds the national standards by the end of key stage 1  further development of the middle leaders’ skills enables them to demonstrate their impact on raising pupils’ standards.

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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 London, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Kensington and Chelsea. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, the headteacher of the link school who is providing support to the school, your senior and middle leaders and four governors, including the chair. I undertook joint lesson observations with yourself and the acting deputy headteacher. I met with the local authority representative and diocesan link adviser. I spoke to pupils in classrooms and members of the school council. I heard pupils from Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6 read. I looked at a sample of pupils’ work in books and took account of the school’s information about standards and progress. I reviewed a range of documentation, including the school development plan, the school’s self-evaluation, action plans and safeguarding information and records. I took account of 13 staff responses to the inspection questionnaire and 42 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.

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