Setting

Emma Wigmore, Chief Executive Officer Mike Ferguson, Chair of the Board of Trustees Diocese of Chelmsford, The Vine Schools Trust Diocesan Offices 53 New Street Chelmsford Essex CM1 1AT

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Summary evaluation of Diocese of Chelmsford The Vine Schools Trust

Following the summary evaluation of the trust in June 2023, when I was accompanied by Tessa Holledge, His Majesty’s Inspector and Duncan Ramsey, Ofsted Inspector, I am writing on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the findings.

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Summary evaluation of Diocese of Chelmsford The Vine Schools Trust

The summary evaluation has been conducted in accordance with the provisions of the operational note.

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Summary evaluation of Diocese of Chelmsford The Vine Schools Trust

Thank you for your cooperation during our visit to the trust between Monday 19 June 2023 to Thursday 22 June 2023. Please pass on our thanks to your staff and other stakeholders, who kindly gave up their time to meet us.

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Summary evaluation of Diocese of Chelmsford The Vine Schools Trust

The findings from the summary evaluation and any recommendations for improvement are set out within this outcome letter.

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Context

The trust consists of 23 primary schools. The majority of the academies are located in Essex local authority, with two being based in Thurrock local authority. The trust was established in 2013, and no academies have joined the trust since 2020.

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Context

The trust’s academies vary in size from around 65 pupils in Ridgewell Church of England Primary School to 447 pupils in St James’ Church of England Primary School. Ofsted

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Context

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 Textphone 0161 618 8524 MAT@ofsted.gov.uk www.gov.uk.ofsted The trust is currently formed uniquely of Church of England schools, based in the diocese of Chelmsford. As schools designated as having a religious character, they are all subject to section 48 inspections.

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Context

In the spring 2022 census, 15% of pupils in the trust access special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) support, greater than 12% nationally, although this varies from school to school within the trust.

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Context

The trust board is made up of eight trustees. This group is responsible for the strategic oversight and performance of the trust and its academies.

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Context

Currently, the inspection outcomes for the trust’s academies, including the most recent inspections, are as follows:

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Context

◼ 14 academies are judged to be good ◼ five academies are judged to require improvement ◼ one academy is judged to be inadequate ◼ three academies have yet to be inspected since joining the trust. Two of the three predecessor schools were judged to be good, and one was graded requires improvement.

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Summary of stage 1

At stage 1 of this summary evaluation, nine academies were inspected from September 2022 to May 2023. All these inspections were routine inspections, and carried out under either section 5 or 8 of the Education Act 2005 (the Act), as amended.

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Summary of stage 1

◼ five schools received graded inspections. Of these, four were graded good and one requires improvement. ◼ four schools received ungraded inspections. All schools remained good. In one school, the inspection concluded that the school may not have received a good judgement if a graded inspection had been conducted at the same time. Consequently, its next inspection will be a graded inspection under section 5. ◼ one school in special measures received two monitoring visits in this period. In the most recent visit, it was reported that arrangements for safeguarding were effective and that leaders were taking effective action for the removal of special measures.

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Summary of stage 2

Over the course of the on-site visit to the trust, discussions were held with you and other senior and operational staff. We met with one of the deputy directors for education and trust leaders of governance, safeguarding & well-being, human resources and finance and estates. We met representatives of the board of trustees, including the chair and vice-chair of the board.

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Summary of stage 2

We visited six trust schools that had not been inspected during stage 1 of the summary evaluation process and nine schools in total. In each of these schools, we met with the executive headteachers, the headteachers, other leaders, including designated safeguarding leads, teachers and local school board members with responsibility for local governance.

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Summary of stage 2

We also held virtual meetings with headteachers from three additional schools, two of which had not been visited at stage 1.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Quality of Education

The trust has provided direct leadership and support to its schools in order to provide pupils with an improving quality of education. Until recently, this work has been predominantly reactive and in response to specific weaknesses in core standards. As a result, most curriculum development work has been focused on English and mathematics, including early reading and phonics.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Quality of Education

In line with the trust’s baseline priorities, centralised systems have supported the effective identification of subject and teaching expertise within the schools. This has led to the relevant sharing of best practice between schools, having a positive impact on the curriculum and learning experiences of pupils, including in early reading. Improvements include relevant and efficient use of assessment to help support pupils to make the best possible progress. However, while this has been the case, this work has been narrow in scope. Although there are early positive signs, leaders in the trust have more to do to ensure that high ambitions for curriculum design are widely understood and applied across the breadth of the curriculum. This in turn will ensure there is a sharper focus on the development of foundation subject knowledge for teachers and other staff who deliver the curriculum.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Quality of Education

The trust has established systems for monitoring the quality of education that individual schools provide. School improvement leaders play a pivotal and impactful role in providing challenge and support to individual providers. There are sufficient checks to provide assurance about many aspects of the curriculum, including on elements where schools retain autonomy to make local decisions.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Quality of Education

Moving forward, the trust has ambition to move schools that are now predominantly secure to become even better. To achieve this, the systems used to monitor and engineer further improvements in the quality of education need to be more explicitly clear about high expectations for the curriculum. This should include reference to all the key aspects that contribute to the curriculum being delivered effectively and ensure the best possible progress for pupils, including those pupils with SEND.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Behaviour and Attitudes

The trust has established shared, centralised policies to outline principles and high expectations for pupils’ behaviour, relationships and attendance. Schools have some freedom to adapt and personalise these according to their specific needs, but key values and protocols are standardised and adopted. Targeted advice and training are provided to staff in schools to support the effective personalisation, adoption and implementation of policies. This includes support and training for administration teams who have a key role in managing and tackling pupil absence. All schools have reliable systems in place to share data and relevant information about pupils’ behaviour and conduct. This means the trust, leaders and administration staff are supported to have the information they need to spot data trends and patterns and take swift action, if necessary.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Behaviour and Attitudes

Historic challenges with above-average pupil absence have been tackled by the trust, under the oversight of the safeguarding and well-being lead. Effective use of a working party has been made to draw upon the expertise across the trust and share the best practice identified. As such, schools can be paired for joint working where strengths in provision can support schools facing specific challenges with pupil absence levels. The trust’s actions have had a positive impact in schools and attendance rates are steadily improving, including for pupils who are most persistently absent from school.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Behaviour and Attitudes

Behaviour records, including exclusions and suspensions data, are reviewed regularly by executive leaders and the trust board. Analysis of this data leads to relevant challenge, support and assurances that the agreed policies are fit for purpose. Regular central reviews of safeguarding practices also routinely consider pupils’ behaviour and attendance.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Leadership and Management

Executive leaders in the trust have provided reliable and hands-on support for school leaders, in line with strategic priorities. Although this work has focused on providing a baseline stability to many schools, central leaders have actively engaged and quickly responded to additional ad hoc requests for improvement made by headteachers.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Leadership and Management

Trust leaders have set in place reliable systems, including a dashboard of key performance indicators, to check that the quality of education meets their agreed, secure standard. Where needs are identified, schools are provided with expert and skilled school improvement support. This brings focus and helps to simultaneously develop the leadership abilities and expertise of staff. As a result, leadership and management have improved in many key areas, including the core curriculum offer and safeguarding.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Leadership and Management

Effective use of mentoring, peer coaching and direct leadership support have provided secure models for the ongoing development of leadership at all levels. In the next phase of trust development, the approach taken to develop leaders at all levels need to expand, to routinely include wider aspects of the curriculum that have not been a high priority for some schools. This will ensure leadership and management expertise is grown, by design, to focus on the full breadth of education provision. The trust board has established mechanisms to oversee and support the well-being of staff. This is a key trust priority, rooted in policy and informing the knowledge and practices of local governors. Staff reflect positively on being part of the trust. They say their well-being is considered, and this ensures that they are not at risk of harassment or unnecessary pressures.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Governance

Arrangements for governance are effective and continue to evolve to match the high aspirations of members and trustees. The trust is led with a commitment to collaboration within teams and across schools. Executive leaders actively support schools so that local leaders are able to focus on meeting the needs of their own staff, families and pupils.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Governance

Following a period of significant challenge in the trust, trustees and leaders have prioritised the safety and effective education of its pupils. This has brought the trust into a position of reliable security, laying a foundation for leaders to realise their ambitious vision for further quality and growth. At the centre of the trust’s vision is a commitment to delivering an ambitious curriculum. Leaders know there is more to do to ensure this aim is achieved fully in practice.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Governance

School leaders are held to account effectively by the trust, including through local school boards of governors. However, leaders have recently identified some varied effectiveness in governance arrangements, including some misinterpretation of delegated responsibilities at local board level. Trust leaders are part way through a transformation agenda to address this inconsistency. This is having a significantly positive impact where changes are already embedded, for example in the work to improve accountability and support improvement in pupils’ attendance. In the newly adopted model of local governance, there is distinct clarity about delegated roles and governors are empowered and knowledgeable. This results in very effective oversight from the trust board.

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Impact of the trust on its academies – Governance

The trustees bring a range of expertise and experience to support the ongoing development of the trust. As such, there are assurances about the effective and sustainable actions the board is taking to support school leaders to focus on educational matters. This support includes accessible and reliable expertise for human resources, finance and capital planning.

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Safeguarding

The trust board’s oversight of safeguarding is a strong feature of practice. The model for managing and monitoring arrangements is effective and robust. At an executive level, there is clear strategic leadership provided by a safeguarding and well-being leader. They work directly and closely with leaders across the trust, including strategic links with the work of the leader of governance. This has ensured that policies and precise school systems are highly reliable and well understood. This results in an effective culture of safeguarding across all schools in the trust.

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Safeguarding

The trust has reliable mechanisms for ensuring statutory obligations are met, including recruitment and vetting checks in each school. There are explicitly clear routines for school leaders to regularly report relevant safeguarding data to the board. The transformation of governance practices underway has already benefitted the now-established accountability routines followed by local governors. They have a very clear understanding of their roles and safeguarding responsibilities. They can confidently monitor and question the data provided and respond with effective action where needed.

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Recommendations

◼ The arrangements for local governance have not been consistently effective. This is because local boards have not fully understood all their delegated responsibilities. This has impacted the ability of trustees to provide the degree of support and challenge they aspire to. Trustees and executive leaders should continue to embed the changes to local governance arrangements already underway. This is to ensure that there are clear lines of delegation and that all local governors are knowledgeable and know how best to connect with the trust board and provide highly effective oversight. ◼ There is some variation in the quality of curriculum design between schools, particularly within foundation subjects. As a result, pupils’ quality of learning is not reliably ambitious across the full breadth of the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that leaders at all levels have a clear, shared understanding of effective curriculum design to support pupils in accessing an ambitious

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Recommendations

curriculum in all subjects. ◼ Systems that leaders use to check and support improvement in the quality of education are not consistently explicit about expectations. As a result, trustees do not have the same, high level of assurance about all aspects that contribute to the quality of education, for example the specific impact of provision for pupils with SEND. Leaders should refine their systems to ensure that leaders in all schools have clarity about the trust’s ambitious expectations. This will support trustees to access the most relevant information in order to monitor and further support improvement in its schools. ◼ The approach taken to develop staff expertise across the trust has typically focused on raising standards, especially in the core curriculum. Consequently, there are aspects of subject leadership and teachers’ knowledge that are not as well developed. The trust should capitalise upon established routines used

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Recommendations

for the sharing of best practice to support the further development of teachers’ expertise. This will provide further security in the quality of learning pupils receive across the trust.

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Recommendations

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State for Education and the applicable DfE regional director. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

Academy Information Most recent graded inspection URN Academy name Local Authority Date joined trust Does the inspection relate to the academy in its current form? Inspection date OE grade

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

140180 Southminster Church of England Primary School Essex 01/11/2013 Yes 13/07/2022 4

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

140844 St Cedd's Church of England Primary School Essex 01/06/2014 Yes 24/05/2017 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

140666 Howbridge Church of England Junior School Essex 01/09/2014 Yes 11/12/2019 3

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

141657 St James Church of England Primary School Essex 01/03/2015 Yes 11/01/2018 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

142252 Latchingdon Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Essex 01/09/2015 Yes 04/05/2023 3

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

142775 St Osyth Church of England Primary School Essex 01/05/2016 Yes 17/05/2023 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

140367 Great Clacton Church of England Junior School Essex 01/09/2016 Yes 09/11/2016 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

141658 Mistley Norman Church of England Primary School Essex 01/09/2016 Yes 26/11/2021 3

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

140506 Rolph Church of England Primary School and Nursery Essex 01/09/2016 Yes 30/06/2022 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

140181 Weeley St Andrew's CofE Primary School Essex 01/09/2016 Yes 12/10/2022 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

143453 St Margaret's Church of England Academy, Bowers Gifford Essex 01/10/2016 Yes 29/01/2015 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

143516 St James' Church of England Primary School Essex 01/10/2016 Yes 19/09/2019 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

144587 Orsett Church of England Primary School Thurrock 01/07/2017 Yes 22/11/2012 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

144866 Belchamp St Paul Church of England Primary School Essex 01/08/2017 Yes 25/04/2012 2 Academy Information Most recent graded inspection URN Academy name Local Authority Date joined trust Does the inspection relate to the academy in its current form? Inspection date OE grade

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

144645 Ridgewell Church of England Primary School Essex 01/08/2017 Yes 12/01/2022 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

144603 Bulphan Church of England Academy Thurrock 01/08/2017 Yes 26/01/2022 3

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

145602 William Martin Church of England Infant and Nursery School Essex 01/05/2018 Yes 13/09/2022 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

145726 William Martin Church of England Junior School Essex 01/05/2018 Yes 22/09/2022 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

146106 Rivenhall Church of England Primary School Essex 01/09/2018 Yes 09/02/2023 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

146898 St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, Great Yeldham Essex 01/04/2019 Yes 07/03/2013 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

146923 Colne Engaine Church of England Primary School Essex 01/04/2019 Yes 08/06/2017 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

147413 St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, Tillingham Essex 01/12/2019 Yes 03/07/2015 2

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

145856 Two Village Church of England Primary School Essex 01/09/2020 Yes 12/12/2018 3

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Annex: Academies that are part of the trust

*Academies highlighted received either a graded, ungraded or monitoring inspection in stage 1 of the MATSE

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