The Boulevard Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 14 January 2025

Pupils are beginning to benefit from the school's efforts to improve the quality of their education. However, over time, pupils have not achieved as well as they should in public examinations. Most pupils increasingly enjoy attending this inclusive school. Older pupils recognise the positive changes the school is making. Many pupils say they are safe in the school. Expectations of how pupils should behave are increasing. Pupils value the support that the school gives them to help improve their behaviour. Older pupils recognise that behaviour is improving. Most pupils say that, when bullying happens, the school acts to address it. However, some pupils feel less safe due to behaviour in unstructured times and in corridors. Despite improvements, instances of poor behaviour are not addressed consistently well. Pupils respond positively to new strategies to improve their engagement in school life. Many pupils' attendance is improving. This impacts positively on their achievement. Pupils value rewards for high attendance, such as a visit to the tuck shop. Pupils enjoy attending a wide range of clubs, such as darts, choir and basketball. This helps them to feel part of the school community.

What the school should improve

• On occasion, the school does not check pupils' understanding well enough. This means that some misconceptions are not identified and persist over time. The school should develop better ways to check pupils' understanding to improve their learning over time.
• In some lessons, the tasks that pupils are set do not enable them to demonstrate or apply their knowledge and skills in sufficient depth. When this happens, it limits pupils' progress through the curriculum. The school should help staff to raise expectations and set tasks that enable pupils to learn in greater depth.
• The school's behaviour strategy is not applied with consistent effect. This means that some incidents of poor behaviour, particularly in corridors and at social times, are not addressed well enough. This concerns some pupils. The school should ensure that the behaviour policy is implemented consistently well so that behaviour improves.
• The school's work to promote respect for difference and the protected characteristics is not developed to sufficient effect. Some pupils do not show the respect and tolerance needed in these important areas. The school should intensify its work to teach pupils about issues relating to equality and address instances where pupils' actions or words undermine this.
• The school's systems to check the impact of improvement actions are not fully developed. There is variation in how well leaders at different levels understand the impact of their strategies. The school should develop clearer systems to check the impact of improvement work to increase the pace and effectiveness of the school development journey.

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