| Motto | "Quality Education For All" |
|---|---|
| Established | 20th century |
| Type | Modern School |
| Headteacher | Mr B.K. Jordan |
| Specialism | Sport |
| Location | Higher Bebington Road Bebington WIRRAL CH63 2PS England |
| Local authority | Metropolitan Borough of Wirral |
| DfE URN | 105096 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Staff | 50+ |
| Students | 950+ |
| Gender | Co-Educational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours |
White (Year 7) |
| Website | www.bebingtonhigh.com |
Bebington High Sports College is a secondary school in Bebington on the Wirral Peninsula, England. The school is located in Bebington within 3 School's Wirral Grammar School for Boys, Wirral Grammar School for Girls and Plesington High.
The school has been a specialist College since 2001. The specialist status has provided with additional funding, facilities and staffing which allows to enhance the teaching and learning for all students.
This school is slightly smaller than average size. It is situated in the south-east area of the Wirral. The percentage of students known to be eligible for free school meals is twice the national average. The proportion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is above that usually found. The percentage of students from minority ethnic heritages is below average but rising. There are few students who are at early stages of learning English. The school has held specialist status as a sports college since 2001. Bebington High is an accredited Healthy School, holds the Sportsmark award and has intermediate International Schools status. The school hosts a unit funded by the local authority to support students with moderate learning difficulties (MLD). It is also registered as a full-core extended school.[1]
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This is a satisfactory but rapidly improving sixth form. Students' prior attainment on entry to Year 12 is below average but students achieve satisfactorily across both years. Attainment in A-level examinations is below average but improving. Students make a positive contribution to the whole school community, supporting their younger counterparts in sport, art and literacy for example. The impact of specialist status ensures that their contribution to the wider community is equally impressive: community sports leaders are actively involved in organising and running a wide variety of events for primary schools and local community groups.
Curriculum development has seen the introduction of a range of courses to meet the individual needs of students and there is a blend of BTEC and A-level programmes. Students value the care, guidance and support they receive and have the utmost confidence in their teachers, speaking positively about the subject knowledge of the staff. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall, but the level of challenge in lessons is not always consistent.
Significant improvements in provision and in outcomes for students over the past four years or so have been brought about by perceptive leadership and management. Leaders place great emphasis on meeting the individual needs of students and modify the curriculum regularly as a result. Proposed changes are firmly based on robust systems for monitoring, recording and reporting on students' progress in both their academic work and their personal development. The positive impact of leadership and management is clear: students themselves say that membership of the sixth form raises their self-confidence and provides them with a wealth of opportunities to support others.[2]
The quality of teaching and the use of assessment are satisfactory but there are examples of good and outstanding practice in both key stages. The extent and quality of progress data which teachers now receive are improving and the school is looking to ensure that planning, for example in science, is informed by an accurate evaluation of students' achievement. In the best lessons, an outstanding Year 8 session on the Fosbury Flop' for example, students are given responsibility for their own learning and are challenged realistically to aim for the highest standards in their work. Similarly, in some English and drama lessons, students work independently and are not afraid to take risks in their learning. On occasions, however, there is too much direction by the teacher of learning, and activities do not always match the interests of students and motivate them to try their best. In these lessons expectations of what students can do are sometimes not high enough and they do not reach the levels of attainment their ability warrants. [3]
The curriculum is well planned and organised and makes a positive contribution to students' personal development. The school places great emphasis on providing and developing a curriculum which is increasingly more closely matched to students' needs. Staff recognise, for example, that if achievement in science is to continue to rise, new courses need to be introduced to meet the interests and aspirations of students. Some courses, the BTEC for example, have already been established and they are proving popular with students who say, 'We enjoy the new course because it is going to help us get the jobs we want.' Curricular provision for students in Year 7 eases their transition from the primary school and helps them to develop appropriate personal and learning skills. There is an outstanding range of enrichment and extra-curricular activities, many of which stem from the school's specialist status as a sports college; take-up is high. An impressive number of students represent their county and country in a range of sports: they speak about this with pride but also with the utmost modesty.[4]
Pastoral care is outstanding and is a major strength of the school. It does not remain within the environs of the school but, through initiatives such as Adopt a Club, it continues at the end of the school day when teachers encourage and sometimes help students to join local clubs, with a view to raising their self-esteem. The successful MLD unit and the emphasis adults place on ensuring that students are integrated into the life of the school are other examples of the school's overriding concern to ensure that Bebington High is an inclusive community. Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported exceptionally well and make good progress in their studies. Vulnerable students are identified rapidly and accurately and they too receive bespoke support.[5]
At all levels of leadership, teamwork is of the essence and the headteacher, ably supported by a talented and committed senior team, works tirelessly to drive ambition and to raise the aspirations of staff and students alike. The leadership of the specialist subject is similarly impressive and ensures that specialist status lies at the heart of everything the school tries to do. Middle leaders are fulsome in their praise for the opportunities they have to make suggestions as to how the school can improve further. In their words, 'Our senior leaders have a genuine open door: we feel respected, valued and empowered.' The leadership recognises that, if the quality of students' learning is to continue to rise, there need to be more opportunities to share good and outstanding practice in teaching across all subject departments. The newly constituted governing body is becoming more involved in gauging school performance. Links with departments are enabling governors to challenge the leadership at all levels with increasing rigour. Child protection and safeguarding procedures are of the highest order and fully meet current national requirements.[6]
The school's contribution to community cohesion is good at local, national and global levels. The school works hard to understand its ever-changing intake of students and specialist status is successfully involved in applying for additional funding to develop community activities, including training, for young people and adults in the surrounding area. In addition, there are good partnerships with a range of schools and other institutions for the benefit of students. Links with parents and carers are positive too and the school is regarded as approachable and willing to help if difficulties occur. The school is committed to inclusion and tackles discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs; its promotion of equality of opportunity is, however, no better than satisfactory because challenge in lessons is not always high enough to ensure that more-able students, in particular, reach the highest grades in GCSE.[7]
In most lessons students enjoy the activities and are eager to make progress. They behave well and are generally engaged in their learning. The quality of learning is satisfactory overall but is inconsistent across subjects, partly as a result of activities which are not always matched closely to students' interests. Students' prior attainment on entry to the school is variable over time but is generally below average. Improvements in attainment since the previous inspection demonstrate students' satisfactory progress from their starting points. Progress in science is less convincing but there are signs that the school's deployment of staff from the specialism to support and advise teachers within the science department is having a positive impact. There is evidence that attainment is now beginning to rise.[8]
Almost two fifths of students in the current Year 11 classes have already reached GCSE grades C or above in both English and mathematics and students' progress in English is consistently good over time. Progress in mathematics is improving apace and inspection evidence shows that students are on course to reach their challenging targets in this subject. Fewer students than nationally reach the highest grades of A and A* and the school recognises that more-able boys, in particular, are not always challenged effectively enough to reach the standards of which they capable. Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities, however, achieve well because of the outstanding care and guidance they receive from the adults who work with them.[9]
Students get on well with each other and are keen to support their classmates when difficulties occur. They comment that bullying is rare in school but that when it happens, staff are approachable and the school takes students' concerns seriously. Their conduct in lessons and around the school site is good and inspectors were impressed by the courtesy shown to them by students from all years. Their confidence and self-esteem are rising and they believe that the school's reputation in the local area improves each year. Students have an enviable social conscience and members of the sports council speak with pride about the work that sports and community leaders do to support their fellow students, pupils in local primary schools and also disabled youngsters in the community. Students also show real enthusiasm for learning about the world around them and they have a good awareness of cultures and religions which are different from their own. They sat enthralled during assemblies when moral dilemmas were discussed and told inspectors, 'Doing the right thing is often difficult but we must try to do it all the time.' Students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is, therefore, good. Attendance is satisfactory but improving. [10]
Most parents and carers are entirely satisfied with what the school is doing for their sons and daughters. They are particularly pleased with the care, guidance and support their offspring receive and comment: 'This is an open school. Any concerns we have are always dealt with and our children are supported really well.' They are also delighted with the opportunities provided by specialist sports college status, a view endorsed by the inspection team. A very small minority of parents and carers believe that the school does not help them to support their children's learning effectively enough. Inspectors found no evidence to support this view. A very small minority also believe that their offspring are not making enough progress. Inspectors judge students' progress to be satisfactory but agree that it could be accelerated, particularly in science.[11]