Barton Hill Academy

Inspection of Barton Hill Academy Queen Ann Road, Barton Hill, Bristol BS5 9TX

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The headteacher of this school is Matthew Poulson. This school is part of Venturers Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the interim chief executive officer, David Moran, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Gail Bragg. 16 and 17 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has prioritised the development of the curriculum so that it better meets the needs of the pupils in this community. While leaders have taken steps to improve the quality of education pupils receive, it is still early days. The curriculum does not yet support all pupils to build their knowledge well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Barton Hill Academy sits at the centre of this vibrant community. Pupils enjoy coming to school and embrace the school’s values to ‘work hard, be kind and have courage’. They are proud to behave in line with the school’s high expectations by doing things the ‘Barton Hill Way’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children get off to a positive start in the early years. They learn routines quickly and behave well. The curriculum meets younger children’s needs well. They are encouraged to ‘choose it, use it and put it away’, to develop their independence. This helps children to take responsibility for their own actions from an early age.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and well-mannered. They show high levels of respect to one another. Staff form trusting, caring relationships with pupils. As a result, pupils feel happy and valued. They learn how to keep themselves safe out in the community and when online.

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better?

Barton Hill Academy is a school on a journey of improvement. The school has worked relentlessly to develop a positive relationship with the community. Everyone now shares the same vision for ‘all children, from all backgrounds, to succeed’. The curriculum identifies the knowledge pupils need to know and remember. Improvements to the curriculum are now enabling current pupils to make better progress. Published outcomes last year were very low and do not reflect the current, better progress pupils make across the curriculum, especially in early reading and phonics.

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better?

The curriculum is still in the early stages of its development. The school recognises that it needs further embedding. Currently, the needs of all pupils are not being fully met. This is particularly the case for some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, pupils find it difficult to remember important knowledge and recall their prior learning. Learning is not adapted to address gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Therefore, pupils’ knowledge and understanding are not yet in as much depth as the curriculum intends.

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better?

The school recognises the importance of pupils’ learning to read to access the curriculum. It is a very high priority for the school. In Nursery, children are introduced to rhymes and stories. There is a focus on developing their vocabulary. Younger pupils receive regular phonics teaching to help them to learn to read. The school has established a new reading scheme that helps pupils to build their phonics 16 and 17 April 2024

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knowledge well. Books are well matched to pupils’ abilities. Staff have the expertise to deliver phonics effectively.

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The school has developed a programme that builds pupils’ reading knowledge as they become more fluent readers. Texts become longer and more complex. Teachers read and discuss high-quality texts with their classes. As a result, pupils build their reading knowledge well and develop a passion for reading. Texts are selected carefully to develop pupils’ understanding of diversity and world issues.

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Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. As a result, pupils behave well and demonstrate compassion for each other. They show positive attitudes to learning and conduct themselves well around the school. The atmosphere in the school is calm and purposeful. In social times, pupils play respectfully with each other.

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Pupils learn a well-devised personal development programme. This is designed to prepare them for life in modern Britain. Pupils understand why it is important to treat everyone equally and with respect. At Barton Hill, they say, ‘We don’t discriminate against others due to what they look like or how they are.’ The school aims to build pupils’ aspirations and confidence. Older pupils take on different leadership responsibilities, for example as lunch monitors and librarians. They take these roles seriously and recognise the importance of being good role models for younger pupils.

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The school understands its community well. It involves parents and the local community in the life of the school at every opportunity. All pupils can attend a variety of clubs. They enjoy the different trips and enrichment opportunities on offer. Pupils have a well-developed understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics.

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Parents are very positive about the school. They comment on the school’s transformation in a short period of time under the new leadership. They are supportive of the school and value its importance in the community.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The implementation of the intended curriculum is not yet consistent across subjects and classes. As a result, pupils do not build their knowledge well. The trust needs to ensure that the curriculum is fully embedded and implemented effectively to ensure pupils learn well over time and progress as well as possible through the curriculum. 16 and 17 April 2024

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 Learning is not adapted sufficiently to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. This is particularly the case for some pupils with SEND. As a result, the gaps in some pupils’ learning are not addressed. The trust needs to ensure that learning is adapted when necessary to enable all pupils, including those with SEND, to progress as well as possible through the curriculum.  In some subjects, pupils are not able to recall their prior learning. When this is the case, they cannot connect what they are currently learning with what they have learned previously. The trust should ensure that pupils are consistently able to recall prior learning in all their subjects so that they can deepen their understanding of what they study across the full breadth of the curriculum.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (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). 16 and 17 April 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 4 and 5 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school currently uses one registered alternative provider.  The early years includes provision for three-year-old children.  The school runs a breakfast club for pupils.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the designated safeguarding lead and the early 16 and 17 April 2024

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years leader for the school. Inspectors also met with a range of teaching and support staff.  The lead inspector held meetings with the chief executive officer from the trust, the chair of the board of trustees and other trust leaders.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the local governing board.  Inspectors held phone conversations with the alternative provider.  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 safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and religious education. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke

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to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors also discussed the curriculum in other subjects.  The lead inspector listened to pupils in Years 1, 2 and 3 read to an adult.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and by talking to parents before and after school. The inspectors also evaluated responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Matt Fletcher, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Sarah O’Donnell Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 April 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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