Trinity School

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

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Mrs Susan Ball Headteacher Trinity School Heathway Dagenham Essex RM10 7SJ

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Short inspection of Trinity School

Following my visit to the school on 5 June 2018 with Barney Geen, Ofsted Inspector, 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 outstanding in November 2014.

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Short inspection of Trinity School

This school continues to be outstanding.

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Short inspection of Trinity School

You and the leadership team have maintained the outstanding quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As a part of the governing body’s succession plan, you and the senior leadership team held different responsibilities within the school prior to your appointment as headteacher.

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Short inspection of Trinity School

The school provides for pupils who have a range of complex needs and you have developed three different approaches for the different groups of pupils which are used consistently across the school. Leaders have also developed a staged response to behaviour with a number of different strategies.

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Short inspection of Trinity School

In partnership with the local authority you, leaders and governors have set up the Living and Learning Centre. This caters for pupils who have experienced difficulties in managing a place in a special school. You have oversight of this centre as part of your role. The centre uses the same systems and structures as the school, but with a more specialised focus.

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Short inspection of Trinity School

The role of middle leaders has been enhanced to develop teachers’ knowledge and skills in the areas of curriculum, assessment and behaviour. This is tailored to individual needs with new teachers receiving greater support. This support ensures high-quality planning and recording across the whole school. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of Trinity School

Safeguarding practice and procedures are effective and fit for purpose. Staff maintain a calm atmosphere which helps pupils to feel safe at school. Leaders, staff and governors ensure that all the required safeguarding checks are in place. Parents and carers who spoke to an inspector and completed the questionnaire are happy with the school and feel their child is safe. Effective procedures are in place to promote punctuality and attendance and to ensure that pupils’ whereabouts are known. Governors routinely check the effectiveness of safeguarding through meetings with key staff. Staff are provided with training on safeguarding when they arrive at the school and this is regularly updated. Staff and governors get regular safeguarding information updates through a safeguarding newsletter.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed to look at how effective leaders have been in ensuring that the school provides for all pupils, including those who display challenging behaviour. This is an aspect of the school’s work which you and leaders felt was a strength.  There is a calm, consistent approach to behaviour management throughout the school. Effective systems and procedures are in place to record behavioural incidents. These are analysed and discussed on a weekly basis to judge the effectiveness of actions to improve pupils’ behaviour.  The school has developed a specific approach to behaviour. The school has a staged approach to the use of strategies, which include the Personal Learning Centre and inclusion class, both of which provide effective support.  Behaviour management is strengthened through work with parents and training for all staff. The successful approach to behaviour focuses on understanding the behaviour and providing alternatives.

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Inspection findings

 The quality of relationships between staff and pupils allows staff to swiftly recognise and support pupils’ emotions. This is particularly evident in the Living and Learning Centre.  We also looked at how well the curriculum is meeting pupils’ needs. This has been a key development focus for the school.  The curriculum is well organised to meet the different needs of pupils. There are three distinct approaches matched to the needs of the pupils and used consistently across the school.  The broad curriculum and extra-curricular opportunities allow pupils to use their skills in a variety of contexts and a range of other professionals support the curriculum offer and delivery. For example, speech and language therapists support planning and deliver some sessions.  Life skills are an important component of the curriculum, particularly in the sixth form, and there is a very wide range of accreditation which is matched to students’

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Inspection findings

needs.  However, some opportunities to promote learning are missed, as there were some examples of work not being matched closely to the pupils’ needs.  We agreed to focus on assessment measures and look at how well these measured pupil progress. This, again, has been a key focus for the school.  The school recently designed an assessment system which measures small steps of progress. Progress is measured against behaviour and pupils’ personal, as well as academic, targets. Middle leaders meet with teachers regularly to discuss assessment.  The school works effectively with other schools to moderate the outcomes of its pupils and is working with other schools to share its successful assessment practice.

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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

 learning activities are consistently matched to pupils’ abilities and their emotional readiness to learn.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

The inspectors carried out the following activities during the inspection:

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Information about the inspection

 meetings with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, a governor and representatives from the local authority  a telephone conversation with the chair of governors  joint visits to classrooms with the deputy headteacher and middle leaders  scrutiny of pupils’ assessment files  informal discussions with parents who were attending a parent group  a review of responses to Ofsted’s questionnaires  scrutiny of documents, including the school’s development plan, safeguarding information and records, and data on pupils’ achievement and attendance  a review of the school’s website.

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