Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 July 2024

Pupils at Holy Trinity enjoy school. They are happy to attend each day. Pupils especially appreciate the exciting ways in which teachers capture their curiosity through the topics that they study. This ensures that pupils are enthusiastic about their learning. Pupils generally respond well to the high expectations that are set for their achievement. In the main, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), remember the key learning that is set out in the school's curriculum in most subjects. Pupils behave well in school, especially at breaktimes. They are respectful of one another and they maintain strong friendships with each other. Older pupils help to keep an orderly and calm environment in the school through their role as corridor monitors. Other leadership roles, such as being a well-being ambassador, also have a positive effect on pupils' confidence and self-esteem. Pupils experience a number of trips and events that enhance their learning of the curriculum. They also have a range of diverse after-school activities available to them, such as pom-pom making, basketball and history clubs. Pupils are proud to represent the school at a wide variety of sports competitions. Their recent sporting success has helped them to understand the need for fair play as well as developing their teamwork skills.

What the school should improve

• School, 2 and 3 July 2024 3
• The arrangements to support some pupils to catch up with the intended phonics curriculum are not effective enough. This means that some pupils do not overcome gaps in their phonics knowledge. This hinders their reading fluency. The school should ensure that the support that pupils receive enables them to keep pace with the phonics programme.
• In a small number of subjects, the school has not set out the key knowledge that they want pupils to acquire. This means that teachers are not clear on some of the important concepts that pupils need to remember. As a result, pupils do not gain some of the essential knowledge that they need for their future learning. The school should ensure that they are more specific about what they want pupils to know to deepen their understanding.
• The school is not clear about what it wants to achieve when it proposes actions to further improve the curriculum. As a result, governors do not have the information that they need to question the impact of the school's actions. The school should set its aims for developing the curriculum more clearly so that governors can measure how well the school achieves its goals.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)