Bradfield Secondary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is rapidly improving. After a difficult period of change, things are now much more stable and settled.

Pupils are developing trust in the new leaders and staff who have recently joined the school. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and respectful. Staff have high expectations of pupils' conduct, and pupils typically rise to meet them.

Behaviour in lessons is calm and focused. At social times, pupils get along well. Bullying is extremely rare.

The school has effective strategies to respond to incidents of poor behaviour.

The curriculum has been redesigned, which has strengthened the quality of education. Staff have received hig...hly effective training from the school and the trust.

They have high expectations for what pupils can achieve, and pupils are rising to these. The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including those in the resourced provision, has improved. Pupils with SEND receive effective support and learn well.

The school's new framework for personal development ensures that pupils have a wide range of experiences. There are lots of clubs and regular sporting competitions. There are exciting residential trips on offer, including one to Kenya.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The curriculum offer is now strong. The school has identified the key learning that pupils need. Important knowledge is revisited to help pupils to remember it.

Where there are gaps in pupils' knowledge, leaders have identified them. Subject leaders prioritise the highest value knowledge and skills so that pupils secure what they need to be ready for their next stage of learning.

The trust has provided strong support to help the school develop.

Staff receive high-quality, ongoing training. Teachers have a strong subject knowledge. They regularly check what pupils are learning and, if required, adapt the lesson to respond to gaps or misconceptions.

Sometimes, adaptations are not thought through carefully enough to ensure that all pupils fully secure the intended learning.

There is an effective reading strategy in place. The school has identified pupils who need support with reading.

It ensures that each pupil gets the right intervention to meet their needs. Staff read to pupils regularly. There is a diverse range of authors and themes.

This supports pupils to celebrate difference and develop empathy.

The school has recently introduced a new framework to support pupils' personal development. Pupils develop skills in leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication.

This programme will take time to fully embed but pupils' experiences are much improved since the school's previous inspection. The careers offer is strong. All pupils take part in work experience in Year 10.

Some pupils with SEND need support to participate in the world of work. The school ensures that they do not miss out by working with local companies to create bespoke projects so that pupils' needs will be well met.The school's curriculum for personal, social and health education has been redesigned.

It is well thought through. It prepares pupils for life in modern Britain. Pupils remember some aspects, such as keeping safe and healthy relationships, well.

One or two areas, such as democracy and the rule of law, are less well remembered, particularly in key stage 4.

The school's approach to behaviour is based on mutual respect. Pupils are guided to reflect on their actions.

The school puts effective strategies in place to support pupils' behaviour, such as mental health support.

Historically, there were too many pupils who were not attending school regularly. Pupils with poor attendance tended to underachieve in the 2024 examination series.

The school's work to improve attendance this year, including for disadvantaged pupils, has been highly effective. Far more pupils are in school regularly and learning the curriculum.

Those with responsibility for governance understand and carry out their responsibilities well.

There is a robust oversight of the school's work, which is helping the school to rapidly improve. Some stakeholders, including a small number of pupils and staff, continue to have some worries about the school's effectiveness. School leaders are using a range of strategies, including regular communication with parents and carers, to improve this.

This is beginning to have a positive impact.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some lesson activities are not as effective as they could be in ensuring that pupils fully secure the intended learning.

This tends to happen when teaching identifies a gap in knowledge, but does not address it quickly and effectively. When this happens, some pupils do not learn as well as they could. The school should make sure that teaching uses knowledge of what pupils should know to anticipate who might struggle so that it consistently maximises all pupils' learning.