Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre

Inspection of Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre Warden Hill Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL51 3EF

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Inspection dates: 27 and 28 September 2022

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 27 and 28 September 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders put the welfare of pupils, as well as academic achievement, at the heart of everything they do. As a result, pupils enjoy school. They feel safe. Pupils know that staff listen and take their concerns seriously. Over three quarters of pupils return to the sixth form because of their positive experiences in the main school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The headteacher has very high expectations for the school. Staff support him in these. There is a strong sense of community for both staff and pupils. Most pupils show respect to each other and to adults. For the few who find it harder to manage their behaviour, there are well-planned systems in place to help them. Bullying is rare. There are pupil anti-bullying ambassadors, who provide immediate support. If there is a need for further action, staff deal with it competently and swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff provide numerous extra-curricular activities before and after school, both sporting and cultural. These are popular with pupils. Leaders have started to track the uptake of these clubs to make sure that disadvantaged pupils can attend if they wish to.

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better?

Trustees provide appropriate challenge and support to school leaders. The headteacher has managed several changes to the school effectively. He has made sure that staff well-being, as well as curriculum knowledge, are paramount. As a result, he is leading a harmonious school. Staff echo the respect and care that the headteacher shows. This feeds into pupils’ behaviour and attitudes. Pupils are ready for learning and engage well with teachers and other adults.

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better?

The school curriculum is ambitious. It provides a broad educational platform from which pupils can excel in subjects and aspects of their wider, cultural needs. Leaders keep it regularly under review, so that pupils’ knowledge prepares them for the next stage in their education. Most subjects have a well-designed curriculum. This allows pupils to learn key concepts at the right time. However, in a few subjects, leaders need a closer focus on the key concepts that pupils need to know, and when. In these subjects, pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, are not remembering key facts over time. Equally, in some subjects, teachers are not adapting the curriculum well enough for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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better?

Over the last couple of years, the proportion of pupils in key stage 4 who study the suite of subjects that make up the English baccalaureate has risen sharply. Changes to the way pupils engage with a language has helped with this. More pupils continue to study a modern foreign language for longer and some attend clubs which lead to a language qualification.

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better?

Reading for pleasure is a priority within the school. Many pupils choose to read widely and avidly. There are some subject leaders who have added suitable texts to 27 and 28 September 2022

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the curriculum. These enhance pupils’ knowledge of subject-specific vocabulary. There are helpful transition units for pupils who stay on to the school sixth form after Year 11. These provide pupils with valuable reading material, which prepares them well for sixth-form study.

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There are a small number of pupils who join the school who find reading difficult. Leaders provide these pupils with extra support, but it is too soon to see the impact of this on pupils’ ability to read fluently.

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Leaders promote pupils’ personal development successfully. They provide an inclu- sive environment where tolerance pervades. Pupils, from Years 7 to 13, develop a strong understanding of healthy relationships through appropriate relationship and sex education. The religious education curriculum enables pupils to understand the main world religions. In addition, the subject provides them with a cultural literacy, which develops their critical understanding of key moral issues, such as human rights.

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Pupils receive careers information, education, advice and guidance from Year 7 on- wards. The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause. Pupils know and un- derstand potential career paths. The school holds an annual careers fair with repre- sentatives from a range of institutions and companies, local, national and interna- tional.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The designated safeguarding lead is vigilant in her duties and protects pupils. Staff receive regular and up-to-date training. They know how to identify and report any concerns about pupils who may be vulnerable. Leaders make sure that external support is provided at the right level to keep pupils safe.

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Safeguarding

Recruitment checks are undertaken thoroughly.

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Safeguarding

The school has suitable policies in place to raise awareness among staff and parents about the dangers of sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and sexual violence.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some subject leaders do not consider carefully enough the crucial concepts needed to deepen pupils’ knowledge. Therefore, the curriculum does not always build well enough on pupils’ prior knowledge. Leaders need a clearer focus on the key content of the curriculum to support pupils to remember more over time. 27 and 28 September 2022

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 Some pupils are not able to read fluently. This hinders their ability to follow the full curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that a suitable phonics scheme is put in place to support all pupils to read accurately and confidently.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 27 and 28 September 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10210957 Type of school Secondary Comprehensive School category Academy converter

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1707

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sixth form

Website http://www.bournside.gloucs.sch.uk/

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sixth form

Date of previous inspection 27 September 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2020.

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Information about this school

 The school uses three registered alternative providers.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause, which provides pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 27 and 28 September 2022

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pan- demic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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 Inspectors met with the senior leaders, trustees, the special educational needs coordinator and the head of sixth form. The lead inspector had a telephone call with the school improvement partner.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, mod- ern foreign languages, geography and business studies and economics. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, vis- ited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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 The lead inspector checked the recruitment processes and spoke with the safe- guarding leaders. Inspectors spoke with teachers, staff and pupils to gauge their understanding of safeguarding and keeping safe.

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 Inspectors looked at the responses to Ofsted’s survey, Parent View, and staff and pupil questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Kathy Maddocks, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

John Weeds Ofsted Inspector 27 and 28 September 2022

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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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