Bedminster Down School

Inspection of Bedminster Down School Donald Road, Bedminster Down, Bristol BS13 7DQ

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

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The headteacher of this school is Louise Davies. This school is part of Futura Learning Partnership, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Gary Schlick, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Malcolm Broad. 4 and 5 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve. Staff encourage pupils to ‘have belief and be determined’. The school’s historic published outcomes show some improvement in pupils’ achievements, although they remain below expectations. However, current pupils in the school receive a good quality of education. They are well prepared for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils are happy at school. They develop positive relationships with staff. In many lessons, pupils listen attentively and concentrate on their learning. Where low level disruption occurs, staff usually manage it well. Around the school, staff are highly visible. As a result, pupils feel safe. However, during social times, some pupils repeatedly display poor behaviour that is disruptive to school life. A minority of parents and carers are concerned about the standard of behaviour at the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are positive about the range of extra-curricular opportunities available to them. These include skateboarding, indoor bowls, gardening and cheerleading. Pupils can develop their sense of responsibility and leadership skills as members of the school council. They are proud of the changes that they have made to the school. These include upgrades to facilities and organising games for use in social times.

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

The school has taken steps to implement improvements, but it recognises the need to go further. The trust provides appropriate support and challenge. Staff are positive about working at the school. The trust provides a package of services that supports staff well- being. However, many initiatives are in the early stages of implementation, so they have not had the required impact. The school does not evaluate precisely enough the difference that these new approaches are making.

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

Pupils learn a broad curriculum with ambitious content. Subject leaders make links with the locality of the school. For example, in history, pupils connect their study of the Blitz with the impact on Bristol. The school promotes the importance of learning a modern foreign language. At key stage 3, pupils benefit from studying French. However, the number of pupils who study the suite of subjects known as the English Baccalaureate at key stage 4 remains below the government’s ambition.

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

The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These pupils learn the same curriculum as their peers, with adjustments made as appropriate. Pupils who need additional support with their reading follow a programme matched to the areas that they need to develop, such as phonics or comprehension. This means they catch up quickly and become more confident, fluent readers.

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

Staff are specialists in their subjects. Pupils show an increasingly confident recall of what they have learned over time. On occasion, when teachers check what pupils understand, they do not spot and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge. 4 and 5 February 2025

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The school has made changes to how lunchtimes are organised. Pupils’ conduct during these unstructured times has improved. Incidents of bullying have reduced. However, other poor behaviour persists. Some pupils repeatedly receive sanctions but show little improvement in their behaviour over time. For example, some pupils use derogatory language or fail to follow the instructions of staff. For this group of pupils, the sanctions used by the school do not have the desired impact.

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The school understands the challenges that pupils may face within the community. It adapts the curriculum to further educate pupils around these issues. For example, pupils are taught about online safety and knife crime. Pupils and staff work together on the school’s ‘respect charter’. This promotes the importance of tolerance and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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The school encourages pupils to be aspirational for their future. Pupils learn about a variety of qualification routes and careers through a carefully considered programme of speakers and visits. These include catering and engineering companies, university visits and the opportunity to undertake a mock interview.

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A high number of pupils do not attend school regularly. As a result, they develop gaps in their knowledge and fall behind their peers. The school and trust have put a range of strategies in place to improve attendance. However, overall, absences remain too high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils’ overall attendance is low. Too many pupils are persistently absent from school. Consequently, many pupils are missing large amounts of learning time and have gaps in their knowledge. This hinders their academic achievement. The trust should ensure that the strategies in place are effective, and that the school continues to work with pupils and their families to improve attendance.  The sanctions used for poor behaviour do not do enough to deter repeated negative behaviour. As a result, some pupils receive frequent sanctions and miss out on aspects of learning when they persistently break the rules. The trust should ensure that the school’s behaviour system and use of sanctions support pupils to secure an improvement in their conduct over time.  The school has introduced several new systems and processes to support improvements. However, the school has not carefully evaluated what is working well

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and what is not. Therefore, the schools’ oversight of these improvements is not precise enough. The trust should ensure that new initiatives are carefully monitored and reviewed as they are implemented so that standards continue to improve. 4 and 5 February 2025

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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 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). 4 and 5 February 2025

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,033

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 29 and 30 November 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses four registered and 11 unregistered providers of alternative provision.  The school 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 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. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 4 and 5 February 2025

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 This was the second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, other members of the senior leadership team, the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator, the chair of governors and one other member of the governing body, a trustee and the CEO of the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, history, design and technology and science. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also visited some lessons and sampled pupils’ work in mathematics.  Inspectors spoke to pupils about their experiences of school and their views on

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behaviour and bullying. They also observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at social times.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.  Inspectors considered responses from parents to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. The inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Kelly Olive, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Steve Smith Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 February 2025

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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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