In their first visit to the Academy which opened in September 2008, inspectors found that Oasis Academy Brightstowe had a strong focus on learning, and high expectations in terms of student achievement and behaviour.
They also praised the school’s ‘calm and purposeful’ atmosphere, which they attributed to the ‘significant change in attitude’ which has taken place since becoming an Academy.
The Ofsted team recognised that the Academy had come a long way and acknowledged that student attainment was ‘rising strongly overall’.
They noted that ‘a specific programme to raise reading ages right across the Academy has allowed many students to make significant progress in a short time’, and that ‘the Year 7 curriculum focuses on developing key skills...in literacy and numeracy’.
Importantly, the inspectors reported that the quality of teaching and learning has improved. The report stated that ‘students are able and willing to talk about the progress they are making, with even the most reluctant learners enjoying learning as a result of better teaching.’
The inspectors also praised the Academy’s induction programme, and acknowledged that ‘guidance for Key Stage 4 options and post-16 destinations is exceptionally thorough’, with almost all current Year 11 students having secured places in further training or employment.
What was also very clear in the report was that Oasis Academy Brightstowe has a strong sense of community and provides a happy and safe learning environment for its students.
The Academy was also praised for the work it does to raise students’ self-esteem: ‘For example, students, many of whom have overcome past difficulties, volunteer to be ‘heroes’ to represent the Academy in visits to primary schools’.
Principal of Oasis Academy Brightstowe, Julie Winterman, said, “We are really pleased with this report and feel that we have made a step in the right direction towards raising standards and driving improvement.
“However, we recognise that there is still a long journey ahead of us. We will be continuing to work hard to improve the quality of teaching and learning across the Academy and ensure we are doing everything we can to meet the needs of each individual student to help them succeed.
“We can now see that we are on the right path and will be putting appropriate measures in place to bring us even closer to our goal of providing an outstanding school for the local community.”
The report judged Academy leadership to be very effective and complimented the Academy on its strong infrastructure, ‘the impact [of which] is clearly seen in improving outcomes – attendance, behaviour, attainment and progress.’
It also singled out the fact that students with special educational needs, and/or disabilities, make good progress. The report stated that ‘[a]lternative curriculum provision for a small group of students, focusing on developing skills for future employment and developing students’ self-esteem has led to some students making exceptional progress’.
Founder and CEO of Oasis Community Learning, Steve Chalke, said, “This is a very encouraging report. The inspectors have recognised our drive in going forward and have given us some good pointers for improving even further. Congratulations should go to all the staff and students, as well as our parents/carers who are investing their own efforts to help bring about the Academy’s vision.”
- Ends -
Aye mate! And welcome to limbo! Problem: I have no idea what page you're trying to work on. You need to define a body ID in the template, then turn on the necessary rows and columns in layout.css. Arrrrgh!