Trinity Catholic School

Inspection of Trinity Catholic School Guy's Cliffe Avenue, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6NB

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 February 2024

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The executive principal of this school is Dr John Pye. This school is part of the Our Lady of the Magnificat multi-academy company, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Tom Leverage, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Yvonne Brennan. The executive principal is responsible for this school and one other. 28 and 29 February 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, without exception, say that Trinity Catholic School has transformed over the last 12 months. There are high expectations of behaviour which pupils understand and meet. Staff provide pupils with effective help and support when some struggle to meet these. Pupils really appreciate the calm and positive environment this has created, where they can learn without disruption. Caring and respectful relationships between staff and pupils are valued by all.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has made good inroads into redeveloping the curriculum to improve pupils’ outcomes. This has successfully helped pupils to develop more positive attitudes to learning. However, many changes to the curriculum are new or still in development. This means that pupils are not achieving as well as they should in some subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school knows each pupil and their needs in precise detail. This means that all pupils benefit from an individualised personal development offer when needed. Support for vulnerable pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is particularly effective in helping them to understand how to keep themselves safe. Pupils can participate in an increasing range of wider activities, including playing chess, board games and reading at breaktimes in the library.

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better?

The trust has been instrumental in turning Trinity Catholic School around and has provided the school with exceptional support. Highly effective leadership has brought the staff together, and the whole school community now has high expectations of pupils’ learning. Staff value the support and training they receive to enable them to improve their practice. They appreciate that the school considers their wellbeing when making the necessary changes to improve the school. Parents also value the improved communication to help them understand the importance of learning and the behaviour expectations.

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better?

The school is committed to ensuring that pupils achieve as highly as possible. The redesigned curriculum is ambitious. It sets out key learning in a logical order. Staff understand the expectations of the new curriculum and have sound subject knowledge to enable them to teach it. The school is clear about the methods teachers should use to deliver the curriculum, but these are not yet being used consistently well across all subjects. On some occasions, learning activities do not support pupils’ learning well enough and teachers do not use assessment precisely enough to deepen and challenge pupils’ thinking. Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge due to previous weak teaching in the past. Some teachers do not check pupils’ understanding well enough to identify and then address these gaps, or to identify any new misconceptions. Consequently, all pupils are not yet meeting leaders’ high expectations of their learning.

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Pupils with SEND are very well supported in school, and when they are unable to attend. The school is quick to identify additional needs and carefully structure support to help pupils overcome barriers to learning. Support for pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs is a particular strength. While the bespoke support for pupils with SEND is highly effective, due to the relative weaknesses in the school’s quality of education, they are not achieving as well as they should.

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The school is developing reading for pleasure across the school. The library is a key part of this and is a vibrant and welcoming space. There is now a keen focus supporting pupils who struggle to read fluently and confidently. Care has been taken to ensure that staff are well-trained to support these pupils. Recently introduced support sessions are showing early signs of success in helping pupils to develop their reading fluency.

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The school has high expectations for sixth form pupils, be they A level or 16 – 19 Ethnic Minority Achievement Programme students. There is great strength in this programme, which includes English language teaching as a key aspect. Overall, students make good progress in the sixth form. They are supported well to secure suitable destinations in education, employment or training when they leave.

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The school takes swift and highly effective action to improve pupils’ behaviour. Most pupils know exactly what is expected of them, readily follow the school rules and behave very well. Staff ensure that they understand pupils’ additional needs so that they can support them when they struggle to manage their behaviour. The school is a peaceful community where pupils engage positively with staff and their learning. The support for pupils who struggle to attend school is exceptional. Overall, the school’s attendance has improved over the last year.

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Pupils’ personal development builds well through the ‘preparation for life’ programme. The school is proud of its diversity. For example, some pupils are making a film about inclusivity and will celebrate their own languages and cultures. Pupils speak very positively about the careers information they receive and how it helps them to prepare for life after Trinity.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers do not check pupils’ learning carefully enough. This means that gaps in pupils’ learning and misconceptions persist. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment precisely to ensure that pupils develop secure knowledge to enable them to make better progress. 28 and 29 February 2024

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 On some occasions, teachers do not provide pupils with learning activities that support learning well enough or use effective questioning to deepen pupils’ thinking. This limits the progress pupils make. The school should provide further training and support to enable all teachers to implement the curriculum consistently well to enable all pupils to make good progress.

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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). 28 and 29 February 2024

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sixth form

Date(s) of previous inspection 15 November 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has appointed a new executive headteacher and school improvement leader since the last full inspection.  The school uses seven alternative providers, four of which are unregistered.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 7 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  The school’s last Section 48 inspection was in February 2022.  The school has a specialist SEND provision for 20 pupils. Pupils have a range of needs including social emotional and mental health needs and autism spectrum disorder.

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The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a graded (section 5) inspection under the same Act.

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In accordance with section 13(5) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school's education provision.  This was the third inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began.  Inspectors held meetings with the executive principal, school improvement leader, director of education, the chief executive officer and other trust leaders, governors, other school leaders, teachers, non-teaching staff and pupils. They also talked informally to pupils and staff to gather general information about school life.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, mathematics, music and science. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also visited lessons in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single

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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 puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors reviewed the personal, social, health and economic education and spoke with leaders. An inspector also reviewed the support provided for pupils in regard to reading.  Inspectors looked at records and spoke to staff in relation to behaviour and attendance.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including leaders’ plans to improve the school and their positional statement in relation to the school’s work.  Inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted’s Parent View and wider parental views.

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Inspection team

Ann Pritchard, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Richard Wakefield His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Jane Epton Ofsted Inspector 28 and 29 February 2024

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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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