Trinity Academy Newcastle

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 20 November 2025

Pupils' experiences at this school are determined by which site they attend. Pupils at the lower site benefit from their time at school far more than those who attend the upper site. Instability in leadership and staffing have created confusion and marked inconsistencies in the school's approach to supporting pupils' behaviour and learning. Most pupils who attend the upper site do not receive an acceptable standard of education. The trust has not ensured that staff have the skills or support that they need to improve pupils' complex behaviours. Pupils' behaviour is poor during lessons and at social times. Leaders do not tackle bullying or dangerous and intimidating behaviour effectively. This means that many pupils do not feel safe or happy. Most pupils at the upper site do not receive a curriculum that meets their special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. As a result, they do not achieve well. In addition, a significant number of pupils are routinely absent from school. Leaders do not check that these pupils are safe when they are not in school. This put pupils at risk of harm. The experience of pupils at the lower site could not be more different. They have been protected from the turmoil that the school has recently faced. Pupils attend school regularly. They enjoy their learning and achieve well from their differing starting points. Skilled staff provide pupils with highly effective support. This helps pupils to follow the school's rules and make progress towards the targets in their education, health and care plans. Pupils who attend this site are typically well prepared for their secondary education. Pupils at the lower site benefit from a range of opportunities that nurture their personal development. For instance, they develop empathy and respect when taking care of the alpacas in the school's farm. Some pupils at the upper site enjoy using the on-site gym. However, most older pupils receive a limited offer beyond the academic curriculum. They are not prepared for life in modern Britain.

What the school should improve

• Those responsible for governance must act with urgency to ensure that leaders have the training, capacity and experience to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities so that that pupils are safe and feel safe in school.
• Leaders should ensure that staff are trained and supported to accurately identify pupils' needs and remedy gaps in their knowledge so that pupils make the progress that they should through the curriculum.
• Leaders should ensure that staff gain the expertise that they need to use information about pupils' education, health and care plans, alongside guidance in specialist reports, to shape and adapt learning activities that enable them to progress from their starting points.
• Leaders should ensure that the curriculum in the secondary phase identifies the important subject knowledge that pupils need to learn and order this in a way that builds on pupils' previous learning.
• Leaders must establish a consistent and sustainable approach to managing pupils' behaviour, ensuring that staff are appropriately supported to implement the shared strategies effectively.
• Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they adopt a strategic approach to rapidly improve pupils' levels of attendance and seek assurances that the pupils are safe when they are absent from school.
• Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that provision for pupils' personal development is consistently tailored to pupils' needs and that staff deliver it consistently well, so that all pupils benefit and are well prepared for their future lives.
• Those responsible for governance must build their knowledge and expertise so that they fulfil all of their statutory duties and they are better able to hold leaders to account for the quality of the school's work.
• Trustees must urgently build capacity within the school so that the shortcoming in pupils' education and wellbeing are tackled swiftly and lead to sustainable improvements.

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