Ofsted

Inspection

The Lead Inspector, Mr Dave Gilkerson, is the author of the full report, and we will link here to the full report when made available. Key excerpts from the report are shown below.

The inspection was made under the new framework, which is not comparable with the framework used in Beauchamp’s 2011 inspection. With Beauchamp having extended its provision to an 11-19 school in 2017 (previously a 14-19 upper school), this was also the first Ofsted inspection of Beauchamp College while offering education across key stages 3, 4 and 5.

Main Findings

Beauchamp College were inspected across five areas, with three of those receiving the highest grading of ‘outstanding’.

The quality of education – Outstanding

Personal development – Outstanding

Sixth-form provision - Outstanding

Behaviour and attitudes – Good

Leadership and management – Good

The Ofsted framework dictates that if one or more areas are graded as ‘good’ as opposed to ‘outstanding’ then the overall judgement is ‘good’.

What is it like to attend Beauchamp College?

“Pupils are keen to attend this large and vibrant school. They know that staff will keep them safe.”

“Teachers encourage pupils to respect each other. Pupils value difference and celebrate it in the school.”

“Bullying is not tolerated.”

“Leaders have high expectations of what pupils should learn. They make sure that the curriculum is well organised and planned.”

“Pupils have lots of opportunities to discover new interests and nurture their talents. They are encouraged to be global citizens and to make a difference in the world.”

“Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. When they are in lessons, they focus on their learning.”

“The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a culture of vigilance at the school.”

Academic excellence

“Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum. They want all pupils to be completely engaged in their learning.”

“Subject leaders and teacher achieve [student engagement in learning] by deeply thinking about their subjects. They have carefully planned the order in which pupils learn knowledge.”

“Teachers’ subject knowledge is extremely strong.”

“Leaders make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities can access the whole curriculum.”

Holistic development

“Leaders fulfil their responsibility towards pupils to develop them as a whole person.”

“Leaders are right to be proud of the excellent wider development opportunities on offer at the school… Many pupils told inspectors that they value and participate in these opportunities.”

Sixth Form

“…leaders have built securely upon the breadth of subjects on offer. The ambitious and demanding curriculum builds to prepare students very well for future learning and next steps.”

“Students in the sixth form benefit from a range of rich experiences. These build their character, support them in their next steps and prepare them well for adults life.”

“Students spoke very highly of the support they receive from staff. Expert teaching ensures these students achieve very positive outcomes.”

Next Steps

We welcome the advice from Ofsted on areas in which we could improve and are undertaking steps to implement change all the time. These two key areas are:

Governance

We will reflect upon how we can further support our governors to develop the deepest understanding of additional government funding provided in the wake of the pandemic and how this is used to support our recovery and specifically benefit our disadvantaged students.

We believe we have already forged very strong communication with these important stakeholders, by holding regular meetings where we encourage debate and discussion. However, we are keen to evolve this further and provide more opportunities to progress.

Student community

We will work with our student community to continue to support them to be upstanders and adopt outstanding attitudes outside of the classroom, as well as within. It is our mission to continuously work towards supporting every young person to develop holistically and become the positive young adult that our sixth form already boasts.