The Bishop David Brown School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school, so that pupils’ outcomes are more consistently strong, especially in science and modern foreign languages.
• Ensure that leaders accurately evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used to improve the school.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The head of school leads with determination to improve the school. He is very well supported by other leaders. Together, they have created a culture of high expectation and aspiration for all pupils. As a result, outcomes for pupils are improving quickly.
• Teachers and other staff are fully committed to the leaders’ vision for the school. They value the professional development they receive. Teaching, learning and assessment across many subjects have improved and continue to do so.
• Pupils study a wide-ranging and varied curriculum. They learn about many interesting topics to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. For example, pupils support many charities through their pastoral house system. There is a strong sense of community.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils understand how democracy works. They learn how to respect others’ differences. Pupils are considerate, both to each other and to adults.
• Leaders spend additional funding effectively. They have introduced useful activities to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, outcomes for pupils in these vulnerable groups are improving.
• Leaders’ actions to help pupils who need to develop their literacy skills at the start of school are effective. Most pupils’ literacy skills improve quickly because they are very well supported.
• Many subject leaders have recently joined the school. They have developed their areas of responsibility very quickly, confidently using their strong subject knowledge to train their teams. Standards of education have rapidly improved in English, while other subject areas, such as mathematics and history, have also improved.
• Leaders are very committed to improving the school. Since the previous inspection, they have swiftly implemented many new strategies to secure improvement. However, leaders are not always clear on which strategies are the most effective.

Governance of the school

• Trustees and governors work well together. They have a secure understanding of the school’s areas of strength and those that need developing further. Recent changes to governors’ responsibilities mean that their skills are well matched to support the school’s continued journey of improvement.
• Trustees and governors fulfil their legal duties efficiently. They are trained well. They check the school’s safeguarding procedures often to ensure that they remain effective.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a strong culture of ensuring that pupils are safe. The arrangements to check suitability of staff working with children are appropriate. Policies and procedures are checked regularly to make sure they remain effective.
• Leaders work well with other agencies to keep children safe. Support for vulnerable pupils and their families is effective. Most parents and carers who responded to the Ofsted online survey said their children feel safe at school.
• Staff are well trained and informed regularly of any changes in safeguarding procedures. They know who to talk to with their concerns and are confident they will be dealt with promptly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching, learning and assessment are good. Pupils trust their teachers to help them learn more, and to develop their subject skills and understanding well. As a result, positive relationships between pupils and teachers support strong pupil progress across many subjects.
• Teachers use their subject knowledge confidently to encourage pupils to learn more. Pupils are well supported by established routines and high expectations from their teachers. Consequently, pupils engage well in the learning activities provided for them.
• Teachers accurately identify the needs of pupils in vulnerable groups. They adapt their teaching appropriately to provide for individual pupils’ needs. Accordingly, disadvantaged pupils are well supported in their lessons.
• Teachers use skilful questioning to check pupils’ understanding. For example, in English, Year 11 pupils clearly enjoyed their teacher’s probing questions about Juliet’s character in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In Year 11 food technology, pupils were fully involved in the questions asked about making a healthy beetroot pasta. Subsequently, pupils make strong progress in these subjects.
• Extra support from teaching assistants in classrooms is effective. They use activities appropriately to meet pupils’ needs. As a result, most pupils with SEND make progress in line with other pupils with similar starting points.
• Pupils recognise the improvements in teaching, learning and assessment at the school. They speak highly of their lessons. During the inspection, pupils were often heard thanking their teachers for their lessons.
• Pupils are regularly set work according to their individual needs. They are often able to choose for themselves from a range of easier to more difficult activities. They choose wisely, challenging themselves to learn more. Where these activities are well considered by teachers, pupils make strong progress.
• Most teachers follow the school’s feedback policy purposefully to provide pupils with the information they need to improve their work. Pupils generally respond usefully to this information. However, this policy is not consistently applied in all subject areas.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils are very happy and responsible learners. They know who to talk to if they need any help at the school.
• Pupils are incredibly happy with the changes made to the school. They told inspectors about the improvements to the school since the head of school started. They take good care of the school buildings and facilities. There is no graffiti or litter evident.
• Pupils take extremely good care of each other. Peer mentors to help those pupils concerned about bullying, ‘the blue coats’, are highly visible during breaktimes. They take their roles very seriously, as do those buddied to support pupils who are learning English on entry to the school. Pupils feel safe at school.
• Pupils are taught a wide range of interesting topics to develop their physical, social and health education. They learn about staying safe when using technology, and proudly support the school’s ban on mobile-phone usage.
• The centrally located study centre and library is a hub of pupil learning. Pupils attending the hub read, complete homework, play chess, and take part in other learning activities. They use this space confidently and maturely. A pastoral member of staff is based there to talk to pupils if needed.
• Pupils say that bullying is very rare and is dealt with quickly if it occurs. They learn about differences as part of their assembly and tutorial programme. Pupils treat each other equally and respectfully.
• Pupils are confident and self-aware learners. They were closely involved in constructing the highly valued pupil rewards system with staff.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils move around the school site calmly and quietly. They arrive to lessons on time. A five-minute warning bell after breaktimes helps pupils arrive promptly, so learning starts quickly.
• Attendance has improved rapidly. No groups of pupils are disadvantaged by poor attendance. Persistent absence has reduced and is in line with national figures.
• Pupils who are educated off-site are well supported. They attend regularly. Good communication between the provider and the school ensures that pupils’ education needs are well met. Pupils studying at these providers make good progress.
• Some off-task behaviours affect learning. Incidents of misbehaviour have risen in key stage 3 because of the high expectations for all pupils’ good behaviour. Incidents of poor behaviour have reduced in key stage 4. Fixed-term exclusions have reduced and there have been no permanent exclusions.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Effective school systems allow leaders and teachers to have an accurate understanding of pupils’ achievement. Year 11 achievement is now much better than it has been in recent years. Pupils’ outcomes are improving rapidly.
• Pupils are set highly aspirational targets. Pupils’ work shows that they are making better progress than previously towards achieving these challenging targets.
• Pupils achieve strong outcomes in English and technology subjects, such as catering.
• Disadvantaged pupils have not achieved well in recent years. Leaders have ensured that appropriate support is provided in all subject areas to help pupils catch up if they fall behind. As a result, disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes are improving quickly.
• Leaders provide well-considered bespoke support for pupils with SEND. They are making good progress compared to all other pupils with similar starting points.
• Support to develop the literacy skills of pupils entering the school in Year 7 with lower starting points than others is very effective. Hence, these pupils are well prepared and engage confidently with learning in their subjects.
• The provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language works well. Personalised programmes of support are in place to help them. Consequently, many make rapid progress in developing their English skills and understanding.
• All pupils receive appropriate advice and guidance for their next steps in education. A particularly well-structured Year 11 tutorial programme assists pupils, helping them make informed decisions about their future education or employment choices.
• Most-able pupils achieve better than other pupils in science. However, outcomes for other pupils in science, and in modern foreign languages, are not as good as in other subjects. Many pupils do not have the appropriate subject-specific knowledge, understanding and skills in these subjects.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 142284 Surrey 10081819 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy converter 11 to 16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 608 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Phillip Dick James Rodgers 01932 359 118 http://online.surreycc.gov.uk/ jrodgers@bdb.surrey.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The Bishop David Brown School is smaller than the average-sized 11 to 16 secondary school.
• It converted to academy status in September 2015 and became a member of the Unity Schools Trust, a multi-academy trust of two secondary schools.
• The trustees of the Unity Schools Trust delegate some governance activities to a local governing body. The trustees remain accountable for the educational standards of the school.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.
• The school works with an alternative provider, North West Surrey Secondary Short Stay School.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited 46 lessons or parts of lessons to observe pupils’ learning, in many cases jointly with senior leaders.
• The lead inspector met with a representative of the trustees, the chair and vice-chair of governors, and the chief executive officer of the Unity Schools Trust.
• Inspectors met with senior and middle leaders, as well as teaching staff and support staff, including newly qualified teachers.
• An inspector met formally with a group of pupils from key stages 3 and 4. An inspector heard Year 7 pupils read. Inspectors talked to pupils informally during breaktimes and lessons.
• The inspection team considered the 123 responses to the pupil survey, and the 157 responses to the parent survey, including 73 accompanying free-text messages. There were no responses to the staff survey.
• An inspector checked the single central record and other safeguarding policies and documentation.
• The inspection team considered information provided by the school, including the self-evaluation and development plans, as well as plans and evaluations for the use of additional funding, and an external report written for the school.
• Inspectors carried out a book scrutiny with senior leaders and looked at pupils’ work during their visits to lessons.
• Inspectors considered the school’s published performance information and its internal progress and attainment information.

Inspection team

Dylan Davies, lead inspector Suzanne Richards Paul James

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector