The Belvedere Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 March 2025

Pupils, and students in the sixth form, at this school promote and uphold their school values. They proudly aspire to 'Be brave. Be bold. Be Belvedere.' They are happy and confident that their school is a place where they are safe and can be themselves. Pupils experience an ambitious curriculum that meets their needs and interests. They rise to meet the high academic expectations that teachers set for them. They achieve well. Pupils, and their families, appreciate the exceptional support that the school provides to reduce any barriers to their learning. Pupils benefit from the positive relationships that they share with the adults who work with them. They behave with kindness and respect. They actively contribute to a lively and purposeful atmosphere in lessons and around the school site. For example, older students mentor and support their younger peers. Pupils thrive personally and socially because they benefit from a wide range of opportunities and experiences that extend beyond the school curriculum. For example, they visit international countries, take part in music and drama performances and join national leadership programmes. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their celebration of the diverse range of cultures in their school. As a result, pupils are curious, confident and highly aspirational for their own future when they leave school.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, the school is still in the process of refining the curriculum. It has not ensured that teachers are clear about the knowledge that pupils should learn and in what order. Over time, this hinders some pupils from building their knowledge as securely as they should. The school should complete its curriculum thinking so that teaching in these subjects enables pupils to build their subject-specific knowledge securely and achieve as highly as they can.
• Some pupils have gaps in their reading knowledge. This hampers the way in which these pupils access the wider curriculum. The school should ensure that it further strengthens the support that it provides to improve pupils' reading knowledge. This is so that help is more accurately targeted to pupils' specific gaps and they develop fluency in their reading as swiftly as possible.

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