Good rating for Richmondshire primary schools

Children at Trinity Academy Eppleby Forcett. Picture by Allan McKenzie/AMGP.co.uk

Pupils and staff at Trinity Academy Middleton Tyas and Trinity Academy Eppleby Forcett have been praised by Ofsted after receiving a ‘good’ grading from the education watchdog.

This was the first time that the two schools, who are both part of the Dales Academies Trust, had been inspected since they came together to become effectively one school split across two sites.

Debbie McLean, newly appointed headteacher of  both schools, said: “I am incredibly proud of the staff and pupils at our wonderful  settings.”

Leaders were praised by inspectors for being “ambitious for pupils’ learning. They have made improvements to the early years environment, the mathematics curriculum and also taken action to improve the teaching of phonics.”

The report continued: “The leaders and staff know the families of Eppleby Forcett and Middleton Tyas schools well. They are committed to ensuring that the communities work together to give pupils the best start to their education.”

The behaviour of pupils at the school was also highlighted. “Pupils in both schools are articulate, polite, and respectful. They say that bullying is rare.

“In both schools, most pupils behave well and are positive about their learning.”

There were several areas for improvement outlined by Ofsted.

The report stated: “Sometimes, a small number of pupils dominate lessons with ‘silly’ behaviour.

“This is rare, but pupils do not always feel that it is dealt with effectively by adults.

“Pupils have access to a range of different sporting clubs after school that help them be successful in local competitions.

“However, pupils and parents say that they would like a wider range of opportunities to try different activities, such as art or crafts.”

Damian Chubb, CEO of the Dales Academies Trust, said: “It is encouraging and heartening to have such positive feedback on the impact that our new leadership team is having.

“What I find most exciting, however, is that the inspectors noted that how driven we are to do even more and that there is a clear view of improvements that are still to be made.

“That is why the future is so exciting for these schools.”