Bradley Stoke Community School continues to be a ‘good’ school. That’e the verdict of a team of three inspectors who visited the all-through school, which has 1,369 pupils aged four to 18, in November.
Here is an extract from their report. You can read it in full in the Ofsted website at https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50238516
What is it like to attend this school? Pupils enjoy school and most attend well. The school helps pupils to feel that they belong as part of the community. Pupils feel safe and know that they are valued. The way that pupils behave shows that they understand the school values of being ‘kind, ready and the best you’. Pupils trust staff to help them if they are experiencing difficulties. The school is calm and harmonious.
All staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve at every stage of their education. Pupils achieve well. They move on to appropriate destinations after school.
Equality, diversity and mutual respect are taught through all aspects of the curriculum. The books pupils read challenge stereotypes and promote understanding of people from different backgrounds. Other cultures are celebrated through a plethora of events.
Pupils of all ages take on responsibilities in roles such as mental health ambassadors, buddies, school council members and tutor captains. Pupils raise money for charities and sixth-form students volunteer in a local care home. This helps them to understand how they can contribute to wider society.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. And the school has identified the essential knowledge that it wants pupils to acquire at each stage. The curriculum is designed to enable pupils to build on what they already know and can do. However, the planned curriculum is not yet being taught to all year groups in key stage 3.
Students in the sixth form take qualifications that are well suited to their interests and aspirations. Pupils have a wide range of subjects to study in key stage 4. However, the proportion of pupils who continue to follow a strongly academic curriculum in key stage 4 is low.
The school makes sure that teachers have strong subject knowledge. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported so that they can learn the same curriculum as their peers. Checks made by teachers identify pupils’ misconceptions. These are corrected promptly.
Clear routines for behaviour throughout the school mean that pupils can focus on learning. Instances of poor behaviour are usually stopped quickly so that learning is not interrupted. Pupils who need help to improve their behaviour get it.
The varied enrichment offer means that all pupils have a rich set of experiences by the time they leave the school. For example, pupils visit museums, the theatre and places of worship. They attend clubs that help them develop their talents and interests. Many older pupils take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Pupils learn about the importance of mutual respect and tolerance.