Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Luke Rees Headteacher Tregolls Academy Chellew Road Truro Cornwall TR1 1LH

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Tregolls Academy

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 2 and 3 July 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and was the second monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require special measures following the graded (section 5) inspection that took place in November 2023.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Tregolls Academy

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Tregolls Academy

During the inspection, Lizzie Lethbridge and Sarah Tustain, Ofsted Inspectors, and I discussed with you the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We also met with staff, senior leaders, trust leaders, pupils, parents, the chair of the trust board and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we carried out lesson visits, scrutinised curriculum plans, looked at pupils’ work, considered results of the parent and staff surveys and scrutinised the school’s plans for improvement. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to no longer be judged as requiring special measures.

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The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be

considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the November 2024 monitoring visit, some teaching staff have left. The school has filled most of these positions with new teachers joining the school in January 2025. One teaching position is partly covered by a long-term supply teacher until September, when a substantive teacher will take up the full-time role.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Together with your leadership team, you have maintained your determination and ambition to improve the school. Staff are united in your school’s vision to do the best for pupils. You have carefully considered the areas that need to be tackled in a considered way. You rightly prioritised improving pupils’ behaviour and attitudes. This is much improved. The behaviour policy is followed consistently, and staff have high expectations of how pupils conduct themselves. As a result, most pupils are engaged and focused on their learning. This means they can learn the curriculum with minimal disruption. Suspensions have continued to reduce, and attendance is now above the national average.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Since the previous monitoring visit, you have continued to work on the design of the curriculum. You have taken a planned approach to developing subjects, starting with the core subjects and looking at the wider subjects in turn. Consequently, the development of individual subjects is at various stages. Where subjects are further ahead in their development, the school has identified the important knowledge pupils need to learn in a logical order. You have helped staff to get to grips with the curriculum design in these subjects through ‘planning surgeries’ to help develop their expertise. This helps them be clearer about what to teach and when. However, some of this work is in its infancy. In some subjects, the curriculum design is not yet clear, or teachers are not following curriculum guidance closely enough. As a result, the curriculum is not yet implemented in the way the school expects. Therefore, pupils are not learning these subjects well

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

You have focused on the teaching of the curriculum through ‘Tregoll’s Top 10’. This focus is promoting greater consistency as teachers follow this approach more closely. For example, pupils are now regularly revisiting what they have learned before. Pupils’ learning in mathematics has benefited from this structured approach, particularly in developing fluency. Pupils’ recall of the times tables is now stronger than in the past.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

Due to the long-term deficiencies in the historic curriculum, pupils have gaps in their knowledge and understanding across subjects. You are working with staff to identify these gaps and to address them. This is helping to tackle some pupils’ gaps in knowledge in subjects such as mathematics. However, this work is at an early stage. Teachers do not consistently identify if pupils remember their learning. As a result, they do not take this into account in their teaching. This means that some pupils are unable to build their knowledge securely. Since the inspection, you have helped the school focus on the support in place for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). There is now a clear process of identification. This begins in the early years, where the school checks and supports gaps in speech and language. The systems in place to support these pupils have been reviewed, with a restructuring of the learning plans in place to help pupils with SEND.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

These are reviewed appropriately with input from parents and pupils. You have ensured that leaders have a clearer oversight of learning plans to check the support in place for these pupils. The impact of this work is beginning to make a difference; however, it is early days, and these systems are not embedded. The quality of the support for pupils with SEND remains too variable. This means that some pupils with SEND still do not learn as well as they could.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

The trust continues to provide effective support to the school to ensure it continues to move forward at pace. Alongside the trust board, there is clear oversight of the school. This includes an accurate view of where the school has made progress and where there is further work to do. Your action plan makes clear the steps to address the deficiencies identified at the last inspection. You are rightly placing a sharper focus on the areas where there is further work to do. Staff continue to value the support of leaders. They, alongside parents and carers, speak highly of the positive changes, particularly of the impact you have had as headteacher.

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The progress made towards the removal of special measures

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the CEO of Aspire Academy Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Cornwall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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