Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School

Inspection of Holy Trinity Catholic and Church of England School Carlton Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S71 2LF

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

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The headteacher of this school is Lissa Oldcorn. This school is part of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Steve Davies, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Kevin Smith. 23 and 24 April 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils enjoy their learning and have positive attitudes towards school. The school has recently raised its expectations of pupils’ conduct. More pupils now live up to these. In the primary phase, pupils follow routines closely and behave well in lessons. There is more variability in the secondary phase.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has raised the level of ambition for pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In the primary phase, pupils learn effectively. They achieve well in national assessments. In the secondary phase, there remains variability in how well the curriculum is delivered. Consequently, in the secondary phase, not all pupils make the progress they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils feel confident that staff are there and looking out for them. They feel safe in school. However, some pupils, and parents and carers, do not always feel that the school resolves their concerns and worries, particularly around bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the range of extra-curricular opportunities that extend their learning beyond the classroom. For instance, pupils attend sporting and musical clubs as well as beekeeping club. Pupils develop their confidence and resilience by taking on leadership positions, such as becoming junior road safety officers and leading the language club.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

In the primary phase, the school has designed a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils. The curriculum identifies what pupils need to know from the early years to Year 6. Learning is sequenced to ensure it builds on what pupils already know and can do. Children in the early years get off to a strong start. The school has identified the precise vocabulary it wants them to know and use. This helps develop children’s communication and language skills. At the end of Year 6, pupils are well prepared to transition to their secondary education.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Some curriculums in the secondary phase have been recently introduced. These new curriculums aim to build on what pupils have learned in the primary phase. Staff’s confidence in teaching these curriculums is still developing. As a result of weaker provision previously, older pupils often have gaps in their knowledge that teachers continue to address.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

In the secondary phase, there is variability in the quality of the checks that are made on pupils’ learning, particularly in classes taught by supply staff. This limits teachers’ ability to address significant gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Therefore, some pupils struggle to learn new content and cannot recall information over longer time periods. This limits pupils’ achievement.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

From the early years onwards, pupils are taught to become fluent readers by well-trained staff. Targeted and intensive phonics support for some older pupils enables them to read confidently and access the full curriculum. Leaders actively promote a culture of reading 23 and 24 April 2025

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across the school, including through parental workshops to support reading at home and a reading club that pupils can attend.

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Pupils with SEND are fully included in school life. The needs of pupils with SEND are identified and appropriate strategies put in place. Pupils with SEND in the primary phase are supported effectively. However, there are inconsistencies in the delivery of the secondary curriculum, which results in some pupils with SEND not learning as well as they should when supply staff do not know the pupils well or use the agreed strategies.

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Since the previous school inspection, the expectations of pupils’ behaviour have been raised. There remains inconsistency in how well the school’s behaviour policy is implemented by some staff in the secondary phase. As a result, at times, some pupils’ behaviour falls below what is expected. Pupils sometimes display boisterous behaviour in social spaces. When some pupils misbehave in lessons, this is not always dealt with consistently. This causes learning to be disrupted in some lessons.

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The school has worked effectively to increase pupils’ rates of attendance. It has developed clearer systems to identify pupils who are at risk of having low attendance. It works hard to support families who are experiencing difficulties. As a result, more pupils attend school on a regular basis.

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The school has a well-designed personal development programme across the school. Pupils learn about key topics such as being safe both online and offline. This helps them to be prepared for life in the wider world. The careers education programme is well considered. Pupils access information about different qualifications from a range of providers. This helps pupils to make informed decisions about their next steps. As a result, the number of pupils who successfully remain in education, employment or training beyond school is high.

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School works effectively with pupils who have become disengaged with education and who join from other schools midway through their secondary education. Through strong pastoral support, many of these pupils progress successfully to post-16 provision.

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School and trust leaders have a clear and realistic picture of the school and its provision. High staff turnover and challenges with recruitment have contributed to some of the inconsistencies in both the curriculum and in the implementation of behaviour policies in the secondary phase. The school is committed to supporting staff and prioritises their professional development. The board of trustees works well with the executive team to support the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 23 and 24 April 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the secondary phase, some subject curriculums are in development. As a result, the implementation of the curriculum is sometimes formulaic and does not react to what pupils know and can do. The school should ensure that the new curriculums in the secondary phase are fully developed, understood by teachers and implemented effectively.  In the secondary phase, particularly where pupils are taught by supply staff, learning is often less secure because staff do not check on what pupils already know and can do. This limits the progress that pupils make in some lessons. The school should support all staff so that they are confident in checking pupils’ prior learning and adapting future learning as appropriate.  Some pupils and parents are not confident that bullying is dealt with effectively. This sometimes leads to unnecessary worry about life at school. The school should ensure that systems are put in place so that pupils, and their families, are reassured about the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

actions taken in response to allegations of bullying.  The school’s behaviour systems are not consistently applied. This is particularly the case in the secondary phase. This leads to agreed approaches to improving pupils’ behaviour not being as effective as they could be. The school should ensure that staff are supported to apply the agreed behaviour policy consistently.

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How can I feed back my views?

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). 23 and 24 April 2025

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,158

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School details

Website https://holytrinitybarnsley.org/

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 September 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses two registered and two unregistered alternative providers for a small number of pupils.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  This is a Catholic and Church of England school. The most recent Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) took place in June 2023.  The school is part of the St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust. It joined the trust in April 2024.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and 23 and 24 April 2025

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management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, history, physical education and modern foreign languages. This entailed discussing the curriculum with subject leaders, including for reading; visiting a sample of lessons; talking to subject teachers; speaking to some pupils about their learning and scrutinising samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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 of safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the local governing board, the chair of the board of trustees and the CEO of the trust.  Inspectors spoke with representatives of the Anglican Diocese of Leeds and the

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Catholic Diocese of Hallam.  The inspectors considered the views of parents through responses to Ofsted Parent View.  The inspectors gathered the views of staff through Ofsted’s staff survey, as well as discussions with staff and pupils conducted throughout the inspection.

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Inspection team

Steve Wren, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julian Appleyard Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 April 2025

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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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