Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School South Street, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3AF

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 19–20 November 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe and most enjoy school. The school values underpin everything. Pupils have a genuine sense of belonging and pride to be part of the school. Staff provide effective care. Everyone is accepted and nurtured.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Since the school has opened, it has improved a lot. Pupils are learning more and doing better in writing, mathematics and, increasingly, in their reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

However, the curriculum has been too narrow in the past. Teachers ensure that pupils experience more subjects now. Even so, pupils do not learn enough across a range of subjects. The quality of education is not yet good.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour in class has improved. However, there is still too much misbehaviour at play times. Pupils say that when bullying happens, staff sort it out. Most pupils work hard. However, when pupils struggle to understand their work, they do not stick at their learning well enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders prioritise activities to help pupils keep fit and healthy, including their mental health. Staff provide strong experiences to help pupils to learn to work and play with others well. The wide-ranging clubs, forest school, sport, and charity work boost pupils’ confidence and their understanding of what it is to be a responsible citizen.

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better?

Over the past two years, the headteacher has laid important foundations to help build a successful school. He has developed a skilled senior leadership team at the same time. Together, they are working determinedly to bring about continuous improvement and eliminate pupils’ underachievement.

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better?

Leaders know that the quality of education is not good enough. The headteacher and his team have built the school’s curriculum from scratch. They have not taken shortcuts or implemented ‘quick fixes’ to mask the root causes of any shortcomings. They are sorting out each aspect in turn.

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better?

Senior leaders, and newly appointed subject leaders, are beginning to upgrade curriculum plans. However, there is not yet agreement about what will be taught and when in every subject. This year, pupils are learning more and acquiring more knowledge in different subjects. However, the school’s curriculum does not demand enough of pupils over time.

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better?

Leaders prioritise the teaching of reading. In the Nursery, children gain a love of stories. They are immersed in nursery rhymes, singing and music. There is a sharp focus on teaching phonics right from the start. Reading books match the sounds that pupils are being taught. So, many pupils gain confidence in reading and do well. However, there are still too many pupils, particularly in Year 3, who do not read fluently. Leaders have reorganised the way in which they teach these pupils. 19–20 November 2019

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However, some pupils are not keeping up or catching up quickly enough yet.

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In mathematics and writing, pupils learn the right things in a logical order. Teachers’ higher expectations mean that more pupils edit and refine their writing well and write with increasing complexity. Many pupils apply their mathematical knowledge well. However, there are occasions when teachers do not respond quickly enough when pupils get stuck. When this happens, pupils find it difficult to concentrate and gaps in their learning persist.

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In the early years, staff and children build positive relationships. Staff plan activities that motivate children to take part. However, staff do not use their assessments well enough to maximise children’s language development. Staff are not doing enough to develop children’s speaking and keep them talking. Leaders do not have a sharp enough focus on this.

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The trust ensures that leaders prioritise developing pupils’ basic maths and English skills well. However, the trust has spent too long changing the systems it uses to hold school leaders to account. Consequently, while important curriculum work has started, the trust has not ensured that the full range of subjects are taught in key stage 2. As a result, current pupils are still missing out.

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Leaders identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) accurately. Most pupils with complex needs are doing exceptionally well. However, some pupils are not receiving support that matches their learning needs and do not achieve their potential. Teaching misses out important steps in their learning.

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Higher expectations mean that pupils’ poor behaviour in lessons is now rare. Nevertheless, some low-level disruption in lessons still happens.

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Every effort is made to enrich pupils’ learning beyond the classroom. Leaders have invested heavily in developing a curriculum, based on the school’s Christian values, to help pupils become responsible and serve the community well. Pupils are tolerant and have a strong understanding of right and wrong. They gain a strong appreciation of other cultures and religions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Trustees ensure that all aspects of staff recruitment meet requirements. Leaders have strengthened the systems that keep pupils safe. Training for staff about safeguarding is up to date, including the administration of medicines. Staff apply their training appropriately to identify when pupils are at risk of harm. They know how to make referrals to external agencies and they do this in a timely way. Leaders are astute in ensuring that the more stringent systems now in place are acted upon swiftly to keep pupils safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not ambitious enough. It does not yet include a clear sequence and progression of what is to be learned for every subject. Pupils do not learn the depth of knowledge they should. Leaders need to ensure that what is taught and when is refined across key stage 2. Teachers need to ensure that they implement this curriculum and that it enables pupils, including those with SEND, to learn enough across all foundation subjects.  The trust has changed its methods for holding school leaders to account. The trust has not held leaders to account for delivering a full curriculum. As a result, pupils have missed important learning. Systems for holding leaders to account for the quality of education remain fragile. The trust needs to hold leaders to account stringently for planning and implementing a well-sequenced and demanding curriculum.  Senior leaders and/or subject leaders do not assure themselves that curriculum

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

plans are implemented sufficiently well. Pupils are not learning as much across the curriculum as they should. The trust needs to ensure that all subject leaders have the necessary knowledge and skills to lead their subjects well. Senior leaders need to ensure that the school’s subjects plans are implemented properly so that pupils learn and remember more.  Leaders are tackling pupils’ underachievement head on. However, this is taking longer in reading. There are too many pupils, particularly in Year 3, who do not have the phonic knowledge and language comprehension they need to read with accuracy and understanding. Leaders must ensure that these pupils catch up quickly.  Teachers and adults are not doing enough to support children’s early language development. Staff interactions with children do not give children enough practice at talking. Leaders need to do more to assure themselves that everything is being

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

done to boost children’s early language development.  Teachers do not use their assessments precisely enough to deal with pupils’ misconceptions in lessons. When pupils are given work that is too easy or too hard, pupils’ concentration wanes. As a result, pupils’ learning slows. Leaders need to ensure that staff use their assessments astutely to plan onward learning. Teachers need to identify pupils’ misconceptions when they arise and address them, so that pupils’ gaps in learning are minimised, and no learning time is lost.  Incidences of poor behaviour have reduced markedly across the last year. However, there are still too many incidences of poor behaviour on the playground. Leaders need to ensure that pupils’ behaviour and conduct are consistently good.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 19–20 November 2019

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 19–20 November 2019

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Holy Trinity Primary School converted to become an academy on 1 September 2017. When its predecessor school, Holy Trinity Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be inadequate.  The school is part of the Redstart Learning Partnership (TRLP), a multi-academy trust of nine primary schools. It is part of the Taunton Hub of schools. The deputy chief executive officer (CEO) for the Taunton Hub oversees the work of this school. There is also a CEO with the overall responsibility for the school’s work.  The head of school has been in post since the school opened. He is the operational day-to-day headteacher of the school. There is also an assistant headteacher. The leader for SEND is new to her role. She has previously worked in another school within the TRLP.  The school has a Nursery provision for two- and three-year-olds.  The school has a number of pupils who previously attended other schools in TRLP

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Information about this school

who required a ‘fresh start’ and were previously at risk of permanent exclusion.  Holy Trinity Primary School is a Church of England School. It is voluntary aided. It has not yet received its section 48 inspection. This is due in 2020. 19–20 November 2019

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector held a meeting with two trustees and two members of the academy ethos and welfare committee. She also held a telephone conversation with the chair of trustees of TRLP. She met with the deputy CEO of TRLP.  Inspectors met with the head of school, the assistant headteacher and the leader of SEND. Inspectors also met with subject leaders and a newly qualified teacher. Inspectors talked to a full range of staff during the inspection  Inspectors checked that safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented effectively. Inspectors talked to pupils and staff about the culture of safeguarding in the school. They also reviewed pupils’ exclusion records, administration of medicines, the school’s safeguarding action plans and site safety.  Inspectors did deep dives in these subjects: reading, English, mathematics, science and physical education. This entailed discussions with subject leaders,

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Information about this inspection

visits to lessons, looking at examples of work, discussions with teachers, discussions with pupils and listening to pupils read.  Inspectors gathered the views of parents. Inspectors considered the 58 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire and free-text comments. They also reviewed the school’s internal parental survey. The lead inspector considered staff and pupil surveys as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Julie Carrington, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jo Briscombe Ofsted Inspector 19–20 November 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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