The Bishop David Brown School

Inspection of a good school: The Bishop David Brown School Albert Drive, Woking, Surrey GU21 5RF

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The headteacher of this school is James Rodgers. This school is part of Unity Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Michael Del Rio, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Chris Howorth.

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Outcome

The Bishop David Brown School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are immensely proud to belong to this vibrant and inclusive school. They value the trusting relationships they build with staff and each other. There are nurturing environments around the school, such as the ‘spirit room and garden’, where pupils feel safe and well looked after. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in every aspect of school life. They benefit from receiving bespoke support when needed. Adults use the information in pupils’ education, health and care plans to adapt the curriculum to meet the individual needs of pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s house system creates a positive competitive environment among pupils. They enjoy taking part in creative and academic competitions, such as ‘effort challenges’ as well as various sports events. Pupils love receiving rewards to celebrate their efforts, such as ‘VIP’ passes and non-uniform days.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils from all backgrounds and ages get along well. They look out for each other and make sure that nobody feels isolated, regardless of when they join the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff celebrate their diverse school community through events like the Japanese and International Days. Pupils value these opportunities and the extensive clubs that are on offer to them. For example, they can attend chess and debating clubs as well as various sports clubs. Pupils also feel lucky to have leisure facilities on site where they can swim as part of their physical education curriculum. They are happy and enjoy the learning on offer to them. 6 and 7 March 2024

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

The school has a developed broad and carefully considered curriculum to support the school’s ethos of ‘enabling all to achieve to their full potential’. As a result, staff take time to remove any potential barriers to pupils’ ambitions and aspirations. Staff ensure that high-quality additional help is available for pupils if needed to develop their literacy and numeracy skills.

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

Pupils study a range of subjects which prepare them well for future education, and employment. Teachers ensure that pupils learn important knowledge and skills in a carefully ordered way. Links with the school’s feeder primary schools mean that staff know what pupils have learned before so they can build on this once they have joined the school. For example, the history curriculum is sequenced chronologically and makes use of the local context for Woking.

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

Most teachers have secure knowledge of the subjects they teach. They help pupils learn the subject content in line with the school’s policies. For example, through ‘take five’ tasks, teachers make sure pupils recall important knowledge. Pupils’ understanding is checked by using ‘yellow sheet activities’, where they apply what they have learned. These checking processes to identify any gaps in understanding are relatively new and are continuing to be embedded. In addition, the school recognises some variability in teaching across the different subjects. Regular professional development opportunities by trust advisers and subject forums are helping to develop staff expertise. This includes supporting those teachers who are new to the teaching profession. All of this guidance is focused on helping pupils securely learn across the school’s full curriculum.

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

The school prioritises reading through daily ‘DEAR’ sessions. Pupils are encouraged to read aloud in class to develop their oracy skills. Pupils who find reading more difficult are quickly identified and benefit from well-considered interventions. This is also true for pupils who speak English as an additional language. Staff explore with pupils lots of interesting subject-specific language. Pupils soon become proficient at using this themselves.

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

Pupils’ polite and respectful conduct creates a calm atmosphere in lessons. Learning mostly takes place without disruption. At social times, pupils interact cheerfully with their peers and with staff. On rare occasions, if pupils struggle to regulate their behaviour, the support that they receive from staff is commendable and enables them to self-regulate. The majority of pupils attend school regularly because they genuinely enjoy coming in each day to learn.

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

Pupils learn about healthy relationships, consent and how to keep themselves safe online. The personal, social and health education programme is thoughtfully considered. Topics such as relationships, consent and harassment are taught with sensitivity. Careers education across the school effectively raises pupils’ awareness of different pathways for their future aspirations. Pupils learn, in readiness for adulthood, about apprenticeships and universities, as well as what life is like in their local community and modern Britain. 6 and 7 March 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in some subject areas has been recently developed. Teacher’s expertise in these subjects is more varied, meaning pupils are not always learning as much as they could. The school should continue with their improvements to strengthen the teaching across the full curriculum.  Some specific strategies for teachers to swiftly check pupils’ knowledge and understanding have recently been implemented. Consequently, some staff and pupils are not yet confident in using these to identify where there may be gaps in knowledge and understanding. The school needs to continue to embed these checking processes and develop teachers’ expertise so that this information is used effectively to inform the next steps of learning.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2019.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 6 and 7 March 2024

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In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with SEND; pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 6 and 7 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The Board of trustees

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 8 and 9 January 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The Bishop David Brown school is part of a multi-academy trust called Unity Schools Trusts.  The school uses one registered alternative provider and five unregistered alternative providers to support the education of a small number of pupils.  The academy meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical educational qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 6 and 7 March 2024

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 During this inspection, the inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leadership team, inclusion lead, teachers, support staff and pupils.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors and with members of the trust board. She also had a meeting with the chief executive officer.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, science, history and modern foreign languages. In each subject, the inspector met with subject leaders, talked to pupils, visited lessons, spoke to teachers and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Other aspects of the school’s curriculum were also considered.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors took account of a range of other information, including the school’s development plans, school policies and the minutes of governors and trustees’ meetings.  The inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the free-text comments that were submitted. They also took account of the responses to the confidential staff survey and gathered the views of both staff and pupils throughout the inspection.

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Inspection team

Numera Anwar, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jason Philipsz Ofsted Inspector 6 and 7 March 2024

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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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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