Bideford College

Bideford College is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Bideford in the English county of Devon.[1] The principal is Claire Ankers.

Bideford College
Address
Abbotsham Road

Bideford
,
Devon
,
EX39 3AR

England
Coordinates51.01591°N 4.21919°W / 51.01591; -4.21919
Information
TypeAcademy
Local authorityDevon
TrustLaunceston College Multi Academy Trust
Department for Education URN142540 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalClaire Ankers
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,303
Capacity1,744
Websitehttp://bidefordcollege.org/

History

It is the only state-funded secondary school in Bideford. In 2003, the college was awarded specialist science status as part of the specialist schools programme.[2] Due to its specialist status, it received extra funding from the government for extending its educational activities.

On 28 June 2014 the then Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, visited the college.[3]

Previously a foundation school administered by Devon County Council, the school converted to academy status in March 2016. The school is now part of the Launceston College Multi Academy Trust, but continues to coordinate with Devon County Council for admissions.

Site
The artificial grass sports pitch at Bideford College.

In January 2006, the college won its bid to build a new multimillion-pound school site. Construction began in the summer of 2008 and the first phase was completed in 2010, ready for the start of the academic year in September. The second phase of the building, the outdoor sport pitches, was completed in July 2011.[4] The £55 million new school was built on the old site and includes a media suite, library, sports hall, a hall known as 'The Devon Hall', and an artificial grass sports pitch. £32 million was funded from the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.[5]

The new buildings are:[6]

  • Abbotsham or A Block - English, Library, SEN and offices
  • Brunel or B Block - History, Geography, Languages, RE, PSHE, Law and Sociology
  • Chichester or C Block - Textiles and Food Technology
  • Da Vinci or D Block - Art and Technology
  • Elgar or E Block - Music
  • Franklin or F Block - Science, Maths, and Health & Social Care
  • Galileo or G Block - Science, Maths, ICT, Business and Health & Social Care
  • Hepworth or H Block - PE, Sports halls, Drama
  • Isaac or I Block - SEN, Library, ICT

Academics

Bideford College offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, while students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of A Levels, OCR Nationals and further BTECs.[7]

Performance

Figures published by the UK Government in 2008 showed Bideford College had made significant improvements in the key stage 3 exams taken by 14-year-old students. Over the previous four years (2004 to 2007) the school's aggregate score for the exams in English, Maths and Science has risen from 177 to 237 out of 300. This placed Bideford College joint 21st nationally in the table of most improved secondary schools published by the DCSF. Bideford was also in the top 20 per cent of schools nationally based on the progress made from year 7 to year 9.

Ofsted 2013
In 2013 inspection by Ofsted found that the school required improvement. Leadership and management had not brought about improvements sufficiently, examination results for Key Stage 4 students were not as good as they should be, and the quality of teaching was not consistently good or better because some lessons did not engage all students. Inspectors found improvements in new buildings, student attendance, learning support, and said that bullying was rare.[8]

Ofsted 2015
In 2015 the school was judged as inadequate state and requiring special measures.[9][10] The principal, Veronica Matthews, and chairman of governors, Doug Bushby, resigned a week prior to the report's release, which had raised suspicions over the result,[11] since OFSTED said that "Leaders have failed to tackle the key issues identified at the previous inspection" and that "Governors have little understanding of the reasons why students underachieve, they are over reliant on information from the Principal."[12] The Sixth Form was also deemed inadequate, learning was not checked thoroughly by teachers during lessons, literacy skills were not developed well enough, and disadvantaged students made poor progress compared to their peers.

An interim principal, Andrew Kilpatrick, was appointed until current principal Lyndsey Kane took over.[13]

Ofsted 2018
Another OFSTED inspection took place in 2018, and the school was judged as Requiring Improvement. Lyndsey Kane's principalship was praised for bringing "about improvement in pupils’ behaviour and attendance. She has stabilised the school and earned the respect of pupils and parents and carers." A lot of the problems were improved from 2013, although the teaching was deemed "not yet consistently good".[14]

Ofsted 2022
The school was inspected again in 2022 and judged Good.[15]

Behaviour

Concerns were raised about pupil safety when a video was released showing fighting in the school grounds, leading to discussions regarding pupils' physical and mental health.

Since September 2022 when a new Academy Trust were appointed, Bideford College have increased the strictness of their behaviour policies, from minor infractions including preventing children from holding pencils and putting on their glasses, as well as refusing to follow SEN structures and guidelines. This has led to pupils and parents striking in protest. [16]

References
  1. "Home". Bideford College. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  2. ":: Bideford College Online :: Specialist College Status ::". Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. "MP Michael Gove visits Bideford College and meets the governors of Route 39" Archived 2 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, North Devon Journal, 2015-20-24. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  4. "Demolition signals growing pace of £55m school rebuild" Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Express & Echo, 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  5. ":: Bideford College Online :: Welcome To Our Home On The Web ::". Bideford.devon.sch.uk. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  6. "BIDEFORD COLLEGE PARENTS' NEWSLETTER" (PDF). February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2012.
  7. ":: SF@BC :: | How To Make Your Choices". Frog.bideford.devon.sch.uk. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  8. "School report, Bideford College". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  9. "Bideford College » Ofsted reports" (PDF).
  10. "Bideford College placed in special measures by Ofsted: Full report" Archived 3 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, North Devon Journal, 2015-03-07. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
  11. "Bideford College head steps down before Ofsted report released" Archived 7 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine, North Devon Journal, 2015-20-24. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
  12. "OFSTED". Archived from the original on 14 December 2019.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "School Report Bideford College". Ofsted. 16–17 October 2018. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  15. Maddocks, Kathy (2022). "Inspection of Bideford College". Ofsted. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  16. "College pupils protest ruthless rules". Devon Live. 22 November 2022.
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