The Beaconsfield School

Inspection of a good school: The Beaconsfield School Wattleton Road, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire HP9 1SJ

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Outcome

The Beaconsfield School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Caroline Legg. This school is a stand-alone academy trust which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Joanna Fisher.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are highly positive about their school. They are welcomed warmly as soon as they join, and staff make sure that they settle quickly. Staff are highly ambitious for all pupils, and pupils recognise and value this. As one pupil explained, ‘It doesn’t matter who you are, your teachers will always do their very best for you.’ Many pupils consider one of the best aspects of the school is its strong sense of community and togetherness.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is good. Lessons are calm and purposeful. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive. The vast majority of pupils like the recently introduced behaviour system because they see it as fair and easy to understand. They are proud to behave well. The few pupils who find maintaining good behaviour more difficult are individually supported to improve.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at school. They know who they can talk to if they have concerns. Pupils like the personalised support that they receive. They are certain that if they have any worries, they would be dealt with quickly. Pupils value the way that the school seeks their opinion and recognise the positive changes made. An example of this is the recently improved canteen menus and the school’s values-based rewards.

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

The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils and provides a strong foundation for their future learning. In most subjects, staff clearly set out what pupils need to know, and the order in which they need to learn it. In these areas of the curriculum, pupils keenly build their knowledge over time and achieve well. In the small number of subjects where this is less well developed, the important knowledge that pupils need to acquire is not always clearly identified. Some learning activities also do not deepen pupil’s knowledge effectively 21 and 22 May 2024

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enough before moving on. This leaves gaps in what pupils know, meaning they do not learn as much as they could.

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Teachers have detailed subject expertise, which they use to check pupils’ understanding. In lessons, pupils have regular opportunities to revisit their prior learning and practise applying their new knowledge. Pupils frequently reflect on their work and make improvements using the feedback they receive. Information staff are given about the individual needs of pupils with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND) is accurate and helps teachers know how to provide the very best support. Teachers are effective in their use of this information, and they ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well.

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Sixth-form students study a flexible mix of vocational and academic subjects. Combined with the school’s effective careers programme, this leads to students moving on to a wide range of higher education and training after Year 13. Sixth-form students recognise their place as role models for younger pupils. They provide help and support through roles, such as mentors and reading buddies.

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Improving pupil’s reading and vocabulary are a regular focus of lessons. This develops pupils’ ability to explain and describe their thinking. Any pupils who still need help to become fluent readers receive extra support. The library is popular and is used by pupils when reading for pleasure and for reading support.

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Behaviour around the school is orderly. Pupils show respect to each other and to adults. The school’s recent ‘TBS Way’ and ‘TBS Core’ initiatives clearly set out leader’s high expectations of everyone, including staff. Both pupils and staff are proud to nominate others, or to receive recognition, for consistently living up to the school’s values. This helps to build the school’s highly positive culture.

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Some pupils do not attend school regularly. The school uses a range of positive approaches to support families where pupils are at risk of low attendance. However, these have not yet had the necessary impact. The school recognises this and is continuing to prioritise finding ways to support all pupils to attend as well as possible.

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Pupils’ wider development is a strength. The school is highly effective in educating pupils to develop their understanding of how to stay safe. Pupils experience a range of activities to foster their confidence and independence. They use an online platform to help identify areas where extra help is needed for them to flourish, both at school and in the future. This information is used to develop programmes which closely match pupils’ changing needs. The school considers extra-curricular activities to be an important part of pupils’ wider education, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND. Staff regularly check that the extra-curricular offer matches pupils’ needs. They make changes if necessary and check that no pupils miss out.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 and 22 May 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils do not attend school regularly. This can lead to their education becoming fragmented, meaning they can develop gaps in their knowledge. The school must continue to develop, implement, and review their new attendance approaches to identify the right action to support pupils to attend well.  In a few subjects, the knowledge pupils require is not clearly identified within the curriculum. This results in pupils’ knowledge not being sufficiently well developed before they move on to the next topic, meaning pupils do not learn and remember as much as they could. The school should make sure that all curriculums are both fully developed and effective in helping pupils to learn and remember more.

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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 March 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.

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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 21 and 22 May 2024

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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). 21 and 22 May 2024

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form

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 February 2019 under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is a standalone academy.  There have been a number of changes within the school’s senior leadership team since the last inspection, including the headteacher.  The school currently uses four registered and four unregistered alternative providers.  The school meets the requirements of provider access legislation which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education 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. 21 and 22 May 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection of the school since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and this has been taken into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, curriculum leaders, and other staff.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the board of trustees, including the chair of trustees.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: science, mathematics, art and design and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation and improvement plans.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single

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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 considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. The also took into consideration the responses to the confidential staff and pupil surveys as well as speaking to staff and pupils throughout the inspection.

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Inspection team

Ed Mather, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Maria Roberts Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 May 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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