Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Dartford

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 February 2023

Pupils enjoy coming to this school, where they say that 'school is fun and you never really have a bad day'. They share trusting relationships with staff who know them well. Teachers have high expectations for behaviour and learning which are understood across the school. Pupils work hard and enjoy their lessons. Children in the early years learn the routines and settle quickly. They begin their phonics learning as soon as they arrive at the school. Pupils develop positive relationships with their peers. The school rules and values, including 'trust' and 'friendship', are important to all. For example, pupils in Year 6 act as buddies for children in Reception as part of the 'big me, little me' programme. They are taught about diversity through the curriculum and enjoy and celebrate each other's differences. As a result, bullying is extremely rare but managed well by staff if it does occur. Leaders carefully plan a wide range of activities that broaden pupils' experiences of culture and society. For example, all pupils enjoy a visit to a museum, an art gallery and a castle during their time at the school. There are many exciting clubs to choose from, including origami, politics and mindfulness. Leaders make sure that those who would benefit the most attend.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of foundation subjects, curriculum plans are not always well sequenced so that pupils build on essential knowledge progressively. As a result, pupils have some small gaps in their knowledge. Leaders need to continue to review curriculum plans in these subjects so that the key knowledge and concepts that pupils must know, and the order in which they are taught, are explicitly identified.
• Leaders do not yet ensure that curriculum plans are implemented with consistency in a small number of foundation subjects. This means that leaders cannot be sure that all pupils learn the essential knowledge that they need to achieve success in a subject. Leaders should further develop the role of subject leaders in monitoring, so that they are assured that each subject curriculum is followed closely, as intended.

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