Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 10th – 13th February 2003

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

Full inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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PRIMARY SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Capstan Street Blackley Manchester

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Father P Stamp

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: January 1998 Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities 22361 Mrs M Gough Registered inspector The Foundation Stage Music The school’s results and pupils’ achievements How well are pupils taught What could the school do to improve further 9593 Mrs B Sinclair Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school care for its pupils How well does the school work in partnership with parents 28076 Mr D Byrne Team inspector Science Information and communication technology Design and Technology Physical education Equal Opportunities English as an additional language 17767 Mrs S Power Team inspector English Art and design Geography History How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

18027 Mrs S Mawer team inspector Mathematics Religious education Special educational needs How well is the school led and managed

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Lynrose Marketing Limited Bungalow Farmhouse Six Mile Bottom Newmarket Suffolk CB8 0TU

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 13

The school’s results and pupils’ achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 35

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school is a Church of England Voluntary Controlled school situated in Blackley on the outskirts of Manchester. There are currently one hundred and ninety pupils on roll including twenty one Nursery children, almost all of whom attend on a full-time basis. The percentage of pupils with free school meals is 57%. This is well above the national average, and reflects the very high levels of social deprivation in the area. Most pupils are of white ethnicity although eleven have English as an additional language. Of these, three are at the early stages of learning English. The school currently has four refugees from Africa. There is one Traveller pupil on roll. Forty one pupils are currently on the school’s special educational needs register. This represents 21% of the school population and is a conservative estimate of the actual special educational needs in the school. Two pupils have statements of special

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

educational needs. The school is part of a small Education Action Zone which benefits from funding through the Excellence in Cities initiative. The school is working closely with the small Education Action Zone towards the common aims of improving attendance, improving the partnership with parents, and improving social and language skills. Pupil mobility is exceptionally high with seventy two pupils having joined the school other than at the usual point of entry and sixty nine pupils having left the school other than at the usual point of transfer. The children’s attainment when they start school in the Nursery class is at a very low level across all areas of learning.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is an improving school that is emerging from a period of considerable change. The school provides a satisfactory education for pupils of all ages. The provision for the children in the Nursery and Reception classes is very good and is a strength. Teaching is good in Key Stage 1, and teaching in Key Stage 2 is satisfactory overall, with some good features in the upper part of the key stage. By the end of Key Stage 2, standards are well below national expectations in English, mathematics and science. Pupils’ progress as they move through Key Stage 2 is erratic, and has been adversely affected by staff changes, and weaker teaching in the lower part of the key stage. Pupils’ attitudes and behaviour are satisfactory overall. The headteacher provides good leadership, but has only been in post for a short time, and the impact of some of the initiatives he has introduced are not yet fully evident. He enjoys

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

the support of a hard working and committed staff, and a loyal Governing Body.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • The provision for the children in the Nursery and Reception classes is very good and is a strength of the school. • The quality of teaching is very good in the Nursery and Reception classes, and good overall in Key Stage 1. • Through its involvement in a small Education Action Zone, the school is working more closely and effectively with parents, and is starting to tackle some of the social problems that affect the children’s education and well-being. • Teachers are very caring of the pupils, and know them well. They monitor their personal development closely and try to overcome some of the barriers to learning that the pupils experience. • The school is well led by the headteacher, and most co-ordinators are beginning to develop their roles effectively. • The finances are now well managed, and specific grants are well used to support educational development. • The accommodation is good, and is much better than it was at the time of the last

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

inspection. What could be improved Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 7 • There is patchy coverage of the curriculum, mostly in Key Stage 2. • There are some weaknesses in teaching, which are most evident in the lower part of Key Stage 2. • Assessment procedures are not in place for most subjects in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, and assessment information is not used effectively when planning the next stage of pupils’ learning. • The systems for monitoring and evaluating are not yet sufficiently rigorous. • Learning resources are poor for most subjects and are in urgent need of replenishing and replacing. • Despite good efforts by the school and the small Education Action Zone, attendance is poor and is well below the national average. • The behaviour of some pupils needs to be improved further. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in January 1998, and since that time there have been significant changes which make it difficult to compare the school now with how it was then. There has been an almost complete change of staff, and both the headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed since the last inspection. The area in which the school is located has undergone significant changes, and is now much more mixed in terms of ethnicity. It continues to be socially deprived, and there are high levels of crime. The school population is not as stable as it was five years ago, and this is reflected in the unusually high levels of pupil mobility. Immediately after the last inspection, standards in the school slipped, following the long-term sickness of the headteacher and a member of staff. These absences resulted in the school accruing a large deficit budget which the current headteacher inherited

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

and is in the process of paying back. Since the appointment of the current headteacher, the staff, Governing Body and parents note that there have been good improvements across many aspects of the school’s work. The school is well placed for further development, although the current stability in the staff is a crucial factor in ensuring the school’s continued improvement. The lack of learning resources in many subjects is a factor that is hindering the school’s progress, and because of the heavy loan repayments, there is currently no funding to purchase new resources. The headteacher has a very clear idea of what still needs to be done, but the lack of funds means that developments can not always proceed as quickly as he would like.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

English E D E D well above average above average A B Mathematics E D E C average below average C D Science E* E E D well below average very low E E* The 2002 end of Key Stage 2 national test results indicate that pupils’ attainment in English, mathematics and science is well below the national average. In comparison with similar Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 8 schools, pupils’ attainment is below average in English and science and average in mathematics. The results have been showing a slow but steady improvement over the last three years. The school attributes the better results in 2001 to the fact that the group of pupils entered for the tests had had the same teacher for two years, and this situation brought some degree of consistency and stability to the pupils’ learning. In 2002, the results were not as good as in the previous year, and this was because of the many staff changes in that year. The 2002 results show that the girls did not perform as well as the boys. This was

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STANDARDS

accounted for by the fact that a higher proportion of girls than boys had special educational needs. The school sets appropriate targets for English and mathematics. The 2002 end of Key Stage 1 national test results indicate that pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics is well below the national average, but above average in comparison with similar schools. In writing, pupils’ attainment is below the national average, and above average in comparison with similar schools. There has been little variation in the results over the last four years, with the exception of 2001, where pupils performed better in writing and mathematics than previously. There is no significant difference between the attainment of boys and girls. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is below national expectations in art and design, geography, history and music, and below the expectations of the Locally Agreed Syllabus in

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STANDARDS

religious education. In physical education, pupils’ attainment is in line with national expectations. In information and communication technology and design and technology, pupils’ attainment is well below the expected level. Pupils’ attainment in art and design, music, physical education, geography and history is below national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2. Their attainment in information and communication technology and design and technology is well below national expectations. In religious education, pupils’ attainment is well below the expectations of the Locally Agreed Syllabus. By the end of the Reception year, few children attain the Early Learning Goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and in their knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live, and their overall attainment in these areas is very low. Most children attain the Early Learning Goals in terms of their creative, physical,

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STANDARDS

and personal, social and emotional development, although some children are working at a very low level across all areas of their learning.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Satisfactory overall. Pupils’ attitudes to school are better in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 than they are in Key Stage 2. Younger pupils often concentrate well and show interest in their work. In Key Stage 2, some pupils are not well motivated and do not put enough effort into their work. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Satisfactory overall. Most pupils conform to the school’s expectations of behaviour, and are friendly and polite. However, a small number of pupils in most classes have difficulty in managing their behaviour and lack self-discipline. Personal development and relationships Relationships are good between adults and pupils, and satisfactory amongst pupils. However, personal development is unsatisfactory, as few older pupils take enough responsibility for their learning, and lack initiative. Attendance Poor. Despite recent improvements, attendance is well below the

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6 Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 9 Reception

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Quality of teaching Very good Good Satisfactory Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Overall, the quality of teaching is very good in the Foundation Stage, good in Key Stage 1, and satisfactory in Key Stage 2 where teaching is much more variable. The quality of teaching is better in the upper part of Key Stage 2, where it has some good features, than in the lower part of the key stage where there are some weaknesses. During the inspection, the Year 3 class was taught effectively by a supply teacher.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

The quality of teaching in English, mathematics and science is good in Key Stage 1, but in Key Stage 2, although it is satisfactory overall, there are some weaknesses in the teaching of lower Key Stage 2 pupils that slow down their overall rate of progress. The lack of a good quality scheme of work to guide teachers’ planning in science, means that coverage of the National Curriculum programmes of study is too erratic, and this adversely affects the quality of teaching and learning in Key Stage 2. Currently, there are too few opportunities for pupils to use literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum. Throughout the school, good emphasis is placed on the pupils developing their spoken language skills, and their personal skills.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

In the Foundation Stage, the main strength of teaching is the very good balance teachers achieve between activities that the children select themselves, and those that are directed by an adult. Very clear structures and routines give the children a good degree of security in their learning, and help them to quickly settle into the life of the school. In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, teaching is at its best when lessons move at a brisk pace, and when resources are used well to enliven teaching and to enhance learning. In Key Stage 1, teachers generally manage pupils well, enabling lessons to proceed smoothly. In the lower part of Key Stage 2, teachers sometimes struggle to manage the pupils, and this disrupts the flow of lessons. Throughout the school teachers create a very attractive learning environment for the pupils and value their contributions and work. This helps to raise the pupils’ self-esteem and to give

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

them confidence in their learning. Although the quality of learning is satisfactory overall, and has good features in some classes, in the main, pupils do not put as much effort into their work as they could. Pupils are often tired when they come to school, and as the day progresses they often lose concentration and enthusiasm. Many pupils receive little support from home and this has a negative impact on their learning. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 10

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Very good for children in the Nursery and Reception classes. Unsatisfactory overall for pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. There is a lack of good quality schemes of work to guide teachers’ planning, especially in Key Stage 2. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Satisfactory overall. The school is effective in identifying pupils with special educational needs, and individual education plans are in place. The school’s systems reflect the recommendations of the new Code of Practice. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Satisfactory overall. Key Stage 1 pupils benefit from good levels of additional classroom support. In Key Stage 2, there is not as much support, although teachers do their best to meet the needs of individual pupils. All asylum seekers and pupils with English as an additional language take a full and active part in all school

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Aspect Comment

activities and are very well integrated into the life of the school. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Satisfactory overall. The school makes satisfactory provision for all aspects of the pupils’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, but because of weaknesses in the curriculum, there are missed opportunities for further extending the pupils’ spiritual and cultural awareness. How well the school cares for its pupils The school provides good levels of support and guidance for all pupils. Good procedures are in place for monitoring and promoting good behaviour, and for ensuring that there is no racial harassment or bullying. Good child protection procedures are in place. There are weaknesses in the school’s procedures for assessing, monitoring and tracking pupils’ attainment and progress in all subjects other than English and mathematics.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school works in partnership with parents Satisfactory overall. This is an ongoing area of development, and the school is working closely with the small Education Action Zone to develop an even better partnership with parents. Parents support fund-raising activities well, but many do not give enough educational support to their children, by working with them at home. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 11

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Satisfactory overall. The headteacher provides good leadership, and has led the school well through a very difficult period of change. The Senior Management Team plays a pivotal role in directing the school’s work. The role of the co-ordinator is developing, and some co-ordinators are fulfilling their duties well. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Good overall. The Governing Body fulfils its duties well, but needs to have a more critical overview of areas such as the curriculum. The school’s evaluation of its performance Unsatisfactory overall. Co-ordinators do not have enough opportunities to monitor their subjects through classroom observations, or the sampling of pupils’ work. The tracking of pupils’ performance through assessment data is in the very early stages of development. The school is beginning to compare its performance with other schools nationally, and schools that are

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Aspect Comment

in similar circumstances. The strategic use of resources Good. All designated funds are used well for their intended purpose, and the school has been very successful in reducing the deficit budget incurred prior to the current headteacher’s appointment. The school benefits from its involvement in the small Education Action Zone. Staff are well deployed. The school understands and applies the principles of best value. The adequacy of staffing, accommodation and learning resources The accommodation is good, and there are enough teachers and support staff to meet the needs of the pupils. However, the learning resources are poor, both in terms of quality and quantity. The lack of important resources is adversely affecting the quality of teaching and learning and the standards pupils achieve. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 12

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved • Parents agree that their children enjoy coming to school and that they make good progress. • Most parents think that behaviour in the school is good. • The vast majority of parents believe that teaching is good, and that the school is well led and managed. • Most parents agree that the headteacher and staff are very approachable and easily accessible. • Parents agree that the school is helping their children to become mature and responsible, and that teachers expect the children to work hard and to achieve their best. • Most parents believe that they are kept well informed about their children’s progress. • Some parents do not think that behaviour is good, and believe that there is some bullying. • Many parents are displeased with the amount and frequency of homework. • Many parents would like additional activities outside lessons. • Some parents would like more

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

information about how their children are getting on in school.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Most parents are pleased with the standard of education the school provides and agree that the school is well led and managed. The positive views of the parents are reinforced by the inspection findings, but not all of the negative views. Although some parents are concerned about behaviour, overall behaviour in the school is satisfactory. Some parents actively undermine the school’s agreed systems for behaviour management. The school sets an appropriate amount of homework in English and mathematics, but could usefully set more homework across other subjects. Parents in the main would like less homework, and few parents support their children at home. The school provides a satisfactory range of extra- curricular activities, and satisfactory levels of information for parents. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 13

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. When they join the Nursery class, most children have very poor skills in most areas of learning. Their language and social skills are often especially poor. Although children of all abilities often make very good progress in individual lessons, their ability to retain their learning is sometimes poor, and this impedes their overall progress. By the end of the Reception year, few children attain the Early Learning Goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and in their knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live, and their overall attainment in these areas is very low. Most children attain the Early Learning Goals in terms of their creative, physical, and personal, social and emotional development, although some children are working at a very low level across all areas of their learning. Good procedures enable the teachers to quickly identify children who have special educational needs and who

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

need additional support. These children make similar progress to their classmates, as do those who have English as an additional language and refugees.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. The 2002 end of Key Stage 1 national test results indicate that pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics is well below the national average, but above average in comparison with similar schools. In writing, pupils’ attainment is below the national average, and above average in comparison with similar schools. There has been little variation in the results over the last four years, with the exception of 2001, where pupils performed better in writing and mathematics than previously. There is no significant difference between the attainment of boys and girls.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. The inspection findings confirm the test results, and indicate that pupils’ attainment in English, mathematics and science is well below the expected level at the end of Key Stage 1, although pupils of all abilities, including those with special educational needs, English as an additional language, asylum seekers and higher attainers, make good progress. Pupils’ learning across all subjects is hampered by their poor speaking skills, which make it difficult for them to explain their ideas clearly. Many pupils have few ‘life’ experiences on which to draw, and this is particularly reflected in English where many pupils have little imagination, and in science, where much of the pupils’ learning does not have a context within their everyday lives. There are too few opportunities for the pupils to use their literacy and numeracy skills in their work in other areas.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is below national expectations in art and design, geography, history and music, and below the expectations of the Locally Agreed Syllabus in religious education. In physical education, pupils’ attainment is in line with national expectations. In information and communication technology and design and technology, pupils’ attainment is well below the expected level. In music, physical education, geography and religious education, pupils of all abilities are making satisfactory progress overall. In history, art and design, design and technology and information and communication technology, progress could be better.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. The teaching in Key Stage 1 is now good, and this is having a positive impact on pupils’ progress, but this has not been the case until recently. Some of the newly introduced schemes of work are not yet having their maximum impact on pupils’ progress and attainment, but where they are well embedded, such as in music and physical education, their impact is very evident. Pupils’ progress is also adversely affected by the lack of support some of them receive from home, and their lack of ‘real-life’ Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 14 experiences, which make it difficult for them to contextualise their learning. For example, for most pupils, their experience of geography is confined to the area in which they live, and they have often not got an appreciation of the seaside or the countryside. Although they are often keen, pupils struggle to explain their ideas clearly because of poor spoken language skills. They have difficulty in recalling some of their learning, and

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

are more effective in this when they have benefited from visits or the input of visiting speakers which bring their learning to life. The lack of resources in most subjects is having an adverse effect on the pupils’ learning and progress. Pupils respond particularly well to visual stimuli, but the school does not have enough books, video tapes, and artefacts which would help teachers to bring learning to life. There is no significant difference in the attainment or progress of different groups of pupils. Good support for pupils with special educational needs, asylum seekers, and those with English as an additional language helps them to make similar progress to their classmates.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. The 2002 end of Key Stage 2 national test results indicate that pupils’ attainment in English, mathematics and science is well below the national average. In comparison with similar schools, pupils’ attainment is below average in English and science and average in mathematics. The results have been showing a slow but steady improvement over the last three years, and the school attributes the better results in 2001 to the fact that the group of pupils entered for the tests had had the same teacher for two years, and this situation brought some degree of consistency and stability to the pupils’ learning. In 2002, the results were not as good as in the previous year, and this was because of the many staff changes in that year. The 2002 results show that the girls did not perform as well as the boys. This was accounted for by the fact that a higher proportion of girls than boys had special educational needs.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. The inspection findings paint a similar picture to the test results and indicate that standards at the end of Key Stage 2 in English, mathematics and science are well below national expectations. Pupils of all abilities and backgrounds make similar progress in these subjects. In the upper part of the key stage, where teaching is better, pupils make satisfactory progress. However, in the lower part of the key stage, where teaching is sometimes weak, pupils’ progress is unsatisfactory, and the firm foundations that have been laid in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 are not maximised and built upon. Over the last few years staff changes have had an adverse impact on the continuity of pupils’ learning in Key Stage 2, especially in science, where there is no good quality scheme of work to inform teachers what to teach to each year group. There is now some stability in Key Stage 2, and the headteacher is keen to

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

repeat the experiment that worked so well in 2001, and to have teachers rotating on a two year cycle so that they are with their classes for two consecutive years. This practice may well be extended to the lower part of the key stage also when the current temporary post is filled. Because of weaknesses in the curriculum, there are too few opportunities for pupils to practise their literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills in other subjects.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8. Pupils’ attainment in art and design, music, physical education, geography and history is below national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2. Their attainment in information and communication technology and design and technology is well below national expectations. In religious education, pupils’ attainment is well below the expectations of the Locally Agreed Syllabus. Pupils’ progress is satisfactory throughout the key stage in physical education. In the other subjects, pupils often make good progress in individual lessons in the upper part of the key stage, but their progress in the lower part of the key stage where there are weaknesses in teaching is unsatisfactory overall. Although teachers in the upper part of the key stage are successful in increasing the pupils’ rate Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 15 of progress, they can not make up for the gaps in learning that arise because of the

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

problems in the lower part of the key stage. In addition, there are historical weaknesses in curriculum planning, some of which still need to be addressed, which have meant that in the past pupils’ learning has not always been systematically built upon from year to year. The school recognises the need to follow through with some of the schemes of work that have been so successful in Key Stage 1, but because of lack of funds, is not able to purchase some of these much needed resources. As in Key Stage 1, pupils’ lack of ‘real-life’ experiences impedes their progress in subjects such as history, geography and religious education, and lack of support from some parents means that new learning in school is not consolidated or reinforced at home. Although teachers set homework for the pupils to extend their learning, it is often not completed. Key Stage 2 pupils with special educational needs and English as an additional language make

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

similar progress to their classmates in many subjects, but because there are not the same high levels of classroom support as found in Key Stage 1, they sometimes struggle more than other pupils in subjects when they are required to record their work in written form.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9. There have been significant changes over the past four years in terms of staffing and the nature of the pupils who attend the school. The socio-economic circumstances of families in the area have declined, and many pupils receive little support at home. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs and English as an additional language has increased, and there are unusually high levels of pupil mobility. All of these factors affect pupils’ progress and attainment. The school is slowly but surely starting to raise standards, and now has a stable staff.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. There have been so many changes in terms of the catchment area from which the pupils are drawn, that it is not meaningful to compare the attitudes and behaviour of the current pupils with the attitudes and behaviour of the pupils who were in school at the time of the last inspection.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. Pupils’ attitudes to school and to work are satisfactory overall, and in some classes, notably those in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, pupils often have good attitudes to learning. Despite the best efforts of most teachers, many pupils in the school have low self-esteem and lack self-confidence, and this sometimes makes them reluctant to take a full and active part in lessons. Pupils’ attitudes to work are often better when lessons and activities are challenging and exciting, and when teachers use resources well to capture the pupils’ attention and to maintain their interest. In the lower part of Key Stage 2, where the pace of lessons is sometimes too slow, pupils often lose interest and their attention wanders. Throughout the school, pupils have difficulty in concentrating for long periods of time, and where teachers break lessons up into smaller parts, or conduct short, briskly paced lessons, this

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

maximises the pupils’ learning. Most pupils have positive attitudes towards one another, and to the adults with whom they come into daily contact. Teachers are very effective in the way in which they display and celebrate pupils’ work, and pupils of all ages and abilities take pride in pointing out their own work in class displays. The school is effective in the way in which it promotes positive values and attitudes through assemblies, and shared class discussions.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. Behaviour in class and around the school is satisfactory overall, although there are pockets of unsatisfactory behaviour in some of the Key Stage 2 classes. Behaviour is better in the Nursery, Reception and Key Stage 1 classes, where the newly introduced behaviour management strategies are having the most impact. Most teachers and Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 16 support staff use the agreed range of strategies well to support those pupils who sometimes find it difficult to manage their own behaviour and who lack self-discipline. Younger pupils especially respond well to the stickers, awards and verbal praise that are given throughout the day to reward good behaviour, effort and achievement. The positive reinforcement of good behaviour is very effective in Key Stage 1, and often enables lessons to run more smoothly, as pupils who are potentially disruptive copy their classmates so that they too can receive a sticker. In the upper part of Key Stage

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

2, the pupils’ behaviour is more variable, and there are occasions when individual pupils present challenging behaviour. This is dealt with effectively by staff, although the withdrawal of some pupils means that they miss important parts of their education. Most parents are pleased with the standard of behaviour in the school, and agree that incidents of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with promptly and effectively. Pupils agree that occasional incidents of bullying take place, but that the staff deal immediately with any problems that arise. During the inspection, a rare incident of racial intolerance was quickly dealt with, appropriately recorded, and reported to the parents concerned. Pupils are aware of the consequences of unacceptable behaviour, but do not always consider the impact of their actions on others. There have been four fixed period exclusions in the last year. This shows a drop from the previous year. The school,

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

along with other schools in the area, is part of the ‘Fresh Start’ initiative. This means that local schools have an agreement that they will accept pupils who have been excluded from other schools so that they can have a ‘Fresh Start’. Whilst this system works well, in that it prevents pupils from being permanently excluded, the arrival of these pupils can be unsettling for other pupils in the school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13. Relationships are satisfactory amongst pupils, and most co-operate well with one another in class, and play together at playtimes. Relationships between pupils and their teachers are good, and are based on high levels of trust. However, in Key Stage 2 especially, pupils do not always show enough respect to others, and although the school is working hard to address this, some pupils and their families do not share the same aspirations as the school. Pupils of all ages enjoy carrying out monitorial duties and take these roles seriously. In the Nursery, children are given daily jobs, so that they understand the need to help others, and learn how to take responsibility for given tasks. The level of responsibility is increased as pupils move through the school, and older Key Stage 2 pupils competently set out equipment for assemblies, ‘litter-pick’, and assist younger pupils in the dining room. Although pupils are keen to volunteer for jobs

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

around the school, they do not make suggestions of their own, and without adult intervention, most would not see or take an incidental opportunity for showing initiative.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14. The pupils’ personal development is unsatisfactory. Older Key Stage 2 pupils especially do not take enough responsibility for their own learning. They rely very heavily on adult support when making decisions, and are unreliable in terms of completing homework, or bringing things in from home. Most pupils are not able to organise their own work, or to carry out independent research. In part this is because of the low level of their literacy skills, but it also reflects the pupils’ lack of confidence and low self-esteem, which the school is trying to improve. 15. Attendance rates throughout the school are poor, and at around 90% are well below the national average. Several well developed strategies are now in place, including a scheme led by the small Education Action Zone, to raise both pupils’ and parents’ awareness of the educational importance of regular attendance. The school is hampered to some extent in its efforts by the transient nature of some pupils and their

p.16

Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

families. Since the new procedures for monitoring and promoting attendance have been introduced there are sure, but slow, signs of improvement in attendance, and a slight drop in the number of unauthorised absences. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 17

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

16. It is not meaningful to compare the quality of teaching currently, with teaching at the time of the last inspection, because of the significant staff changes that have taken place since that time. During the inspection, forty four lessons were observed. The quality of teaching was excellent in 4.5% of the lessons seen, very good in 18%, good in 32%, satisfactory in 39%, unsatisfactory in 2%, and poor in 4.5%. Overall, the quality of teaching is very good in the Foundation Stage, good in Key Stage 1, and satisfactory in Key Stage 2 where teaching is much more variable. The quality of teaching is better in the upper part of Key Stage 2, where its has some good features, than in the lower part of the key stage where there are some weaknesses. During the inspection, the Year 3 class was taught effectively by a supply teacher. The usual Year 3 teacher is on a temporary contract, and the appointment of a permanent teacher for this class is a

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

17. The teaching of the Nursery and Reception children is very good, ensuring that these children have a very positive start to their education. Teachers make very good assessments of the children’s needs soon after they start school, and very good and appropriate emphasis is placed on developing the children’s personal, social and emotional skills, their spoken language skills, their mathematical skills, and their knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live. Teachers recognise the need to give the children a structured working environment so that they feel secure, and so that they can learn how to make informed choices and decisions about their learning. Teachers very skilfully achieve a very good balance of activities that are adult led, and those that the children choose themselves. The range of ‘free-choice’ activities changes on a daily basis, so that during the course of one week, pupils enjoy, and take

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

part in, a very wide range of stimulating learning experiences. Foundation Stage teachers use resources well to enhance the children’s learning, but the lack of important resources, for religious education, for example, makes it difficult for them to bring some of the more abstract experiences to life for the children. Classroom assistants work very well with the children, and their input has a very positive impact on the children’s learning. However, even more adult support would enable the children’s spoken language to be developed further when they are engaged in ‘free-choice’ activities. Teachers and classroom assistants are very successful in the way in which they encourage the children to take responsibility for aspects of their learning and to become independent in selecting resources. They have very high expectations of behaviour and academic achievement to which most of the children respond to

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

positively. Teachers monitor the children closely, and are vigilant in picking up children who have particular difficulties with their learning. Very good support is given to all children, including those with special educational needs, English as an additional language and higher attainers.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

18. The teaching of English, mathematics and science is good in Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2, the quality of teaching is more variable. In the upper part of Key Stage 2, teaching is often good, but in the lower part of the key stage there are some weaknesses in some aspects of teaching that impact adversely on pupils’ progress. This means that despite the efforts of the Year 5 and Year 6 teachers, there are some gaps in pupils’ learning. The National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy are effectively implemented in all classes. In most classes, good use is made of introductory sessions to ensure that all of the pupils know what is expected of them. Most teachers work conscientiously to promote discussion so that pupils can gain experience of speaking and listening, and so that they can develop subject specific vocabulary. End of session discussions are often used well to draw the threads of the

p.17

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 18 lesson together, and where the best practice occurs, pupils are encouraged to share their work with their classmates, thereby raising their self-esteem and feelings of worth. Basic skills of number, reading and writing are taught well in mathematics and English lessons, but currently, there are too few opportunities for pupils to use and apply these skills in their work in other subjects. In science, teachers are beginning to make more opportunities for pupils to carry out investigative work and to find things out for themselves. However, although this ongoing emphasis on practical work is working well in Key Stage 1, the impact is not as evident in Key Stage 2 because of weaknesses in teaching in the lower part of the key stage. In science, there are occasions when teachers lack confidence, and the school has not done enough to identify and share good practice, or to pick up and address shortcomings. Not enough

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

use is made of unication technology to support pupils’ learning in English, mathematics and science and this is an ongoing area of whole-school development.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

19. In subjects other than English, mathematics and science, the quality of teaching varies, depending on the teachers’ individual levels of expertise. For example, some excellent teaching was seen during the inspection in both key stages when the physical education co-ordinator led a dance lesson and a gymnastics lesson. This practice of specialist teaching worked well, and pupils benefited from the teacher’s high levels of subject knowledge, which led in turn to high expectations of the pupils. Teaching is sometimes adversely affected by the lack of whole-school schemes of work, especially in Key Stage 2. The school has started to introduce some good quality commercial schemes of work in Key Stage 1 that ensure that pupils’ learning is progressively developed from year to year. However, a shortage of funds has meant that the subsequent schemes of work for Key Stage 2 pupils have not yet been purchased in all

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

subjects. This is the case in music, for example, where Key Stage 1 teaching is starting to have a real impact on learning because of the scheme that teachers are following, but Key Stage 2 teachers are struggling to produce their own ideas and lessons, and do not have the security of a scheme of work to support them in their planning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

20. The management of behaviour is an ongoing priority in the school, and the newly introduced strategies are currently having more effect in Key Stage 1 than in Key Stage 2. In Key Stage 1, teachers generally manage pupils well. Where lessons are short, brisk, and well paced, such as in a very good music lesson seen during the inspection, the pupils’ attention is successfully held and maintained. Pupils’ learning is often good in these lessons, and they participate well, maintaining good levels of concentration and interest. In longer lessons, especially those that come at the end of the day, pupils are sometimes not as responsive, and teachers have to work that much harder to capture their attention. Rewards are used well in Key Stage 1 to promote good behaviour and to celebrate achievement, although not all pupils respond to this management technique. In the upper part of Key Stage 2, especially in Year 6, teachers often manage behaviour

p.18

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

well, although as in Key Stage 1, they are more successful when lessons move at a snappy pace, and teachers are demanding in terms of putting time constraints on the pupils’ work. In the lower part of Key Stage 2, teachers are not always as successful in managing the pupils’ behaviour. Behaviour deteriorates when lessons lose pace, or when there is insufficient use of resources to enliven and enhance the pupils’ learning. Teachers are generally consistent in their use of the school’s agreed behaviour management strategies, but for some teachers in the lower part of Key Stage 2, the management of behaviour is intrusive and disrupts the flow of the lesson.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

21. Relationships between teachers and pupils, are good overall. Teachers are aware of the needs of individual pupils, and wherever possible remove the barriers that affect the pupils’ learning. They are very caring of the pupils and pupils know that they can share Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 19 their worries or concerns with any adult in the school. Teachers provide good levels of pastoral support, but could be more effective in terms of academic support if good assessment procedures were in place which highlighted specific strengths and weaknesses in pupils’ learning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

22. Although homework is satisfactorily used in English and mathematics to extend the pupils’ learning, more use could be made of homework in other subjects. Pupils do not always put enough effort into completing the homework tasks they are set, and this is partly because they do not have the necessary support at home, and partly because they do not have enough self-discipline to organise personal study. The school currently does not have a homework club, but recognises that this might help some of the pupils who want to complete homework tasks, but who do not have the facilities at home.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

23. The teaching of pupils with English as an additional language and asylum seekers is satisfactory overall, and often good in Key Stage 1 where there is more additional classroom support. The support of bilingual assistants for asylum seekers improves the teaching for the small number of pupils who have recently joined the school, and ensures that they are rapidly integrated into school life. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory overall with good features. Pupils’ learning is more effective when they receive additional classroom support and when the work is matched closely to their identified needs. It is less effective when the behaviour of some pupils is not sufficiently well managed and when they disrupt the learning of others. There are occasions when the work is too difficult for some of the pupils with special educational needs, because not enough use has been made of ongoing

p.19

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

assessment to ascertain the level and needs of the pupils.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

24. The curriculum for the Foundation Stage has been very successfully implemented in the Nursery and Reception classes and provides a rich and very well planned start to the education of the youngest pupils. The curriculum for Key Stage 2 pupils is unsatisfactory overall. It is satisfactory overall in Key Stage 1, where more work has been done, although there are still some areas that need further development. Although there has been some curriculum development since the time of the last inspection, there are still some important shortcomings that need addressing if standards are to be raised further. The ongoing lack of funds, means that the school has been unable to purchase much needed schemes of work to guide teachers’ planning. The national strategies for literacy and numeracy have been satisfactorily implemented in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, and teachers’ planning follows the national guidelines.

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

However, the emphasis placed on English and mathematics has reduced the amount of time available for other subjects, and this imbalance needs addressing so that all pupils can achieve their potential. The school follows the Locally Agreed Syllabus for religious education.

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

25. The school has adopted the national guidelines for subjects other than English and mathematics, but is still at an early stage of implementing a cohesive and comprehensive whole-school curriculum. Because of significant staff changes in recent years, whole-school curriculum plans have been started and abandoned, with the result that there are some gaps in pupils’ learning, and some undue repetition of topics and skills, especially in Key Stage 2. All subjects have an outline plan for each term, and for each year group, but there is not enough support for less experienced Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 20 teachers in terms of comprehensive schemes of work. Not enough time has been given to the rigorous monitoring of teaching and learning, and not all subjects are taught on a regular basis in all classes, despite plans indicating otherwise.

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

26. The curriculum for the children in the Foundation Stage is very good, and is very well matched to their needs. Children take part in a wide and rich range of learning opportunities, and there is a very good balance between practical experience, and the more formal teaching of basic skills of numeracy and literacy. Close liaison between the Nursery and Reception teachers, together with good ongoing assessment, ensure that there is good and systematic progression in the children’s learning.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

27. The school is very committed to ensuring that pupils of all ages and abilities receive equality of provision, and tries hard to ensure that all pupils are included fully in all activities. However, there are times when pupils are withdrawn for additional strategies, such as ‘booster’ classes for language and mathematics, and social skills in the upper part of Key Stage 2, and when as a result, they miss important whole-class lessons. The school is managing a large number of initiatives to raise standards, such as those funded by the Education Action Zone, but needs now to take more control of these activities so that they are fully beneficial to those concerned.

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

28. The school meets the requirements of the Code of Practice for pupils it identifies as having special educational needs and provision is satisfactory overall. The co-ordinator has recently updated the policy for special educational needs to reflect the changes to the Code of Practice. Pupils’ targets are reviewed regularly to assess not only their progress, but to make sure that their needs are still being met. The annual reviews for the pupils who have a statement are all up to date, with appropriate targets. The quality of the individual education plans is satisfactory with clear targets that are linked well to the literacy and numeracy lessons.

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

29. The school makes satisfactory provision for extra-curricular activities for pupils in Key Stage 2. Provision for the younger pupils is limited at present, but the school is currently exploring ways in which this can be extended. The older pupils have satisfactory opportunities to extend their learning in art and design, music and physical education in after school clubs, for which teachers give willingly of their own time. Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 have very good opportunities to enjoy a range of outdoor pursuits, such as canoeing and river walking, during the annual residential visit to ‘Robinwood Outdoor Pursuits Centre’. Visitors to school, such as the ‘PRIDE’ drugs’ awareness team, make good contributions to pupils’ learning but visits to places outside the school to enrich learning are limited at present by financial restraints. Local initiatives, such as the Education Action Zone, make a good contribution to extending

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

pupils’ experiences outside school, for example in arranging for the pupils in the Nursery class to visit Manchester Art Gallery, and in providing opportunities for pupils in Year 3 to develop their oracy skills by taking part in a drama production. There is scope for the school to explore ways in which better use can be made of the local environment, visits and visitors to the school to enrich and extend pupils’ learning in lessons. This is an important development point given the lack of ‘real-life’ experiences of many of the pupils.

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

30. The school makes satisfactory provision for pupils’ personal, social and health education. The recently appointed co-ordinator for this area has put in place an outline scheme for a planned programme of relevant issues to be taught in dedicated curriculum time. The programme is closely related to the national guidelines and includes citizenship issues at an appropriate level for the ages of the pupils but its effectiveness has not yet been fully monitored. ‘Circle Time’ gives pupils opportunities Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 21 to explore personal issues that are important to them and most teachers handle these sessions very well, sharing their own experiences with the pupils, and dealing carefully with sensitive issues. The school makes satisfactory provision for sex and drugs education. Science lessons include these areas on a factual level and moral issues are explored appropriately. External agencies make a valuable contribution to the pupils’

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

awareness of the personal and moral aspects of drugs and sex education.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

31. The links with other schools in the area are good and many collaborative schemes are presently in place to support pupils and staff. A number of pupils take part in inter- school sporting events, and these opportunities have a positive impact on their personal and social development. A good partnership exists with the local Technology College, and at various points throughout the year, groups of older Key Stage 2 pupils benefit from taking part in joint activities. Although there are only very limited opportunities for the school to take educational advantage of the local community, links have been established wherever possible. The Chair of the Governing Body is the priest at the parish church, and this provides a very useful point of contact for the school within the local community.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

32. The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory overall. Pupils’ spiritual development is satisfactorily promoted through various activities within the school such as assemblies, some aspects of physical education, religious education and science. During the inspection, pupils in the Nursery class showed real awe and wonder as they discovered for the first time the properties of magnets, and ‘magically’ dragged iron filings from one place to another. There are moments for reflection in some lessons such as when pupils are asked to listen to a short extract of music, and to consider the feelings it provokes, but even more could be done to provide short, quiet periods for personal contemplation. Pupils generally show appropriate respect and reverence during the reading of prayers or inspirational texts.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

33. The promotion of pupils’ moral development is an ongoing priority in the school, and the overall provision is satisfactory. The school’s rules and expectations are clearly stated in classroom displays, and are shared with, and discussed with, pupils at key points throughout the week. However, because of the weaknesses in the curriculum, especially in Key Stage 2, there are too few opportunities for pupils to gain a wider perspective of morality, such as the destruction of rainforests, hunting or pollution. Most pupils know the difference between right and wrong, and have a satisfactory understanding of the impact of their actions on others.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

34. The provision for pupils’ social development is satisfactory overall, and has good features. The promotion of social development is good in those classes where the teaching is at its best, and where pupils are given the opportunity to work collaboratively and co-operatively with others. The school is benefiting from its involvement with the small Education Action Zone which has, as one of its main foci, the development of social skills. On a weekly basis staff from the small Education Action Zone come into the Reception class, working with groups of pupils to develop their language and social skills. A learning mentor comes into school on a weekly basis to work with Year 6 pupils, and to prepare them for their transfer to high school. The ‘buddy system’, where Year 8 pupils in the high school link with Year 6 pupils, is having a very positive impact in terms of raising the pupils’ confidence about their forthcoming transfer. Although in

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

theory, the practice of the learning mentor working with individual groups of Year 6 pupils is sound, in practice it means that pupils are missing too much of the statutory curriculum, and this is unsatisfactory. In the Foundation Stage, Key Stage1, and the rest of Key Stage 2, teachers constantly reinforce social conventions, and set a very good example through their own interactions with others. Daily routines give a good Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 22 structure to the day, and help the pupils to be more confident about their learning. Plans are currently in place to form a School Council in the next academic year, and this opportunity would give pupils more ownership of their school.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

35. The provision for pupils’ cultural development is satisfactory overall, but would be further enhanced by more opportunities for the pupils to make visits to places of local cultural interest, such as museums, art galleries, and places of worship. A strength of the provision is the way in which the school raises the pupils’ awareness of other cultures through exciting and very colourful and attractive displays in classrooms and shared areas of the school. An eye-catching display in the foyer, with greetings in different languages, welcomes pupils and parents from a wide variety of cultures, and creates a very positive impression of the school. Main world festivals are regularly celebrated, such as Chinese New Year in the Reception class, and accompanying displays, often with interactive labelling, capture the pupils’ attention, and give them useful information. As part of their involvement in the ‘North Manchester Partnership’,

p.22

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

older pupils participate in sports activities, and art and music festivals.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

36. The school offers good levels of care, support and guidance for pupils of all ages and abilities. Staff are fully committed to ensuring that pupils feel valued and secure. Teaching and non-teaching staff constantly reinforce the positive achievements of pupils so that the pupils develop self-esteem and feelings of self-worth, and staff are always caring in their dealings with them. Teachers recognise and try to remove the barriers to learning that some pupils experience because of their home circumstances.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

37. The procedures in place for child protection and welfare are good. The named teacher undertakes this responsibility in a professional and sensitive manner. Appropriate and fully understood systems are in place to ensure that all staff are familiar with the school’s child protection routines and procedures. Health and safety audits are carried out on a regular basis, in an effective manner. All reports of areas for attention, however small, are recorded and action is taken promptly. The school has an appropriate number of staff who hold first-aid qualifications, which are updated on a regular basis.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

38. The school is working closely with the small Education Action Zone to improve attendance, and procedures are good. Although the attendance rates are currently well below the national average, the school has set firm targets for improvement. The school recognises that not all pupils have the opportunity to attend on a regular basis but has introduced a range of workshops and strategies which have done much to improve the awareness of parents of the need for regular attendance. For example, a specialist support assistant, employed by the small Education Action Zone, works closely with the school to promote good attendance and punctuality. As an extension of this work, she also helps to raise pupils’ self-esteem and confidence. Many parents have responded positively to the school’s tighter measures for monitoring and promoting attendance, and the attendance rate is starting to show signs of improvement.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

39. The school has good strategies in place for promoting good behaviour, which are well understood by pupils and staff. Behaviour plans are in place for pupils who have difficulty in managing their own behaviour, and support staff are used well to help these pupils to work co-operatively and calmly alongside their classmates. In the main, teachers are consistent in their use of the agreed systems for managing behaviour, and use rewards and praise effectively to promote the pupils’ self-esteem and Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 23 confidence, and to encourage them to achieve their best. However, there are times, especially, but not exclusively, in the lower part of Key Stage 2, when behaviour is not well managed, and this leads to pupils disrupting the learning of others. The school has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy with regard to bullying and racist behaviour, and this is communicated both to pupils and their parents. However, not all parents support the

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

school in this. The school has a racial equality policy in place which is fully adhered to.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

40. In the Foundation Stage, teachers use ongoing assessments very well to monitor the children’s progress and to inform the next stage of their planning. Assessments that are carried out soon after the children join the school provide a good profile of their attainment on entry and are a good basis for measuring subsequent progress. Teachers and support staff make and record regular observations about individual children, especially those giving cause for concern.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

41. The procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are unsatisfactory overall. Although there is some tracking of pupils’ progress in English and mathematics, not enough use is made of assessment information in these subjects to highlight areas of strength in provision, or to identify weaknesses that need addressing. Test data from the national end of key stage tests, and other standardised tests, are analysed, and co-ordinators are beginning to use the information from test results to set individual targets for pupils. However, this analysis needs to be even more rigorous so that the school has a very clear picture of how attainment and progress vary for different groups of pupils. In all other subjects, there is a lack of rigour in the assessment systems. Although teachers know their pupils well, and make ongoing assessments about their progress, this information is not recorded,

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

making it difficult for teachers to track the progress of individual pupils as they move through the school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42. The procedures for assessing and monitoring the progress of pupils with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language are satisfactory overall. Pupils giving cause for concern are quickly identified so that their needs can be evaluated. The school puts the majority of additional classroom support in Key Stage 1, and this is having a beneficial impact on the learning of these pupils. However, there is not always enough support for older pupils, making it difficult for classteachers to cater for the wide spread of ability and need in their classes.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

43. Overall, the school’s partnership with parents is satisfactory, but some parents are not sufficiently supportive of the school’s aims and policies. The school is working hard to develop a more effective working partnership with parents. This is an ongoing area of development, and the school is benefiting from its involvement in the small Education Action Zone, which has, as one if its main areas for development, the involvement of parents.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

44. Despite the school’s best efforts, a significant number of parents are not sufficiently supportive of the school’s aims. Overall their involvement in the school, and in supporting their children is unsatisfactory. Although some parents fully endorse the school’s behaviour policy, a number undermine the school’s work by encouraging their children to flout the agreed systems. Many parents do little in the way of supporting their children at home with school work, and believe that it is the sole responsibility of the school to educate their children. Support for school events varies. Most parents are supportive of fund-raising events, and attend parents’ meetings to find out how their Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 24 children are progressing. However they are less keen to attend curriculum evenings. In the past, the school has offered a good range of classes for parents including ‘Parent

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

Survival Training’, and these have been well supported. Further classes are planned as part of the small Education Action Zone link, and the school has nominated a member of staff who is the ‘parental involvement co-ordinator’ to ensure that there is a good and productive liaison with parents. There is a dedicated and active Parent Teacher Association in place which organises fund raising events for the school, and shows an active interest in how these funds should be utilised for the benefit of pupils.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

45. The quality of information provided for parents is satisfactory overall. Regular newsletters are sent to parents and the Governors’ Annual Report to Parents fully meets statutory requirements. End of year reports of pupils’ progress provide satisfactory levels of information but vary in quality from class to class. Parents of pupils with special educational needs receive good levels of information about their children and are invited to attend review meetings and to take part in the target setting process. There are good links with some of the parents of pupils who have behavioural difficulties, and the school works hard with them through weekly meetings to achieve a consistency of approach in dealing with their children’s behaviour at home and at school. The school ensures that it communicates effectively with parents of pupils with English as an additional language and asylum seekers.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

46. Only a small number of parents responded to the pre-inspection questionnaire and attended the pre-inspection meeting. Of these parents, most are pleased with the standard of education the school provides, and agree that teaching is good and that the school is well led and managed. Parents say that they are made to feel welcome when they visit the school and this was observed at first-hand during the inspection. About one quarter of parents who responded to the questionnaire do not agree that the school works closely with them. The inspection findings do not support this view. Currently the school is working closely with the Education Action Zone to improve parental involvement, and good efforts are being made to create a working partnership with parents. A significant number of parents are not pleased with the frequency and amount of homework, and most believe the school sets too much homework. This is

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

not the case. The amount of homework is satisfactory, and could be usefully extended beyond the usual English and mathematics tasks. However, few parents support their children with homework tasks. A number of parents are concerned about behaviour in the school. Whilst there are pockets of unsatisfactory behaviour, in the main, pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory. Parents would like the school to offer more after-school activities. However, given the school’s other priorities, the current range of extra- curricular activities is satisfactory and appropriate.

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

47. The overall quality of leadership and management is satisfactory, and the leadership of the headteacher is good. He has a very clear idea of how the school needs to move forward, but has been severely hampered in his efforts by the lack of funds. In the past two years, the headteacher has effectively brought together a team of dedicated staff. He has successfully tackled most of the weaknesses from the last inspection, but recognises that there is more work to be done in terms of raising standards and in developing the curriculum, especially in Key Stage 2. The headteacher successfully involves the Senior Management Team, staff and the Governing Body when making important decisions, and this means that there is a shared approach to whole-school development and a good commitment to improvement. Since his appointment, the headteacher has worked hard to set up systems and structures that ensure that the

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 25 school is well managed on a day to day basis. These have been crucial in ensuring stability, given the many staff changes that have taken place in the last few years.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

48. The current headteacher inherited a significant budget deficit that has been successfully reduced through a planned repayment scheme, which will finish in 2004. However, this has meant that the school has been severely constrained in terms of purchasing much needed resources, such as schemes of work, for Key Stage 2 especially, and equipment and artefacts to support teaching and learning. There is now a real urgency to introduce schemes of work and to improve resources so that the planned improvements can take place.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

49. The headteacher has introduced a regular programme of monitoring of teaching and learning in the school, most of which has appropriately been focused on raising standards in English and mathematics. However, although co-ordinators and members of the Senior Management Team observe lessons, and monitor colleagues’ planning, the process is not yet sufficiently rigorous, and this means that identified weaknesses in teaching and learning have not been fully addressed. Currently not enough emphasis is placed on co-ordinators ensuring that teachers’ plans are implemented, with the result that some planned activities have not been taught. This is leading to gaps in pupils’ learning. Co-ordinators are in place for all subjects and for important aspects of the school's work. However, many co-ordinators are new to their roles, because of the staff changes that have taken place in recent years, and their role in managing and

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

leading their subjects is therefore under-developed. The practice of co-ordinators preparing annual action plans for their subject areas which feed into the main School Development Plan is good, and ensures that priorities can be identified across the curriculum. However, the shortage of funds has meant that. despite the priorities being identified, they have not yet been addressed.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

50. The management and organisation of special educational needs, and the provision for pupils with English as an additional language, are satisfactory. The special educational needs co-ordinator works hard to ensure that all pupils with special educational needs receive the support that they need. Time has been allocated for her to monitor and review the provision and for this purpose a monitoring timetable has been drawn up as well as the preparation of an action plan. Support staff work closely and effectively with pupils with English as an additional language and special educational needs in Key Stage 1, but even more support is needed in the upper part of the school. Designated funds are used well to support the pupils, but additional resources can not be purchased because of the general shortage of funds in the school. The school has welcomed several asylum seekers in recent years, and the admission of these pupils

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

is well managed so that they are quickly integrated into school life.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. The school development plan is a satisfactory document and is set within the context of the school’s long term aims and developments. The plan outlines appropriate targets with time allocations and costings, and indicates who is responsible and how success can be measured. The Governing Body reviews progress towards the targets in the School Development Plan on a regular basis.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. The Governing Body effectively carries out its statutory duties and is very supportive of the school and its aims. It is now beginning to play a more active and effective part in the management of the school. The Governing Body has recognised that its current range of committees is too extensive, and is beginning to streamline its work more effectively. Governors are becoming more involved in the monitoring and evaluation of the school’s performance by reviewing the targets in the School Development Plan, and analysing test results with the school’s Senior Management Team. The English Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 26 and special educational needs governors are both well informed about the developments in these areas, through their visits to the school and discussions with their link co-ordinators. However many of the governors are still relatively new to their posts and their links with subject co-ordinators are still developing. Nevertheless

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

governors are now in a stronger position to question and shape the direction of the school. There is a very close working relationship between the Chair of the Governing Body and the headteacher, and this is highly effective.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. The school’s financial management is good with effective systems in place to examine all new initiatives and priorities in relation to likely costs and the implications upon the quality and standards of education. The school administrator plays a pivotal and very effective role in managing the finances and in ensuring that governors receive up to date information about expenditure. Although the budget is firmly linked to development planning there have been areas in which spending has been severely curtailed in order to pay back the ‘deficit’ loan. The specific grants received by the school are used wisely for their intended purpose such as establishing a National Grid for Learning in Information and Communication Technology and supporting asylum seekers. The school also receives funding from a small Education Action Zone. Although this funding is used efficiently for a range of purposes, some of the initiatives involve withdrawing

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

pupils from class either individually or in groups to provide support for improving attendance and behaviour, and on occasions, this causes some disruption to the pupils’ day and they sometimes miss important lessons. Principles of best value are embraced in all purchasing decisions, and the school gives satisfactory value for money.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. The school is staffed by a suitable number of appropriately qualified teachers with a satisfactory number of classroom support assistants. Additional support from the mini Education Action Zone and Excellence in Cities provides additional staff in the form of a learning mentor who successfully eases the transition of pupils between the primary and secondary schools. Support from the LEA services for Ethnic Minority Pupils, Asylum Seekers and Traveller pupils improves the quality of education for these pupils. The grant for supporting asylum seekers is effectively spent on bi-lingual assistants so that these pupils are rapidly integrated into school life.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. The current staff development programme for the school emphasises the development of teachers’ knowledge and understanding of English, mathematics, the Foundation Stage and information and communication technology. This is justified given the need to raise standards in these subjects, but staff development in other subject is weak and has been so for many years. The headteacher and Senior Management Team are aware of the need to widen the programme for staff training and plans exist to do so. Funding from the Education Action Zone is improving opportunities for widening the range of staff training.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. The accommodation is good and has been improved significantly in the last two years. It is spacious internally and pupils benefit from access to large outdoor play areas, both surfaced and grassed. The care-taking staff maintain a very high standard of cleanliness. The accommodation for children in the Foundation Stage is very good and ensures that all children have good access to all necessary facilities including a secure outdoor play area. Recent improvements in the provision for information and communication technology through the creation of an information and communication technology suite have made a significant improvement to the quality of pupils’ education. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 27 57. Although the resources for children in the Foundation Stage are satisfactory overall, resources for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils are poor, and are a significant factor in the low standards in many subjects. The range of books is very limited with a narrow

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

range of both fiction and non-fiction books to meet the needs of all pupils. Despite recent investments in information and communication technology, the number of computers owned by the school is low and the range of software and equipment for sensing the environment and for pupils to programme moveable toys is unsatisfactory. The school lacks some important schemes of work which would help Key Stage 2 teachers in their planning, and has only a very limited range of artefacts and video materials that would help teachers bring learning to life for the pupils. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 28

p.27

The school should address the shortcomings in long-term curriculum planning by:-

• ensuring that good quality schemes of work are implemented throughout the school, in subjects other than mathematics and English, and especially in Key Stage 2; • ensuring that all subjects are taught for an appropriate amount of time, to ensure full delivery of the National Curriculum programmes of study and religious education; • making the monitoring of teaching and learning more rigorous, and ensuring that all planned lessons are taught. (paragraphs 7, 8, 19, 24, 25, 48, 49, 57, 109, 113, 118, 122, 127, 128, 132, 138, 142, 143)

p.28

Stage 2 by:-

• being more rigorous in monitoring teaching and planning so that weaknesses can be clearly identified and addressed; • sharing the good and sometimes very good practice that exists elsewhere in the school; • ensuring that a permanent teacher is appointed in year 3; • considering short-term strategies such as team and specialist teaching until the difficulties can be effectively resolved. (paragraphs 16, 25, 49, 95, 103, 112, 122, 127, 132, 142, 143)

p.28

The school should improve assessment in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 by:-

• devising and implementing rigorous assessment and recording systems and procedures in all subjects in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2; • continuing to develop systems for pupils to evaluate their own learning; • using assessment to help plan the next stage of pupils’ learning. (paragraphs 14, 41, 95, 103, 112, 116, 122, 143)

p.28

The school should make the systems for monitoring and evaluating the school’s

performance more rigorous. (paragraph 41)

p.28

At the earliest opportunity the school should improve and increase the learning

resources for most subjects. (paragraphs 5, 8, 17, 48, 50, 57)

p.28

At the earliest opportunity the school should improve and increase the learning

The school should continue with its efforts to improve attendance. (paragraphs 15, 38, 53)

p.28

The school should improve the behaviour of some pupils by:-

• ensuring that the agreed behaviour management systems are consistently implemented in all classes; • continuing to target additional classroom support where the need is greatest. (paragraphs 12, 20, 23, 39) Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 29

p.28

OTHER MINOR ISSUES WHICH SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BY THE SCHOOL

• the school should make more use of visits and visiting speakers to enhance the pupils’ learning (paragraphs 29, 35, 114, 117, 124, 142, 152); • the school should review its policy and practice for withdrawing pupils from lessons to ensure that pupils do not miss important aspects of their learning (paragraphs 12, 27, 53, 101, 102) ; • the school should continue to develop the use of information and communication technology across the curriculum (paragraphs 7, 18, 95, 110, 116, 127, 142, 154) ; Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 30

p.29

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 28

p.30

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

p.30

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than two percentage points.

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 21 169

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 14 94

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 2

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 0 41

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 11

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 72

p.30

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 69

p.30

Attendance

National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 31 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 32

p.30

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2002 16 12 28

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 13 14 13 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 8 10 11

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 75 (79) 86 (83) 86 (90) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (84) 86 (86) 90 (91)

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 14 13 14 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 10 11 10

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 86 (83) 86 (79) 86 (79) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (85) 89 (89) 89 (89)

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2002 15 10 25

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 6 9 14 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 6 5 7

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 48 (72) 56 (76) 84 (80) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 7 7 7 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 7 4 5

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 56 (80) 44 (80) 48 (88) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74 (74) 82 (82)

p.32

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 33

p.32

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Categories used in the Annual School Census No of pupils on roll Number of fixed period exclusions Number of permanent exclusions

p.33

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 3

p.33

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black or Black British – any other Black background

p.33

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

The table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. It gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 34

p.33

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 9 Financial year 2001/2002

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 21

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Year 6 Total income 466,620

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 11 Total expenditure 467,204

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 117 Expenditure per pupil 2,336

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 928

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 344

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 21

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

p.34

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 37.5

p.34

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 4

p.34

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 4

p.34

Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

p.34

Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 1

p.34

Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

p.34

Recruitment of teachers

FTE means full-time equivalent. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 35

p.34

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 33 62 3 0 2

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 25 53 7 10 5

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 22 42 23 10 3

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 33 45 20 0 2

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 56 38 2 2 2

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 53 42 3 0 2

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 35 31 22 2 10

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 40 40 10 0 10

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 37 52 8 0 3

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 23 30 12 23 12 Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 36

p.35

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

57. The provision for the Nursery and Reception children in the Foundation Stage is very good, ensuring that all children have a very positive start to their education. The provision has improved since the time of the last inspection. The Nursery and Reception children are taught in separate single age classes, and almost all of the Nursery children attend school on a full-time basis.

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

58. When they join the Nursery class, most children are working at well below the expected level for their age, in most areas of learning. Their language and social skills are often especially poor. Although children of all abilities often make very good progress in individual lessons, their ability to retain their learning is sometimes poor, and this impedes their overall progress. By the end of the Reception year, few children attain the Early Learning Goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and in their knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live, and their overall attainment in these areas is very low. Most children attain the Early Learning Goals in terms of their creative, physical, and personal, social and emotional development, although some children are working at a very low level across all areas of their learning. Good procedures enable the teachers to quickly identify children who

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

have special educational needs and who need additional support. These children make similar progress to their classmates, as do those who have English as an additional language.

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

59. Teaching is very good overall in both the Nursery and Reception classes. A significant strength of teaching is the way in which the teachers combine very structured activities, which give the children a sense of order and discipline, and free-choice activities, which enable the children to learn how to make simple choices and decisions. Teachers’ planning is very good, and very detailed, and shows clearly what the children are expected to learn. Teachers use ongoing assessments very well to monitor the children’s progress and to inform the next stage of their planning. Teachers have very high expectations of children of all abilities, both in terms of their academic achievement, and their behaviour, and for the most part, children respond well to these challenges. The promotion of the children’s spoken language is an ongoing priority in both the Nursery and Reception classes, and teachers and classroom assistants

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

provide very good opportunities for the children to talk about their work. However, the children would benefit from even more adult intervention when they are engaged in ‘free-choice’ activities, so that they could constantly acquire and practise new vocabulary. Teachers and classroom assistants are very effective in the way in which they develop the children’s personal, social and emotional skills, and all adults who come into daily contact with the children provide excellent role models. A common feature in both the Nursery and Reception classes is the very good annotation that accompanies the children’s work that is on display. Clear labelling shows the names of the children who have contributed to the display, and there is usually a brief accompanying summary of what the work was about, the stimulus and skills that were used, and some questions to capture the interest of the audience.

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

60. The school has developed good links with parents of Nursery and Reception children, and most parents are comfortable about coming into school to discuss their children’s Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 37 progress, or to sort out minor worries or concerns. Teachers provide parents with good information about what their children are learning in school, and help parents to support their children at home by giving them tips about how to share books, for example.

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

61. The Foundation Stage is very well managed by an experienced and very well organised co-ordinator. She has a very good understanding of how young children learn, and an excellent appreciation of the need to provide a secure, caring, stimulating and attractive learning environment. Gradually the school is building up a good range of learning resources, but currently they are only satisfactory in terms of range, quantity and condition.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

62. The teaching of personal. social and emotional development is very good in both the Nursery and Reception classes, enabling all children to make good progress in this area of their learning. Although the teaching is very good, the children’s learning is not always sufficiently reinforced at home, and this hinders their progress. When they join the Nursery class, many children lack personal and social skills and they are often emotionally immature. By the time they transfer to Year 1, most children are attaining the Early Learning Goals in respect of their personal, social and emotional development, but despite making good progress, a number of children are still working at a very low level.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

63. The daily classroom routines play a crucial part in helping the children to feel secure in their learning, and in both the Nursery and Reception classes, teachers are very effective in developing and extending these daily routines so that the children become progressively more confident. From an early age, the children are encouraged to take responsibility for aspects of their learning, and to make choices and decisions about their work. Teachers achieve a very good balance between activities that the children select themselves, and those that are directed by an adult.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

64. For the most part, children show good levels of concentration and apply themselves well to the activity they have chosen. They are particularly responsive when they are working with attractive and interesting resources. For example, during the inspection, groups of Nursery children explored some very attractive magnets, and the excitement of discovery promoted the spontaneous sharing of ideas and findings. Likewise, when playing in the ‘theatre’ role play area in the Reception class, the children talked well to one another when they were taking the parts of different characters.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

65. The children’s behaviour and attitudes to work are good overall. However, although most children play well with one another, a small number of children are quite volatile and sometimes aggressive in their behaviour. These children are very well managed by the teachers and classroom assistants who patiently reinforce the school’s expectations of good behaviour. During their time in the Foundation Stage, the children learn how to take turns. Teachers provide very good opportunities for the children to take part in board games, which reinforce their understanding of the need to follow the rules of the game, and to take turns.

p.37

Personal, social and emotional development

66. By the end of the Reception year, almost all of the children are quite independent in terms of managing their personal hygiene, putting on coats and hats, and finding and accessing resources in the classroom.

p.37

Communication, language and literacy

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 38 67. The teaching of communication, language and literacy is very good. However, although the children often make very good progress in lessons and activities, some retain very little of what they have been taught, and this hinders their progress over time. By the time the children transfer to Year 1, few are attaining the Early Learning Goals in this area of learning, and their overall attainment is at a very low level.

p.38

Communication, language and literacy

68. The children’s spoken language is often very poor when they join the Nursery class, and this is an ongoing cause for concern for the school. Although most children communicate effectively, through gestures, and simple words and phrases, few are able to take part in an extended dialogue, or to develop their ideas. Often children speak to themselves when they are working on given tasks, but their language is sometimes unintelligible. When they start school, the children have a very limited knowledge of nursery rhymes, and teachers provide regular opportunities for children to join in with jingles, rhymes and songs so that they have the rigour of speaking to a set rhythm at a given speed. This helps the children to learn how to articulate words clearly, but not all children put in enough effort during these activities. By the end of the Reception year, most children appear to listen well in class discussions, although their contributions do

p.38

Communication, language and literacy

not always reflect what has gone before. Many of the Reception children rely on others for their ideas, and their answers to questions are not always well thought through. For example, in a religious education lesson seen during the inspection, one of the children told the teacher about his favourite part of the story. The next three children gave the same answer. The very good emphasis that is placed on role play activities has a very positive impact on the children’s spoken language, and staff work hard and very successfully to promote language throughout the day. However, even more adult support when the children are working on ‘free-choice’ activities would enhance the children’s language skills still further.

p.38

Communication, language and literacy

69. The Nursery and Reception children make good progress in their reading and writing, but are hampered by their poor spoken language skills and their limited experiences outside school. A small number of children benefit from additional support at home, but this is not the case for most children. Teachers provide very good opportunities for the children to gain an appreciation of the purpose of writing, and in both the Nursery and Reception classrooms, ‘writing’ areas are used purposefully and regularly by all children. In the Reception class, children who are working in the ‘theatre’s box office’ confidently write out tickets, and make bookings, and during the inspection, the Nursery children worked with the teacher to make ‘shopping lists’. Both of these activities helped to reinforce the link between reading and writing, and the children were keen to share their work with adults. Almost all of the children enjoy listening to stories and

p.38

Communication, language and literacy

sharing ‘Big Books’, and by the end of the Reception year, most children are making good progress in learning how to read independently, although few are working at the expected level for their age. Phonics are taught well, although the poor speech of many of the children hinders them when they are listening to, and identifying, initial sounds, for example. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 39

p.38

Mathematical development

70. By the end of the Reception year, few children attain the Early Learning Goals in terms of their mathematical development, and despite making good progress, their attainment overall is very low. Teaching is very good, and formal number activities are very well supported by ‘free-choice’ activities which very successfully reinforce important mathematical concepts. The children’s starting point when they join the Nursery class is very low, and most have little idea of how to sort, match or count.

p.39

Mathematical development

71. In both the Nursery and Reception classes there are daily opportunities for the children to sort objects against given criteria, such as colour, shape or size. Often these activities are presented as games so that the children’s interest is captured, and also so that social skills, such as sharing and ‘following the rules’, can be reinforced. By the end of the Reception year, a very small number of children know the properties of common two and three dimensional shapes. However, despite regular teaching of this aspect of mathematics, most children do not have a sufficiently secure grasp of shape, and most are not able to transfer and use the knowledge they do have when working in different contexts. For example, during the inspection, Reception children were asked to place coloured shapes onto a ‘shape’ card, matching colour and shape as they did so. Although most of the children managed the task, it was through a process of ‘trial

p.39

Mathematical development

and elimination’ rather than a process of looking at the shape card, assimilating the information, and then selecting the most appropriate shape. In the Nursery class, very good opportunities are provided for the children to learn comparative sizes as they look at model bears that are ‘small’ ‘medium’ and ‘big’, and for them to learn vocabulary such as ‘full’ and ‘empty’ as they work in the water tray. However, some of these opportunities could be even more valuable if there was more adult support to enable the children to acquire and practise the associated vocabulary.

p.39

Mathematical development

72. The children’s knowledge of number is poor at the end of the Reception year, despite very good teaching in both the Nursery and Reception classes. The children know few rhymes when they join the Nursery, but they quickly learn number rhymes which reinforce the order of numbers up to five and then ten. Throughout the day, in both the Nursery and Reception classes, incidental opportunities for counting are used well. However, although by the end of the Foundation Stage most children recognise the numbers one to ten, and can count up to, and sometimes beyond, ten, most have great difficulty in adding or subtracting one from a given number. During the inspection, in a very good lesson seen in the Reception class, the children confidently found given numbers using their ‘number fans’, but struggled when they were asked to find the number that came before or after the given number. Many of the children have difficulty

p.39

Mathematical development

in retaining information, and their poor spoken language skills make it difficult for them to communicate their ideas clearly.

p.39

Knowledge and understanding of the world

73. The quality of teaching in this area of learning is very good, but despite making good progress from an exceptionally low starting point, most of the children do not achieve the Early Learning Goals by the end of the Reception year, and their attainment in terms of their knowledge and understanding of the world is poor. Although the children often make very good progress within an activity, their ability to retain information is poor, and often by the time the topic is revisited, they have forgotten their previous learning.

p.39

Knowledge and understanding of the world

74. The Nursery and Reception teachers provide some very good experiences which help the children to develop skills of observation and curiosity, and which promote their Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 40 interest in the world around them. During the inspection, Nursery children showed high levels of enthusiasm and animation when they explored the colourful, circular magnets that the school has recently purchased. They demonstrated real awe and wonder as they discovered that the magnets would sometimes repel one another and sometimes attract one another, and they quickly found the rule that governed their ‘behaviour’. During this activity, the children showed unusually high levels of concentration, especially when the teacher introduced the iron filings, and the children discovered the ‘magic’ of moving them around the box using a magnet. In the Reception class, the children continue to have opportunities for finding things out by themselves, and these

p.39

Knowledge and understanding of the world

opportunities are complemented by more structured activities which focus the children’s attention on specific aspects.

p.40

Knowledge and understanding of the world

75. Many of the children start school with very little knowledge of the area in which they live, or the wider environment. They have difficulty in comprehending the idea of trees, bridges, streams, mountains and woods because of their very limited experience of such geographical features, and for most children, their learning of these areas comes almost entirely from school. Teachers make very good use of books and other resources to enhance the children’s experiences, but more good quality resources are needed if these children’s needs are to be fully met. Recently the Reception children made good progress in their understanding of journeys as they traced the routes of ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘Little Bo Peep’. In the Nursery class, the children are making good progress in learning about the weather, and on a daily basis, they select the picture that matches the weather conditions outside. Most children do this quite well, although they

p.40

Knowledge and understanding of the world

often need help from their teacher. Resources such as plastic and wooden farm animals, and wild animal puppets, provide good opportunities for the children to extend their learning through play, but for many children this learning is not reinforced at home, and few children have seen live versions of these animals.

p.40

Knowledge and understanding of the world

76. The children’s understanding of the past and present is very weak. Very few of the children can reliably order the days of the week, and few understand the passage of time as measured by the different seasons of the year. The children are starting to order the days of the week in the Nursery class, but some children are still not confident about this by the end of the Reception year. The children have little idea about the relationships within their families, although some know the ages of their older and younger siblings, most have little understanding of the relationships between adult members of their households, for example, their parents’ parents. Few children are able to make a distinction between the very recent past and the long ago past, and most have considerable difficulty when considering the notion of the future.

p.40

Knowledge and understanding of the world

77. The children have a satisfactory knowledge and understanding of computers, and use them effectively to support their learning. However, many of the children do not have access to computers at home, and this means that their learning is not extended outside the classroom. In the Nursery class, children have recently been using a painting program to produce pictures of bugs, and during the inspection, very good use was made of computers when the Nursery children matched two dimensional shapes with shapes on a house. Very good adult intervention helped to develop the children’s mathematical vocabulary as they learned the names of squares, circles, rectangles and triangles. Likewise, in the Reception class, the children made use of computers during a numeracy lesson to draw shape picture, reinforcing their learning of the properties of two dimensional shapes. By the end of the Reception year, most of the

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

children can use simple word-processing programs to write short phrases, and can print their own work, with adult support. Most have satisfactory control of the mouse, but not all can reliably ‘click and drag’ objects from one place to another. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 41 78. The school meets statutory requirements in terms of teaching religious education to the children who are five years old, but the children’s understanding is very poor. The Reception teacher is currently focusing on celebrations around the world, and has spent time explaining Chinese New Year. Whilst the children have enjoyed making a variety of artefacts which are displayed attractively in the classroom, and have recently made cards to celebrate the Islam festival of Eid, they have very little knowledge or understanding of or about religion. In a lesson seen during the inspection, the teacher made very good use of a ‘Big Book’ to explain the idea of Eid, but lacked the ‘real-life’

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resources and artefacts that might have brought the lesson to life for the children.

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Physical development

79. By the time they move to Key Stage 1, most children attain the Early Learning Goals in terms of their physical development. When they start school, their attainment in this aspect of their learning is not as low as in other areas, and most have satisfactory control of their bodies, and a good sense of space. However, the ability of most children to control small objects, such as scissors, pencils and brushes is poor. The teaching of physical development is very good, especially in the Reception class where there are daily structured activities that promote the children’s learning across a wide range of disciplines. In the Nursery class, the children benefit from daily access to a designated play area, which is equipped with a climbing frame and wheeled toys. Although the equipment is old and in need of replacing, it enables the children to experience an appropriate range of activities. The Reception children have use of this play area on a

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Physical development

80. The Nursery and Reception children show satisfactory levels of awareness when they move around enclosed spaces such as the classroom, and are highly energetic and excited when working outside. By the end of the Reception year, most children have satisfactory control when passing small balls and bean bags, although their catching skills are still underdeveloped. Nursery children climb with good levels of agility and very good levels of confidence. They propel wheeled toys with purpose and accuracy, avoiding others as they move around the play area.

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Physical development

81. Most children have poor fine-motor skills when they join the Nursery class, and although they make good progress in acquiring and developing these skills as they move through the Foundation Stage, by the time they transfer to Year 1, some children still have difficulty in manipulating small tools, pencils and objects. Teachers provide a good range of activities that help the children to gain experience of working with and controlling small objects, and are particularly effective in the way in which they encourage them to hold pencils and brushes correctly.

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Creative development

82. By the end of the Reception year, most children attain the Early Learning Goals in this aspect of their learning. They make very good progress from a very low starting point, and benefit from taking part in a very good range of daily activities that successfully promotes their creative development. The teaching is very good overall, although there are times when support staff offer too much advice to the children, and this constrains their creativity.

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Creative development

83. In the Nursery class there are daily opportunities for the children to model with dough or plasticene, and children have access to a good variety of cutting and modelling tools. Ongoing discussion about the models the children have made helps to promote their spoken language, and helps them to see how they might modify their ideas. Although Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 42 the children often have poor cutting skills in the Nursery class, by the end of the Reception class, most children handle scissors confidently and cut accurately. During the inspection, children in both the Nursery and Reception classes used glue and sticky tape well to join card and paper together, and to attach decorations such as feathers and sequins. Skills of folding and scrunching paper are taught well enabling the children to give texture to their work, and in the Reception class, the children have recently

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Creative development

made very attractive dragons, with pleated paper bodies, to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Creative activities are often used very well to support learning in other areas. For example, during the inspection, as part of a numeracy lesson, Reception children made three dimensional models using cylinders, cuboids and prisms. Regular opportunities for the children to paint help them to learn the names of colours, and most Reception children know how to mix primary colours to produce secondary colours. The children’s art-work is colourful, but often immature for their age.

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Creative development

84. Teachers provide very good opportunities for the children in the Nursery and Reception classes to take part in role play activities, and the role play areas are changed on a regular basis. Currently the role play area in the Nursery class is the ‘Three Bears’ Cottage’. Here the children are developing their understanding of comparative size as they enact various scenarios involving the ‘Three Bears’, and are learning how to put things away in their rightful places. In the Reception class, the ‘theatre’ has proved to be a huge success, and the children confidently man the ‘box office’, and take on the roles of performers and audience. Higher attaining children imaginatively use the very appealing animal glove puppets in the small table top ‘puppet-theatre’, and all children have enjoyed making their own ‘stick’ puppets, which are attractively displayed in the main ’theatre’. Very recently, the Reception children, with the support of two ‘family and

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Creative development

school support workers’, funded by the small Education Action Zone to which the school belongs, put on a performance, and this was very well supported by their parents. Although the role play areas are a significant strength of the provision for the Nursery and Reception children, there are times when more adult support would help the children to extend their vocabulary further.

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Creative development

85. There are daily music activities in the Nursery class, and good opportunities for them to choose and play tapes, and to select and play musical instruments. However, the children’s learning of songs and rhymes is hampered by their very poor language skills. In the Reception class, there are good opportunities for the children to sing jingles and action songs, and a more formal instrument session enables the children to learn about the sounds instruments produce, and the way in which the sounds are made. However, although the teaching of the music aspect of creative development is good overall, even more could be done to encourage the children to play instruments freely, and to challenge them more in their singing. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 43

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ENGLISH

86. Pupils’ attainment on the basis of the end of Key Stage 2 2002 national test results is well below the national average, and below average in comparison with similar schools. At the end of Key Stage 1, the 2002 national test results show that pupils’ attainment in reading is well below the national average, and their attainment in writing is below the national average. In comparison with similar schools, Key Stage 1 pupils perform at an above average level. The inspection findings paint a very similar picture to the test results, and show that pupils’ attainment overall is well below national expectations at the end of both key stages. There is no significant difference between the performance of boys and girls. It is not possible to make reliable judgements about progress since the time of the last inspection because of the significant changes both in terms of staffing, and in terms of the pupil population. Although at the time of the last inspection,

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standards were reported to be higher, pupils are now starting school at a much lower point than they were at the time of the last inspection.

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87. In Key Stage 1, pupils make good progress from a very low starting point. Although pupils’ progress is satisfactory overall in Key Stage 2, their progress is not consistent because of weaknesses in teaching in the lower part of the key stage. The great majority of pupils make good progress in reading and writing as they move through Key Stage 1, but their progress in the development of spoken language is slower. As pupils move into Key Stage 2 the rate of progress slows, particularly in writing and spoken language but is better in Year 5 and Year 6 where there are higher expectations of what pupils can do. Although the great majority of pupils make satisfactory progress in reading, their progress in writing is much slower due to insufficient opportunities for them to practise their literacy skills in other subjects. In some classes, there are good opportunities for pupils to practise their speaking and listening skills, but these

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opportunities are not consistent across the key stage. Pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language are given good quality support in lessons, and as a result, they make as much progress as they can. On the few occasions when no additional support is available for these pupils, their progress declines. Over the past few years, pupils’ attainment and progress have been adversely affected by high levels of staff changes, and unusually high levels of pupil mobility, especially in Key Stage 2.

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88. Standards in speaking and listening are well below expectations for pupils at the end of both key stages. A high percentage of pupils have an extremely limited vocabulary and find it difficult to express and communicate their knowledge and understanding, and their opinions and feelings. Although most pupils are able to give short answers in response to questions from teachers, they are rarely able to expand on their responses or to explain their answers in any depth. Many pupils throughout the school lack the confidence to speak in front of others, and this further inhibits the development of their spoken language, especially in Key Stage 2. The standard of listening is satisfactory in Key Stage 1, where there are high expectations for pupils to be quiet and listen attentively when others are speaking. In Key Stage 2 standards of listening are unsatisfactory for many pupils. There are times in all Key Stage 2 classes when pupils

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do not pay enough attention to their teachers or fellow pupils and this has a negative effect on their rate of learning. In some classes, there are not enough opportunities for pupils to develop their speaking and listening skills in planned situations, such as debates and role play activities, and provision for speaking and listening is inconsistent throughout the school.

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ENGLISH

89. Despite making good progress, pupils’ attainment in reading is well below national expectations by the end of Key Stage 1. Many pupils do not have opportunities outside Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 44 school to practise and develop their reading skills, and teachers work hard to promote reading as a pleasurable activity. Most Key Stage 1 pupils recognise a satisfactory range of words on sight, and have appropriate strategies which they use effectively to decode new words. However, many pupils encounter difficulties in understanding more challenging texts because of their own very limited vocabulary. With adult help, the better readers infer meaning from the text but, the great majority read in a mechanical manner, and their understanding is at a literal level, with a heavy reliance on illustrations to help them to recall and explain what they are reading. There are regular opportunities

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in school for the pupils to practise their reading skills, but many parents are not willing to provide additional opportunities for the pupils to practise at home.

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90. At the end of Key Stage 2, the pupils’ standard of reading is still well below national expectations, but most can decode text, and the better readers demonstrate fluency, and reasonable levels of understanding when interpreting text. Most Key Stage 2 pupils have extended their range of reading strategies and apply these well in making sense of what they are reading. However, few pupils express pleasure in reading and their knowledge of books and authors is very limited. This is due partly to the restricted range of attractive, good quality books available for pupils to read for pleasure, both in school and to take home to read. The pupils’ library skills are not well developed and they have only a very vague idea of how to locate books in a library. Very few pupils are attaining the higher levels in their reading, and most do not have the higher order skills of skimming and scanning which would help them to carry out research.

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ENGLISH

91. The standard of handwriting is inconsistent throughout the school. It is better in Key Stage 1 where pupils are taught to form their letters correctly, and where the pupils often make valiant attempts to write evenly and legibly. However, during Key Stage 2, there is insufficient demand in some classes for the pupils to present their work neatly in a cursive style. Many pupils do not consistently use the handwriting style they have been taught as part of their English lessons in their work in other subjects. The handwriting of most pupils is immature and pupils do not always take enough pride in the presentation of their written work.

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ENGLISH

92. Standards of writing are well below national expectations at the end of Key Stage 1, but pupils make good progress from a very low starting point. By the end of the key stage, most pupils know that capital letters and full stops are used to demarcate sentences and the more able pupils use these conventions with reasonable consistency in their independent writing. The majority of pupils sequence their ideas appropriately and spell short, frequently used words correctly. The most able pupils use simple connective words and phrases to link their sequences of ideas, but sentences are often short and few pupils attempt the use of extended sentences or ambitious vocabulary. Currently the school is placing too much emphasis on pupils carrying out formal language exercises, which although successful in helping them to learn grammar, do not provide enough opportunities for the pupils to use their imaginations, or to write independently in

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their own words for different purposes and audiences. There are too few opportunities for pupils to write their own accounts in other subjects.

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93. By the end of Key Stage 2, standards in writing are well below national expectations. Progress is often very slow in the earlier part of the key stage, because of weaknesses in teaching, but increases significantly towards the end of the key stage where teachers have higher expectations of what the pupils could and should be able to do. By the end of Key Stage 2, the use of basic punctuation is more consistent, but only a minority of pupils use punctuation other than capital letters and full stops, with reasonable accuracy. Some pupils write in extended sentences and vary the range of language they use to engage the interest of the reader or suit the purpose of the writing, but few Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 45 pupils use complex sentences or interesting vocabulary in their independent writing. The pupils’ narrative writing describes and sequences actions and events with reasonable consistency, but pupils rarely organise their writing into paragraphs, and

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ENGLISH

many pupils are unable to expand on settings, motives and feelings in order to make their writing more interesting. The spelling of frequently used words is usually accurate but often pupils make careless mistakes and give insufficient attention to checking and editing their work.

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ENGLISH

94. The quality of teaching is good in Key Stage 1. In Key Stage 2, teaching is satisfactory overall. There are weaknesses in the lower part of the key stage, but teaching in the upper part of the key stage has good features. The planning of individual lessons is at least satisfactory in most classes, and reflects the recommendations of the National Literacy Strategy. The needs of different groups of pupils, are well met in most classes. Group work is often well organised to meet the needs of all ability levels, and classroom assistants provide good additional support, particularly for pupils with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language. On the occasions when classroom assistance is not available to support pupils with special educational needs, the learning is less successful and the progress of these pupils slows considerably because they are unable to sustain the concentration levels and

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independence needed to complete the tasks. Lessons are usually well managed and teachers use appropriate strategies to maintain the interest of the pupils. In the best lessons, pupils are encouraged to take an active part in lessons, and teachers present activities in a stimulating and interesting way. For example, during the inspection, pupils In Year 2 learned very effectively about antonyms through a practical pairing activity, and in Year 6, pupils were able to organise the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of an argument in a practical task and to use appropriate connectives to link the arguments. Whilst many pupils behave well in lessons, a significant proportion of pupils, especially in Key Stage 2, show challenging behaviour and lack the necessary concentration. This inappropriate behaviour distracts other pupils and slows the pace of the lesson. Most teachers manage this poor behaviour firmly and effectively, and the best teachers are

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good role models through the courtesy and respect with which they treat pupils, and the calm manner in which they deal with disruptive behaviour. However, where teaching is less effective, the poor and inconsistent management of behaviour is often a key factor. In Key Stage 1, teachers often have high expectations of what the pupils can achieve and this is a significant factor in the good progress the pupils make. In some classes in Key Stage 2, teachers do not have sufficiently high expectations, and pupils do not put enough effort into their learning. In both key stages, there are examples of very good marking which shows the pupils what they do well and what they must do to improve. Homework is used appropriately to support pupils’ learning, with regular reading and spelling tasks to be completed at home.

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ENGLISH

95. The leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory overall and the current co-ordinator has made a good start in implementing improvements in planning and assessment procedures. However, although there has been a regular programme of lesson observations, the procedures for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning across the school are not sufficiently rigorous, and weaknesses in teaching in the lower part of Key Stage 2 have not been fully addressed. The school has rightly identified writing as a major focus for improvement and a number of initiatives have been put in place to raise standards. However, these are comparatively recent and although noticeable progress has been made, in Key Stage 1, the impact is not yet evident in Key Stage 2. The school has a suitable range of reading schemes to meet the needs of the pupils. However, as at the time of the last inspection, the quantity and quality of

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ENGLISH

fiction and non-fiction books, particularly for older Key Stage 2 readers, are insufficient. This reduces the opportunities for pupils, particularly in Key Stage 2, to enjoy a good Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 46 range of fiction and also restricts the development of their higher order research skills. Although the school has satisfactorily implemented the National Literacy Strategy throughout both key stages, there are not enough additional writing opportunities across the curriculum. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution to the pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development, but there is scope for more promotion of these elements in lessons. In some lessons, there are appropriate opportunities for the pupils to use information and communication technology to support their learning, but this is an ongoing area of development in the school, and more opportunities could be

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MATHEMATICS

96. The 2002 end of Key Stage 2 national test results, show that pupils’ attainment in mathematics is well below the national average, and average in comparison with similar schools. The 2002 end of Key Stage 1 national test results indicate that standards are well below the national average, but above average in comparison with similar schools. The inspection findings paint a very similar picture and indicate that standards are well below national expectations at the end of both key stages. It is not possible to make reliable comparisons about standards or provision between this and the last inspection because of significant changes to the school. Pupils’ attainment when they start school is considerably lower than it was at the time of the last inspection.

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MATHEMATICS

97. As they move through Key Stage 1, pupils of all abilities, including those with special educational needs, and those for whom English is an additional language make good progress and achieve well. However, although in Key Stage 2, pupils’ progress is satisfactory overall, it is inconsistent. Progress is often very slow in the lower part of Key Stage 2, where there are weaknesses in teaching, and faster in the upper part of the key stage where the quality of teaching is better. Over the past few years, pupils’ attainment and progress have been adversely affected by high levels of staff changes, and unusually high levels of pupil mobility, especially in Key Stage 2.

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MATHEMATICS

98. Throughout the school, pupils have a better grasp of number, than other aspects of mathematics. This is mainly because more emphasis is placed on this aspect of the mathematics curriculum in lessons. Where teaching is at its best, teachers provide good opportunities for the pupils to use these skills to solve problems and to carry out investigations. Most Key Stage 2 pupils are not secure in their knowledge and understanding of data handling, and this is a relatively weaker aspect of their learning. A shortage of important computer software makes the teaching of data handling difficult, and the school is in the process of addressing this deficiency. Throughout the school, pupils’ learning is hampered by their lack of mathematical vocabulary. This makes it difficult for pupils to explain their ideas clearly and concisely.

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MATHEMATICS

99. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is well below national expectations. Although a small number of pupils attain the expected level in their work, most pupils are working at a lower than expected level. Higher attaining Year 2 pupils show a good understanding of addition, subtraction and place value. They sequence numbers correctly, and devise their own addition and subtraction sentences using their own choice of digits. They solve simple word problems themselves, using both multiplication and repeated addition, and explain how they have arrived at their answers. Lower attaining pupils, including those with special educational needs, often have difficulty in using numbers confidently and accurately up to ten. They find the vocabulary associated with mathematics hard to understand, and have difficulty in Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 47 explaining their ideas. Lower attaining pupils benefit from the good levels of well

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MATHEMATICS

focused classroom support they receive from support staff, and this enables them to make good gains in their learning from a very low starting point. For example when the rest of the class were learning about the properties of three dimensional shapes, and naming them correctly, the support teacher worked very productively with the lower attaining group in the classroom on a simplified task of making a snake with different shapes. Even though these pupils found it hard to remember the correct name of the shape, they counted the number of sides and corners of the shapes and learned some of their properties as well as reinforcing their number skills. Pupils have appropriate opportunities to learn about measurement, but most struggle with the use of standard units of measure for weight, length and capacity, and find it difficult to make accurate measurements and estimates.

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MATHEMATICS

100. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils’ knowledge and understanding of number, shape, space and measure is well below the expected level. Although many higher attaining and average pupils have a secure grasp of most aspects of number, they are not always sufficiently confident when applying their knowledge in new contexts. Historically, there has been little in the way of practical investigative work, and this is still true in those classes where teachers have difficulty in managing pupils’ behaviour. The picture is changing as new teachers join the staff, and staff in the upper part of the key stage are beginning to give pupils the challenge of solving problems, and are encouraging them to explain how they arrive at their answers. The large group of lower attaining pupils, including those with special educational needs, are very slow in using mental strategies to answer questions because of weak numeracy skills and a lack of

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MATHEMATICS

knowledge of multiplication tables. Some of these pupils show perseverance with their written work, and slowly but surely work out answers to calculations. However, others, quickly lose interest when they encounter difficulties, and require a great deal of adult support. Most higher attaining and average level pupils have a satisfactory understanding of all aspects of shape, space and measure. They calculate areas and perimeters of shapes using the correct process. However, when drawing and measuring the angles of triangles, pupils across the ability range do not always take enough care with their work, and this leads to inaccuracies. Only the higher attaining pupils understand the meaning of terms such as mode, range and frequency, or accurately carry out the related work on probability. There has been very little focus on pupils handling data in the past, and this is an aspect of mathematics that needs urgent

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MATHEMATICS

attention. Currently there are too few opportunities for pupils to use computers to support their learning.

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MATHEMATICS

101. The quality of teaching is good in Key Stage 1, and in the upper part of Key Stage 2. Although teaching was satisfactory in the lessons seen during the inspection in the lower part of Key Stage 2, the work in pupils’ books shows weaknesses in teaching over time. Teaching is at its best when teachers deliver challenging and interesting tasks that keep the pupils highly motivated, and therefore well behaved. Weaknesses in teaching are linked to low expectations of what the pupils can and should achieve. Where pupils receive additional help in class from support staff, this enhances the overall quality of teaching and learning. Conversely, when pupils are withdrawn from mathematics lessons, their learning is not always as effective. Teachers effectively follow the recommended lesson structure of the National Numeracy Strategy. Most teachers in both key stages use a good variety of strategies for making the ‘mental

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MATHEMATICS

starter’ activities as interesting as possible. Pupils enjoy using whiteboards and number fans to record their answers, and these strategies make it easy for the teachers to check the pupils’ levels of accuracy and understanding, and to gauge the speed at which pupils answer questions. The whole class teaching session is used successfully to reinforce previous work and to teach important new skills. Most pupils throughout the Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 48 school work productively in the independent part of the lesson, especially when time limits are set. The teachers use the concluding part of the lesson to reinforce and extend learning by using examples of the pupils’ work to question them further. During the inspection, the Year 2 teacher used this part of the lesson very well to introduce a more complex three dimensional shape, which challenged the higher attaining pupils. When the teaching is less successful, this is because the main class activity lacks

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MATHEMATICS

sufficient interest and variety to keep pupils motivated to listen and to learn new skills. As a result, when the pupils move on to the independent tasks, they are not always sure what is expected of them and consequently produce insufficient work in the time that is available. This is especially the case in Year 3 and Year 4 where pupils do not always make sufficient gains in their learning. In both key stages there is a shortage of resources to enhance the subject further and to help pupils’ levels of understanding.

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MATHEMATICS

102. The positive attitudes shown by most pupils contribute well to their progress. They pay attention in lessons and generally work hard on the tasks set for them. There are however a minority of pupils in Key Stage 2, some of whom have special educational needs, who can be disruptive in lessons and who are not always willing to listen to the teacher or their classmates. The resulting interruptions slow the progress in some lessons. In Key Stage 1 most of the pupils with special educational needs are supported well with additional help within the classroom and in this secure environment they generally make good progress. In Key Stage 2 however there is less help from adults for these pupils and sometimes they become bored and disruptive without the individual support they need. There are also a few occasions when these pupils are withdrawn from the lesson for support that is unrelated to mathematics. They return

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MATHEMATICS

having missed some of the lesson and understandably become difficult to manage effectively. The teachers show genuine and sincere levels of care and welfare and relationships in lessons are good. Teachers value all pupils as individuals, whatever their needs and this has a positive effect on learning. Just occasionally in the upper part of Key Stage 2, where the most extreme behavioural problems exist, the teachers are forced to focus their attention on supporting these pupils at the expense of others who behave well and are keen to learn. Pupils also need more opportunities to use their own initiative in lessons and have some choices in their learning. Because in the past, lessons have been over directed by the teacher, the pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 still find it difficult to work together in groups and share resources. However there are often good levels of co-operation in Key Stage 1, as pupils in Year 1 demonstrated when they

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MATHEMATICS

showed good levels of initiative when weighing and balancing objects together in an independent group activity. There are some good examples of marking especially in Year 6 and Key Stage 1. It shows pupils clearly what they need to do to improve their work further. This good practice is not consistent through the rest of the school.

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MATHEMATICS

103. The management of mathematics is satisfactory overall, and the co-ordinator has a satisfactory knowledge of what is being taught in other classes. However, the monitoring of classroom practice and the sampling of pupils’ work is not always sufficiently rigorous, and weaknesses in teaching have not been addressed. The co- ordinator has a satisfactory understanding of the strengths in provision, and the developments that are needed to raise standards and progress further. The school’s procedures for measuring and tracking pupils’ progress and attainment are unsatisfactory overall, although some work has been done in terms of analysing test results to highlight strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning. Group targets have been set for pupils, and this is a good step forward, but only the most effective teachers use the targets to guide their planning and teaching. The use of information and communication technology to support and develop pupils’ mathematical skills

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MATHEMATICS

further is now being planned, following the recent installation of a new computer suite. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 49

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SCIENCE

104. On the basis of the end of Key Stage 2 national test results, pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 is well below the national average, and below average in comparison with similar schools. The Key Stage 1 teacher assessments paint a similar picture. The inspection findings indicate that pupils’ attainment is well below national expectations at the end of both key stages. It is unreliable to compare the extent to which standards have improved since the time of the last inspection because of the significant changes in terms of staffing and the nature of the school population.

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SCIENCE

105. Pupils of all abilities make good progress in the subject as they move through Key Stage 1, from a very low starting point. In Key Stage 2, pupils’ progress is satisfactory overall, but it is slow in the lower part of the key stage where there are weaknesses in some aspects of teaching. In Year 5 and Year 6, where teachers have higher expectations, pupils make better progress. There are some weaknesses in long-term curriculum planning which mean that pupils throughout the school do not always make enough progress in the development of scientific skills. There is not enough emphasis on pupils finding things out for themselves, or becoming independent learners. Many pupils have few additional opportunities outside school to reinforce and consolidate their learning, and have only very limited experiences on which to draw. A weakness throughout the school is the pupils’ lack of ability to use and understand scientific

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vocabulary and to express their ideas clearly. The progress of pupils with English as an additional language, asylum seekers and those with special educational needs matches that of other pupils.

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106. By the end of Key Stage 1, most pupils have developed a rudimentary knowledge and understanding of each area of the science curriculum, but are working at a very low level for their age. Most Year 2 pupils are aware of the main parts of their body and the features of living things, such as plants, and familiar animals such as dogs and cats. However, their ability to draw generalisations about the needs and characteristics of all living things is poor. Although most Key Stage 1 pupils identify a range of everyday materials such as paper, wood, metal and plastic, they have only a limited knowledge and understanding of the properties of these materials, and most are not able to explain how materials might be changed by heating or cooling. Pupils have learned how sounds are made, and how light is generated, but they have great difficulty in talking about what they know, and do not know the scientific vocabulary that would make

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explanations simpler and clearer. Similar problems occur when pupils talk about the way simple electrical circuits are made and the importance of ensuring that each circuit is complete. There is a weakness in the pupils’ ability to work independently on scientific investigations. Pupils do not have enough practical opportunities where they take charge of investigations and find things out for themselves, and this is mainly because of shortcomings in curriculum planning which have not yet been addressed.

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SCIENCE

107. In Key Stage 2, the limitations of the pupils’ narrow experiences of everyday life, coupled with their lack of scientific vocabulary hamper the pupils’ progress and attainment. Current weaknesses in teaching in the lower part of the key stage, and gaps in the planned curriculum in the past, have resulted in pupils missing out on many crucial parts of the curriculum so that by the end of Year 6, many pupils struggle to express a satisfactory range of knowledge or an ability to perform scientific investigations at a suitable level. Despite some good teaching in Year 6, the older pupils struggle to explain their ideas, and are not confident about setting up their own investigations. Most pupils have a basic knowledge and understanding of the properties of materials, and know that changes to materials can be permanent or reversible. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 50 However, pupils find it hard to describe and explain processes such as dissolving,

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SCIENCE

condensation and evaporation. Many pupils use scientific terms incorrectly. For example, in work involving testing the different rate at which sugar dissolves in hot and cold water, many pupils constantly used the term ‘melt’ for ‘dissolve’ signifying a very weak knowledge and understanding of the processes involved. Pupils’ knowledge of living things and life processes is superficial, and again, because of lack of vocabulary, pupils struggle to explain food chains, systems of the human body, and the needs of living things. Most pupils have only an elementary knowledge and understanding of how electricity is conducted, and how light and sound travel, and very few pupils are working at the expected level in this aspect of the science curriculum. In terms of pupils performing scientific investigations, pupils’ attainment is low, primarily because until recently, insufficient emphasis has been placed on this important aspect of the

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108. The quality of teaching is good in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory overall in Key Stage 2. There have been improvements recently in the quality of teaching in Key Stage 2, but there is still some way to go to rectify previous weaknesses, and to address current weaknesses in the lower part of the key stage. Key Stage 1 lessons are generally well planned, and good attention is given to linking science work to the pupils’ everyday life experiences. For example, during the inspection, Year 2 pupils explored which materials are safer to wear at night than others. Pupils used a good range of everyday materials to reach their conclusions. Pupils throughout Key Stage 1 are well managed, and behaviour is good, enabling lessons to proceeds smoothly. Teachers effectively encourage pupils to use scientific vocabulary to explain their ideas, but more could be done to promote literacy skills as pupils record their science work. Currently too much

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use is made of worksheets which do not always stretch pupils far enough in their thinking. Key Stage 1 teachers are beginning to put more emphasis on practical work, and this is starting to pay dividends, as pupils learn how to explore materials, and to find things out for themselves.

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109. In Key Stage 2, whilst the quality of teaching and learning is currently satisfactory, and better than it was, the current scheme of work does not offer enough support for teachers, especially those who find the subject difficult to plan and deliver. There is currently too much variation in the quality of teaching in Key Stage 2, and this has not been picked up through classroom monitoring, and has not therefore been satisfactorily addressed. In the lower part of the key stage, teachers do not always have sufficiently high expectations of the pupils. Not enough attention is given to teaching essential scientific vocabulary, and there are not enough opportunities for pupils to work independently or to record their work in different ways. In the upper part of Key Stage 2, particularly in Year 6, expectations of pupils are higher, and this has a positive impact on the pupils’ rate of progress. Good emphasis is now being placed on pupils learning

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through practical and investigative work, but the impact of this is not yet fully evident.

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SCIENCE

110. Across the school, teachers do not make enough use of information and communication technology to support pupils’ learning in science and there are missed opportunities for pupils to practise their literacy and numeracy skills. Marking is sometimes weak, with few comments to guide and improve pupils’ work. Homework is rarely used to support and extend pupils’ learning.

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SCIENCE

111. Pupils’ attitudes to science are good in Key Stage 1, and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. Younger pupils enjoy the experience of making their own decisions, and when working in groups, they work and co-operate well with others. In Key Stage 2, many pupils have developed negative attitudes to science because of past weaknesses in the curriculum and a lack of attention given to developing pupils’ independent skills, but recent Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 51 improvements are starting to alter this. For example, during the inspection, Year 6 pupils were interested in finding answers as part of investigations and whilst some pupils were noisy and lively, they enjoyed the challenge of performing investigations and responded well to the respect afforded to them by the classteacher, coupled with firm but fair management of their behaviour.

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SCIENCE

112. The leadership and management of science are unsatisfactory and could be much better. Procedures established across the school for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning are not sufficiently rigorous, and not enough use is made of assessment to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of teaching and learning. The subject lacks a coherent curriculum plan, especially for Key Stage 2, and as a result, investigational skills are not regularly and systematically taught. Resources for the subject are unsatisfactory and the quality and frequency of staff training has been inadequate for several years. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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ART AND DESIGN

113. Pupils’ attainment is below national expectations at the end of both key stages. It is not possible to reliably evaluate the extent to which standards and provision have improved since the time of the last inspection because of the many changes that have taken place in terms of staffing, and in terms of the nature of the pupil population. Currently not enough time is given to the teaching of art and design in most classes, and whilst this is understandable, given the school’s thrust over the last few years to raise standards in English and mathematics, it means that pupils do not receive a sufficiently wide range of learning experiences. As a result, some pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable, and with more time and better resources, standards could almost certainly be higher. Pupils’ progress is satisfactory within the limited range of experiences that are offered, but could be better for pupils across the

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ART AND DESIGN

114. In Key Stage 1, pupils have ample opportunities to draw and illustrate their work in other subjects. For example, they have produced book cover designs, drawn characters in stories and have illustrated their science work. However, they tend to use mostly pencil and crayon for their drawings, and this constrains their creativity and skill development. Whilst pupils have successfully used pastel crayons to create interpretations of snow scenes, and have painted self-portraits, there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to become familiar with these media to an appropriate level. When working in three dimensions, pupils in Year 2 produced attractive clay tiles to represent houses, and showed real enjoyment in their work, showing fine attention to detail in terms of the textural effects they impressed in the clay. Pupils have only limited opportunities to interpret their ideas using textiles, although Year 1 pupils have developed appropriate

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ART AND DESIGN

awareness of fabric construction through their work in science, and have used weaving techniques effectively to combine string and fabric. Many of the Key Stage 1 pupils have only limited experiences on which to draw, and sometimes rely heavily on their teachers for ideas rather than using their own imaginations. Pupils have only a very vague idea of what an art gallery is, and more visits to places of local interest such as this would help the pupils to develop a better understanding of the place of art and design in the world today.

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ART AND DESIGN

115. Key Stage 2 pupils make appropriate use of sketchbooks to develop their art and design ideas, and make close observational studies of objects such as containers and still-life forms. Higher attainers pay good levels of attention to their work and Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 52 concentrate well. Older Key Stage 2 pupils make satisfactory progress in developing their drawing skills, and the majority use soft drawing pencils with sensitivity for shading, and to represent detail and form in their studies of natural and manmade objects. Pupils have too few opportunities to work with clay, textiles, and other three dimensional media, and this is a relatively weaker area of their learning. By the end of the key stage, pupils’ knowledge about the work and styles of other artists and craftspeople is weak. Although pupils who attend the after-school art club gain an appreciation of the work of artists such as Picasso, other pupils have almost no

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ART AND DESIGN

knowledge at all of the names of well-known artists, their work or their style.

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ART AND DESIGN

116. Although the teaching of individual activities and lessons is satisfactory in both key stages, there are some weaknesses. Insufficient time is allocated to the subject and this means that pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding are not systematically developed and consolidated. Not enough use is made of assessment when planning the next stage of pupils’ learning, and the lack of resources constrains the range of activities that can be offered. However, there are some good features to teaching. Throughout the school, teachers value and celebrate the pupils’ work by creating very attractive displays in classrooms, and shared areas, such as the hall. Information and communication technology is used occasionally to support pupils’ learning as they create and explore pattern, but there is scope for computers to be used more regularly, especially in Key Stage 2.

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ART AND DESIGN

117. The leadership and management of art and design are satisfactory overall. The co- ordinator is very enthusiastic, and has the capacity to have a significant impact on standards, by raising the profile of the subject in the school, and through the development of teachers’ expertise. However, because art and design is not a focus of the current School Development Plan, she is not yet able to achieve her aims. Resources for the subject are insufficient and limit the range of pupils’ creative experiences. Books and good quality reproductions of the work of well-known artists are inadequate to enable the full requirements of the curriculum to be met. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, but even more could be done to extend pupils’ cultural awareness through visits to local galleries and museums.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

118. Pupils’ attainment in design and technology is well below national expectations at the end of both key stages. There have substantial changes in the school since the last inspection, and this means that it is not reliable to draw comparisons between standards then and now. Over the past few years, the school has appropriately put a great deal of its efforts into raising standards in English and mathematics. However, as a result, the profile of subjects such as a design and technology is not as high as it should be, and coverage of the National Curriculum programmes of study is patchy. There are not enough important resources to support teaching and learning, and there is no good quality whole-school scheme of work to guide teachers in their planning and to ensure good levels of progression as pupils move through the school. Pupils of all ages and abilities do not make enough progress in their learning, and if more time were

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

given to the subjects, standards could be much higher than they are currently.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

119. By the end of Key Stage 1 pupils have little understanding of the designing element of the subject. Although they have experience of making models, and of joining materials together, they do not understand the need for a preliminary design, which sets out an initial plan for them to follow during the making process. Pupils have too few Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 53 opportunities to work with different materials, and few understand how to make structures more secure by using triangular corner mounts, for example.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

120. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils’ understanding and knowledge are well below the expected level. The models that they make show a low level of workmanship and imagination, and most pupils are unable to evaluate their work and to suggest how it could be improved further. Pupils have little experience of evaluating real things in order to find ways of making their own designs. Their knowledge of materials and their properties in the context of design and technology is well below the expectations for their age. Pupils have insufficient opportunities to work with food and textiles, and have a poor knowledge and understanding of the way structures and mechanisms operate.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

121. No lessons were seen during the inspection. However, given the unsatisfactory progress and standards in the subject, it is clear that there are shortcomings in the quality of teaching. Lessons are not planned on a regular basis, and the gaps in between lessons are too long as many of the pupils have poor levels of retention and recall. The lack of suitable resources makes it difficult for the teachers to plan interesting activities which involve pupils in working with a broad range of materials and tools. Although most pupils enjoy making things, they are not always keen to persevere when they encounter difficulties, and often have few real life experiences on which to draw, to support them in their learning.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

122. There are weaknesses in the leadership and management of the subject. Although the co-ordinator is keen to see the subject develop in the school, it is not a current priority on the School Development Plan, and not enough time is given for the rigorous monitoring and evaluation of classroom practice and curriculum provision. Assessment procedures to measure and track pupils’ progress and attainment as they move through the school have not been developed, and the lack of such systems, coupled with the lack of a good quality scheme of work, make it difficult for teachers to know what pupils have already learned and what they can do.

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GEOGRAPHY

123. Standards in geography are below the nationally expected levels at the end of both key stages. However, progress in Key Stage 1 is satisfactory and pupils of all abilities, including those with English as an additional language, achieve well. In Key Stage 2, progress is unsatisfactory overall, but better in the upper part of the key stage where the lessons take more account of the National Curriculum programmes of study. Pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language do not make as much progress as they could in Key Stage 2 because teaching is not sufficiently well adapted to their needs. It is not possible to reliably evaluate the extent to which standards have improved since the last inspection, because of the many changes the school has undergone in the intervening period.

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GEOGRAPHY

124. By the end of Year 2, the majority of pupils have made satisfactory progress in their knowledge of places, and identify some of the differences between the fictional island of Struay and their own home area. They know that maps and plans represent places and, with some support, they are able to mark the position of Manchester on a map of the British Isles. As part of their studies of the school environment, the majority of pupils have learned how to locate areas of the school building on a plan, and have devised a key to identify these features. In work on holiday destinations, most pupils are developing their ideas about contrasting localities beyond the local area, and know some of the ways in which a seaside locality differs from the area where they live. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 54 Pupils often have very little experience of places beyond their immediate locality, and

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GEOGRAPHY

this makes it difficult for them to understand some of the features of contrasting localities. Currently the school offers little in the way of visits to other places, and this type of activity would enhance the pupils’ learning and provide them with a better understanding of the wider world.

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GEOGRAPHY

125. In Key Stage 2, geography is not taught as regularly as in Key Stage 1, and this adversely affects the pupils’ progress, especially in the lower part of the key stage where the teaching is not as effective. Key Stage 2 pupils gain some awareness of the effects of water on the landscape and are familiar with the water cycle, but their knowledge is at a superficial level, and because of lack of subject specific vocabulary they have difficulty in explaining their ideas. Some pupils accurately name capital cities, countries and continents, but this knowledge is not secure for all pupils. Although pupils in Year 6 create maps of imaginary areas, showing human and physical features such as roads and contour lines, the development of mapping skills throughout the key stage is unsatisfactory. As in Key Stage 1, pupils have few real-life experiences on which to draw, and this often makes it difficult for them to contextualise their learning. Pupils

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GEOGRAPHY

have little experience of places beyond their own locality, and have great difficulty in understanding how the lifestyles of people, in other countries is determined by such factors as climate and geographical location.

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GEOGRAPHY

126. The quality of teaching is very variable throughout the school. Teaching is good in Key Stage 1, but unsatisfactory overall in Key Stage 2, although some good work was seen during the inspection in the upper part of the key stage. The best lessons make appropriate provision for pupils to develop the required geographical enquiry skills in interesting activities and set the learning in the study contexts required by the National Curriculum. Where teaching is unsatisfactory, particularly in Key Stage 2, the teachers’ planning does not focus sufficiently on the curriculum requirements for the development of skills, and does not give the pupils sufficient understanding of the physical and human features of the localities they study. Expectations of what the pupils can do are sometimes too low, and consequently pupils do not always show enough interest in lessons, and this affects their progress.

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GEOGRAPHY

127. The school does not have a permanent co-ordinator for geography and the leadership and management are unsatisfactory overall. A subject audit, carried out by the previous co-ordinator, rightly identified some of the deficiencies of the subject, including the limited curriculum time allocated to the teaching of geography. However, no action has yet been taken to rectify this situation. Since the last inspection, the school has devised a scheme of work based on national guidelines. However, it has not been adapted sufficiently to the needs of the school, and does not provide enough direction for the requirements of the National Curriculum to be met, particularly in Key Stage 2. Some teachers, particularly in Key Stage 2, do not have sufficient subject knowledge to promote the development of the necessary geographical enquiry skills and there is uneven progression in the development of the required learning. The present monitoring

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GEOGRAPHY

arrangements are insufficiently rigorous to promote good standards and teaching. Resources for geography are insufficient to meet the full curriculum requirements and information and communication technology is underused to support learning. There are missed opportunities for the development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills, and although the subject makes a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, even more could be done to foster pupils’ cultural awareness through their geographical studies. Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 55

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HISTORY

128. Standards in history are below national expectations at the end of both key stages. In Key Stage 1, pupils do not make enough progress. However, in Key Stage 2, pupils are beginning to develop an understanding of the past, and are currently making satisfactory progress, although this has not been the case until recently. Pupils’ progress and attainment are adversely affected by the lack of time that is given to the teaching of history. The situation is exacerbated because the school does not have a good quality scheme of work to guide teachers’ planning and ensure good levels of continuity and progression as the pupils move through the school. Because of significant staff changes in recent years, there has not been enough systematic development of the skills, knowledge and understanding that pupils need. In both key stages, a weaker aspect of pupils’ learning is the development of historical enquiry

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HISTORY

skills. Pupils’ progress in this aspect of their work is hampered by the lack of time given to the subject, and also by the pupils’ low level of literacy skills. Work for pupils with special educational needs and English as an additional language is not always closely enough matched to their individual needs, and this would help these pupils to make better progress. It is not helpful to make comparisons between standards currently and at the time of the last inspection, because of the significant changes the school has undergone.

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HISTORY

129. In Key Stage 1, the subject does not have a sufficiently high profile. This is because the school has been putting all of its efforts into raising standards in reading and writing, and has not given enough time to the teaching of history. Pupils have very little awareness of the past, and make no distinction between the recent past and the long ago past. Higher attaining pupils describe past events in their own lives, but most of the lower attaining pupils have difficulty in recalling past events. Although pupils know that everyday life in the past may have been different from the present, they are unable to give examples of how things have changed. Pupils’ recall of famous events and people from history is weak.

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HISTORY

130. In Key Stage 2, the pupils make better progress in the development of knowledge and skills but have only superficial knowledge of the historical periods they study because of the limited time they spend on the subject. Progress is uneven throughout the key stage and is better in Year 5 and Year 6 where more emphasis is placed on the development of the required history study skills. The pupils extend their basic historical knowledge through appropriate studies of topics such as Ancient Egypt, the Roman occupation of Britain, and Tudor England. During the inspection, pupils in Year 5 showed great interest in finding out about Tudor times, and made good use of information about a real Tudor dwelling to find out about what life was like at that time. As in Key Stage 1, pupils have little context for their learning, and no real understanding of the impact of change.

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HISTORY

131. Teaching is unsatisfactory in Key Stage 1, where insufficient attention is given to the subject. Although teaching is currently satisfactory in the upper part of Key Stage 2, there are weaknesses in the lower part of the key stage which impact on pupils’ progress and attainment. In the better lessons appropriate emphasis is placed on the required study skills and teachers have high expectations of what the pupils can do. The tasks provide challenge and interest, and engage the pupils in thinking for themselves and drawing conclusions from the available evidence about what life was like in the past. However, in some classes in Key Stage 2, teachers’ expectations are not sufficiently high, and pupils carry out undemanding recording tasks which do little to promote their literacy skills. Throughout the key stage, too much reliance is placed on commercial worksheets and there is insufficient emphasis on pupils communicating

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HISTORY

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 56 their learning in their own words. Key Stage 2 pupils know some of the ways in which they can find out about the past and they have successfully researched information about the Second World War from interviews with people who lived through that time. However, they have insufficient opportunities to carry out historical research using sources such as artefacts, books, contemporary documents and the Internet, and this limits the progress they are able to make in developing their research skills. Pupils have satisfactory attitudes to the subject, and show good levels of interest when topics capture their imaginations.

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HISTORY

132. The leadership and management of the subject are unsatisfactory due to the fact that there is no permanent co-ordinator, and the monitoring arrangements are not sufficiently rigorous in making sure that standards, teaching and the curriculum are as good as they should be. The scheme of work is insufficiently specific to ensure that its implementation meets the full requirements of the National Curriculum. Assessment of the pupils’ progress in history is unsatisfactory. A recent subject audit, carried out by the previous co-ordinator, has correctly identified the areas in need of development, but action to rectify the subject deficiencies has not yet taken place. Resources for the subject have not been replenished for some time and there is a shortage of good quality books, pictures and other source material to enable the pupils to carry out sufficient independent research. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution to

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HISTORY

pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in Key Stage 2, where pupils show empathy for the plight of youngsters who lived in Victorian times.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

133. Pupils’ attainment is well below the national expectations at the end of both key stages. It is unreliable to make a comparison with the judgments of the last inspection because of the changed nature of the school since that time. The rate of progress of all pupils across the school, regardless of gender, ability or ethnic background has been poor over recent years. A severe lack of suitable resources and adequate staff training have been the main reasons for this. Significant improvements are currently occurring in terms of the range and quality of computers and software. and better training is making staff more confident to use computers in their teaching. There is still some way to go before recent initiatives positively impact on standards and progress, but given the good leadership and management of the recently appointed co-ordinator, the school is very well placed for future development. The school has loaned a set of laptops from a

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

nearby City Learning Centre, enabling it to create an information and communication technology suite. However, although this is potentially a good resource, it is not yet having its maximum impact on standards and progress because it is so new.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

134. By the end of Year 2, pupils have a rudimentary knowledge and understanding of basic computer skills, and during the inspection, pupils successfully worked in pairs, transferring a poem about food into a word-processing program. However, pupils are not yet confident about working directly on screen. Most pupils still need adult help to save and print their work, and to open new applications. This lack of confidence reflects their limited experience. Pupils have had little experience of programming external events, and of using programmable toys.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

135. By the end of Key Stage 2, many pupils still find the skills of independently editing and altering the size, style and type of font very difficult. Pupils are familiar with programs that enable them to import images into text, and the basic ideas of creating a slide show presentation are understood. In the lower part of the key stage, pupils have used design programmes to support their art and design work, but their work is at a very low Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 57 level. Class computers each have an electronic mail link, but not enough use is made of this facility to broaden the pupils’ experience, or to create links with other schools. There are significant gaps in the pupils’ knowledge and understanding of many areas of information and communication technology, arising from the lack of resources in the past. Pupils have very limited skills in areas such as recording and representing data in

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

different forms, in sensing or controlling movements, or in exploring imaginary worlds through interactive games. The vast majority of pupils do not yet see the computer as a tool for enhancing learning, and whilst some older pupils have used CD-Roms to find information about history, not enough of this type of work occurs.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

136. The quality of teaching and learning has been unsatisfactory until recently because of a weakness in training and severe weaknesses in resources. It is now starting to improve, and is satisfactory within the range of experiences offered, although more needs to be done to ensure that pupils’ skills are extended through their work in other subjects. Some teachers still lack confidence in some aspects of the information and communication technology curriculum, and slowly but steadily this is being addressed through staff training. Pupils enjoy using computers but the novelty of doing so is still evident in lessons and many pupils become over-excited when working in the computer suite.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

137. The new co-ordinator has made a very good start in managing information and communication technology. An accurate assessment has been made of the strengths and weaknesses in the subject, and in particular, the need for more staff training and better resources has been recognised. Resources are poor, because the laptops are only loaned, and the range of software is still very narrow. The school’s financial constraints make it difficult for the purchase of new equipment at the moment, although this is a proposed area of development in the future. The links with the City Learning Centre are having a very positive impact on the progress of pupils, and the decision to use funds to employ a technician for half a day each week takes some strain off the co- ordinator, and ensures that the computers are in good working order. A basic assessment system has been introduced and is starting to provide enough information

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

that can be used to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and learning as well as involving the pupils in their own learning.

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MUSIC

138. Pupils’ attainment in music is below national expectations at the end of both key stages. It is not possible to make a reliable judgement about how much progress has been made since the last inspection, because of the many changes that have occurred in the school in the last few years. Pupils make satisfactory progress in Key Stage 1, where they are benefiting from regular lessons, which are guided by a good quality commercial scheme of work. However, in Key Stage 2, pupils’ progress is unsatisfactory. Although music is taught well in some classes, there is no scheme of work to guide teachers’ planning, and not enough time is given to the subject. Pupils with special educational needs, English as an additional language and asylum seekers, make similar progress to their classmates. The school has not formally identified pupils who may be talented.

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MUSIC

139. Standards of singing are unsatisfactory in both key stages. Until very recently, there were very few opportunities for the pupils to sing, either in class or in assemblies. Progress is gradually being made, especially in Key Stage 1, where teachers regularly provide opportunities for the children to sing a variety of songs. However, pupils are sometimes self-conscious about singing, and this is especially noticeable in Key Stage Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 58 2. With persistence and patience, Key Stage 1 teachers are overcoming the pupils’ lack of enthusiasm, but in Key Stage 2 not all teachers provide enough singing opportunities for the children, and the songs pupils are given are not always sufficiently demanding. Most pupils throughout the school have difficulty in pitching notes accurately, and this is because of lack of practice, both currently, and in the past. In a very good Key Stage 1 lesson seen during the inspection, the teacher worked very hard

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MUSIC

and successfully to help pupils to extend their range, by asking them to answer questions in very high or very low voices. In addition, the pupils ‘took their voices for a walk’ following a graphic plan which encouraged them to move from a low note through a series of steps to a higher note. A significant number of pupils in both key stages have difficulty in articulating the words of songs because of their poor speaking skills. Teachers are aware of this, but are not always sufficiently demanding of those pupils who do not make enough effort.

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MUSIC

140. Pupils’ skills of composing are below national expectations at the end of both key stages, and this is an aspect of music that has been neglected in the past. Currently there are some good opportunities for Key Stage 1 pupils to make their own compositions, but this has not been the case until recently. Although about half of the pupils satisfactorily keep a steady beat when clapping in time to a well-known song, a number of pupils have difficulty with this. Pupils know the names of some classroom instruments, but are not confident about describing the types of sounds they produce. In Key Stage 2, there are too few opportunities for pupils to systematically extend their knowledge and understanding of composition, although some satisfactory work was seen during the inspection when a group of Year 6 pupils composed their own ‘ostinato’ patterns, which they successfully combined to make a short composition. The lack of

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MUSIC

resources means that pupils have too few opportunities to compose pieces using tuned percussion instruments, and pupils have not had enough experience of composing melodies, or accompaniments using such devices as the pentatonic scale.

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MUSIC

141. Pupils’ skills of listening and appraising are well below the nationally expected level at the end of both key stages, mainly because of lack of opportunities in the past. Pupils throughout the school now have daily opportunities to listen to music when they come into assemblies. However, although key features of the music are shared with the pupils, they retain little of this information. In Key Stage 1, where teachers are following a well structured commercial scheme of work, there are regular short listening opportunities, and these are helping the pupils to become aware of different sounds, instruments and moods. Key Stage 1 pupils often listen well for short periods of time, but lack the language and vocabulary to express how the music makes them feel, or to describe what they have heard. For example, during the inspection, Year 1 pupils listened well for a few minutes to an extract from the ‘Carnival of the Animals’, and

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MUSIC

although they responded as directed by the teacher to the different parts of the music, they could not volunteer their own views. In a Year 2 dance lesson, pupils listened carefully to a march, and a piece of Creole jazz music, before interpreting the mood through movement. Although a small number of pupils picked out the strong beats and distinctive rhythms of the music, most were not able to do this. Many Key Stage 2 pupils find it difficult to listen to music with real concentration, and this was evident in a Year 4 lesson, when the teacher asked the pupils to appraise an extract from the ‘Nutcracker Suite’.

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MUSIC

142. The teaching of music is good in Key Stage 1. Although teaching is satisfactory overall in Key Stage 2, there is too much variation between the year groups. In Key Stage 1, teachers are well supported by a commercial scheme of work which helps them to structure their lessons well, and which ensures that all strands of the music curriculum are covered on a regular basis. In Key Stage 2, there is no scheme of work, and this Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 59 means that although individual lessons are often well planned and successfully delivered, there is no real progressive development of skills, knowledge and understanding. Where the teaching is at its best, the teachers’ enthusiasm is communicated to the pupils, who in turn are well motivated and keen to learn. In the lower part of Key Stage 2, the unsatisfactory management of a small number of pupils sometimes prevents the lesson from flowing smoothly. Teachers do not always have

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MUSIC

enough expertise and knowledge of the subject to enable them to present lessons confidently, and the school is exploring the idea of more specialist teaching to overcome this problem. The quality of learning is satisfactory overall, but is not always as effective as the teaching. Despite the teachers’ best efforts, Key Stage 2 pupils are sometimes hard to motivate and do not always put enough effort into their work. Conversely in Key Stage 1, pupils quickly become over-excited by some of the more creative music activities and teachers have to manage the pupils well to ensure that their learning is effective. Pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory overall, but is better in Key Stage 1 than in Key Stage 2 where some individuals disrupt the learning of others. In Year 6 especially, pupils sometimes find it difficult to work co-operatively with one another, and are not always prepared to compromise. Homework is not used enough to

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MUSIC

extend and enhance the pupils’ learning in either key stage, and there are few visits or visiting speakers to enliven and enrich pupils’ learning further. Currently too little use is made of information and communication technology to support the pupils’ learning, and this is an ongoing area for development in the subject.

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MUSIC

143. The co-ordinator provides good, enthusiastic leadership for the subject, but her monitoring role is under-developed. She has a very clear idea of what needs to be done to raise standards further, and to ensure that all pupils make the best possible progress as they move through the school. However, the co-ordinator has not yet had the opportunity to monitor classroom practice in all classes, and is not sufficiently rigorous in the way in which she monitors colleagues’ planning, and the amount of time that individual teachers give to the subject. The impact of the new scheme of work in Key Stage 1 is very good, and there is an urgent need to introduce a similarly effective scheme to guide teachers’ planning in Key Stage 2. Currently there is no formal mechanism for assessing, recording and tracking pupils’ progress and attainment as they move through the school, although teachers generally have a satisfactory informal

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MUSIC

knowledge of the pupils’ achievements and abilities. There are not enough good quality resources to allow full delivery of the National Curriculum programmes of study, and there is an urgent need to replace older instruments, and to increase the overall range. Older Key Stage 2 pupils have the opportunity to learn how to play the violin, guitar and recorder, and this provision is subsidised so that pupils from disadvantaged home circumstances are not excluded. Those pupils who have taken up this opportunity are making satisfactory progress. The co-ordinator has recently started a school choir, and although this is still in its infancy, it is gaining in popularity. Music makes a satisfactory contribution to the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development but even more could be achieved if the curriculum for Key Stage 2 pupils was improved.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

144. Standards in physical education are in line with the national expectations at the end of Key Stage 1, but below national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2. The progress of pupils in Key Stage 1 is good overall, and in Key Stage 2, progress is satisfactory. In recent years, there have been weaknesses in the curriculum provision for Key Stage 2 pupils, and this has resulted in gaps in pupils’ learning which the school is now addressing. Pupils with special educational needs, English as an additional language and asylum seekers make similar progress to their classmates. It is unreliable to Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 60 compare standards now with what they were at the time of the last inspection because of the changed nature of the school.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

145. Pupils in Year 2 have a satisfactory sense of rhythm and the ability to move in time with music. During the inspection, pupils responded enthusiastically to jazz music, and interpreted it very appropriately by twisting and twirling to represent the swing of the music. The pupils’ sense of balance is satisfactory and most have satisfactory control of their bodies. They run, jump and turn with energy and purpose, and make good use of the available space. Most pupils understand the importance of exercise and know that their heart rate increases as they move at a faster rate.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

146. Within the lessons seen during the inspection, pupils in Key Stage 2 made satisfactory and sometimes good progress, but their attainment is not as good as it should be because of past weaknesses in the curriculum. In dance, most of the younger Key Stage 2 pupils confidently interpret music, and in a lesson seen during the inspection, responded well to the Chinese music, moving sensitively with the flow and rhythm. In gymnastics, pupils use a range of apparatus safely and securely. They climb wall bars and explore different ways of moving down them, and show good levels of confidence in their work. Pupils find different ways of travelling over, under, and across beams and boxes, and demonstrate satisfactory levels of co-ordination and balance. A weakness in the pupils’ learning is their lack of ability to plan and perform gymnastic sequences to a high standard. They do not have enough experience of choosing starting and finishing

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

positions, or of linking movements together, and do not take enough care when landing from jumps. Pupils all achieve the minimum standard of swimming twenty-five metres, and some go beyond this. Good opportunities are provided for older pupils to experience outdoor adventure activities by participating in a residential educational visit, and this experience also has a very positive impact on their personal and social development.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

147. The quality of teaching and learning varies across the school but is satisfactory overall with some excellent teaching at times. The teaching is often excellent when lessons are taught by the very experienced and knowledgeable co-ordinator. In these lessons, the pace is often fast and furious, and extremely high expectations encourage the pupils to perform to a high standard. Very good use is made of ongoing assessment during these lessons so that the individual needs of pupils are met, and all abilities are challenged. Lessons are characterised by rapid changes from one activity to the next, and very good use of praise and opportunities for pupils to perform in front of others. The majority of teaching is satisfactory. Pupils are well organised, and are appropriately expected to set out the equipment and apparatus for themselves. Planning is well linked to the school scheme and lessons are generally managed so that pupils develop

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

and improve their skills. At times, teachers do not intervene enough to challenge and extend pupils’ skills and there are too few opportunities for pupils to evaluate their own work and that of their classmates. Overall, teachers make good use of physical education to promote pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and to remind pupils about the need for exercise in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Pupils behave satisfactorily in lessons and at times very well. Their response is often very good when the lesson moves at a good pace and they are appropriately challenged in their work. Overall, pupils enjoy physical education and gain a lot of satisfaction from their achievements.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

148. The subject is well led and managed. Many improvements have been made to the curriculum and there is an effective assessment system in place that is starting to enable the co-ordinator and staff to evaluate how effectively the subject is taught and how well pupils are achieving. Strong support from the LEA through effective training is Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 61 improving provision and standards in physical education. The school benefits from being part of the ‘Passport to Sport’ scheme, which enables the pupils to experience a wider range of sports than the school could offer by itself. Additional coaching by representatives of Manchester City Football Club enhances opportunities for pupils to improve their soccer skills, and inter-school tournaments and other events successfully extend pupils’ social skills.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

149. Standards are below the expectations of the Locally Agreed Syllabus at the end of Key Stage 1, and well below expectations at the end of Key Stage 2. Because of the significant changes that have taken place in the school over the last few years, it is not meaningful to draw comparisons about improvements in the subject since the time of the last inspection.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

150. Although all pupils including those with special educational needs and English as an additional language make satisfactory progress in Key Stage 1, their progress is unsatisfactory overall in Key Stage 2. Progress is slow in the lower part of Key Stage 2 where there are weaknesses in aspects of teaching, and although progress improves in the upper part of the key stage, it is not at a fast enough rate to make up for the time lost in the lower part of the key stage. Pupils throughout the school are hindered in their learning by their sometimes poor spoken and written language skills. They find it difficult to express their ideas and views clearly, and this prevents them from developing a depth of understanding of religious education. Many pupils have difficulty in recalling their past learning, and this is exacerbated when they have little recorded information on which to draw. In Key Stage 1 where the teaching is more interesting, and enhanced

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

by visits and visitors, the pupils have better recall of what they have been taught.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

151. By the end of Key Stage 1 the higher attaining and average pupils have a reasonable knowledge and understanding of some aspects of Christianity and an awareness of how places and things are special to different people. However, pupils’ knowledge and understanding of other faiths is very weak. Pupils recall their visit to the local church very well. They talk with great enthusiasm about what they saw at the church, and describe the purpose and use of special features such as the pulpit, font and altar. A small number of higher attaining pupils explain why a place of worship and its features are special for the people who use it, but most pupils are not working at this level. Higher attainers understand that prayer is a form of communication. Key Stage 1 pupils have some understanding of the festivals of Christmas and Easter, and in Year 1, pupils have added their own captions to a series of illustrations about the Christmas

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

story, and this has helped them to have a better understanding of the correct sequencing of events leading up to the birth of Christ.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

152. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils’ awareness of Christianity and other faiths is very weak. Although pupils in Year 6 studied Islam last term, they have remembered very little. They also have little understanding that different religions share some essential features such as special books. The pupils’ knowledge of special festivals is more positive as this is often a feature of assemblies. For example, pupils can describe what happened during the Chinese New year and Hanukkah, although they are confused at times over the events leading up to Christmas and Easter. The pupils’ knowledge of people and stories in the Bible is poor. A number of pupils in Key Stage 2 have poor listening skills and need a practical focus to maintain their interest and concentration. The pupils’ attainment and progress are better in those lessons where there is a high level of challenge and a practical or visual focus. This is not always possible because

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School - 62 of poor resources. There have been no visits or visitors to the school to bring the subject alive for pupils and most of the written work is insufficiently demanding.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

153. The quality of teaching is satisfactory in Key Stage 1, but unsatisfactory in Key Stage 2 where some of the requirements of the Locally Agreed Syllabus are not fully met. A strength of teaching in Key Stage 1 is the use of visits and visiting speakers to bring the subject alive for the pupils. In Key Stage 1, good links are made with important social and moral issues such as sharing and caring, and pupils are encouraged to reflect on their own lives and those of others, and to express their views. Teaching in both key stages is enhanced when support staff are used effectively to work with lower attaining pupils and those with special educational needs and English as an additional language. In both key stages, there is a tendency for pupils to copy written work from the board or worksheets. This prevents pupils from using and practising their literacy skills. Relationships between teachers and pupils are good throughout the school and this

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

means that pupils are not frightened of sharing their views. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution overall to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. Little use is made of homework to support and extend pupils’ learning, and there is too little use made of information and communication technology.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

154. The management of the subject is now satisfactory. The new co-ordinator who is based in Key Stage 1 sets a good example through her confident and successful teaching. Through some monitoring of planning, and the scrutiny of pupils’ work, she has identified the key areas for improvement. She recognises that the use of assessment and information and communication technology to support the subject is weak, and that the teaching in Key Stage 2 needs more resources and visits to improve the standards and learning for all pupils. The co-ordinator has not yet had any release time to observe the teaching in the rest of the school, but this is planned for later in the year.

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