A Bristol secondary school has been praised for its values and curriculum after overturning its inadequate Ofsted. Winterbourne Academy on the High Street in South Gloucestershire has had its first inspection since it replaced the Ridings Federation Winterbourne International Academy four years ago.
Inspectors attended the academy for a two-day visit earlier this year on May 10 and 11, five years after the predecessor school received an inadequate rating. It has been rated good overall for the first time in ten years while scoring a good rating in each category, including the quality of education, behaviour and attitude, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision.
The report released in July paints a positive picture of the school, now run by Olympus Academies Trust and with Jason Beardmore as headteacher, whereby its ‘PRIDE’ values of participation, respect, integrity, determination and enthusiasm "help pupils to develop their character".
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It also said pupils are polite and courteous and take pride in their work, with most striving to do their best and "behave well". The Olympus Trust has been contacted by BristolLive for comment.
Winterbourne Academy, which enrols 1,758 pupils, became an academy convertor in February 2017. When its predecessor school, Winterbourne International Academy, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be inadequate overall.
It faced a difficult period while part of the Ridings Federation, which also had an academy in Yate. BristolLive revealed it paid a total of £130,396 to six individuals in the 2014/15 academic year, and another £219,452 the following year to 13 people as part of settlement agreements. It was also saved from financial difficulty in 2018 when it joined the Olympus Trust as parents at the school became a key voice in the battle against the low funding given to South Gloucestershire’s schools.
However, the latest report shows vast improvement since it hand changed trusts whereby teachers were praised for explaining new learning clearly by linking this to information the pupils have already learnt while governors and trustees were said to know the school well. Inspectors also found that pupils at Winterbourne Academy read often and have positive attitudes towards learning.
The report read: "The curriculum is ambitious and prepares pupils for their next stage of education. Leaders have acted to increase the number of pupils who continue with both a humanities subject and a language into key stage 4. This means the number of pupils eligible for the English Baccalaureate has increased but it is still relatively low."
The school was advised on some areas for improvement, including problems with some pupils using discriminatory language that is making some students feel "less welcome". The report also said teachers do not always identify gaps in pupils’ learning, resulting in some students not always learning "as much as they could".
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