Holy Trinity Catholic Academy on Boundary Road, Newark rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate and ‘Good’ by Ofsted

A primary school is celebrating ‘Outstanding’ and ‘Good’ ratings despite having had significant building work disruption at the school.

Holy Trinity Catholic Academy on Boundary Road, Newark has recently been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Catholic Schools Inspectorate inspection.

The school was praised for its dedication to its Catholic mission.

The report stated that all pupils know that they are valued and cared for and that they are passionate advocates for the common good and looking after those most vulnerable in society.

Inspectors also praised the work of leaders and governors and that they have ensured that the missions and visions for the school is embraced and shared with the wider community.

On religious education, pupils were said to demonstrate an excellent knowledge and excellent knowledge and independent learning skills.

Inspectors highlighted the effective teaching methods, the effective support of teaching assistants and professional development for teachers.

The school’s prayer and liturgy practices were praised for their depth and pupil involvement.

The integration of music and art and strong parish links were also celebrated, along with the effective use of prayer spaces.

The Catholic Schools Inspection followed shortly after the school received a ‘Good’ Ofsted inspection judgement in March 2024.

These two inspections followed significant building work disruption at the school, as a result of the discovery of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete in its roof panels at the beginning of the academic year.

Almost all of the school building was unusable.

Pupils were moved out of their classrooms and educated in portacabins on their playground.

A huge marquee was erected and used for PE, assemblies, lunch and other activities as a temporary replacement for the school hall, while work took place to make the building safe.

The building work was completed and the school was fully operational again from February 2024.

The Ofsted Inspection team praised the school’s leadership for its resolve to maintain a good quality of education despite the RAAC disruption.

Julia Summers, headteacher at the school said: “We are incredibly proud of our pupils, staff and governors for their commitment to living out our Catholic faith.

“To have achieved these judgements following such disruption to our school in the first half of the year truly reflects the dedication of our entire school community.”

“We are blessed and incredibly grateful to have had such tremendous support from the Nottingham Roman Catholic Diocesan Education Service and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Academy Trust Central Team throughout this challenging year, as well as our local Holy Trinity parish community.”