Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England School

Inspection of Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England School Burnt Oak Lane, Sidcup, Kent DA15 9DB

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The principal of this school is Oliver Winstone. This school is part of Amadeus Primary Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Peter Rhodes, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Paul Allen. 3 and 4 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers speak very positively about how the principal has significantly improved the school. They particularly emphasise that there is much better communication and that their children are happier.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff take care of pupils and support them if they have any worries. Pupils behave well and are kind to one another, including at break times.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders, reflecting their high expectations, prioritise reading. For example, younger pupils build up confidence with their phonics knowledge. The school provides effective daily support for pupils that need to catch up with their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a well-established personal, social, health and education (PSHE) curriculum. Staff teach pupils lots about how to stay safe, including when they go online. Leaders arrange for guest speakers to visit the school, for example the fire brigade comes to work with children in early years.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a range of experiences that are woven into each half term. These include visits to places of worship such as a mosque and synagogue. These experiences help pupils to make sense of what makes families different to each other.

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better?

Leaders make sure that pupils learn a broad curriculum. Their ambition for pupils can also be seen in their changes to some subject curriculums. Some changes are very recent and are not yet embedded, for example in computing. Leaders find ways to give pupils the targeted support needed to help them close any gaps in their reading and/or mathematics. Overall, pupils’ mathematical understanding has much improved. Leaders’ work to develop the quality of pupils’ writing is still ongoing.

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better?

In many subjects, there is clear understanding of what pupils should learn and when. However, in a few subjects, the school has not clearly identified what they want pupils to know and remember. This means that teachers are not clear about precisely what they must teach and then check that pupils have understood.

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better?

In most subject areas, adults have the subject knowledge needed to deliver the curriculum. They select activities that help pupils to apply their learning. For example, in Year 2 science, pupils worked with real plants to help find out how water, temperature and light affect their growth and health. However, sometimes, adults do not carefully check that pupils have understood what they are being taught. This means that errors and/or misconceptions go unnoticed. Occasionally in the early years, adults do not consistently promote children’s communication and language as well as they should. 3 and 4 October 2023

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The school fully supports pupils in learning to read. Staff are quick to start teaching phonics from Reception. They build on children’s knowledge of sounds from their time in Nursery. Leaders have put significant investment into the school library. It is a welcoming space, well stocked with books. Most older pupils enjoy reading, including their use of the ‘book bus’, as well as the library.

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Leaders work in a range of ways to identify and support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Even while awaiting a diagnosis, or specialist advice, the school tries to meet pupils’ needs through providing additional resources and/or adaptations. Leaders check that pupils receive the therapeutic care that they should.

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Children in the early years are given lots of support with their emotional development. Pupils who are now in Reception have built up resilience and positive learning habits from their time in Nursery.

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Pupils are polite, friendly and have positive attitudes to learning. Staff deal with the occasional low-level disruption well. Leaders manage attendance well, successfully reducing the persistent absence of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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While pupils enjoy their half-termly experiences, leaders know that the school’s current offer of extra-curricular activities is too limited. Some pupils do not get to develop their talents and interests to the full. That said, pupils are given opportunities to be active citizens, for example in school leadership roles and in fundraising for the charities that they vote to support.

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Trustees and the local governing body know the school well overall. They are working to improve their understanding of the quality of education in subjects other than English and mathematics. The trust offers a range of support to the school, including in relation to curriculum development, for example through subject networks.

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Staff across the school are highly positive about the changes that have been made. They value the principal’s ‘open door’ approach. Everyone is right to be positive about the direction the school is moving in.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, the school has not precisely identified and sequenced the key component knowledge that pupils should be taught. As a result, as pupils move through the curriculum, they do not build up the depth of knowledge and skills that they should. The school should review their curriculum thinking in these 3 and 4 October 2023

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subjects, ensuring that staff have clarity about the component knowledge that must be explicitly taught.  Occasionally, some adults do not check that pupils have understood what they are being taught. When this happens, misconceptions and/or errors in pupils’ knowledge go unnoticed. The school should review their training for staff to improve the quality of checks on pupils’ learning and enable staff to then adapt their teaching as required.  The school’s current offer of extra-curricular activities is too limited. It does not enable enough pupils to develop their individual talents and interests to the full. Leaders should review their offer and ensure that more pupils take part in activities that enhance their broader development.

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘ disadvantaged pupils ’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 3 and 4 October 2023

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School details

Website www.holytrinitylamorbey.apat.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018 under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The principal started at the school in April 2022.  The school is part of the Amadeus Primary Academies Trust.  The school is a Church of England primary school within the Diocese of Rochester. The school’s last section 48 inspection was in January 2020.  The school currently does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation. 3 and 4 October 2023

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 Inspectors met with the headteacher and other senior staff. Inspectors also met with representatives of the local governing body, the board of trustees and the chief executive officer.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and computing. During each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils about their learning. Inspectors also reviewed samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also spoke with leaders, visited lessons, spoke to pupils and looked at their work in a range of other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors also considered replies to Ofsted Parent View and the online surveys

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Inspection team

Sam Hainey, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Guy Forbat His Majesty’s Inspector 3 and 4 October 2023

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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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