Beechen Cliff Bath- 'Inadequate' Ofsted

[LovelyBath77]

Just seen this, doesn't look very good.

www.beechencliff.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Ofsted-2018-Full-Inspection-Report.pdf

and previously-
files.api.beta.ofsted.gov.uk/136520__4.PDF

It is political to make it become part of a MAT.

Can you list all the other stand-alone 'Outstanding' or 'Good' academies around the county / country which are receiving similar reports to force them to become parts of a MAT?

Or are you saying that this, single school just happens to be the only one where this political pressure is being applied?

(I have heard the 'It's political' cry before ... but have never seen the data which supports it...)

I am presuming that you mean that:

• all the data is, in fact, showing great progress for all groups
• the behaviour is consistently good
• safeguarding (both in paperwork and practice) are exemplary

BUT there is political pressure to make it join a MAT, and the specific incident provides the excuse for an inspection, while the rest of the evidence in the report is fabricated??

Or do you mean something different by 'it's political'??

Nearby Hayesfield is not part of a MAT.
Will it get a similar ofsted inspection to force it into one? Obviously before this it appeared to be considering a MAT with Beechen Cliff.

Hmmm... so a school which was already considering forming a MAT was given a horrendously poor Ofsted report which makes this a much less attractive prospect...?

Definitely a political move to make it join a MAT. How obvious - how could I have doubted it?

Leaders are insinuating the whole report is invalid and just a public telling off for the auction. As is clear from the report and this thread that's rubbish. Is the problem with stand alone academies that it's really hard to get rid of incompetent Heads and governing bodies? Is that why there is pressure to join a MAT? Why wasn't the school put in special measures?

Hayesfield is now joined with Beechen Cliff in terms of admissions etc isn't it. Not sure how that might affect things

Yes, it says they have The City of Bath Schools’ Alliance which is a partnership that exists between Beechen Cliff and Hayesfield

here - and governing bodies work together ?

www.hayesfield.com/index.php/about/the-city-of-bath-schools-alliance/

Teachergirl can you explain about the MAT please. Thanks.

As the news headline did say

Beechen Cliff School could be closed or taken over by an academy trust it doesn't sound like un unreasonable thing to say

Lovely,

I think there is a difference between:

'As a result of its very poor Ofsted and the help it will need to improve, Beechen Hill will be required to join other academies in a successful Multi Academy Trust' and

'Politically, the powers that be wanted Beechen Hill to join a MAT and this the Ofsted report was specifically rigged to be awful in order to force this to happen' - the latter is what Teachergirl is suggesting has happened.

The first states that the school is poor, and current government policy is that poor schools join MATs to aid their improvement (whether that is a GOOD policy is open to debate, but it is policy).

The second states that the school is, in fact, really good, but was artificially given a poor Ofsted in order to engineer it joining a MAT for political purposes. I can't see that the data for this school, and for the Ofsteds of other stand-alone academies country-wide, supports this assertion.

Hmm, OK. So why politically would they want it to join a MAT? What advantage would there be to that?

Lovely - what the other posters are telling you is Beechen Cliff has huge problems. The Ofsted report has NOT been engineered in any way as a political exercise to make it join a MAT.
Frankly why would any successful academy even want to be associated with BC?

That’s a rhetorical question by the way?

Sorry ignore the random question mark!

Some years ago, there was a government policy that all schools should be part of MATs. However, the policy position has changed considerably This parliamentary report summarises it quite neatly and I would say that while there remains pressure on non-academies to form academies, there is much less pressure / will, if any, for stand-alone academies which are performing well to join MATs any more.

Posters like teachergirl presumably WANT there to be a conspiracy to explain away the fact that Ofsted has identified that the school is failing. IME this is quite common when a 'publicly well regarded' school gets a poor Ofsted, as many people find the conspiracy / political theory easier to accept than the idea that the school might not be as good as they thought it was.

Beechen has a reputation for doing things its own way and not always for the best for all pupils. Joining a MAT would very much help it to get its feet back on the ground and be a bit more of a team player. Might be something of a poisoned chalice for the MAT it joins unless it really has the intention to change.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5955679/Top-state-secondary-school-children-tied-black-pupil-lamppost-faces-closure.html

It sounds appalling.

Lets be clear, it would not be possible to just close the school because of the number of pupils in the school and the relative lack of places available across the Bath area. So it will stay open but in what form is what will be decided over the next few weeks and months.

The DfE are taking a hard line on this school because of its reaction to the Ofsted report, which is suggesting that there is little wrong, when the Ofsted report says there is a lot wrong. If the school and specifically the governing / trust board of the school do not start talking in much more realistic tones about what needs to happen in the school, what will happen, in my opinion, is that the DfE via the Regional School Commissioner will remove the governing/trust board and replace it with an Interim Executive Board or whatever is the current term used for this in an academy.

I don't think that it has really got through to lots of parents at the school, whose sons are having a great time, that the reality is not perfect and that Ofsted don't hand out reports like this because of single incidents, political conspiracies or just to bring down a fine establishment.

I'm not convinced that local schools would be queuing up to include Beechen in a MAT because of its reaction to the Ofsted and its general "go our own way" approach so I agree, some other route would be needed.

I'm not convinced that local schools would be queuing up to include Beechen in a MAT because of its reaction to the Ofsted and its general "go our own way" approach so I agree, some other route would be needed.

Because it is already working with Hayfield would that not be the route to go perhaps?

On a personal note, this concerns me, setting right from the start which is what happens at BC. My son was set from the start from the SATs results and CATs and said the first term or two they just seemed to go over stuff again and again and not learn much new stuff. Then they only seem to be able to do the Core maths tests and move up only if they can 'prove' they are doing well enough.

www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news-events/news-pub/sep-2017/schools-teaching-ability-sets

Sorry- set into the lower stream I mean.