Chilton Trinity School

Inspection of Chilton Trinity School Chilton Street, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 3JA

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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 Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Chilton Trinity School converted to become an academy school in October 2019. When its predecessor school, Chilton Trinity School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall. 4 and 5 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Chilton Trinity is an inclusive school that is based on the traditional values of ‘work hard and be kind’. Pupils are proud to attend this school. They feel safe and have a trusted adult they can talk to about any concerns. Pupils say bullying is rare. If incidents occur, leaders take swift and effective action.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a rich personal development curriculum. This includes learning about eating healthily, issues such as homophobia and how to be respectful citizens. The school runs mock general elections and holds voting for the school council. This helps pupils to understand concepts such as democracy. Pupils appreciate the wide range of opportunities on offer, including the enrichment days. Pupils value the range of extra-curricular opportunities available to them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour in lessons and around the school site is usually calm and orderly. Staff support pupils well and model high expectations. Pupils say that teachers expect them to work hard in lessons. However, too many pupils are not meeting these expectations and continue to display poor conduct. This means some pupils are removed from lessons or receive a fixed-term suspension too frequently.

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better?

Pupils follow a broad curriculum that meets the needs of most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In the strongest subjects, there is a well-designed curriculum throughout key stages 3 and 4. The knowledge that pupils need to succeed is well sequenced and teachers check what pupils have remembered regularly. However, in other subjects, there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Where this is the case, teachers do not have a secure enough understanding of what pupils know and can do, which limits their progress.

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better?

Pupils with SEND are fully included in the life of the school. They have the same curriculum as other pupils. Most of these pupils participate well in lessons. Teachers use the information that leaders provide about pupils’ needs to plan learning carefully. In some subjects, leaders use assessment to consider carefully which areas of the curriculum pupils with SEND may find most challenging. This does not happen in all subjects.

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better?

Leaders do not have a sharp focus on ensuring that pupils at the early stages of reading receive enough support to catch up. There is no clear literacy strategy in place to improve pupils’ spoken and written communication. However, pupils read engaging and diverse texts daily. Leaders have ensured that these texts link closely to the school’s personal development programme.

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better?

There are clear expectations and routines, which means that most pupils demonstrate a positive attitude to learning in lessons. Teachers do not tolerate low- level disruption, and use the school’s behaviour policy effectively. However, this does 4 and 5 May 2022

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not always lead to an improvement in pupils’ behaviour. Therefore, these pupils continue to miss lessons and fall behind in their learning. In addition, some pupils find it difficult to follow the curriculum, partly due to their low attendance. Leaders have not improved the attendance of disadvantaged pupils sufficiently.

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Leaders provide pupils with opportunities to explore different faiths and cultures. They learn about equality and develop their understanding of consent in an age- appropriate way. Pupils benefit from high-quality guidance and advice about careers. Pupils visit universities and listen to talks from people in the community who work in a range of different vocations. The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Leaders know the school well. They have a secure understanding of the areas for further development and have started to make improvements. Leaders consider the well-being of staff. They make changes to deadlines or adjust meetings in response to workload concerns raised by staff. Governors and the trust provide appropriate support and challenge to the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school secures the help that pupils need. There is strong pastoral support and effective links with external agencies when required.

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Safeguarding

Staff record and report any concerns appropriately. Leaders act on this information quickly to keep pupils safe. There is regular, appropriate training for staff and governors. This includes on issues such as knife crime and peer-on-peer abuse.

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Safeguarding

The school has suitable policies in place to raise awareness among staff and parents about the dangers of sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and sexual violence. Pupils are aware of safeguarding risks.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders do not prioritise the development of pupils’ literacy skills. Therefore, some pupils have gaps in their reading fluency and confidence. Leaders should ensure there is a clear reading strategy to address these gaps quickly and effectively.  In some curriculum areas, there is not a clear approach to checking what pupils know and remember. As a result, teachers do not identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge or address misconceptions consistently. Leaders should ensure that assessment is robust across all subjects, so that pupils develop detailed knowledge and skills. 4 and 5 May 2022

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 Some pupils are repeatedly not displaying the positive behaviour leaders expect. This is leading to pupils receiving frequent sanctions and missing out on some aspects of their learning. Leaders should ensure that the behaviour system supports such pupils to secure an improvement in their conduct.

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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are 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. 4 and 5 May 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school has joined the Clevedon Learning Trust since the previous inspection.  The school has a new headteacher since the previous inspection.  The school uses four registered alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, members of the senior leadership team, including the special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders, the trust chief executive officer and the chair and vice-chair of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: mathematics, science, history and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum planning, visited a sample of lessons, spoke 4 and 5 May 2022

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to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also spoke with leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors scrutinised the single central record of adults working in the school. The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead to consider how well the school identifies pupils who are at risk and engages with external services. Inspectors also spoke with a range of pupils and staff about safeguarding.  Inspectors considered 68 responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including 53 free-text comments. Inspectors also considered 64 responses to the staff survey and 73 responses to the survey for pupils.

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Inspection team

Kelly Olive, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gill Hickling Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 May 2022

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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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