Budmouth College Chickerell Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 9SY
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School report Budmouth College Chickerell Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 9SY Inspection dates 1–2 May 2018 Overall effectiveness Inadequate Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate Outcomes for pupils Inadequate 16 to 19 study programmes Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection 19–20 September 2013 Summary of key findings for parents and pupils This is an inadequate school School leaders and governors have failed to ensure Pupils’ attendance is poor. The rates of that pupils receive an acceptable standard of persistent absence for disadvantaged pupils and education. Academic standards have declined rapidly those who have special educational needs in recent years. (SEN) and/or disabilities are far too high. Governance of the school is weak. Governors are Low-level disruption in lessons is common and divided among themselves. Relations between the gets in the way of learning too often. governing body and the senior leadership team have Middle leadership in the school is weak. It does broken down in places. This loss of trust is a serious not contribute enough to improving the quality impediment to the effective governance of the of teaching or pupils’ academic outcomes. school. Leaders and governors are not monitoring the Safeguarding is ineffective. Procedures for use of additional funding, such as the pupil monitoring pupils who are on the school’s roll but premium, closely enough. This limits its impact. not currently being taught on-site are not robust. Extended study leave is illegally used as an Leaders’ monitoring of teaching places too little alternative to formal exclusion. emphasis on the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress over time. Academic outcomes for pupils are very poor, especially for disadvantaged pupils. The impact of teaching on improving post-16 students’ progress is better than in the rest of Teaching is not effective in promoting good the school. Nonetheless, the progress students progress, appropriate behaviour or the habits of make on A-level courses is consistently below successful learning. Teaching is not challenging the national average. enough and pupils take too little pride in their work. The school has the following strengths The recently appointed principal has a very clear In the sixth form, the centre of excellence and understanding of the school’s current position. industrial liaison (CEIL) provides students with Nonetheless, he has not had any time to have any strong work-related learning. significant impact on improving the quality of The school has a comprehensive and effective education provided by the school. programme to develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Full report In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. What does the school need to do to improve further? Improve leadership and management so that pupils receive an acceptable standard of education by ensuring that: – the governing body rapidly resolves its internal differences and focuses solely on providing school leaders with the challenge and support that they need – the school’s leadership works closely and cooperatively with the governing body, assisting governors to exercise their role of critical oversight – safeguarding is made effective by establishing robust procedures to monitor those pupils who are not currently receiving education on-site – the quality of middle leadership develops rapidly, including by empowering it to play a full role in the monitoring of teaching and holding it accountable for academic outcomes – the monitoring of additional funding, especially the pupil premium, is much sharper by focusing precisely on the impact of its use on improving pupils’ outcomes. Improve teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that: – the monitoring of teaching places much greater emphasis on the progress pupils make when evaluating the impact that teachers have – teachers raise their expectations of the quality of work they accept from pupils, especially in key stage 3 – teaching provides a greater degree of challenge to all pupils, whatever their starting points – teachers address pupils’ misconceptions quickly and pupils understand clearly how to improve their work. Improve pupils’ behaviour by: – taking rapid and effective action to improve attendance, especially that of disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities – eradicating the low-level disruption that interferes with pupils’ learning. Improving pupils’ personal development and welfare by ensuring that: – teaching develops in pupils the habits of successful learners – pupils take a greater pride in the quality of work they produce, including in the way it is presented. Inspection report: Budmouth College, 1–2 May 2018 Page 2 of 13 Improve the quality of the 16 to 19 study programmes by ensuring that: – the monitoring of teaching in the sixth form is more robust – teaching on A-level courses promotes better progress by students. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. Inspection report: Budmouth College, 1–2 May 2018 Page 3 of 13 Inspection judgements Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate School leaders and governors have proved unable to stem the rapid decline in academic standards at Budmouth College. As a result, pupils do not receive an acceptable standard of education. The school underwent a period of turbulence in leadership after the sudden departure of the school’s previous permanent principal in December 2015. This was undoubtedly a difficult time but the governors and remaining senior leaders were not up to the task of maintaining academic standards during the ensuing years. As a result, pupils’ education suffered. Leaders’ systems to monitor and evaluate teaching are weak and bear little or no relation to the impact of teaching on pupils’ outcomes. The school’s own self-evaluation judges that, in 2016/17, the vast majority of teaching was good or outstanding, yet, in that same year, the school’s key stage 4 outcomes were among the worst in the country. This mismatch between leaders’ evaluation of the quality of teaching and its actual impact on pupils’ outcomes is a considerable barrier to identifying and tackling underperformance. Middle leadership in the school is weak and underdeveloped. A ‘top-down’ approach has not empowered middle leaders to improve the quality of teaching or given them meaningful accountability for academic outcomes. For example, leaders of core subjects do not routinely monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching in their departments. Middle leaders have had few opportunities to contribute to the development of strategic planning within the school. The curriculum for Years 7 to 11 is based around a two-year key stage 3, followed by a three-year key stage 4. In its current form, the delivery of the curriculum is not meeting pupils’ needs, as pupils are making poor progress in key stage 3. Many pupils do not get off to a good start to their education by building on their work in primary school. Leaders have changed the way that the key stage 4 curriculum is designed. In the past, approximately two thirds of pupils would be taking courses at key stage 4 that would enable them to attain the English Baccalaureate. The figure is now approximately one third of pupils. Leaders argue that this is in the best interests of the pupils but it will inevitably mean that fewer pupils will get qualifications across the range of academic subjects considered important by the government. Leaders and governors do not make sure that the pupil premium is used effectively to promote better outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. The impact of its use is not analysed precisely in order to work out which approaches are working and which are not. The school’s pupil premium grant, therefore, is having minimal impact on improving the prospects for disadvantaged pupils. Their overall progress has been significantly below average for the past five years. The impact of the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium is monitored and evaluated better with regard to literacy than to numeracy. The school can demonstrate that it is having a positive impact on reading ages for those pupils whom the premium helps. The analysis of the impact on numeracy, however, as published on the school Inspection report: Budmouth College, 1–2 May 2018 Page 4 of 13 website, is perfunctory. The new principal, who took up his post at the start of the summer term 2018, has a very clear understanding of the many issues the school faces. He is under no illusion about the scale of the task the school faces in turning round its history of decline. Due to the very short time he has been in post, however, he has understandably not been able to have any significant impact on the quality of education the school provides for its pupils. The provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is well planned and implemented, both across the school and for those pupils who attend the school’s Asperger syndrome unit. Nonetheless, the impact of this good provision is blunted by the high rates of persistent absence among pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. The school has a well-designed programme to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. This happens through the taught curriculum, for example in citizenship lessons, as well as in assemblies and other activities that the school organises.