Bridgemary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 6 December 2023

There is a very inclusive and calm culture at this school, which is underpinned by mutual respect and trust. Pupils, parents and staff share the school's high expectations for pupils' behaviour. They recognise the improvements over recent years. Pupils behave very well in lessons and during social times. They enjoy positive relationships with each other and with staff. They know that staff will listen to them if they have concerns. Consequently, pupils are happy here and feel safe. The school is ambitious for all pupils and is committed to helping them to achieve highly, including in examinations. Pupils study the full breadth of national curriculum subjects. There is an appropriate range of option choices available in key stage 4. The numbers of pupils taking the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects is starting to increase. The school is working with the trust to develop its curriculum thinking further. There is evidence of improvement in some areas. However, curriculum organisation and teaching do not routinely support all pupils to remember and be able to apply knowledge securely over time. As a result, many pupils do not achieve as well as they could in their GCSEs, including some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

What the school should improve

• The curriculum in most subjects does not yet set out precisely the essential knowledge that pupils should learn based on their individual starting points. As a result, most pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that the curriculum is designed to help all pupils make and embed strong and connected knowledge and understanding.
• The curriculum is not implemented effectively enough across the school. In many lessons, teachers move on too quickly. Consequently, any gaps or misconceptions in pupils' knowledge and understanding are not addressed, and many pupils are unable to apply what they have learned accurately and independently. The school should ensure that staff develop their knowledge of adaptive approaches so that all pupils embed knowledge securely and can apply it fluently.
• Currently, staff lack the subject expertise necessary to help the weakest readers to learn to read fluently. This means that some pupils are not able to access the full curriculum. The school should ensure that staff know how to address this and have the resources to do so successfully.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)