Bournemouth Park Academy

Inspection of a good school: Bournemouth Park Academy Bournemouth Park Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 5JN

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Outcome

Bournemouth Park Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bournemouth Park is a large, lively, happy and harmonious place. Pupils get on well with their classmates, their teachers and the other staff who work with them. Pupils know that they can talk to staff about anything that worries them. They know that the adults in school will always do their best to help them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s rules are very simple, but all pupils are expected to follow them. Pupils know that they must, ‘be ready, be safe and be respectful’ at all times. Staff have the same high expectations throughout the school. Leaders and staff take pupils’ safety and welfare very seriously. Pupils say that bullying happens every now and then but that staff sort things out quickly when bullying does occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Something is always happening at Bournemouth Park. Pupils have lots of opportunities to do things that they might not have the chance to do at home. For example, pupils in Year 6 visit an outward bound centre and have a go at a wide range of activities. Other pupils sing at the O2 Arena with choirs from other schools. Staff make subjects interesting and fun. As a result, pupils enjoy their learning and are keen to find out more.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and staff have done a lot to make the school’s curriculum better. They have thought about what pupils need to know and how best to build up their knowledge. This means that pupils learn about subjects in a sensible order, with each new piece of learning developing on what went before.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

At Bournemouth Park, reading is seen as something that is very important. Staff know about how young children learn to read. They are particularly good at teaching phonics. For example, staff make sure that they say sounds clearly and carefully for children to copy. By the time they get to the end of Year 2, most pupils are developing well as confident young readers. 24–25 September 2019

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Over the last few years, the teaching of reading has been weaker in key stage 2. Leaders have made changes, so that pupils’ reading here is now stronger and improving. Leaders are determined that pupils will be good readers by the time they leave the school.

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The school has a limited stock of reading books. There is little choice left in the boxes when pupils come to change their books. This, and the way that books are organised, means that some pupils practise reading with books that are unsuitable for them. Some pupils choose a reading book that is too difficult for them, and this limits their progress.

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Teachers give pupils work to do that is interesting and is neither too easy nor too hard for them. Pupils get opportunities to practise their skills so that they get better at them. For example, in mathematics, staff teach pupils key skills such as multiplication. They then return to these skills, again and again, to make sure that pupils remember them.

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Most pupils behave very well and work hard in their classrooms. A few pupils find it more difficult to stick to the rules. These pupils get good support to help them to improve their behaviour. This means that pupils’ learning is rarely disturbed by others.

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Until recently, provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) was not strong enough. A few of the parents who responded to Parent View said that they had concerns about this. Leaders have already started to make things better. For example, they have improved the checks that are made on how well pupils with SEND are learning. This has helped teachers to plan what each pupil with SEND needs to learn next and how best to help them learn.

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Leaders have thought carefully about the experiences they want pupils to have by the time they leave the school. For example, the school takes pupils into London to see the sights and to watch a play in a West End theatre. The school teaches pupils about the cultures and beliefs of the different people who live in modern Britain. It also teaches pupils about issues such as democracy and the importance of laws.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The safety and well-being of pupils is the school’s highest priority. Adults in the school know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. They receive regular safeguarding training about possible signs of abuse and neglect. Staff know how to report their concerns if they are worried about a child. Leaders are tenacious in following up on these concerns and take action when necessary. Adults are vigilant about safeguarding and care deeply about the children they work with. Staff understand their important role in helping pupils to be safe and happy.

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 Provision for pupils with SEND needs strengthening because there have been weaknesses in leadership over time. Improved leadership is starting to have a positive impact on the quality of education for this group of pupils. Leaders have suitable plans in place to develop provision further.  The books that pupils are given to read need to be better matched to their current level of reading skill. Some pupils are given books that require them to use phonics skills that they have not been taught. The school has a limited stock of books in its reading scheme, and some books are well-used and tatty.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Bournemouth Park Primary School, to be good on 2–3 March 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 24–25 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10112154 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school converted to become an academy on 1 February 2017. The predecessor school was judged to be good when it was inspected in March 2016.  Bournemouth Park Academy is part of the Eastwood Park Academy Trust. The school works in partnership with The Eastwood Academy (URN: 137284), a secondary school in the local area. The Eastwood Academy was judged to be outstanding at its most recent inspection, in December 2018.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with: the chief executive of the multi-academy trust; a group of members, trustees and governors; the acting principal and vice-principals; the designated safeguarding leads; the school’s special educational needs coordinator; leaders responsible for specific subject areas; pupils; and staff, including newly qualified teachers.  Inspectors looked in depth at four subject areas: early reading, mathematics, reading in key stage 2 and physical education. They met with senior leaders and subject leaders, they visited lessons and spoke with pupils and teachers, and they listened to pupils reading and looked at pupils’ work. 24–25 September 2019

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 To check the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors met with the school’s designated safeguarding leads, checked the school’s single central record, looked at child protection records and spoke with pupils and staff.

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Inspection team

Wendy Varney, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Joseph Figg Ofsted Inspector 24–25 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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