OFSTED

OFSTED Inspection - 19/20 November 2019

Dear Parents / Carers,

I’m pleased to let you know that the report from our latest OFSTED inspection is now available below.

The inspection was a positive process and the inspectors recognised the tremendous hard work that everyone has put in over the past two years. At this stage in our journey, OFSTED has judged the school as ‘requires improvement’ but they state in their report that in the time that the Redstart Learning Partnership has worked with Holy Trinity, ‘the school has improved a lot. Pupils are learning more and doing better in writing, mathematics and, increasingly, in their reading.’

We’re also really pleased that Holy Trinity was judged as ‘good’ in terms of the personal development that it offers to its pupils. What a pleasure to read that: ‘pupils have a genuine sense of belonging and pride to be part of the school’, that ‘pupils are tolerant and have a strong understanding of right and wrong’ and that ‘every effort is made to enrich children’s learning beyond the classroom.’ The report states that, ‘the wide-ranging clubs, sports, forest school and charity work boost pupils’ confidence and their understanding of what it is to be a responsible citizen.’

We’re pleased that OFSTED have recognised that our foundational work in improving the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics is bearing fruit: ‘there is a sharp focus on teaching phonics right from the start’; ‘many pupils gain confidence in reading and do well’; ‘teachers’ higher expectations mean that more pupils edit and refine their writing well and write with increasing complexity’ and that ‘many pupils apply their mathematical knowledge well.’

As of September 2019, OFSTED are now actively inspecting subjects beyond English and maths, to ensure that schools offer an excellent curriculum in subjects such as history, geography and art too. This is a change in emphasis that we welcome wholeheartedly, and indeed over the past few months we have already begun to develop exciting learning gateways in every year group and we have seen some high quality work completed by the children. There is, however, still work for us to do in this area. Clearly, this level of fundamental change takes time to embed and we wish to get things just right. As the report says: we are ‘building the school’s curriculum from scratch’, ‘not taking shortcuts or quick fixes’ and ‘sorting out each aspect in turn.’

Other highlights from the report include:

• ‘Pupils are safe’ and the strengthened ‘arrangements for safeguarding are effective.’
• ‘Pupils’ behaviour in class has improved.’
• ‘Incidences of poor behaviour have reduced markedly over the last year.’
• ‘In the early years, staff and children build positive relationships.’
• ‘In the Nursery, children gain a love of stories. They are immersed in nursery rhymes, singing and music.’
• ‘Leaders identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities accurately.’
• ‘Most pupils with complex needs are doing exceptionally well.’
• ‘The school values underpin everything.’
• ‘Staff provide effective care.’
• ‘Everyone is accepted and nurtured.’

Areas for further development

There are areas for further development to ensure that as soon as possible, all areas are brought up to a ‘good’ standard, alongside personal development. As a leadership team, we worked with the inspectors to identify the following improvements that we have already started working on:

 

Thank you to every member of staff at school and at the trust, who has helped to bring the school to where it is now, and to all of our parents and carers for your wonderful support. There’s a good reason why 98% of you said that your children were happy at school and that you’d recommend Holy Trinity to another parent! Holy Trinity will continue to build on its successes and we’re excited for where we’re going next.

Please see the full OFSTED report below or click here to go to the Ofsted website.