Belvidere School

Inspection of Belvidere School Belvidere Lane, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY2 5RJ

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

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The headteacher of this school is Robin Rashid. This school is part of TrustEd Schools Alliance, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Sarah Godden, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Mark Anderson. There is also a director of education, Jo Evans, who is responsible for this school and five others.

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Ofsted has not previously inspected Belvidere School under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. However, Ofsted previously judged Belvidere School to be outstanding for overall effectiveness, before it opened as an academy. Since September 2024, schools have not been awarded an overall effectiveness grade. 1 and 2 April 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

One pupil, typical of many, says ‘being at Belvidere now is to belong to a community and to believe that we can succeed.’ This is because pupils recognise the many improvements which have been put in place in this school, as well as the new building they benefit from.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the school’s high expectations are helping most of them to make better choices. They speak highly of the support and care that they receive, and so they feel safe. They are also benefiting from an improved and more consistent curriculum. This means they are generally learning more consistently. However, there remains some variability, which means that sometimes pupils are not achieving as well as they could.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for behaviour, which are now more commonly understood. This means that behaviour in the school is typically calm and orderly. However, some pupils still find it difficult to meet these expectations and, as a result, are more often removed from lessons or receive sanctions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s ‘Belvidere Baccalaureate’ offers pupils a range of experiences to prepare them for the life beyond school. These include a variety of extracurricular and leadership activities, including chess, boxing and drama productions. Pupils appreciate these many opportunities, which enrich their experience.

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

With the support of the trust, the school has clearly identified the key knowledge that pupils need to learn, and the best order in which it should be taught. This is secure across the curriculum. The school has an agreed framework for teaching to support pupils in learning and applying their knowledge. When this is followed effectively, pupils typically build a more secure body of knowledge, and the tasks selected enable them to build their learning on what they already know. However, when this is not the case, pupils struggle to apply their more recent learning to more complex tasks. Checks on pupils’ learning are now more systematic in how they are used by teachers. This generally helps teachers to identify and close gaps in pupils’ understanding. However, this is not always consistent, as some pupils’ gaps in their knowledge mean they can find it challenging to progress to more complex work. As a result, these pupils do not achieve as well as they could, which

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

The school has strong provision in place to support pupils’ reading. It identifies those pupils who need support early and provides effective support to help them become more fluent readers. In addition, there is effective provision in place to develop pupils’ love of reading. This includes a range of carefully selected texts, which pupils read during form time.

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

The school has recently enhanced its provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), which is enabling it to identify their needs more precisely. The school now also ensures that the information provided to staff on these pupils is clear. All this helps ensure that pupils with SEND are achieving increasingly well. 1 and 2 April 2025

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The school has clearly laid out its expectations for how pupils behave in lessons and in social times. These expectations are generally well understood, which helps ensure that lessons are typically calm, with pupils trying their best. Social times are also commonly calm and orderly. However, there remain some pupils who find it hard to meet these expectations consistently. This means they are more likely to experience sanctions, including time away from lessons, which impacts on their learning and progress. The school’s strategic approach to improving attendance is having a positive impact, as more pupils are now attending more regularly. However, some pupils, typically those who are more vulnerable, are still not attending school as regularly as they should. This means they miss valuable learning and personal development opportunities.

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The school places considerable emphasis on pupils’ personal development, including how they are prepared for life in modern Britain. This provision has clear strengths under the umbrella of the ‘Belvidere Baccalaureate’. Pupils appreciate and make good use of these opportunities, including an extensive range of clubs, activities and trips. Pupil leaders speak with pride about their positions and how they are helping to drive improvements. The school gives supportive and well-informed advice to pupils to help them to access ambitious destinations when they leave the school.

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With the support of the trust, leaders have an astute understanding of the school’s development through a forensic evaluation of its progress. Leaders have taken appropriate action to bring about positive changes. Increasing numbers of parents remark on the steps forward the school has taken, and how communication has improved. Governors and trustees are ambitious for the school and offer consistent support and challenge. Staff report a renewed sense of pride in the school. They state that leaders take their workload into account when making decisions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not ensured that assessment is used precisely enough to identify when pupils have fully understood their learning. As a result, some pupils do not develop the secure knowledge they need to apply to more complex tasks. The school should ensure that assessment is used effectively to check pupils’ understanding, so they are ready to build on their learning and make sustained progress.  A minority of pupils, often those who are more vulnerable, continue to find it difficult to meet the school’s revised high expectations for behaviour. As a result, they are more likely to receive sanctions, including suspensions, which leads to missed learning and personal development opportunities. The school should ensure that these pupils 1 and 2 April 2025

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receive ongoing support, so they are better able to meet the school’s expectations for conduct.  On occasions, some teaching strategies used do not align with the school’s agreed approach to teaching and learning. This can result in pupils building a less secure body of knowledge over time. The school should ensure that staff are consistently supported to enable pupils to build and apply secure knowledge over time.  There remain some pupils, including the more vulnerable, who miss too much school. As a result, they miss valuable learning and wider opportunities that support their academic and personal development. The school should continue to prioritise improving attendance to ensure that all pupils can benefit fully from the education and experiences it provides.

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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). 1 and 2 April 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of TrustEd Schools Alliance. There are nine schools in the trust.  The headteacher was appointed in April 2024.  Belvidere School converted to become an academy in January 2019. When its predecessor school was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding for overall effectiveness.  The school uses four unregistered 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 1 and 2 April 2025

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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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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  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.  As part of this inspection the inspectors met with governors, including the chair of the local governing body, the chair of the trust and trustees. They met with senior leaders, subject leaders, teaching staff, the CEO, Director of Education and other employees in the school. Inspectors also talked informally to pupils to gather general information

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about school life. Local governing body and trust minutes were reviewed.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, history, geography and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, the 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 in these subjects. Other subject lessons were visited as well as other samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors reviewed the school’s extra-curricular activities, enrichment programme and their careers and personal development programmes with leaders and pupils.  The inspectors reviewed the school’s behaviour and attendance records with school leaders.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including plans to improve the school.  One of the alternative provisions used by the school was contacted by telephone.

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 The inspectors met with members of staff and spoke to pupils, both formally and informally, at various points in the inspection. They took account of responses to Ofsted surveys for staff, Ofsted Parent View and the free-text responses, as well as other communication from parents and carers.

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Inspection team

Andrew Madden, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Andrew Washbourne His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jane Epton Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 April 2025

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Bianka Zemke His Majesty’s Inspector 1 and 2 April 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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