INSPECTION REPORT The Beauchamp College Oadby, Leicestershire LEA area: Leicestershire Unique reference number: 120265 Headteacher: Richard Parker Lead inspector: A Briggs Dates of inspection: 17th November – 21st November 2003 Inspection number: 259290 Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 © Crown copyright 2004 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the college. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Terms used in this report Those students who remain at college after the compulsory period of education are in the sixth form, in Years 12 and 13. Students in Years 10 and 11 follow courses and Programmes of Study set out in the National Curriculum. A course of religious education is a requirement for students of all ages at college. At the end of Year 11, students aged 16 may take examinations in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). Others may follow courses leading to the award of the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ) or the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). Sixth form students may take further courses leading to these awards, including the Advanced Vocational Certificate of Education (AVCE) or (VCE), or to those of the General Certificate of Education at Advanced level (A-level). Students may take examinations leading to the Advanced Subsidiary award (AS), equivalent to half the difficulty of the full A- level, which is gained by further study beyond AS standard. Inspectors judge the standards reached by students by comparing their attainments with national test and examination results, or by the levels of performance expected for students of the same age nationally. The students' achievements reflect whether they are doing well enough. These judgements take account of the educational value added over time. In this report, similar schools are defined as those having similar standards at the start of each stage of learning. Beauchamp College - 2 INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLEGE Type of school: Comprehensive School category: Community Age range of students: 14 - 18 Gender of students: Mixed Number on roll: 1891 College address: Ridgeway Oadby, Leicester Postcode: LE2 5TP Telephone number: 0116 2729100 Fax number: 0116 2715454 Appropriate authority: The governing body Name of chair of governors: Canon Glynn Richerby Date of previous inspection: 11th May 1998 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLLEGE The Beauchamp College is much larger than other schools with a significantly bigger than usual sixth form. It is a very popular and oversubscribed 14 -18 comprehensive multicultural college, situated in Oadby to the south of the Leicester City boundary within the Leicestershire LEA. It is a Community College and a third phase specialist Technology College. Students come from areas which, overall, are above average in social and economic measures. Students’ attainment on entry to the college is well above average as shown by their end of Year 9 national tests in English, mathematics and science. There are almost identical numbers of boys and girls in the college. The student population is stable with very few joining or leaving part-way through the year. The majority of students are white, though there are significant numbers of Asian origin, notably Indian and Pakistani. There are, however, representatives of many different ethnic backgrounds at the college. The percentage for whom English is not the mother tongue is very high but only a few are at the early stages of learning English. A smaller than average proportion of students has identified special educational needs although the proportion with statements of need is broadly average. The vast majority of students join the sixth form to follow A level and AVCE courses. Their attainment is in line with the average attainment of students entering sixth forms. Very few students leave the sixth form at the end of Year 12 and a high proportion continue in some form of further or higher education when they leave at the end of Year 13. The college has been awarded Sportsmark for the quality of its sporting activities and an international award in recognition of its extensive and wide-ranging exchange programme. Beauchamp College - 3 INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities 15208 A Briggs Lead inspector 9334 J Mynett Lay inspector 12226 C Clarke Team inspector English; sixth form English literature 1503 T Browne Team inspector Mathematics; sixth form mathematics 29742 P Fyans Team inspector Science; sixth form chemistry 2501 R Allison-Smith Team inspector Art; sixth form textiles 2495 B Munden Team inspector Design and technology; sixth form food technology 12336 M Overend Team inspector Geography; sixth form business studies 18663 P Burchell Team inspector History; sixth form sociology 32231 A Lyons Team inspector Information and communication technology 32208 D Aitken Team inspector Modern foreign languages; citizenship 20490 P Wilson Team inspector Music; sixth form music 33002 J Woodhouse Team inspector Physical education; sixth form leisure and tourism 20719 A Fraser Team inspector Religious education; sixth form religious education 2746 R Lund Team inspector Special educational needs 32229 M Comer Team inspector Sixth form French 22423 J Lövgreen Team inspector Drama; sixth form media studies 32166 N Butt Team inspector Sixth form biology 14490 S Jackson Team inspector Sixth form history 15075 B Stephens Team inspector English as an additional language 17171 M Last Team inspector Special educational needs 1522 W Keast Team inspector The inspection contractor was: e-Qualitas Limited Langshaw Pastens Road Limpsfield Chart Oxted Surrey RH8 0RE Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be made initially to the inspection contractor. The procedures are set out in the leaflet ‘Complaining about Ofsted Inspections’, which is available from Ofsted Publications Centre (telephone 07002 637833) or Ofsted’s website (www.ofsted.gov.uk). Beauchamp College - 4 REPORT CONTENTS Page PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6 PART B: COMMENTARY ON THE MAIN INSPECTION FINDINGS STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY STUDENTS 10 Standards achieved in areas of learning, subjects and courses Students’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE COLLEGE 14 Teaching and learning The curriculum Care, guidance and support Partnership with parents, other schools and the community LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 22 PART C: THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN SUBJECTS AND COURSES 25 SUBJECTS AND COURSES IN KEY STAGE 4 SUBJECTS AND COURSES IN THE SIXTH FORM PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS 63 Beauchamp College - 5 PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OVERALL EVALUATION This is a very good college providing very good value for money. Standards are well above average. Students achieve very well because teaching is very good in many subjects. Leadership and management of the college are very good. The college’s main strengths and weaknesses are: · Standards in Year 11 are well above average and have improved since the last inspection. · Students learn and achieve very well because of very good teaching. · Very effective leadership and management drive the college forward. · Management of citizenship is unsatisfactory and students underachieve. · Outstanding links with the community provide an extra dimension to learning. · Students have lots of opportunities to use computer technology to help their learning. · Daily registration time is unstructured and largely unproductive. Improvement since the last inspection has been good. Standards in examinations have been maintained and more students now achieve the highest grades. Teaching and learning has improved with a higher proportion of very good and excellent lessons. Despite significant improvements, the college has not addressed two minor issues from the previous inspection; there is still no daily act of collective worship for all and registration time remains unsatisfactory. STANDARDS ACHIEVED all schools similar schools Performance compared with: 2001 2002 2003 2003 Year 11 GCSE/GNVQ examinations A A A A* Year 13 A/AS level and VCE examinations B B N/A Key: A - well above average; B – above average; C – average; D – below average; E – well below average For Year 11, Similar schools are those whose students attained similarly at the end of Year 9. Students throughout the college achieve very well. Students arrive at Beauchamp with well above average standards and these are maintained so that standards are overall well above average at the end of Year 11. Achievement in mathematics, French and geography is good; in all other subjects it is very good. In 2003, results in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, and in most others, were significantly above average. Boys and girls performed equally well. Results were very high (in the top 5 per cent) in comparison with similar schools showing that these students achieved very well. The rising trend of results is in line with the national picture. Current standards are well above average in all subjects except