Ofsted Inspection February 2018 - Academy Graded 'Good'
The Bourne Academy is delighted to announce that it has been graded as ‘GOOD’ in the latest Ofsted Inspection at the end of February.
During a recent Short Inspection by two Ofsted Inspectors The Bourne Academy welcomed the chance to showcase the hard work and dedication of its staff, students, parents and local community. The Academy is extremely pleased with the outcome of the inspection and all associated feedback both on the day and in the final report. Snippets from the report follows:
Ofsted commented on leadership that ‘Senior leaders lead the school with integrity and purpose. Staff at the school work hard to promote tolerance and respect. Furthermore, leaders and staff take seriously their responsibility to develop qualities such as ambition and resilience in pupils. Staff rightly, and proudly, champion ‘ASPIRE’, which sets out the school’s vision for pupils and threads through different aspects of its work. ‘ASPIRE’ stands for Ambitious, Self-confident, Physically literate, Independent, Resilient and Emotionally literate. The senior team has fostered the development of leadership in others – the Academy’s personable and positive approach has helped to unite staff behind a common purpose’.
Continuing with leadership, the inspectors remarked that Governors play an active role in supporting school leaders saying that ‘they bring a wide range of extensive skills and experience to bear on their work’. It was also noted that the Academy ‘engages well with parents and the local community, understanding the importance of reaching out to secure support for different aspects of the school’s work. As a result, and with good reason, the school is held in high regard by parents and local employers’.
Moving on to the main curriculum overview, attainment and progress - the English department were complimented for their ‘effective practice’ and ‘strong achievement over time’. The Academy appreciates, however, that there is no room for complacency and recognizes the need for further focus on raising achievement across the curriculum; inspectors suggested that this can be achieved by ‘teachers having higher expectations of what pupils can achieve and teachers setting work that meets the needs of pupils of different abilities, including those who are disadvantaged. Academy leaders will be ensuring this focus is a key priority going forwards over the rest of this academic year and beyond.
As well as the sections of the report commenting on curriculum, progress and attainment, the inspectors also commented on the Academy’s extremely important work on Safeguarding and Attendance, saying: ‘Staff are well trained and understand their responsibilities thoroughly. Staff exercise their responsibilities with confidence because they work well as a team, communicate often and trust each other’s judgement. Consequently, they deliver clear messages to the wider staff about child protection. Staff are successfully persistent in their attempts to secure support from external agencies to meet pupils’ needs. Students do not feel intimidated by other pupils and feel that everywhere in school is a safe place.’ Of Attendance, the inspectors said that ‘staff work tirelessly to ensure that pupils and parents understand the importance of good attendance’.
Turning to behaviour, the inspectors remarked on the new behaviour system which has been in place since January 2018; they complimented the Academy on its effectiveness so far and urged staff to continue to apply the new policy consistently.
Moving on to the Academy’s relatively new Sixth Form, the report noted that ‘Students in the sixth form are progressing well. They value the academic and pastoral support they receive from staff and are loyal towards the school. They benefit from positive relationships with staff. More students are now also staying on to complete their courses and all students go on to further education, training and employment. Students receive high-quality information, advice and guidance in order to make informed, appropriate decisions about their next steps. Staff are rightly proud of the increasing number of students who have achieved places at ‘Oxbridge’ and Russell Group universities. This is, in part, because of the helpful partnership with the school’s sponsor, Canford School. It is also because of the work staff are doing to raise students’ aspirations.’ Kelly Franklin, Head of 6th Form, said ‘I am delighted with the feedback; we will continue to work tirelessly, together with our Head of Careers, Vicky Woodings, to launch our 6th formers into the wider world in the best way possible.’
Staff and students at The Bourne Academy are extremely pleased with the results of the short inspection. Mark Avoth, Principal, commented ‘We were looking forward to welcoming inspectors on site, and we were confident that the hard work of the Academy staff and students would be recognised. We felt it was a very fair inspection, carried out with great insight and professionalism. We were delighted with the content of the report which contained many tremendous compliments and some excellent feedback to help us progress even further’.
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